Category: Opinion

Smartwatches – Just a plaything or the next essential item?

A smartwatch isn’t high up on my shopping list if I’m honest. For me, I’ve got into the habit of checking my phone for the date or time. I simply never wear a watch, but there’s no denying the fact that many still value them. The Sony Smartwatch …

I just want a signal!!! – Opinion

Most of the major networks have now announced their 4G pricing models.  They vary a little but, with one notable exception, there is a premium for the new technology as well as limits. Data is the new king.  No longer do we want more and more texts bundled …

The trouble with my ex: Does vanilla need more essence?

Having a Nexus is the pinnacle for the purist Android lover, right? Always up to date, always on the cutting edge, never left awaiting features your friends have; what a joy. That’s an opinion I’d have agreed with two years ago. Owning a Nexus S and a Galaxy …

Once again I just can’t make my mind up

In the olden days picking a new mobile phone was easy. I used to grab the Argos catalogue and flick through until I found a reasonably priced phone and then I’d buy it. Done. Simple. Fast forward a few years decades and the list of specifications, manufacturers, software …

Moto X, a Droid by any other name [Opinion]

After months of waiting, Motorola yesterday unveiled… the same phone they did a week ago, but with a new name and casing. It’s not as slim as the Ultra, as small as the Mini, or as long lasting as the Maxx, but you can buy it in any …

Time to sell the standalone camera?

For years now many have said that a phone camera will never replace a normal standalone digital camera. However, has that now changed with the introduction of smartphones such as the Nokia 808 PureView, Samsung S4 Zoom and the 41 megapixel Lumia 1020? These new advanced low-light optics, …

Tango – you’ve been Tangoed [News and Opinion]

Popular video and text messaging app Tango has been hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army. You remember the SEA, they’re the ones who hacked the Sky apps so you couldn’t control your Sky Plus box from your garden. We reported earlier that Viber – an app for making …

HTC One vs One mini – tech specs comparison

There are some of us who think that bigger is not always better. There are some of us who can remember back when the Ericsson T28 and T29, The motorola V70 and V90, even the Nokia 8800 family were some of the most luxurious and desirable phones going. …

[Opinion] The Moto X is Motorola returning with a bang!

The Moto X phone should be great, an important evolution of the smartphone in some substantial ways and a resurgence for Motorola. How have I come to this conclusion? Let me explain… A couple of weeks ago I bought the Motorola RAZRi which we reviewed here. This phone …

[Opinion] The art of the money grab

I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for a couple of years now, and overall I’ve been pretty happy with their service. Crucially, the plan has unlimited data with a ‘fair usage policy’ – which turned out to be 500MB. Naturally, being a blogger, I go over that limit within …

Are Nokia in danger of “doing a Samsung”?

Samsung seem to be attempting to get into the Guinness Book Of Records for “the largest number of screen sizes in their portfolio” record with a different phone for each and every increment from 3″ up to 11″. Nokia increasingly seem to be heading off down that worrying …

Opinion: A naked phone, to be or not to be?

Morning dear reader, I come to you this morning with a question, Do you use a case or do you keep your phone naked? It is a tricky one and one I myself deliberate about regularly. With the manufacturers spending millions (in some case’s) on design, pattern’s and …

My phone obsession, and what drives it

It’s fair to say that ever since I saw a carphone in a Jaguar XJ6 I’ve been obsessed with mobile telephones. Over the last few years I’ve swapped phones around regularly, usually flip flopping between Android and iOS devices. I usually end up going back to the iPhone sooner or later. …

Facebook Phone….. Who really wants one? – Editorial

There have been rumours of a Facebook Phone doing the rounds for a while now.   The device would be a follow up to the ill fated HTC Chacha and looks likely to once again be manufactured by HTC. The new device is alleged to be a mid range …

I wish I could just make my mind up

I’m confused, I don’t know what to do. At times I feel I should give up and just not bother. Mobile phones have me confused, I spend most of my days reading up on and writing about the latest phones. A good chunk of my life is also spent …

How long will Google Keep be kept around?

Perhaps for the first time, Google released a new service which I didn’t immediately rush to try out. In the wake of the Reader spring clean, I now have to think about whether or not I can rely on a new Google service being around for the long …

Are smartphones too smart? – Editorial

With recent rumours suggesting that the new Samsung Galaxy S4 may contain ‘eye scroll’ technology, it got me questioning whether smartphones are simply too smart? Do we really get the full use out of our phones? Plus, are all these features worth the loss of battery life? Personally, I hardly …

Loyalty, Not on Your Nelly – Editorial

Today I received my price increases letter from Orange.  It informed me that my tariff will be increasing by 3.3% in the near future.  I have been a customer of Orange for over 5 years and one of my contracts is due an upgrade. Bearing this in mind …

MWC – How good is the HTC One camera, really?

HTC have been extremely vocal about the camera capabilities of their latest flagship, the HTC One. Having had chance to get hold of the device this week and actually take some photos we decided it would be fun to compare against some other camera phones on the market. …

New HTC phone … large scale advert leak

I believe that in our green pleasant land there is a small game, played all around the country called football. Now I myself am not a fan as I watch the other “odd” shaped ball running and catching game. But I’m lead to believe that this ” football” …

Vine: The good, the bad and the downright ugly

It hasn’t been available for long but Vine is already taking the app and Twitter worlds by storm. What is Vine you may ask? Simply put, Vine is an iOS app which allows you to record six second videos that are then uploaded to Twitter. It’s basically a cool …

Apple, Google, it’s time to step it up! – Opinion

So that’s it, the last of the “big” players to reveal their hand has now done so and BlackBerry 10 has been launched with a big fanfare and a promise from all the major carriers to stock the handsets. BB10 devices are out there and ready to take …

How to try and steal someone’s thunder

Yesterday saw one of the biggest names in the mobile industry announce some seriously impressive stuff. New devices and a new OS. BlackBerry 10 is possibly RIM’s BlackBerry’s last chance to be current, competitive and profitable. They should be allowed their five minutes to say their piece and …

Apple and the art of innovation [Opinion]

I’m going to start with a sentence that makes me wonder where time had gone. Was it really only three years ago yesterday that Steve Jobs announced a product that would ultimately change the way we communicate? The answer is, of course, yes. Like the iPhone, there were …

My Windows Phone experiment

I’ve been a Windows Phone user for a good few years now, It all started off with a Dell Venue Pro, then a Nokia Lumia 800, then an HTC Titan, then my current favourite the HTC 8X, then briefly an HTC 8S and then most recently a Nokia …

Does Apple need to move to 6 monthly releases? – Opinion

Historically Apple has launched a new version of each of its products once a year dating back to the iPod. Even Macs follow this cycle for the most part but October saw a new version of the iPad announced only 8 months after the iPad 3 This has …

My 2013 wishlist – Simon

Let’s face it, 2012 was a year of veritable delights.  From the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 to the iPad Mini the mobile world was once again a technology lovers paradise and 2013 promises to be no different. I’ve had a few wishes for the world of mobile technology …

My 2013 wishlist – Khellan

Continuing the theme of our wishlists for 2013 here is my list of things I’d like to see in then next few months. 1. This is easy. Its at the top of the list: battery life. I’m really tired of being given decent handsets that don’t last the …

My 2013 wishlist – Mark

Well, 2012 was a funny old year wasn’t it! Some of my highlights are as follows; Everyone sued everyone else Apple released a new iPhone (surprise!) Samsung released just about every form factor under the sun including  the behemoth Note 2 (one of my favourite devices of the …

My 2013 wishlist – Tom

My dreams are small, I don’t want much. There are a few things I do long for though. Wireless Charging I know we already have this, and I know we have a standard so this will most likely be something that will actually happen. I just wanted to throw …

My 2013 wishlist – Ronnie

When the idea was put forward that we should do a series of posts on what we would like to see in 2013 I realised that there’s been one thing on my smartphone wishlist every year since I can remember: Better battery life I’m no expert in battery …

A week with…

  I’ve always been a two handset user whenever possible for more years than I’d like to think about. It helped me balance any deficiencies in any one handset, and whilst I’ve had a preference for one type of handset over the other for certain things, there was never a …

My 2013 wishlist – Ravi (the iOS edition)

Putting together an iOS wishlist isn’t actually too easy. Year after year, Apple has slowly been filling in the little gaps, to the point where iOS is now a fairly mature offering. That said, there are still a few things I’d love to see from Apple come WWDC’s …

Coolsmartphone 2012 Awards

It’s been another fantastic year in the smartphone world, with new devices seemingly appearing on a monthly basis. Sales wise, its been dominated by the usual suspects  (Samsung & Apple), but they’ve been far from the only show in town. After much heated debate (filling in a Google …

Make the switch to Windows Phone? – [opinion]

Android, Blackberry OS, iOS, Windows Phone – All current(ish) mobile operating systems and all with their own good points and foibles. I have never made any bones about the fact that I am an Android user. I have had a few Blackberry devices but moved on once the …

What is going on with the Nexus 4? *Updated*

Since the Nexus 4 became available and then promptly sold out on the Play store a few weeks ago, thousands of customers have been waiting for their orders to be delivered and even more have been waiting just for the opportunity to place an order. Anyone who listened …