Category: General

Announced – The Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 Basic

Wireless headphones are definitely appearing in the Coolsmartphone offices more and more of late. Now it’s the turn of Xiaomi, who have developed their £49.99 Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 Basic Bluetooth ones. One full charge will deliver 5 hours of tune, then you can recharge it from …

The new Vodafone Smart GPS Tracker – Curve

This is a little tracker doo-hickey that you pop into or onto your valuables. It’s just £20 from Vodafone to buy, then you pay £2 per month to keep it working. Called “Curve” it’s part of a range of Vodafone smart tech products and will track your stuff …

Comparing mobile phone insurance. Get it right!

It’s got to the point where I now have the cheapest mobile deal in the house. My wife, however, is spending nearly £58 per month on her two-year contract. It’s a crazy amount for a Galaxy S9, however there’s a few “additions” to the package she’s got. The …

Brexit. The roaming nightmare could return.

Britain is now spending billions on Brexit. Those in charge and the British elite have now been given free reign – without EU oversight – to dodge tax regulations and to force businesses into spending £13 billion every year to continue trading with the EU. Those costs, of …

No new Huawei mobile kit after December 31st. All gone by 2027

In a move that is likely going to cost UK mobile networks (and therefore, their customers) billions, the UK government has today announced that mobile providers will be banned from buying any new Huawei 5G equipment after the end of this year. This will delay the rollout of …

EarFun Air Wireless Earbuds – Review

Available for £54.99 as I type, these have a number of attractive benefits. First, the play time is long – some 7 hours before you even consider putting them into the supplied case, which adds another 28 hours of playtime. Also worth noting is that the case, which …

Huawei 5G – It can’t be ripped out easily

Until now, the UK government have decided to allow Huawei to play a role in the 5G deployment here in the UK. Despite US concerns, the UK allowed Huawei to be used in “non-core” kit. However, GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre has delivered new findings into Huawei and …

Why you should never film in portrait

I always flinch when I see “mobile phone footage” on news channels filmed in horrific portrait style. People tend to forget, then when they get home and want to watch their holiday videos on the TV it appears in a tower-thin strip in the middle of their wide-screen …

Old Skool FM and AM to continue for another decade at least in the UK

Despite the growth of DAB and the increasing choice of radio stations, the government here in the UK has reversed plans to close down analogue stations by extending licenses for another 10 years. It means that older car radio equipment will still receive signals until at least 2032. …

How smartphones are changing the way we buy

With a number of challenges for high-street retailers right now, taking money from customers really shouldn’t be one of them. Let’s face it, with coronavirus concerns and high rent, you don’t want to be spending cash on extra staff to keep your stock in check and then accepting …

Centreforce radio. This is why I love technology.

I’ve spoken previously about my annoyance with the selection of music available when you’re out and about. In the “old days” we’d perhaps get in the car and have a crummy selection of FM radio stations which all sounded very similar and very dull. Heart FM, Free Radio, …

Mobile gaming has made online casinos more popular

There was a time, not too far in the disthttps://inkedin.com/paypal-bingo-sites/ant past, when the world of online gambling was dominated by players accessing games using their chunky PC’s and Macs. The internet wasn’t very quick and apps had to be downloaded and installed locally – taking up valuable space …

Sky Mobile partners with Doro. We go up-close with the Doro 8050

We’ve longed covered the elderly-friendly Doro phones. They come with great features such as a friendly and easy-to-understand interface, a step-by-step setup guide and remote help via the MyDoro app. These phones aren’t just all about bigger text and louder sound, but they’ve also tuned audio frequencies for …

Curve cards stop working as dodgy Wirecard nosedives

You may have heard about payment processor Wirecard in the news recently. The Financial Times revealed dodgy transactions and a massive €1.9bn of cash missing from their accounts. The company have filed for insolvency but it’s meant that companies relying on their services have suddenly seen a stop …

Why buy new? gifgaff dishing out some great refurbished phones

Last year I bought my son a reconditioned iPhone. I’ve got him on a SIM-only Virgin Media deal and, because I paid cheap for a second-hand iPhone, it’s a low monthly outgoing. If you’re looking to do something similar, just get yourself a refurbished “like new” phone, find …

Traditional brick and mortar stores struggle as times change

The coronavirus lockdown has forced even the most smartphone illiterate customers to begin doing more of their shopping online. Shops that were already geared up for delivery and “click and collect” have performed really well, including stores like Screwfix, which I’ve visited many times during lockdown for DIY …

Sony Xperia 10 II and Sony Xperia 1 II coming to giffgaff too

Both the “Mark II” versions, news of giffgaff carrying more Sony phones comes just after Sky Mobile added the Xperia 10 II too. The Xperia 10 II will be available to purchase at a “buy outright” price of just £319. You can also stick just the phone on …

Getting a proper web presence for your business – now easier than ever

Have you spent the lockdown thinking about starting your own business? You’ll have several ways of doing it. For many, you can start easily and sell on Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Gumtree, or Shpock. That’s simple enough, and, during the lockdown, that’s what our local cake shop has been …

EE to deliver air-to-ground 4G for the emergency services

EE, working with Nokia, have announced the world’s first 4G Air-to-Ground network. The A2G network will support 300,000 emergency service personnel, providing high speed 4G broadband services, with a range from 500 feet up to 10,000 feet above ground. It’ll deliver seamless connectivity between ground operations and air …

Sky Mobile offers up the Xperia 10 II and Xperia L4

Sitting on the O2 network, Sky Mobile are now ranging the new Sony Xperia 10 II and Sony Xperia L4. Prices start at £18 and £13 per month respectively if you’re OK with 2GB of data. You can bag the Xperia 10 II with 25GB of data for …

FourFit Mini2 – A fitness band designed for kids

Tracking activity, steps, heart rate, lung health, blood pressure and sleep – this is the FourFit Mini 2. During the lockdown, we’re all sat around more, so this FourFit Mini2 will ensure that your child stays active, with daily updates and reminders to get off the sofa or …

UK’s First Shared rural network goes live

In south Wales there’s a small village called Devauden. It’s tucked away in the Wye Valley but has become the first rural community to receive new mobile coverage. Why is this a big deal? Well, the government-backed plan for operators to share masts and other infrastructure hit a …

Tricks for staying safe when using dating apps

A quarter of people in the UK use dating apps to find someone to connect with. They may be looking for love, for companionship, for a serious relationship, or just a bit of fun. No matter what your reasons for using dating apps, it is important that you use them with …

Vodafone stores reopening, but no devices on show.

Perhaps the most annoying thing about buying a phone is the not being able to “test it” first. Getting your hands on the thing, seeing how it works and so on. That’s what we’re here for to a degree, or you can go to a phone shop and …

Virgin Media – Oppo Find X2 phones are go!

Well, things are definitely changing in the mobile landscape. I’ve been here writing about HTC phones, then Huawei and Honor phones but now the likes of Oppo are really on the charge. Virgin Media (sitting on EE masts right now, but switching to Vodafone soon), are making the …

Oppo X2 Pro and X2 Lite arrive on Vodafone

Well, we liked the look of the Oppo X2 Pro and now both the Oppo X2 Pro and X2 Lite have arrived on Vodafone. They’re available on the Vodafone unlimited data plans and you can add Amazon Prime Video, Spotify Premium, Sky Sports Mobile TV or a NOW …

Virgin Media to close UK stores

Liberty Global will not be reopening any of their 53 Virgin Media high street stores, even after the lockdown eases further. This was, in all honesty, coming down the road for a bit after other stores were closed, but now – with most orders coming from the phone …

Seedbox vs. VPN: Which one is the better option?

Do you ever worry about your privacy when you’re online? If you’re not concerned, you should be. Did you know that Binance Exchange, one of the largest companies dealing with crypto-currencies and Bitcoin, lost $41 million in just a single hack? If you’re just browsing the internet then …

TicPods ANC Headphones now available

Looking like a bit of an Apple Airpod / Magic Earbuds cross-over, these are the TicPods ANC earphones. They have full Active Noise Cancelling and you can get 10% off all orders under June 10th. The price is good too, under-cutting most competitors at just £71.99. They take …

Doro and giffgaff dish out phones to isolated elderly people

The last few months have been a definite change for many. We’ve spent lots of time at home, being unable to really go anywhere in particular. It is, however, a fairly normal situation for a lot of senior citizens. Even when everything does re-open, a lot of elderly …

VOXI Dropping big data discounts

The Vodafone owned-and-operated network, VOXI, is rolling out some juicy deals for new and existing customers. From now until June 25th, deals are on offer which will see 50% more data available. As an example, you’ll be able to get 12GB of monthly data for £10 a month …

Happy Birthday UK 5G – One today!

5G has been available here in the UK for a whole year! EE now have 80 large cities and towns across bathed in 5G, with the highest 5G availability compared to all other 5G networks. YouTube is the most popular app for their customers – 5G users are …

How to sabotage your own business with bad data protection

Data breaches can happen to everyone, including small businesses. In fact, attackers often target small businesses because they are the most vulnerable. As companies (and individuals) rely more on technology like cloud computing, the risk of a data breach becomes even more serious. There are more cyberattacks, and …