Category: General

Three bins the Business business

Looking for a business contract on Three? Move along please, there’s nothing to see. Three, according to Mobile News, have decided to stop taking on business customers to focus more on normal consumers instead. Dealer codes have been cancelled and business contracts will no longer be sold. According …

Dixons, Currys and PC World all knocked offline

The work of Anonymous? No, it seems that all of the sites in the Dixons Stores Group (DSG) have been knocked sideways by a “fibre problem”. No worries though, we’re sure that the TechGuys are working on it 😉 Link – Dixons

GEAR4 Airzone Series 1 Review

One of my favourite iOS features is Airplay. The ability to send Audio and/or video wirelessly to a device such as an Apple TV or something like a Gear4 Airzone Series 1 speaker dock is pretty useful and handily I have been using the latter for the last …

Mozilla “Boot To Gecko” Devices Could Ship Late 2012

A smartphone running an operating system that has been developed by the makers of the popular Firefox browser could go on sale as early as late 2012 according to recent reports. The handsets, which have been long awaited following the announcement back in mid-2011 and which will run …

Sony Smartwatch – Review

It’s here, it’s really here! I was so excited to see the ‘missed delivery’ card from the postman, knowing what was in the packet. I had been anxiously waiting for the delivery from Clove since I first read about the new version of the SmartWatch, hoping Sony had improved …

Barclays Unveils Paytag: NFC Payments from any mobile!

In the US there is Google Wallet but here in the UK, NFC and contactless payment has been very slow to take off. Issues around trust and security have led to a sceptical public which in turn has led to retailers unwilling to commit and the banks treading very …

Ubuntu Smartphone OS on the way?

Ubuntu is one of the most well known Linux variants for desktop and laptop computers, but its creator, Canonical, has plans to extend its’ reach a tad further with different versions of the OS. That is if a job listing on their website is to be believed. Have …

Larry Page says “Android isn’t critical”

It’s what many consider to be the biggest legal battle in the technology industry at the moment and it all kicked off this week. Oracle Vs Google are in dispute over the licensing and use of Java and whilst I’m not here to break down the legalities of …

Panasonic Eluga Now Available From Expansys

As detailed in February and revealed at MWC, the Panasonic Eluga is now available in the UK. Running with a 1GHZ dual core CPU, an 8 megapixel rear camera,Wi-Fi, NFC, and running Android 2.3 (soon to be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich) the phone has a 4.3″ display and …

Samsung rolling out Ice Cream Sandwich for Unbranded Galaxy SII’s

It’s been a bit of a wait but now owners of unbranded Samsung Galaxy SII’s can get their hands on some Ice Cream Sandwich goodness. The update is available through Kies and we recommend updating to the newest version beforehand. The update also comes with some improvements to …

Coolsmartphone Available on Google Currents

A few days ago I wrote about Google Currents now being available internationally. Well, the good news is that Coolsmartphone.com is available to view on the excellent newsreader resplendent with all its images. So, heres how to add everyones favourite smartphone site to your list of subscribed sites …

Go behind the scenes with Samuria Software

Tyler Moore starts his new job programming smartphone apps at Samurai Software under Gene Diblasko, and things get weird. This is the brief bio for a new web series titled App Holes which centres around the developers of third-rate smartphone applications, the sort of apps that are popular …

Pebble E-Paper Smart Watch Breaks Kickstarter records

Since the Double Fine Adventure Game Kickstarter funding back in February, Kickstarter seems to have kicked into high gear for tech related projects. The latest record holder and one that I’m personally backing, is the Pebble E-Paper Smart Watch. In simple terms it connects to your iPhone or Android mobile …

Should we bring the forum back?

Today we had an interesting discussion amongst the brilliant writers here at Coolsmartphone. It’s a discussion that is still going on now, and emails are flying around pretty quickly. This got me thinking. I kinda miss the forum in a way. Discussions like the one we’re having via …

Official UEFA 2012 App Launched

Football or for our stateside visitors Soccer is once again about to explode to the fore with the advent of Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. To accompany this extravagaza Orange in conjunction with UEFA have released the official Euro 2012 app across 8 (yes, eight) mobile platforms …

OneCable – Reduce your cluttered cable collection

Hey, you lovely, lovely people. How would like a cable that does (almost) everything? This OneCable Sync and Charge cable should hopefully clear away some of those random cables that are probably cluttering up your home. It costs £9.99 and uses the seatbelt-style retractable mechanism to keep everything …

European networks kick Nokia when they’re down

Reuters are reporting that European carriers faith in Nokia is quite low at the moment. They’ve gone as far as to say “If the Lumia with the same hardware came with Android in it and not Windows, it would be much easier to sell” This comes off the …

US: MGM Joins the Play Revolution

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer have today joined forces with Google Play and You Tube to add over 600 titles for rental in the United States and Canada. This means there are now five of the six major studios and over ten independent movie studios, currently offering movies for rent on YouTube and …

Google Drive Launching for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS

Following this report earlier in April, a draft release from one of Google’s partners reveals details of the upcoming challenger to Dropbox, Google Drive. Rolling out with 5gb of storage for all, and operating from https://drive.google.com this could be all set to be a major competitor to Dropbox.   It …

ASUS opens registrations for Transformer Prime GPS dongle

When the Transformer Prime launched there were a lot of complaints about poor GPS signal and as a result, ASUS have decided to release a GPS dongle that can be added to the device to improve the signal. ASUS announced yesterday on twitter that registrations were now open …

Andriod App: Minimal Twidget (alpha)

From the maker of the highly rated Minimal Reader Pro comes this alpha version of Minimal Twidget. For some time I have been looking for a clean, slick and scrollable twitter widget that is easily configurable and fits in with the overall look of my homescreens.  Minimal Twidget alpha seems …

Samsung 16GB microSD going cheap, today only

Shh.. don’t tell anyone, especially not that guy in the office who doesn’t wash and sits with his headphones on all day. Those eXpansys people are flogging a Class 10 Samsung 16GB microSD card for £12.99, but it’s for today only and stock is limited. Go go! Link …

How the blind use smartphones

Have you ever looked in the Accessibility options on your phone? There’s a load of options that you’ve probably never really tried. However, for those with eyesight problems these options are invaluable and this YouTube video from Tommy Edison shows how he uses his iPhone 4S to communicate …

Targus Click-In Case for iPad Review

The Targus Click-In is a case which, from the front, resembles Apples leather smart cover but where it differs is that it also offers protection for the back of the device for the same price. I’ve been using it for over a month, here are my thoughts. The …

Three launch the Galaxy Y

The entry-level Galaxy Y may not be for everyone, but for the money this will get many onto the smartphone ladder and looks pretty swish too. Powered by an 832MHz CPU it’s got a 2 megapixel camera, 3.0” QVGA screen and it sounds like Three are chucking in …

WoodPad Review

If you’re anything like me, sometimes you want somewhere to put your iPad when it doesn’t need to be in your hand. I’m always concerned if I lay it down somewhere that the back will get scratched or it’ll get knocked over. Both of those problems are solved …

The Google Doomsday Scenario – Are You Safe?

If like me you have an Android phone, the chances are that your life is inextricably linked to Google.  You probably have a Gmail account.  Your contact book is stored on Google’s servers, if you are one of the 100million users that signed up to Google+ or use …

Are you a polite mobile user?

What happens when you’re in the middle of a phone conversation and head to the checkouts? I’ve done it a few times, and you have to decide. Do I drop the call with my wife / husband / boss and pay attention to the checkout lady or do …

Google Currents Goes International

In December 2011 Google released Google Currents for Android and iOS in the United States.  This app let users explore online magazines and other user generated content. Since the release users have requested that the app be made available internationally and that the speed of updating increases. From …

Favourite Android Apps: WiFi File Transfer Pro

Like most smartphone users I  have apps that I simply cannot do without and WiFi File Transfer certainly fits into that bracket. Put simply, WiFi file transfer allows you to upload and download files from your phone to your PC over your wireless network without the need for …

Instacast for iOS review

Recently I realised I had a problem. I listen to a lot of podcasts and the built in iOS way of handling these is problematic. They are downloaded from the iTunes app and listened to in the podcast section of the Music app which is confusing from the …

Gadget Show Live 2012

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the trade only day of Gadget Show Live 2012 at the NEC in Birmngham. This was a great experience and I am grateful to Otone Audio who were good enough to provide my ticket for me to attend. I will hopefully …

Sopcast Now Available On Android

Sopcast, the popular streaming application is now available on the Android platform. Currently in beta, the app runs on any Android device currently using version 2.2 or above. Sopcast say that as well as supporting P2P live channels it can play most types of local audio and video …

Save Coolsmartphone – The winners

OK, short version. About a week ago we found out that this very site was going to be taken off-line. It all revolved around a rather substantial excess bandwidth charge. Thankfully, you guys cam to our rescue and generously donarted your own hard-earned cash to keep the ship …

Facebook to buy Instagram

The Founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has today announced his plans to buy the popular Photo taking/sharing website Instagram. The deal, which is still to be approved by the regulatory bodies, is said to be worth $1 billion, made up of cash and shares. I am new to …

In app advertising impacting battery life

Recently I carried out a full reset of my lovely Samsung Galaxy Nexus as it couldn’t survive more than 4 hours away from a charging source, truly shocking! I went through all my settings and my apps and removed any that I thought could be causing the problem …

UPDATE – The biggest Coolsmartphone giveaway

Three days ago we had a rather huge problem. Some very unexpected charges were added onto our monthly hosting costs for one of our servers. It seemed that we’d breached some “fair use” policy regarding “unlimited” bandwidth. Either way, we had until Friday to pay an unbelievable amount …

Tesco Tops Which? Satisfaction survey

It has been announced that Tesco Mobile has come top in Which? magazines annual Mobile Phone Satisfaction Survey for 2012. Beating competition from the big four providers, the supermarket was the only network to achieve a 5 star rating for cost. Tesco claim that this is due to …

Ofcom to make 0800 numbers free, even from mobile networks

Here in the UK you can dial an 0800 number and it’ll be free. However, it’s only free if you’re using a landline. If you’re using a mobile phone you suddenly become all special and the networks delight in adding a fee for you to call it. The …