Category: General

App Review – Retro Recall

The idea behind this app, as the name suggests is to provide images of various retro films/toys/songs etc and includes a link to the relevant Wikipedia website for that particular subject. The app has the ability to set favourites and you can also share items by email, Facebook, …

Three Price Up Samsung Galaxy W

Three have their new brochure out and this shows off the Samsung Galaxy W with a price of £22 a month giving you 100 Minutes, 5000 Texts and 500MB Internet.  The Samsung Galaxy W will also be available on other plans including the popular One Plan giving you …

T-Mobile and Orange also offering the white Galaxy SII

Eeek.. OK, the white Samsung Galaxy SII is now almost everywhere. T-Mobile have now joined O2, Vodafone and Three in offering the handset. It’s free on T-Mobile on plans costing £35.75 or more per month. Edit – Looks like Orange is selling it too, so now every UK …

Sony Ericsson Xperia ray on the way to O2

O2 are also set to range both the Sony Ericsson Xperia mini Pro and the Sony Ericsson Xperia ray. The Xperia ray is just 9.4mm thick and has a 3.3″ 854×480 screen, 8.1 megapixel camera (with that clever Exmore R technology for better low-light shots) and is powered …

The beginning of the end of T-Mobile?

Everything Everywhere, the company formed by the “merger” of Orange and T-Mobile has a new executive Olaf Swantee, and on his second day in the job he has reduced the senior management team from 25 to 10 people. What stands out though, is that all the former T-Mobile …

White Galaxy SII now available on Vodafone

It’s been just days since we spotted the all-white Galaxy SII was on its way to Vodafone. Today it’s appeared on the Vodafone site and you can get the pearly white version for nothing on £36 per month plans. The white version is also available on Three on …

Virgin Media adds more grunt to Three, Orange and T-Mobile

If you’re browsing the web on Three, T-Mobile or Orange, listen up. A new deal has been struck with VIrgin Media Business to give the networks use of their network, plus they will add 14 regional datacentres to add extra bandwidth to the three networks. The deal is …

IFA – The booth babes

So, those of you who have read coolsmartphone.com for a while may remember a site called msmobiles.com. It’s been sold on now and redirects to another site. The guy behind msmobiles.com was Edward, and he’s sent us a report from the IFA Electronics Show. We weren’t going to …

We’re a little slow today…

Today we noticed some serious speed issues and drop-outs on the site. It is, as with a number of connectivity issues nowadays, due to a fibre-optic cable being cut. Usually fibre failures are due to thieves assuming that it’s copper cable and want it for the ever increasing …

Three Launch HSPA+ MiFi

Three have just launched their new MiFi device here in the UK with the biggest upgrade being access to the new high speed HSPA+ network which supports speeds of up to 21mb/s and gives you 40% faster speeds than the older device. It also comes with a nice …

App Review – Lingvo Dictionaries

There’s no doubt that the iPhone has made my life easier when it comes to travelling – from booking accommodation, to finding places to go and viewing a map of how to get there. Aiming to become the latest addition to my arsenal of travel-assisting apps is Lingvo …

App Review – ParcelGenie

OK, this one is for you busy people. The idea behind ParcelGenie is sending a gift to any recipient in your phone via the ParcelGenie app (there are other ways too, including Facebook). You don’t need to know the recipient’s postal address, just their phone number or email …

Mobile internet use on the rise

A new survey by ONS has revealed that almost half of internet users in the UK now browse on their mobiles. Amongst the 16 to 24-year-old age-group the stats were even higher, with 71% going online through their mobile. The survey showed that 45% of people used the …

MotorMusic app review

I’m imagining here that most, if not all, folks who own an iPhone 4 use it as a direct replacement for their MP3 player. Convergence is fantastic when it prevents you having to carry additional devices and the single device works as well as your previous music player. …

HTC Evening Live News

HTC are hosting a get together in London tomorrow evening (Thursday 1st) with press and general public coming along to see tech and talk tech with each other plus get some nice food and drink hopefully. The team are attending and we will be bringing you any news or information …

Nokia Closes Developer Forum

In the early hours of this morning I got an email from the Nokia Developer Forum. The email tells me that the forum has been compromised and my email address has been accessed. The hacker/s used an SQL injection to gain access to database table records that contain …

BBC Coverage Survey – The results are in

Last month the BBC launched a survey to try and find the actual mobile coverage in the UK. To take part you simply needed to download an Android application and use your phone as normal. The app then logged whether you were on a 3G or 2G connection …

Bargain frenzy – The HP TouchPad at dabs.com

If you’re still looking for a HP TouchPad then quickly check out dabs.com. They’ve just dropped prices down to £105.. although their site appears to have buckled under the load.. and, when it does load, shows a higher price. (Update – It’s now showing the new lower price) …

HP TouchPad continues to fill bargain bins everywhere

Prices on the HP TouchPad continue to tumble, with Dixons now knocking down the 16GB version to just £89, or £115 for the 32GB variant. This isn’t just a normal price cut, this is a massive price explosion. The 32GB TouchPad used to be a stonking £429.99, now …

Is your local mobile mast hidden ?

You may remember how I asked whether you’d spotted any hidden mobile phone masts recently and we’ve had a number of pictures. If you’ve used the Ofcom site to find your local mast then this could be what you’ve seen… They’re not pretty. Huge, imposing towers which are, …

HP TouchPad TouchDown Prices!

So HP announced that they’re pulling out of the PC Market (via sell off like IBM did a few years back to Lenovo), and also killing off their WebOS devices. We’ll leave the why’s & wherefore’s to another Samsung/ Apple industry crushing debate another day… However – who …

ExpenseMagic App

Do you work for a company? Do you work for yourself? Then the one thing you’ll be all to familiar with is the Expenses routine. Claiming for milage, train tickets, meals, etc. is all too painful an experience nowadays! Even worse when you lose one of those tatty old receipts… Well …

HP kills off WebOS!

Well this caught us all out! HP have just announced that they are to “discontinue operations for WebOS, specifically Touchpad and WebOS phones” – that’ll be the just about/to be launched Pre3. The handset is just about available but it rang alarm bells when the handset received an …

Three add new MiFi kit to their range

The new Huawei E586 MiFi is due to arrive on Three shortly. Using this gadget, users will be able to create a personal mobile WiFi hotspot which is powered by the Three network. Three are aiming to have 80% of their network upgraded to HSPA+ by the end …

Google to acquire Motorola Mobility

Ok, this is big news! Google have announced they are to acquire Motorola’s mobile phone and tablet business for $12.5 billion. This puts Google directly into the hardware business, like Apple, but actually there seems to be a different motive. The tech industry has recently become rather courtroom based, …

Some rather strange iPhone accessories

This particular iPhone accessory freaked me out quite a bit when it appeared in the b3ta.com newsletter. According to the website selling it they try and qualify the need for a childs hand to be stuck to the back of your handset.. You could hold hands with your …

Orange Monte Carlo – send us your questions

I got home this evening to find a lovely Orange Monte Carlo review unit waiting for me, courtesy of the one and only Conor from Orange. I’m hoping to have a review up by Monday but I wanted to give readers the chance to ask any questions they …

Is technology to blame for the riots?

The recent riots here in the UK have scared many and caused the destruction of property, livelihoods and homes. The media has been quick to blame technology – “social networking sites” and BlackBerry handsets are mentioned time and time again in new bulletins and reports. Yes, technology allows …

Facebook launch Messenger for Mobile

Facebook have announced the imminent launch of new messenger apps for Android and iOS. The app allows you to easily chat with your friends either one to one or in groups. The apps integrate with Facebook Messages and aggregate all your messages including texts, chats and emails. This …

Google+ now available on iPad/iPod Touch

Google have now made their Google+ available for all the iPad and iPod Touch users who were left out  when the app originally launched on iPhone last month. There aren’t any discernible differences between the new version and the previous iPhone only one so it’s unclear why the …

Make yourself a free mobile phone holder

We get a lot of companies trying to promote their gear. Chris from ur-mobile.com emailed in about a totally free mobile phone holder. Sure, we were interested, but after watching the video we’ve decided not to try with our brand new handsets .. just yet… Link – YouTube

LG Optimus 3D arrives on Orange

Good news if you’re looking for the LG Optimus 3D on Orange. The network has just made it available through their stores, online and through phone sales. Available for free on £40, 24 month plans, it features dual 5 megapixel cameras, HD video recording, WiFi, GPS and a …

Samsung Galaxy SII on Orange – Now with Signal Boost

A few days back we spotted that Android 2.3.4 was arriving for the rather excellent Samsung Galaxy SII. Now, if you’re on Orange you won’t be getting that version just yet but, if you do update your Orange branded handset, you do get UMA. UMA is called “Signal …

Apple Release iOS 5 Beta 5

Today, Apple let out it’s latest addition to the iOS 5 Beta’s to developers, Beta 5. Just a minute though, before jumping in and downloading this update or updating via OTA from Beta 4, let me make you all aware of something else. If you have registered your …

UMA / Signal Boost. Just what is it ?

Has your phone got UMA technology? What? You don’t know what it is? Well, the technology has been kicking around for some time now and there’s a few networks and handsets supporting it. It stands for “Unlicensed Mobile Access” and networks tend to call it something different because …

Cut the Rope sequel out now (updated)

Zeptolab will be releasing a sequel to the much loved Cut the Rope later today. The original has been raking in the cash on iOS for many months now and also found it’s way to Android back in June. The new game is dubbed Cut the Rope: Experiments …

Ripping – Soon to be legal in the UK

Got yourself a CD or a DVD ? Want to rip it to MP3 or an MP4 video file so that you can play it on your phone ? Woah.. wait a minute there soldier, you’ve probably just broken the law. At least, that’s the way things used …

Unlock a phone, unlock a chicken!

Slightly cryptic I know, plus I’m abusing my position here at Coolsmartphone promoting this but I’m sure Leigh won’t mind. Basically GiffGaff are running a promotion that for every SIM activated they will “free” a battery chicken. Two reasons to promote this, firstly GiffGaff SIMs are great value …

White Galaxy SII to arrive on Vodafone too

Looking for the rather splendid Samsung Galaxy SII ? Want it in white ? Well, we know already that Three will be selling the white version but now Vodafone will be too. A Voda representative told SoMobile that.. Yes, we will be getting the white Galaxy S2. Check …

Xperia Mini Pro showing on the Orange website

We got a good look at the all-new Xperia Mini handsets some months ago. The “Pro” model is powered by a 1GHz CPU and has a 5 megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording, Bluetooth, FM radio, GPS, 3″ screen, 3.5mm audio port, WiFi and 1200mAh battery. Despite …