Category: General

Samsung i730 – Keep it protected

If you're lucky enough to have the Samsung i730 (available in the US here) then you'll probably want to make sure that it's well protected. This is where this new Armor Case comes in, which will stop you scuffing your shiny new device. It's a form-fit...

More on the Music Dock

Lee Smart has emailed regarding our earlier story on the music dock kit. He's found a company in Birmingham called MobileFun that'll do a iMate K-JAM / o2 XDA Mini / T-Mobile MDA Vario version for just £19.99 here. There's also an iMate JAM / T-Mobil...

Do you have a Photo Blog?

I've just added a new category to our links section called photoblogs. If you've got yourself an online photo gallery then submit yours now by logging in and clicking this. It'll then appear after I've approved it and will get cycled around the "Rando...

UTStarcom XV6700 Released on Verizon Wireless

This Verizon Press Release confirms our earlier story about the launch of the XV6700. It's the HTC Apache, which is pretty similar to the HTC Wizard (AKA MDA Vario etc) but with a chunky aerial on the top. According to the Press Release, which you ca...

CES 2006 – Bill Gates and Windows Mobile

Last night Bill Gates made his keynote at CES in Las Vegas (webcast here). In the speech he states that there's now a hundred Smartphones on 93 networks in 55 countries with 5 million devices being shipped in 2006 - 36% up on 2005. The Treo 700w, whic...

Cheapy MiniSD Cards

Are you sat at home sorting through the Christmas gifts and finding socks, socks and more socks? Is your girlfriend / wife out at the sales buying 5 identical-looking tops "because they're half price"? Well maybe it's about time you bought yoursel...

Smartphone Music Dock

Although this has been mentioned before this could feasibly work with other Smartphones like the Orange SPV C500 / C550 / C600 due to the placement of the Mini USB and audio ports. This iMate SP5m Music Dock is available from Brando.com.hk and will he...

Sharp W-Zero3 on show

Some lucky dude at Engadget has got his hands on the Sharp W-ZERO3 / WS003SH Pocket PC Phone. It looks a bit like a PSP and a darker-than-average screen. It's got a megapixel camera, a polished black finish and is bigger than the HTC Universal (M5000...

Happy New Year from CoolSmartPhone

I'm currently vegging out in front of the TV for the regulatory New Years chill-out Day following one too many beers last night. I'd like to pass on my best wishes for a Happy New Year to all our visitors. 2006 is going to be a pretty massive …

HTC Wizard Cradle

Our friends at Boxwave have just launched this HTC Wizard cradle. The Wizard is known as the O2 XDA Mini, Orange SPV M3000, T-Mobile MDA Vario, Qtek 9100 and the i-mate K-JAM. If you'd like yours to sit up straight in it's own special holder then this...

Verizon to launch XV6700 January 5th

Engadget are reporting that the HTC Apache will be launched under the "Verizon XV6700" name on January 5th. You may remember that competitor Sprint launched the same thing as the PPC 6700 some months back. Although Verizon have a bit of catching-up to...

C600 – Now for upgraders too

The Orange SPV C600 is now available if you're upgrading here. However, we've spotted a strange thing. A lot of people have noticed that Orange Backup has vanished on the C600. According to the mails we've received it's been removed because the persis...

Christmas Wishes from CoolSmartPhone

We're now running at well over 9 million hits per month according to the stats, which continues to rise month by month. I love doing this site because of the supportive and appreciative emails dropping into my inbox, so today I just wanted to say a ma...

Crazy Frog gets £40,000 fine

Oh shame, the ringtone provider behind the demon cartoon character from hell has been fined £40,000 by phone regulator "Icstis". The ruling which can be found here - states that.. "......following the receipt of consumer complaints by ICSTIS ... in...

Gigabyte g-Smart with Push Email and TV

This is the Gigabyte g-Smart Pocket PC Phone with built-in TV and radio (not digital though), a 2.1 mega pixel camera, Windows Mobile 5.0, a free 256Mb MiniSD card, Bluetooth, WiFi AND Push Email! Although currently only available in Taiwan, it is at ...

Podcast 16 Online

What better thing to do on a Friday than record a huge great Christmas Podcast! This is a big-ass mother of a Podcast, with news of the C600, Visto trouble, free games, the Samsung i300, the MDA Compact II, our reviews and me being raced by some dude …

Visto launches a triple attack against MS

It's all kicked off today in the "push email" arena. True "push email" is promised on Windows Mobile devices early in 2006, however a company called Visto have taken great exception to the technology being used by Microsoft to do this, saying that it ...

Mio A201 GPS Device now available

The Register are reporting the launch of the Mio A201 GPS-ready Pocket PC device. Although slightly larger it does have a flap and swivel GPS unit so that you can use the sat-nav display in any orientation you please. It also comes with the SiRFStar I...

Cingular 2125 Goes On Sale

So we've already mentioned that the Orange SPV C600 is on sale here in the UK, plus we've reviewed it too. Well, today you can now also get the American cousin of the SPV C600 in the shape of the Cingular 2125. The "bulgy version" is now on …

Atomiclava Closes Down

The much-praised mobile photo-blogging service at AtomicLava.net is to close its doors. In a statement James and the team said..."I regret to inform you that the service will be shutting down in the New Year. Its been a fun ride over the last 2 years;...

RoverPC M1 – Russia gets a Smartphone too

This afternoon I took a trip across to Russia, wait.. perhaps it was a disused military base in the UK. Either way, I found this RoverPC M1 Smartphone. It's even got a "Çåðêàëî äëÿ àâòîïîðòðåòíîé ñú¸ìêè", which I think is...

Bad news – The M3000 is DEFINITELY not coming to the UK

OK so first up today a bit of bad news. I'm sure you'll all remember our campaign to try and get the Orange SPV M3000 released on Orange UK. o2 are releasing it as the XDA Mini and T-Mobile let us borrow one in the shape of the …

C600 Review Update!

Nearly done! Gimme another few hours. Sorry about this. I've been taking a day or two off to do some much-needed Christmas shopping and house-related stuff, so everything has been on pause. I've also got around 230 emails to respond to, so apologies a...

Something a little different this Friday

We're building up a reputation for bringing you fun stuff every Friday. This week is a little different, but it's still rather excellent indeed. It all started when Mark Lee emailed in to say that he had some MP3's for the unsigned artists section of ...

Splashblog – New version

Just a quick note about my photo blog. It's now had a bit of a move and is being hosted on Splashblog.com along with the CoolSmartPhone User Blog and my gadget blog. Don't forget, if you want to turn your Smartphone camera shots into an instant online...

Mio A701 comes to Europe

After their earlier story, online tabloid TheRegister is reporting that the Mio A701 handset, with Windows Mobile 5.0 and in-built GPS unit, will be available in ajust a couple of weeks. Loaded with a 520Mhz Processor and 1 Mega pixel camera the A701 ...

Orange Calling Tunes

Jon Pewtner has emailed in about a new feature on Orange. They've recently introduced a new feature called "Orange Calling Tunes". This allows callers to hear a funky musical ringing tone over the top of the usual, "ring ring" tone. Plus you can even ...

Orange Netherlands Launch the M3000 and C600

Orange Netherlands have officially announced the launch of the Orange SPV C600 and much sought-after Orange SPV M3000 in the today. Although we knew they were launched already, this is confirmation from Orange Netherlands themselves that they are to l...

Teddyfone – A mobile for four-year-olds?

What's this ? A teddy bear ? Well yes, but it's also a mobile phone. This cute device has been causing quite a stir on news sites today because it's aimed squarely at children. There's no screen or ringtone uploads here, which is a good thing. There's...

Podcast 15 Online!

Here it is, Podcast number 15 from CoolSmartPhone.com. Recorded just a few hours so it's still piping hot, even if the weather outside wasn't! Link - CoolSmartPhone Podcast 15

So, how did you lose that mobile phone?

We ran a story last week asking you guys to send in your "how I lost my phone" stories. We had stacks. Unfortunately we also had a lot of, "How I didn't really lose my phone, but swindled the insurance to get a new one" stories, which I've …

Our Podcasts ARE coming back!

Aha! At last I've managed to get myself a new microphone, so the CoolSmartPhone Podcasts should soon be back in full swing! Er.. well, hopefully. This is my car at 1.30 this afternoon. Normally I do Podcasts whilst driving home - it's just a matter o...

HTC clarify HSPDA stance

HTC have confirmed to The Register that High Speed Data Packet Access (HSDPA) handsets are on the 2006 roadmap. HTC President Peter Chou said that HSDPA support should be available for "The second half of next year" and that integrated GPS technology ...

Editorial: Sorry Orange 3G, I was wrong..

I have a confession to make. About a year ago I tested the Sony Ericsson Z1010 on the Orange 3G network just a week before Orange 3G was launched. It was terrible - not just the phone, that alone was bad enough - it would freeze half-way through …

Your Photo Blog – Overhauled .. and now fixed!!

Last week we mentioned the launch of Splashblog onto the Smartphone. It's a free piece of software that lets you get your photos on the web quickly and easily. Well, that got me thinking about the "Your Blog" feature and how it could be improved. Than...

o2 and Orange pushing Windows Mobile Power

After seeing both the o2 and Orange November / December catalogues it's looking decidedly good for Windows Mobile devices. In the o2 brochure there's confirmation of our earlier story with the o2 XDA Mini S being advertised (that's the HTC Wizard - th...

Eten M600 goes live with European Distributor

Distributor Shaston AG have announced that they will be responsible for pushing the new Eten M600 out across Europe. The device can now be shipped directly after being ordered through the Eten.com website. The English, French and German versions of th...

I’m totally on the ball me..

I was out shopping the other day and spotted about 10 people with Windows Smartphones. Fair play to all of you in Cheshire Oaks, you've got taste. It's a bit of a shame that you didn't recognise me, but then - I don't like getting hassled for autograp...

Downer!

A few bits of bad news today. Firstly, it looks like we'll have to wait even longer for the Samsung i300 Smartphone. Paul has emailed in has mailed in after noticing this on the o2.co.uk website. Originally this was scheduled for an October release, b...

o2 Puts the pedal to the metal

o2 has announced that it is to roll out HSDPA by Q3 next year (2006). Woahoa! Stop. What is HSPDA ? Well, I had a look on the internet and found this explanation.. "HSPDA works by moving important processing functions closer to the air interface. Alt...