Category: General
The day has come when Nokia will stand up and be recognised as a force to be reckoned with. This stance comes in the form of the stunning Lumia 1520. This large (there is no hiding it really) phone is the one that has been designed to bring …
Blackberry haven’t fared too well in the handset game in recent times which is in direct contradiction to their newest partner LG. An announcement made by Blackberry today confirms that the two companies are teaming up in order to bring BBM to all new LG Android handsets starting …
Some more images of the rumoured Oppo R1 have surfaced. This time they are hands on from an anonymous source. GSM Insider picked up some images from Weibo they come below. Rumoured specs to go with the images are that the device will include an 8 MegaPixel Camera, …
The latest update to SwiftKey keyboard brings improvement to the installation process, but most importantly also brings a bit of winter cheer with a new keyboard theme. After switching over to the new “Ice” theme, you’ll be greeted by a deep blue background with snow-capped keys that drop …
British Airways is to become the first European airline to allow the use of electronic devices, including phones and tablets, during take-off and landing. Thus bringing the end to a 1960’s ruling. The decision was approved by the British Civil Aviation Authority according to a BBC report, and follows an earlier relaxation …
My lunch break has become increasingly interesting in recent years. I meet new people and literally bump into them as I head out to grab a sandwich. It’s the “phone zombies” – those people who walk down a street staring at their phones. They put walking and avoiding …
I must admit I’m a heavy Evernote user, I use it for everything – shopping lists, I take a picture of where I park the car, and when ever I buy anything on line I always clip the receipt/order confirmation page to Evernote. An update to the Evernote app is …
There has been an update today to the BBC’s iPlayer radio app for Android which sees several enhancements. The main feature to be added is support for widgets, now you can add your favourite station straight to your homescreen and scale the widget to the size that you …
The GamePad will launch in European markets for Android phones between 4-inches and 6.3-inches, and be compatible with devices running Jelly Bean or higher with Bluetooth 3.0. It goes without saying special attention has been made to Samsung phones, and the “most convenient features optimized for Samsung Galaxy devices running …
Coolsmartphone veterans will no doubt remember our review of The Brick. It’s a lightweight version of the large mobile phones we walked around with in the 80s. It’s SIM-free and was £50 when we included it in our festive gift guide. How’s less than £30 sound instead? If …
Getting Secret Santa, stocking fillers and table presents for geeks technology lovers can sometimes be a difficult task, but the HexStyli 6-in-1 stylus could be six answers all in one (cue Kinder Surprise jingle – other chocolate eggs are available). The HexStyli 6-in-1 is not only a bit …
If you’re looking for a good deal on an Android tablet for someone this Christmas, then Amazon might be worth a look. Currently you can pick up the white Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7-inch for just £119.99. Sure, it’s not going to set your pants on fire, but …
HTC is continuing to keep their promise of providing updates to their recent handsets with an over the air (OTA) update to the HTC One mini. Android 4.3 improvements are well documented; the update includes improved multi-tasking, music player improvements and an updated user interface. However, the big …
Spending time with your new-born baby. What more could anyone ask for eh? Those precious moments when your child smiles for the first time, or looks at you with those innocent eyes. Ahhhh… ..well, if you’d like to strap your baby into a seat and distance yourself totally …
So, you’ve heard about EE and their 4G network. You can get double-speed 4G in Birmingham and some of my lovely scenic local towns – Sutton Coldfield, Walsall, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton. That’s all very clever, but whenever we run a story about the speedy 4G network there’s …
So, err.. how’s that 4G thing coming along eh? (Family guy reference) Hmm? Got a big, uh, big stack of papers there? Got a, got a, got a nice little story you working on there? Your big -big 4G thing you’ve been working on? Hmm? Got a, got …
Let’s talk Smart TV’s shall we? They’re pretty rubbish aren’t they? I bought one of these, thinking I’d be sitting there with my 3D glasses on watching some movies on Netflix or videos on YouTube. However, by the time the clunky interface has booted and you’ve sat through …
That’s right now due to a recent update to Google Play Books you can carry all of your digital library with you and easily access more of it when out and about. All you need is a web connection and an Android device and you are good to …
New in Android 4.0.3 and above it the ability to have USB On-the-Go (OTG). This basically alllows devices to plug into your phone through the microUSB port whilst your phone or tablet acts as a host. With a lot of phones now not having microSD card slot, despite …
A common bugbear among mobile users is that you can have all the free minutes in the world but it still costs you money to phone an 0800 number, so this and broadband are the often the main reason people keep a landline. With 4G on the rise, …
Having an infra red blaster on my phone has recently become something that I can really appreciate. The app offerings from HTC, LG and Samsung are a bit basic or they get bogged down with TV listings and the like. What I wanted was something I could fiddle …
Shopping days are running out rapidly, panic buying will soon be setting in. The festive period is nearly upon us and all of the shops are playing that peskily annoying Christmas music that we have all heard a million times before. The old ladies are saying “Oooo I …
No one realised the potential of the franchise when the original Grand Theft Auto launched way back in the depths of beyond. The top down splat them up was a great success and was swiftly followed by sequel after sequel with the latest installment becoming one of the …
It was hinted at a short while ago (here to be precise) but it is now official, Spotify users can now stream music for free on the iOS and Android apps, but not Windows Phone yet. This now brings the apps in line with the desktop version of …
Almost everyone knows of Angry Birds now and Rovio have fired out another game continuing the series. This one is a little different to the usual fling the birds at the pigs. The birds are driving cars. Check out the trailer below. The game has come to the …
One of the major unique selling points of the newer Nexus devices is the ability to charge wirelessly. The Nexus 4 had an orb shaped wireless charger which took an age to appear in the UK however the new version, a small slab of a thing has now …
One of the most popular third party launchers available for Android is Teslacoil’s Nova Launcher. The feature packed app has now seen a major update which brings it into line with Android 4.4 Kitkat after the release of the beta version a little over a month ago. Many …
The rather good and much loved Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 has spawned the inevitable spin off merchandise and of course mobile games. Despicable Me: Minion rush is one such game, an endless runner in 3D that is already a massive hit on Android and iOS and …
Minis are all the rage right now, we’ve seen the Samsung Galaxy S3 mini, Samsung Galaxy S4 mini, the HTC One mini and the errr… BMW Mini! Apart from the latter, they aim to take the essence of the highly successful original and re-package it into a more …
Chromecast has now been available in the US for a number of months and has slowly seen more functionality added as time passes. This slow increase has now seen a major step change as Google today revealed that 10 new apps have been made available right now. The …
Chipmaker Qualcomm has announced its new Snapdragon 410. The new SoC chip is to be sub £200 bringing LTE technology to the budget line of handsets as well as the flagship devices. Bringing with it 64-Bit power, built on a 28nm manfacturing process, coupled with the Adreno 306 …
Twitter for iOS got an update today. Coming in at version 6 you now get added “enhancements”. The focus of this update seems to be on direct messaging. A refreshed look and feel makes it easier to access your direct messages. Not only that, direct messages can now …
Google today released an update to the Google Books App. The update now brings additional functionality including giving you the ability to upload EPUB or PDF files to your library from your phone or tablet. The full changelog is as follows Books open more quickly and smoothly. Upload …
Welcome to the next edition of the Coolsmartphone writers’ wish list for 2014, in which we hope to entertain, spark discussion, and secretly hope that the design gurus for all major manufacturers are hanging on our every word. I have a bone to pick with James’ comment that …
Keeping your gadgets dry is a rather difficult task and it’s a task that many of you out there might never have to do. Some people work in rough or difficult environments, some people spend a lot of their working day getting soaked to the skin and some …
A few weeks ago I got a bit carried away, I accidentally bought two Nexus 5 in the crazy initial rush to buy one before the all of the stock disappeared, I didn’t need one, I didn’t really want one, I suppose I just felt obliged to buy …
According to the Wall Street Journal Spotify is planning free, ad-supported listening for its iOS and Android apps. In the past, Spotify has limited mobile listening to “Premium” paying members. Free, ad-supported listening was only available on desktop and laptop computers. With the policy change, non-paying listeners will …
Federal Trade Commission stated GoldenShores Technologies took ID and location data from the millions using its Brightest Flashlight app. The developer shared the data with ad networks but did not tell users about this practice. To settle the charges, GoldenShores has agreed to give users more control over …
Last year we all wrote up our hopes and dreams for the year to come, I wrote about Windows Phone as it’s something I’m fond of and the other guys will all just want to write about Android. So here we go, here is what I would like …
The new version of KitKat brings lots of smaller changes Following the first maintenance release of Android KitKat, the big news is that there are many camera fixes and enhancements for the Nexus 5, but it turns out there are also a lot of smaller changes and improvements …
