Category: General

If you watch the unveil of the KitKat statue (if that’s the right word for it), someone at the Googleplex was spotted using an unknown Nexus branded device. That device was presumed to be the Nexus 5 and now it’s arrived at the FCC for regulatory approval. Luckily …

A smartwatch isn’t high up on my shopping list if I’m honest. For me, I’ve got into the habit of checking my phone for the date or time. I simply never wear a watch, but there’s no denying the fact that many still value them. The Sony Smartwatch …

Growing up I remember Panasonic as one of the leading consumer electronics brands.  TV’s, stereos, video recorders, cordless landline telephones and so on.  Then as the cellphone was invented they made their way into that market too.  They were so successful that in 2001 they along with NEC …

So, you know all about the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, you know that it’s good. Phablet? Yes, of course. A 5.7″ Full HD Super AMOLED (1920×1080) screen, 13 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixel front, 3GB of RAM and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Powered by a 2.3GHz quad-core CPU …

Following news that Three were about to pick up the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, we’re now hearing that EE will be doing the same. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be available on either 4G or 3G, and you can pre-order on a range of “4GEE” price plans …

There’s been just as much talk about the Sony DSC-QX10 and DSC-QX100 Smart Shot camera attachments as there has been about their new flagship phone, the Z1 (formally the Honami i1). This is mainly due to their innovative nature, but also speculation on how exactly one would use …

Charts. Come on, I know some of you produce them at work in Excel. Deep down you love watching that boring data burst into life as a chart. Now, if you’re looking to create iOS Charts for your app, this is what you should try. Shinobi Charts will …

We’ve covered 3CX Mobile Device Manager a number of times, but this version is slightly different. The “On Premise” edition sits on Windows Server and provides and easy-to-deploy solution for managing mobile devices across your company. It’ll provide location tracking, remote locking, password enforcement, remote wipe, app management …

Cars are becoming more clever by the day.  Head-up displays, 3G connected satellite navigation systems, Bluetooth connectivity and even self driving vehicles. As with our smartphones, we are demanding more and more from our vehicles and the onboard computers are only too happy to oblige.  From the PS3 …

In the immortal words of one of our most respected urban poets, this story is, “bonkers”! You thought the HTChange adverts were out there, but Samsung’s teaser video for the ‘Unpacked 2’ event features lifeforms from out there! Just take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs81TTSMIFk This video and the full …

The well known source of reliable leaks, Evleaks, has today posted on their Twitter page these pictures of the rumoured iPhone 5c. He has also posted an image from Case Mate as well showing a case and the phone. Said to be announced on 10th September not long …

Vodafone UK has owned a big chunk (45 percent) of American carrier Verizon Wireless since 1999, but that is now about to change. Verizon has confirmed the rumour that they will be buying all of the Vodafone stake in the wireless division of the company. The cost? A …

Alcatel has announced two new Android-powered smartphones in their One Touch Idol line — the One Touch S and the One Touch Mini. Both these devices will both launch with Android 4.2, and be offered as Quad-band GSM models for operators the world over. Specs … One Touch …

Now this is really one of those “take with a pinch of salt rumours”, but if true it’s another nail in the Blackberry coffin. A T-Mobile USA employee has claimed that the carrier will no longer be stocking Blackberry’s latest Z10 and Q10 smartphones, and all buyers will …

We’ve reviewed a number of OtterBox products over the last few months. Let me see now, we’ve looked at the Commuter case for the S4, the Punked case for the HTC One, the Glacier case for the 8X and Glacier case for the Note II. However, we’ve never …

Venture Beat have leaked pictures of a prototype of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Gear smart watch. Leaked specs for the watch is said to be about 3-inches diagonally, with an OLED display and a 4MP camera and speakers built into the strap. On the function side, the watch is …

Several weeks ago we reported that Sony were to release some camera attachments for smartphones that would couple high end optical technology with any Android or iOS device, making the need for a phone such as a Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom a thing of the past. These add-ons …

Patents are usually a good thing. They protect your work, your idea, your product. However, as we’ve seen happen all too often, “Patent Trolls” often abuse the system by demanding payments or licenses for patents, despite being vague and generic, have been approved. Now a growing US trade …

Just hours ago we were telling you about the cool little button that sits in your 3.5mm audio port. Named “Pressy” it’s getting funding from your donations and, when it begins to sell, will let you instantly fire up apps on your phone with a tap of the …

Will the iPhone 5S come in gold? That’s the big question on someone’s lips, somewhere. Who cares, when you can have a gold iPhone 5 case and save yourself the hassle of changing phones? OK, so it’s not ‘champagne’, and it’s not aluminium, and it’s not subtle, but …

Yet another Kickstarter campaign and it’s for something that… well, I just think this is a bit mental. It’s a money clip that attaches to your iPhone via the 3.5mm audio jack. Now, when I do actually have some money it usually lives in my wallet. It stays …

EE and Currys have their data Nano SIM (iPad, MiFi, Dongle) deal back on offer. The deal is £10.99 a month, with the first month free and for that you get 5GB of data. It’s a rolling 30 day contract, so you can cancel at any time (giving …

Yep, it’s another Kickstarter project and yes, this one is doing rather well. Very well in fact – it’s almost reached the intended goal and there’s still 46 days remaining. What is it? Well, you know that annoying unlock you have to do when you want to use …

Level Up Studios have got into the app drawer market with the idea of revolutionising the Android icon grid. Have they made the must have launcher add-on of the decade, or are they trying to fix something that just ain’t broke? You may have heard of Level Up …

Tomorrow Voda and O2 will begin their 4G race for coverage, but EE grabbed a massive head-start and have now managed to cover 100 towns and cities with their LTE juice. Now, if you were EE and two big competitors were about to launch their 4G networks tomorrow, …

Nokia have today announced another new handset, the Nokia 515. The 515 is made from lightweight aluminium, features Gorilla Glass 2 and a 5MP camera with an LED flash. Whilst it isn’t strictly a smartphone, it does come pre loaded with Twitter and Facebook as well as having …

The Oxford University Press, famous for both the Oxford English Dictionary and the slightly less well-known Oxford Dictionaries Online, has been busy lately adding lingo. According to a partial list of new words published by Quartz earlier today (warning: Miley Cyrus ahead), a few technology terms have made the jump …

The internet can be a scary place at times. So scary, in fact, that we could do with some hastily cobbled together requirement for random cookie warnings on every site and a ham-fisted ISP-level website blocking system. Nah, that’d never work. When all else fails, we can at …

A few days ago we brought you the news that a new roaming service from Three was about to be launched. Today we can confirm this is happening. The Three site has now been updated with a link to this new service which is based on their old …

It’s safe to say that 4G hasn’t exactly set the world alight here in the UK. Although there’s obvious benefits, the lack of coverage, relatively low data limits and pricing has meant that most have chosen to stay on 3G. Why? Well, 3G is cheaper, and most people …

Selling for around £137.34 from places like Ali Express, this is the Bluebo Beast B6000 MTK6589T. Yes, it does look a lot like a Samsung Galaxy Note. In fact, in the hands-on I was quite surprised at the build quality and speed of the device. It’s slightly thicker …

Anyone remember the great roaming deal from Three called ‘Three Like Home’? It allowed you to take your UK plan abroad with you and roam on any of the existing Three networks setup around the world such as Australia, Hong Kong etc… Here is a list of countries …

Google is today pushing out its first post-release update for the 2013 Nexus 7. Google’s Paul Wilcox confirmed on the company’s product forums that new firmware is indeed rolling out to fix touchscreen sensitivity issues reported by some Nexus 7 owners: As a couple of you have mentioned, …

I’ve become a bit of a battery pack convert recently, choosing to charge up wherever I am and not worrying about where the nearest power socket is. I recently purchased one of those huge 13000 mAh battery packs which is fine when you can carry a large weighty …

Google have released an update to Keep which brings several noteworthy features to its up till now fairly bare bones functionality. Of most note (no pun intended), is the ability to add reminders to notes, which can be both time and location based. This is integrated with Google …

Here at Coolsmartphone Towers emails zip back and forth like ants in a jam jar.  A good 80% of those are from fellow writer Ronnie Whelan boasting about how good the display on his latest Oppo is. Well, Mr Whelan is about to be silenced as LG have …

I do love a good phone case and now and again I’ve gone a bit mad and bought an Otterbox case or two. Normally when buying cases I just search for the lowest prices I can find and never really consider that what I’m buying could be a …

Most of the major networks have now announced their 4G pricing models.  They vary a little but, with one notable exception, there is a premium for the new technology as well as limits. Data is the new king.  No longer do we want more and more texts bundled …

SwiftKey Cloud has been in beta testing for a few weeks now and it allows you to sync your SwiftKey keyboard word predictions between devices, so when you get a new phone it doesn’t have to relearn all of your made up words. To sync with the Cloud …

“I’m a huge fan of your site”. Always a good start that. Well done PetziConnect. They launched an IndieGoGo campaign and had a goal of $30k. They’ve blown past that now and are at nearly $59k. What is it? Well, it’s a magical doo-hickey that’ll let you interact …