Category: Microsoft

Windows 10 Mobile has arrived

Word on the street is that Windows 10 Mobile is arriving on handsets right now, with select Windows 8.1 devices getting the update. Mike Phillips has mailed in to tell us that he’s got it on his Lumia 1520 already. The supported devices for the upgrade are as …

Windows 10 Mobile update coming to WP8 handsets this month

For those few of us using Windows Phone devices it is time to rejoice! At long last it would appear that The Big Red Button is about to be pressed and the Windows 10 Mobile update will be pushed to existing Lumia handsets this month.  Microsoft has had a …

Windows 10 Mobile to be released on Android handsets

Amidst the news of Microsoft’s ailing mobile efforts comes a new approach.  Last year Microsoft, in conjunction with OEM Xiaomi, released a version of its mobile OS for installation on the Mi 4 Android phone.  News from China suggests that this approach is now going to be repeated, …

MWC – Acer Jade Primo hands on

We took a chance to go out to see the Acer booth and whilst we were out there we came across the recently announced Jade Primo Windows 10 mobile. Now we have already covered this one during our IFA coverage from last year. Although we covered it there …

MWC – HP Elite X3 brings Windows 10 Mobile back in the game

Long when we thought Windows 10 Mobile wasn’t going to see any support further than the Lumias and the Acer Jade Primo, HP has surprised quite a few people with the announcement of the Elite X3. Yes, that’s right – not only are HP going in on Windows …

Linx 1010 Leather Edition – The Review

The first Linx tablets shook up the market place when they were first released, they were available in 3 screen sizes, offering good Windows performance at a very reasonable price, they were also easily upgradable to Windows 10. Consumers no longer had to spend a fortune on Windows …

Microsoft Lumia 650 incoming but later than we thought

Microsoft is pushing out a new mid-tier device that is going to be aimed at the business sector, however, we are hearing stories that the expected launch date has been moved from the beginning of February to the middle of the month. The phone sports some fairly basic …

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL – Review

We finally have the Lumia 950 XL on our testbed. We had to wait a long time for this one – it has been nearly two years since the last flagship-spec device from the Microsoft brand. Many people were hoping for a direct Lumia 1020 upgrade, which has …

Microsoft Surface Book now available for pre-order in the UK

When Microsoft announced their raft of Windows 10 products late last year the notable absentee, at least from a UK perspective, was the Surface Book.  Described by Microsoft as the ‘ultimate laptop’ it was not available in the UK.  On the face of it a laptop, the key …

Samsung launches the Galaxy TabPro S – Powered by Windows 10

Apparently there’s something called “Windows 10” out there that you can run as an Operating System on tablets. Samsung have certainly become aware of it anyway, and they’re launching this, the new TabPro S with the OS baked in. The new tablet features a 10.5 hour battery life …

Acer release a new Windows 10 phone – CES

We first saw this phone being discussed way back in September at IFA, but at that time we were unable to get any hands on time. Now that it is official we can bring you the specs of the phone and it looks good. Specs Operating system- Windows …

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Unboxing

We have one in the house – the infamous Lumia 950 XL from Microsoft. The kind people at Lumia Voices have decided to lend us a review kit with not just the Lumia device, but the full package. This includes a Lumia 950 XL of course, but in …

Lumia 950 XL removed from sale

I’ll be honest, we’ve been having a few problems with the new Lumia 950 XL. We’ve seen stability issues, random reboots and a generally buggy experience. Then, via Gavins Gadgets, we’re hearing that – although it’s still on the website – Carphone Warehouse have removed the handset from …

Coolsmartphone Awards 2015 and Podcast

Welcome to the Coolsmartphone Award Ceremony and Podcast, coming to you, prerecorded from Coolsmartphone Towers. Our team of experts got together yesterday and decided on the best and worst bits of 2015 in order to entertain you and reward/shame those responsible. As with all good awards ceremonies we’re …

TVPlayer launches on Apple TV

TVPlayer has just announced it has joined Apple TV with two of its services. The first will be giving Apple users the opportunity to watch over 85 of the UK’s top TV channels within a single app for free called TVPlayer Basic. The other is TVPlayer Plus, the low-cost pay …

More rumours of a Microsoft Surface Phone

Rumours of a fabled ‘Surface Phone’ have existed for a number of years now.  That such a phone was originally being worked upon is beyond doubt: enough circumstantial evidence suggests that it did exist, on paper if nothing else.  But sadly it was supposedly cancelled at the time of …

Case of the missing Microsoft OneDrive storage

Remember recently when Microsoft announced that it was going to reduce the storage it offered on OneDrive, and that the unlimited tier was going away because some people were treating it as – well, unlimited? I know that some people were using up to 75 TB of that …

Cortana is bridging the OS gap UPDATE

Those of us who use Siri and Google Now will be familiar with the difficulties and idiosyncrasies of using a voice assistant. They sometime work and sometimes….. they don’t. They struggle with regional accents (if you are a Brummie or Glaswegian, you get me). Sometimes they are just …

Can a £139 Windows Tablet replace your Laptop? – Part 1

Part 1 – Setting the Scene Come around the winter fire kids! Let me tell you a story, this particular story is about my search for a work device without breaking the bank. I am an unashamed tech geek, I love things all bright and shiny. I love …

Whats the point of launch events?

It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that there have been multiple events in the last few months. Apple started the rollercoaster unveiling the new iPhones & iPads. This was closely followed by a Google event unveiling its new Nexus phones (Nexii?) Chromecasts etc. There was also an LG …

Gartner reports another slide for Windows Phone

Figures released by Gartner make for yet more uncomfortable reading if you are involved in Windows Phone. The share of the smartphone market has now dropped to just 1.7%. The figures are for Q3 and compare to a 3% share from the same period a year ago. According …

Get your HUKD on for Black Friday

While I’m not a firm favourite of the idea of yet another day dedicated to spending money, we’ve got to admit that HotUKDeals (HUKD) has continually saved us some dosh on the things we were already going to have to splash out cash on more than one occasion. …

Windows 10 Mobile updates to be pushed out from Microsoft directly

One of the great differences between Apple on the one hand, and Google and Microsoft on the other, is that Apple controls all aspects of its hardware and software. This means it pushes out OS updates quickly and without having to wait for approval from carriers and manufacturers. Android …

Lumia 950 and 950 XL pre-orders open

Clove has opened up their preorders on those two new fantastic Lumia devices that we saw the other day. Yes, of course, I am talking about the Lumia 950 and 950XL. Both Lumia 950 and 950 XL pre-orders are now up and available. They don’t yet have the estimated …

Got a Windows Phone? Convert it, maybe, to Windows 10 in December

If you’ve got all warm and fuzzy about those new Lumia handsets and want a piece of Windows 10 action on your existing Windows Phone, come close. Microsoft have revealed that the spanky new OS will be available for upgrading this December. The info is buried in a …

Windows 10, Lumia and Continuum – Have we been here before?

Heard about the new Microsoft launches yesterday? Sure, there was a new fitness band and a few new handsets, but it’s those high-powered handsets and the tricks they can do that matter. Microsoft, on the current Windows Phone platform, has a problem. No matter how you dress it …

New Windows devices availability in the UK

The Microsoft launch was a seamless event. The devices look great but watching these launches can often be a frustrating experience: the gap between announcement and availability is sometime months (or longer in the case of the Apple Watch) and frequently a device will never make it to these …