Search Results for: Technology

What’s the issue with the iPhone X?

Prior to the release of the iPhone X, there were rampant expectations that Apple’s 10-year anniversary device would break all sorts of sales records. With a handful of groundbreaking new features and a stellar, OLED display, everyone anticipated that the hot new iPhone X would dominate the market …

The Huawei P smart – Review

I’m going to soak up a lot of this piece with a comparison. I know you’ve come here for the Huawei P smart review but it would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention the brother from another mother. In the past couple of weeks I’ve used …

#MWC18 – Have we reached a plateau ?

A number of years ago, I questioned whether mobile phones had stopped evolving. This year, at Mobile World Congress, I think it’s happened. I think we’ve reached a plateau. A point where phones really aren’t going to make any huge leaps any more. Way back when I started …

Livall Smart Helmet – Review

Some of you may be aware that I cycle quite a bit. Each year I go on a fairly crazy charity ride which is both for good causes and, if I’m honest, a way to stop me getting all fat and wobbly. Having a helmet isn’t really decision …

#MWC18 – The key Samsung Galaxy S9 features

When this handset arrives in store and sits next to the existing Galaxy S8, if we’re honest, you won’t be able to see a huge amount of difference. In all honesty, like when the iPhone 8 replaced the iPhone 7, that’s no bad thing. The design is proven, …

#MWC18 Sony release their new Xperia XZ2 range

Sony kicked things off for MWC2018 proper this morning with the release of the new Xperia line up. Welcome then, the Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact. The two devices have new design elements thanks to move of the fingerprint reader. This is now on the back, much …

#MWC18 – Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ go official

Yes, there’s two phones. Yes, most of this leaked out, but here’s the short version. Both are powered by Android 8 and the CPU is a 64-bit octa-core CPU – a 2.7 GHz quad  and a 1.7 GHz quad or a 2.8 GHz quad and 1.7 GHz quad depending …

#MWC2018 Huawei also unveil the MateBook X Pro

Alongside the launching of the new Mediapad M5 Series, Huawei also launched the newest member of the MateBook Line the MateBook X Pro.     Unfortunately, this will not be available in the UK immediately but we can hope it will arrive in the near future. This is a new Windows 10 laptop that …

#MWC2018 Huawei Unveil Mediapad M5 series

Android tablets have been stagnating for a while and we have not really seen much in the way of growth in the market ever since the Samsung Tab S3 came out last year. Well, Huawei is hoping that there new Mediapad M5 series is going to change all of …

#MWC18 – Is it the LG G7? No, but we do get an LG V30S

One thing we won’t be seeing here in Barcelona (and yes, I’ve made it!) is the all-new LG G7. I’ve owned quite a few LG handsets – the G6 is a big favourite of mine and I held onto the LG G4 for absolutely ages. Loved that. The …

Acorn, yes Acorn, announces the Micro Phone C5

Those of a “certain age” may recall using an Acorn computer at school. In the “computer lab” you may have had a Research Machines 380Z or a BBC Micro, with Acorn being the brains behind the latter. If you remember any of that, well, it was about 30-40 …

#MWC18 – LG refresh the K10 and K8

Well, this is a bit weird. We’re getting told what’ll get launched before they’re actually… launched. Either way, LG have emailed in to tell us about a couple of lower-end phones which will be making an appearance at Mobile World Congress. They say that these have some “premium …

Samsung Galaxy S9 – The leaks continue!

Remember how the esteemed leaker, Evan Blass, told everyone that he was going to retire? Yeah, well… that didn’t happen, and his leaks continue to be rock solid, year after year. We’ve already had lots of specs being leaked, but now there’s clearer shots of both the Galaxy …

Honor 9 vs Honor 9 Lite – The camera test… and a rant

I’m properly intrigued by these two phones. The Honor 9 has been in my pocket for many months now and I think it’s a brilliant handset. It’s £349.99 from the official UK store. The newly-announced Honor 9 Lite, on the right here, has an arguably better screen and …

Moto Z2 Play coming to Three UK

Three emailed us recently with some exciting news for gaming fans, but with the mass emails for Mobile World Congress it looks like it was overlooked. Thankfully the news is that the Motorola Z2 Play will be coming to Three UK in April, with an exclusive gamepad thrown …

Vodafone test 4G mini mast

Filling in those problem signal areas is easier said than done for a lot of networks. The restrictive planning legislation is a massive blocker, but then you also have to consider power, backhaul and buying or renting the land to put the mast onto. All that, plus the …

Official. The Honor 9 Lite.

A new phone, with an extremely attractive pricepoint, has just been announced in London by Honor. It’ll cost, get this, just £199.99. Why is that a big deal? Because it’s got 4 cameras? Because it’s got the nano-scale optical coating? Because of the high-end glass casing? The 5.65″ …

Goodbye then. It’s all over.

We’ve surfed this wave for years. We’ve gone from the very early days, covering Windows-powered SPV phones, Smartphone 2002 handsets and Pocket PC’s. Now we’re plugged into the modern, fast and ultra-clever smartphones of today. But I’m worried.. We now live in a world where a colossal 9 …

EE to offer parents advice on internet safety

Let’s face it, the internet can be a pretty scary place these days with one simple wrong letter in a web address taking you to a site you really do not want to see, and spam-filled emails being a hackers paradise, you really do need to be extra …

Google release Visual Core upgrade for Pixel 2

Owners of the Pixel 2 will already know how great the camera is, in fact often referred too as ‘the best camera ever on a smartphone’ There are thousands of photos online being promoted using the #teampixel tag, some from myself too and some of these are seriously …

Huawei Watch 2 (4G) – Review

The Introduction When it comes to being “in the loop”, sometimes you’re simply not able to keep checking your phone. So, for that those important messages or notifications, this is where the smartwatch has tried to help out. But is it all it hoped to be? Even after …

The advent of the folding smartphone

Those of us old enough to remember the pre-smartphone mobile phones will remember the old clamshell handsets.  I still have extremely fond memories of phones like the Motorola V66i (above), or the (then) very advanced Motorola A780 (below), which included GPS (very rare in those days).  Fast forward …

4 Reasons that bloggers need a Samsung Galaxy Note 8

My main driver is still the Honor 9. It’s shiny, you can use it one-handed and it’s a gorgeous thing to look at. As a blogger, your smartphone is the most important bit of tech in your life. A few years ago it would’ve perhaps been a camera …

Huawei P smart gets announced

OK. This puts us in a bit of a tricky position. Yesterday Vodafone told us that they’re ranging the new Huawei P smart. We said, “That’s nice, but we can’t find much about it”. So, we did some digging and unearthed all this information. It was puzzling because …

EE announce extra January savings

If you are in the market for a new smartphone, the network you decide on is just as important, and EE have just announced some extra sale items starting from now. Below are all the extra offers as well as the press release from EE with even more …

CES 2018 – Honor 7X will get Face Unlock soon

Face Unlock seems to be the “in thing” with phone makers right now. We have seen it being implemented very well by Apple on the iPhone X and the team over at OnePlus have put their own slant on it too. Both these “Face Unlock” Systems use very different technologies to allow …

Adonit Pro 3 Stylus – Review

It isn’t very often we get to review a stylus, but this is the Adonit Pro 3 Stylus which we covered back in November 2017. The stylus has been designed for business users who need that delicate details that the normal freebie stylus pens can’t offer. Design The pen is made …

Hear the Music and See the Lyrics!

Well, this next bit of kit has got us all excited at Coolsmartphone Towers, Leigh is looking forward to blasting out Spice Girls and Garry loves some Ed Sheeran. Imagine playing music from your phone to a speaker which shows the lyrics for you to sing along to! …

Watch out for the phone zombies!

Some years ago China tried to control smartphone zombies. They were everywhere, heads down and drifting into each other. It got so bad that a separate smartphone lane was installed so that very low-speed accidents no longer happened. Now, in Sweden they’re trying something very similar. Their solution …

Turn any smartphone into a VR camera

Lebanese digital image technology experts, Dermander, have launched a VR solution for your smartphone. Cunningly named “theVRkit”, it makes your smartphone a high resolution Virtual Reality camera. The kit comprises of a fish eye clip-on lens, a Bluetooth controlled smartphone mount and a pair of VR glasses. To …

Asus Zenfone 4 – Review

Although you might not see this particular handset in network stores, you can buy it from Amazon for £449.99, from Tesco or Carphone Warehouse. Video Overview Want the quick look? Here’s our video tour… It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S630 octa-core processor (2.2GHz + 1.8GHz) and there’s …

Going away for Christmas? Pawbo – The pet camera and more

The people at Pawbo have sent us a mail about their interactive camera technology. It’s to keep an eye on your cat or dog while you’re not home, and via your smartphone you can see how they’re doing. The pet camera is accessed via the Android / iOS …

iDeaUSA AtomicX V201 Headphones – Review

I do tend to wear headphones quite a bit. At work, at home when I’m typing this stuff out and even when mowing the lawn. These ones are over-ear headphones from a company called iDeaUSA. They’ve got a lot of tech inside, most notably something called “AtomicX Audio …

Smartphones and kids. Perfect for sexual harassment and grooming

If you’ve been around the website for a while you’ll probably be aware that I tend to talk about how we should protect kids from potential dangers online. As I’ve said before, there’s no magical group of people looking after your kids. YouTube, Facebook, Musical.ly, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope, …

(Update) Welcome your new look. The Honor View 10

Honor have today launched their now familiar “well priced but still very, very good” handset in the shape of the Honor 7X. However, if you want to spend £449.99 and get some artificial intelligence, have a look at this – the new Honor View 10. It doesn’t look …

Mixcder MS301 wireless Bluetooth headphones – Review

Just recently I have been sent through the Mixcder premium MS301 wireless Bluetooth headphones for review, and to be honest the offer couldn’t have come at a better time, as I was just about to embark on a holiday to the USA, and therefore I could use them predominantly …

EE to measure ‘Time on 4G’

A little while ago UK network EE changed how it explained 4G coverage, moving away from population numbers and into geographical coverage instead. This was key for them, as it shows how quickly their network is expanding. It also meant that they could show off new technology such …

EE announce the Hawk

EE have announced their latest own brand device called the EE Hawk. The biggest 4G network in the UK has managed to bring mid-range specs to a low range pricepoint, and connectivity is at its heart. The EE Hawk features 4G+ network speeds, and in testing hit over …

KitSound XDock 4+ Bluetooth Speaker Dock – The Alarm Clock Review

Do you remember in years gone by, long before the age of the smartphone, the height of slumber breaking technology was the radio alarm clock which provided the ability to wake you up via either a local MW Radio station or a screeching buzzer #gooddays. Then the smartphone …

How to choose the best VPN for an Android phone

Update: According to TheBestVPN, the most secure and reputable VPN is ExpressVPN. You can read their ExpressVPN review here. Right. Let’s be honest. People don’t want to pay for WiFi. Get to the airport and, if you connect and find there’s some insane pricing structure, you’ll probably decide …