Tag: car

Got 75p for a Dual USB charger?

I’ll be honest, I’ve not reviewed this one but, for just 75p with free shipping, you can’t go too far wrong (well, unless your phone explodes whilst charging, perhaps). Normally £4.83, this special price is for the first 400 items, so you have to be a bit rapid. …

This has nothing to do with smartphones but…

I have no way of linking this video to smartphones in any way. I just stumbled across it on YouTube and, although I know there’s some clever editing, a whole load of production and safety checks, it’s just so damned cool that I had to include it here. …

Syncwire iPhone USB Car Charger – Review

Available on the Syncwire website for £11.99, this is the Syncwire iPhone USB Car Charger. As you’ll no doubt have noticed, this also has a second output so that you can plug in an additional device. Perhaps a dashcam, an additional phone, a Bluetooth speaker or tablet. Here’s …

Getting your music in your car. The easy way.

I come from a different world. A world where, if you wanted to get your own music in your car, you had to buy a CD and put it in your car CD player. Heck, who am I kidding? I come from a world even earlier than that. …

VanTop H610 Dashcam – Unboxing and price-drop!

Hello people. So, I was sent this to review a long, long time ago. It’s a dashcam, but with lots of added features. The Vantop H610 dashcam clips onto your rear-view mirror and, before you wire it up, it looks just like your normal mirror. You can see …

Old Skool FM and AM to continue for another decade at least in the UK

Despite the growth of DAB and the increasing choice of radio stations, the government here in the UK has reversed plans to close down analogue stations by extending licenses for another 10 years. It means that older car radio equipment will still receive signals until at least 2032. …

Test your skills. Park it!

I passed my driving test many years ago, but the Bill Plant Driving School still sticks in my memory and I see their cars going round on a regular basis. Available only on iOS right now, they’ve launched “Parkathon”, an app where you need to navigate various obstacles …

Download updates.. for your Ford Mustang!

My car hasn’t really moved a whole lot recently and this locked-down world has made us all look into how we get around. If you’re looking for an all-electric car, the nice people at Ford PR have emailed about their Mustang Mach-E. It’ll do an advertised 370 miles …

Fancy getting to work in a drone?

We all know that drones are becoming more useful. The police are using them now and they’re continuing to grow in popularity, even with the increase in regulation. But, what about building one big enough to sit in? You could get to work in that in no time. …

How much data does your radio app really consume?

Some 9 years ago I performed a test of radio streaming over the internet. I was fed up with the slim choice of very “samey” FM radio station so, with the aid of some cabling (or a smartphone FM transmitter) I fed the audio output of my smartphone …

Benefits of using car insurance apps on your phone

Looking for your next insurance quote, you’ll find that there’s a number of comparison sites online. These will usually be your best bet if you’re trying to find the best deal and, even if it does seem like a bit of hard work, it’s worth it when you …

Watching shows on your phone whilst driving. Don’t be tempted.

Our smartphones can do lots of very cool things. Lately though, the police have found that we’re watching movies, TV shows and making video calls whilst driving. This, because you’re not looking at the road properly, is very dangerous. In recent years, there’s been a marked increase in …

I bought a car that I’d never even sat in

In the last year we’ve continued to see changes in our shopping habits. However, based on the recent Black Friday sales and a range of recent surveys, we’ve seen thing change far more than ever.. Payment Methods The traditional high-street has seen a huge amount of transformation of …

Park an F1 car on your drive. F1 Pack Rivals.

This is a card trading game with a number of extra goodies. Download the app on iOS or Google Play and you get tought how to play straight away. F1 Pack Rivals is a strategic card game with all the official F1 cards and imagery. Use your tactics …

Petrol Prices app receives a big update

With oil being priced in dollars and the value of the pound now at it’s lowest level for many, many years, petrol and diesel prices are reaching all-time highs. A No Deal Brexit is set to raise food and petrol prices further, with incomes reduced. All of this …

Lanmodo Night Vision System now getting even better

This is the LANMODO Night Vision camera. It’s been available for a while now and sits rather nicely on your dashboard, offering up a wide-angle video of your surroundings. Ideal for driving safety but especially good for those instances where there’s poor visibility or darkness. The 8.2″ IPS …

Your car speedometer versus GPS speed. A test.

Over the weekend you may have seen my post about the new Google speedometer. It started me talking about the fact that the speed shown on GPS apps is usually different than the speed reported by your car. The reason? Well, here in the UK at least, cars …

Electric scooter sellers! eBike stores! Get in touch!

I have a long story which I won’t go into right now, but let me tell you this. In two weeks I will no longer have a car. This will make the Coolsmartphone Podcast, recorded in the car, a little difficult. However, it does at least give me …

Podcast 249 – Don’t text and drive people!

Another new intro, a lot of talk about MOT’s, fishing, caravans and actual smartphone-related chatter too. It’s all here folks, and it’s part of Podcast 249. Recorded in the car, in this episode I also do a manly “pap” on the horn due to the driver in front drifting in …

The Coolsmartphone Podcast – Now on Spotify too!

We published our first ever podcast, unbelievably, way back in 2012. On Tuesday we’ll be publishing Episode 244. The number 244, as you may be aware, is the dialling code for Angola. It’s also the year that Philip the Arab became the new Roman Emperor. So… ermm.. to …

An afternoon with a Tesla Model X

I was very lucky today that, thanks to David Wildman of Btekt, I was able to spend the afternoon with a Tesla Model X in stunning blue. The car is a true technological marvel, and it’s fair to say that I was very impressed with all the gadgetry and …

Coolsmartphone Podcast 240 – Look at my teeth!

This week, in Podcast 240, I experiment with cross-fading. Yes, cross-fading. To be honest I had to Google it to see what it was. It’s where the audio fades nicely between two tracks. It’s because I record the podcast in various chunks, during trips to work, to the …

Nissan want me to test drive their new GT-R

Yeah, so two phone calls this morning. One from Nissan wanting me to test-drive this thing, then another from Theresa May shouting, “I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO” whilst crying hysterically. Then, after a lie down, I suddenly realised that I’d added Baileys to my coffee and none …

4 Smartphone accessories to make your drive safer

The majority of people admit to using their smartphone at least occasionally while driving. We’ll say it’s “only for a quick check” of messages or to enter a postcode in whilst navigating. We can probably admit to playing music or checking calendar appointments. We know we shouldn’t be …

OnePlus team up with McLaren

If you’re going to imprint the feeling of speed into the minds of customers, it’s probably not going to hurt if you partner with an F1 racing team, right? That’s exactly what OnePlus have just done. They’re going to host a “Salute to Speed” event on December 11th, …

Yi Smart Dash Cam – First look

Ok, I will be honest with you on this one. As I’m in the middle of preparing for yet another mad cycle ride, I have run out of time to publish the review on this one. However, because this camera has impressed me so much I wanted to …

V-Auto by Vodafone – Review

In your car there’s a magical port. It sits under your dashboard usually and you’ll find that the AA man will plug his laptop into it. I remember once I broke down and had to call them out. It was in a car I was renting and his …

Another dashcam special

You’ve probably seen our recent coverage of dashcams such as the Zeepin, the Thinkware F800 and the tiny Conbrov one which we grabbed footage from but today…. ..well today there’s yet another reason for getting one.. Insurance scams. Usually these will consist of a couple of cars closely …

People are still using their phones at the wheel

Here in the UK you can get in a lot of trouble for having a phone in your hand whilst driving. You risk getting 6 points on your licence, which is half-way to a driving ban for most people. If you passed your driving test in the last …

Track your car – Vodafone V-Auto

We’ve previously taken a look at some of the Vodafone findxone kit. Now you can get Vodafone kit that’ll track your car too. This one is called “V-Auto” and it plugs into that special ODB port under your dashboard. Inside is a Vodafone V-SIM to send data over …

Zeepin Dashcam Overview – You can win a dashcam too!

At this time of year, there’s always going to be some slightly unpredictable driving. Some idiots will take a chance drink driving, others will be distracted and some will just be generally terrible at driving or parking. It’s basically silly season where everybody panics to get those bargains …

GoPro captures quite an amazing crash

Strap a GoPro to anything and you’re half hoping that you capture some good footage whilst also half hoping that you don’t smash the thing because, let’s be honest, these diddy little action cameras cost an absolute fortune. Anyhow, this one got stuck onto a rally car. Sadly, …

A fifth of UK drivers admit to using their mobiles behind the wheel

Every now and then we get an email from a company which includes research relating to mobile phones. The company involved will want to get their name mentioned (in this case it’s Protect Your Bubble) so that they can have some free advertising. This is another one of …

Thinkware F800 Dash Cam – Review

Back in August last year (oh how time flies) I reviewed the amazing Thinkware F770 Dashcam. Since then I’ve been contacted and asked to review the latest iteration – the Thinkware F800 Pro. Good Points: This is a feature-packed device (see main body of the review) 140 degree …

Why you should invest in a dash cam

Because I’m a tight-wad, I paid a mere £8.46 for a dash cam. The resulting product, unsurprisingly, is a piece of crap. The low-light performance is appalling, the build quality is flaky, the rear LCD panel doesn’t always illuminate and despite the “HD” promise, the 640×480 video reproduction …

Cyngn takes a new road.. literally

Those of you that have ever dabbled in changing the OS on an Android phone will no doubt will have heard of Cyanogenmod. This group of enthusiasts built operating systems for a myriad of Android phones compiled from the base AOSP. At one time things were going well, …

Citroën C3 – Review

As someone who has Bluetooth speakers, portable chargers and cables thrown across the desk to review, this came as a bit of a surprise. “Would you like to review our car”, came the email. Ermm.. well.. OK then. The video You’ll need to get comfortable for this one. …

Yay! Let’s film stuff in the car!

Good morning! It’s Friday at last !! Well no. Sadly it’s not. It’s still only Thursday. No matter though, because it’s Autumn now and the nights are drawing in, so you can turn the heating on and sit inside, twiddling on your smartphone more. Boom! Now, we all …

Peugeot announce new car dealership… in a phone box

The local Audi dealership I recently visited has the usual “showroom stuff” inside. Salesmen wearing sharp suits, mechanics wearing super-clean overalls, a TV, a free coffee machine, a masseur, a steam room and an open bar. It also has cars. However, as a company called “Daewoo” (remember them?) …