Author: Leigh Geary
Getting a mast put up is relatively easy if you’re in a major town or city. The biggest problem, as always, is planning consent and getting the land to build on. However, once you’ve done that it’s just a matter of getting some power, some clever kit and …
This week I broke my lengthy two-week tradition of recording the podcast in the car. Somehow I found myself with something called “free time”, so I’ve picked up on an earlier story about how the site started. Now you can listen to the second part of that story, …
It’s not the Mate X. Not yet anyway, but EE have now picked up the Samsung Galaxy Fold and will be selling it here in the UK very soon. EE will have the network exclusive, while Samsung will be making the Fold available on the Samsung Online Shop …
Remember my overview of the Unihertz Atom? It’s a tiny Android phone which has all the features of a normal smartphone, just with a smaller screen and a very rugged appearance. Available on Amazon for £219.99, you can also get this bike mount for £12.99 to rig it …
The launch is literally hours away now, but we’ve already had a really good look at the phone courtesy of the Huawei website itself. The particular page where the beans were spilled has now gone offline, but we know that there’s a Super Sensing Leica Quad Camera, a …
When 5G really starts rolling, you’re going to see a growth in smaller masts which cover high-usage areas. Because of this, and the need to also remove the not-spots of existing 4G coverage, BT want operators to have access to council-owned “street furniture”, such as lamp posts and …
I’m a little confused by this one, because I’ve just spotted a whole load of stuff about the yet-to-be-announced Huawei P30 Series. It’s to be revealed at a very posh launch event in Paris on Tuesday next week (March 26th). Trouble is, Huawei themselves have already revealed the …
Wanna get fit? Well, you could join a gym, but that can be pricey (I’m looking at you David Lloyd Leisure.. £100 a month!? Waahh??). So today marks the launch of, according to Kaia Health the “world’s first virtual personal trainer”. It uses unique motion tracking technology to …
If you’re a Fortnite fan, then you’ll probably be aware of a few things. First, the buzz around this game just doesn’t seem to fade. It’s still as popular as it always was and now, with the addition of Android and iPhone versions plus cross-platform multi-player, it’s taken …
With the epic clusterfudge that is Brexit continuing to develop, we’ve now got a date for Inbox to be killed off too. As we mentioned before, it was destined to the dustbin, but it’s now due to disappear on April 2nd. Google+ is going too, and your posts, …
Things are moving uncomfortably quickly here in Britain. It doesn’t matter whether you voted to Leave or to Remain, this mess is not what anybody was promised or expected. The situation, as I type, is that the “Theresa May Deal” is to come back, for a third time, …
It really wasn’t that long ago that we posted an article about scammers and how easily they can trick you into parting with your money. Last time it was a London number masquerading as HMRC, and in June last year we captured the recording of the call in …
OK, this one sounds a little weird, but let’s have a look anyway. Getting deliveries can always be a bit of a hit-and-miss affair, especially if you’re at work or on the toilet. Despite you waiting around, you’ll probably find that the delivery driver turns up just when …
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 …
I remember, when I was a kid, a time before a “console” was even a thing. At Christmas I remember playing records. Proper records. Big vinyl double-albums with pictures of all the bands and singers. It was great. I even had my own record player. Then, one day, …
Kids love sweets, so ensuring that they’re brushing their teeth regularly is key. You can’t always monitor this, so PlayBrush is a great way to create a solid dental cleaning routine. Instead of making brushing teeth a chore, the 2 minutes task can now be made fun thanks …
Watching a theatre performance is always best when you’re actually there, but – despite shows now being on TV – a lot of people find that they have to travel to the West End to get the proper theatre experience. Now a London-startup has launch LIVR, the world’s …
OK, this one involves you submitting your bills for redemption, but it can all be done online so it’s not that big of a task. You get a massive 100GB of data plus unlimited everything else with Vodafone on this SIM-only deal. It’s normally £20 per month for …
I’ll be honest, this popped up the internet last month but we were a little busy with Mobile World Congress at the time. This, then, is what you can hopefully expect to see on your Google Maps in a few months time. Right now it’s only available to …
I think it’s fair to say that, if you can afford it, you’ll have a bit more confidence travelling to the USA for your holiday this year. With a Hard Brexit, Soft Brexit or No Brexit still being discussed, there’s a huge amount of confusion over whether flights …
A 43-year-old man from New South Wales in Australia appears to have dodged a rather painful and possibly fatal attack, all thanks to his iPhone and a lot of luck. Officers from Richmond Police District arrested a 39-year-old man after a bow and arrow was used in the …
On a daily basis you’ll find that, like many people, I’m wearing a fitness band. It doubles as a watch / notification device and the battery lasts for quite some time. You’ll no doubt be familiar with devices like this – they’ll keep track of your step count, …
It’s OK, I’ve just popped into the local pub. There’s a guy in there who started drinking at 7AM and he’s pretty far gone, but he said he’ll run the country for a bit and, in all honesty, I’ve got more confidence in him that any MP right …
Morning, morning. Welcome to Thursday and another bland, boring day in politics here in the UK. I kinda wish something would happen to spice it up. Right! How about counting down the hours until Brexit eh? Could it be a couple of weeks? Could it be a few …
OOoohh… bit dangerous this. Driving a bus round with promises written on the side. How much do we believe that ? 🙂 So, whilst Parliament goes into a full-on meltdown about a Brexit which nobody can agree on, Three have driven up and down the road outside to …
In this episode we’re going to turn the clock back. We’re going to do a full Back to the Future show for you this week and, although we don’t have any plutonium and we don’t have a flux capacitor, we do have a car. So, a quick update …
Apparently people quite like this whole Facebook thing, so do join us on our official Coolsmartphone page. You can join in, share and follow all our news stories, reviews and tips on your social media feed. It’s great! Come on, join the fun! Don’t forget that we’re all …
It’s true. With Tim Berners-Lee recently stating that the world-wide web is in a “downward plunge to a dysfunctional future”, there’s doubts about how much we can trust what we read. Data can be manipulated, misinformation can spread easily and it’s skewing the results of elections and referendums. …
The “youth” Vodafone network, called VOXI, is now dishing out some goodies to customers. These range from food, fashion to music, entertainment and festivals. They’re called a VOXI “Drop” and the first one is a free Time Out More card worth £29.99. The card means that you can …
It’s that time of year again when the Cheltenham Festival comes to town. This, like the Grand National, marks the time when people will be tempted to take a cheeky flutter on the horses. Indeed, if you’re using an Android phone, you’ll have no doubt seen an uptick …
Do you use Sky Go? Or Sky Sports? Perhaps Sky Cinema or Sky Kids? If you do, then you’ll know that streaming all the great football and TV content can impact your data allowance. However, if you’re a Sky Mobile customer then you can use the new “Watch” …
With actual, real, 5G smartphones announced now, there’ll be customers soon wanting to take advantage of this new super-speedy capability. Vodafone have announced that trial sites in Liverpool, Cardiff and Bristol have just been enabled, and 12 further cities – on top of the 7 already announced – …
Are you reading this on the toilet? Right now? Chances are, you’re not alone. It’s something we don’t discuss, but in reality we all take a bit of “time out” and browse on our phones while we’re “making a delivery”. Now, here at Coolsmartphone we do get a …
Politics has become arguably far more interesting for all the wrong reasons recently. Donald Trump, who I find hard to describe in a positive way, is the man who has changed the political landscape quite radically. He has also given the world some “insightful” comments on life, such …
The NSPCC has today revealed that sex offenders are grooming more children on Instagram more than any other online platform. In 32% of the recorded police incidents, Instagram was used to send sexual communication. It was closely followed by Facebook, which was used in 23% of the tim. …
I’ll jump into this once more, but in reality I’m fighting a losing battle. As we’ve seen in recent years, people have started to believe any old crap. Facebook and other social media sites now seem to be the font of all knowledge, despite them usually being a …
The new Sony Xperia 10 is heading to Vodafone and you’ll be able to get it for just £30 per month with 5GB of data and unlimited everything else (£9 up-front on a Red Extra plan). Also, if you buy before 29th April you can claim a £100 …
OK, we’ve not done this before. Let’s give it a try. If you’ve paid a lot of money to get a presence at Mobile World Congress and want some coverage here, hit our contact page right now. Here in Barcelona there’s lots of huge halls, so trying to …
A strange one this. The upcoming P30 Pro flagship, which hasn’t been launched, got shown off to Digital Trends today. However, there were a few caveats. First, they couldn’t take a photo of the front, second, it wasn’t actually the real device – it was actually a dummy …
We’ve seen foldable phones in Barcelona, and – in years past (actually, it was 2016!) – we’ve seen flexible displays. The latter was actually first brought to our attention as a possible wearable by FlexEnable but they didn’t have the necessary capacity to make it a full-on production …
