Author: Coolsmartphone Staff
This year we’re seeing a huge roll-out of the fastest version of 3G yet on many networks. Started by Three, who have already rolled this new standard out to 50% of the population and will get to 80% by the end of March, the other networks are now …
The Galaxy Note 2 by Samsung uses one of their in house processors, the Exynos 4412. Recently, someone found a security flaw with the Exynos that allowed a third party to control your phone and put it into a non-stop boot loop. After this, no recovery is possible. …
I never thought that I wouldn’t be using the stock Google dialer. But, I am now using the Simple Dialer Widget instead. Simple Dialer Widget (or SDW since I hate typing the whole name!) is a very straight forward widget and is surprisingly convenient. It has the dialer …
The notification bar is one of the key strengths of Android. It is the main place where we keep track of what is going on in the foreground and it is also where we are notified of, you guessed it, notifications. We are able to put information in …
It’s that time of the week where a few select members of the team take an hour or so out of their busy lives to discuss the weeks happening in the crazy world of mobile technology. You can watch the shenanigans unfold live here in this very post …
Interested in the forthcoming Sony Xperia Z? It’s water resistant and comes with a 13 megapixel camera and 5″ 1080p screen. It’s all looking like a rather attractive package. Below is a hands on video, which Clove have put together, the device is expected to be on sale in the …
Tile Launcher Beta is an awesome app! I absolutely love it! And, yes, that is how I am opening this post. I am too excited :-). Tile Launcher Beta is a replacement for your good old stock home screen. The basic idea of it is using tiles for …
Many of you have heard of Google Now, but for those of you who have not, Google Now is an application designed to quickly display personalized location and time pertinent information for you. It can quickly search your phone or the Internet for whatever you are looking for, …
Data analysis firm Arieso have been studying the data usage habits of global data connections to thousands of mobile devices, and has come up with some interesting trends on devices. Using the iPhone 3G as their baseline case and measuring other phone relative to that, the latest crop …
I like a nice leather case. They have a tendency look both classy and smart, much like myself. The Spigen SGP LeatherGrip falls into this category nicely. It’s a snap on the back style case with a soft touch lining for protection. The leather is genuine and …
The trouble with phone cases are that its long been disputed which is better for protection. Hard cases, or softer silicon/TPU cases. The solution may be hybrid cases which is where the Slim Armor for the iPhone 5 comes in. The Slim Armor is a 2 part case …
It’s almost the end of the week and that means its time for us to discuss this weeks news and as its CES week there’s a lot to talk about. This week we discuss CES, Pebble smartwatch, Apple’s numbers and Google blocking microsoft customers from viewing maps as …
Historically Apple has launched a new version of each of its products once a year dating back to the iPod. Even Macs follow this cycle for the most part but October saw a new version of the iPad announced only 8 months after the iPad 3 This has …
Great news everybody! Well great news for Pebble watch Kickstarter backers, Eric Migicovsky announced that Pebble will be Shipping on January 23rd. If you don’t know what a Pebble watch is basically it’s a watch with a ‘epaper’ display that can be customised with app integration and changing …
Yes, I am reviewing a screen protector but I am going to start with the conclusion for a change. This is the best screen protector I have ever used. Rather than being your typical piece of flimsy plastic film, the Glas.tr is an actual piece of incredibly tough …
Statistics on Windows Phone sales have always been hard to get, with Microsoft playing everything very close to their chest. Advertising platform AdDuplex have used their spread across a very large spectrum of Windows Phone devices to collect their own statistics on the most popular devices, and versions …
Looking for a nice case to go with your new or indeed now not so new iPad Mini? Well here we have a quick look and comparison of 2 of the best. The Snugg iPad Mini case and the STM Skinny for iPad Mini. Both these cases sell …
We don’t normally cover Chromebooks here but with the lines between desktops, tablet and mobile OS’s becoming ever blurred its getting tougher to not to. For the last few days I have been using the £230’’ Samsung Chromebook. I’ve decided so that I can get a full view …
Apple announced today that their App Store has seen over 40 billion apps downloaded, with almost half of those downloads coming in 2012. In the month of December, there were over two billion downloads, a record-breaking month for Apple. In a press release Eddy Cue, senior vice president …
Well, 2012 was a funny old year wasn’t it! Some of my highlights are as follows; Everyone sued everyone else Apple released a new iPhone (surprise!) Samsung released just about every form factor under the sun including the behemoth Note 2 (one of my favourite devices of the …
Puzzle games are a well-established mainstay of iOS apps, especially those which are easy to pick up and play for a quick blast. Hundreds, the latest app from Semi Secret Software, has arrived and is looking to join the ranks of must-have puzzlers. The premise of Hundreds is …
It’s that time of the month folks, Google have released the platform usage figures up to the 3rd of January The good news here is that Jelly Bean has had a reasonably large jump from 6.7% to 10.2%. Clearly a lot of people got Nexus 7’s for Christmas …
Pebble backers will be receiving an email hinting at the Pebble watch being shipped some time after CES 2013 with an announcement being streamed live @ 09:00hrs PST (17:00 GMT) on Wednesday 9th January I like many backers can’t wait to get my hands on my new bit …
We’ve done 28 Episodes of the Coolsmartphone Audio podcast and whilst we still think its great, we’ve decided to toss in a new dimension. Now you’ll be able to gaze upon the team whilst they discuss the news in the world of mobile technology. Audio Only Download
I’ve been curious about the Nexus 4 for quite some time. So much so that I bought one but my main curiosity has been the process for getting it into consumers hands. Its been fraught with problems and their seems to be some significant shortages and waiting …
Tech21 are somewhat famous in the case industry both for their cases and for their appearance on Dragons Den showing off their D3O technology. This case has that very tech included as you can see in the picture, its the orange stuff. Essentially what d30 technology does is …
Android updates are a prickly subject – our own Ravi gets most impassioned about it – with what can best be described as a “varied” experience for most people in getting the latest version on their existing handset. On top of manufacturers taking their time, or sometimes …
Putting together an iOS wishlist isn’t actually too easy. Year after year, Apple has slowly been filling in the little gaps, to the point where iOS is now a fairly mature offering. That said, there are still a few things I’d love to see from Apple come WWDC’s …
It’s been another fantastic year in the smartphone world, with new devices seemingly appearing on a monthly basis. Sales wise, its been dominated by the usual suspects (Samsung & Apple), but they’ve been far from the only show in town. After much heated debate (filling in a Google …
Exactly a year ago, thanks to the lovely team at Nokia Connects I’ve had an opportunity to review the Nokia Lumia 800 – the first Nokia-designed smartphone running the Windows Phone operating system. Putting all ramblings whether Nokia’s sudden strategy switch was right or not, the Lumia 800 …
It's hard to ignore the iPad juggernaut. Apple launched their version of the tablet computer back in 2010 and since then it's gone from strength to strength in almost every way. Others have joined the market since but have never really managed to replicate Apples success. A couple …
Recently, I’ve found myself needing to replace my ageing bluetooth headphones. The pads are wearing out, and Sony don’t make them any more. Whilst there have been quite a few pairs of headphones that have caught my eye recently, my requirements dictated that I wanted something with Excellent …
Audio book lovers rejoice, Amazon’s Audbile service is now available on Windows 8 and Windows RT devices. The app lets you listen to your audio book collection on your tablet/computer and currently offers a free copy of Life of Pi for new sign ups. As expected, it’s been …
After the runaway success of Cut the Rope, Russian developers Zeptolab have today released their latest game, Pudding Monsters. The game follows Cut the Rope’s style of cute graphics allied with addictive gameplay, and the familiar ascending difficulty curve. The basic premise of Pudding Monsters is to take a number …
Wowzers trousers. Google Maps has reportedly been downloaded for iOS more than 10 million times in 48 hours.That’s 5% of iOS 6 devices in under two days. Most impressive. Jamie and myself discussed the app briefly in this week’s podcast. In short, it’s great. It looks terrific and performs …
Following on from our previous article Mobile-review.com have a set of images of the new Sony Yuga, rumoured to be making an appearance at CES in January. The device has some rather crazy specs, a 3ghz processor, 128gb of storage, and a 16MP camera to name a few. It looks …
Grokr, lauded as a ‘Google Now for iOS’, has been launched in the U.S. App Store. Feedback from the trial has been widely positive, so we’re anxious to see how it performs in real world tests. Hopefully it’ll show up in the UK app store. We’ll update you …
Apple’s smart cover case for it’s iPad lineup is one of the best pieces of accessory design in recent memory. But does a similar paradigm transfer over to the considerably smaller iPhone? Guoer have given it a try and here’s what I think Let’s jump straight into one …
As we all know by now, the Nexus 4 launch has not been the best it could have been. Getting one from Google has been difficult at best whilst other retailers availability has been better their prices are also higher. Dan Cobley, Managing Director of Google UK …
It’s a day late, but still great. This week we discuss The HTC 8S, Microsoft and Apple’s dispute, Google maps and Tazers. Your hosts are, Jamie Ryan, James Pearce, Mark Peters and Khellan Payne You can find the RSS feed for the podcast here, you can subscribe in iTunes …
