Author: James Pearce
For what may be the first time ever in the history of Windows Phone gaming, Microsoft have an exclusive. Halo – Spartan Assault has arrived on Windows Phone and Windows 8/RT before any other platform. In the same way that previous Halo games only ever appeared on Xbox. Whether …
Can you remember episode 54 of the podcast? We announced another competition, this time to win a Nokia Lumia 520. All you had to do was send us a mockup picture of a Windows Phone of some sort and we’d pick two UK based winners. Well guess what …
A few days ago a load of leaks and pictures of the new Nexus 7 leaked out, if you missed them recap it here. Above is another image of the new Nexus 7 by Asus which has been leaked by @evleaks this time. You can see the rear …
In this day and age we have come to expect products to leak out before they are released. The above image shows what is to come from Motorola very soon. The Moto X seems to be a mid range device with an average spec, designed to appeal to …
As is often the norm with with OS updates different manufacturers release their updates at totally different times. Earlier on in the week we saw certain users of the Samsung Ativ S are getting the update already (mine still hasn’t), but today it’s the turn of the HTC …
Episode 55 of the podcast is here, joining me this week were Daniel, Mark, Nirave and Ronnie. This weeks topics were Nokia and the Lumia 1020, the HTC One Mini, the new Nexus 7, the iPhone 5S, Mark buying another Pureview 808 and some other stuff. The options …
The Huawei Ascend Mate marked a new era of enormous oversized phones, along with the Galaxy Mega they push the limits of people’s pockets. Leigh reviewed the Ascend Mate a few weeks ago and now you can pick one up from £29 per month on Vodafone here. I’m …
The Galaxy S4 Zoom is an intriguing device, the one thing I’m mainly interested in is the camera UI and how fiddly it is. Luckily Samsung have posted a hands on video on their YouTube channel showing me how the thing works. Here it is, enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqiBdo22mrg
Samsung seem to be attempting to get into the Guinness Book Of Records for “the largest number of screen sizes in their portfolio” record with a different phone for each and every increment from 3″ up to 11″. Nokia increasingly seem to be heading off down that worrying …
The Asus / Google Nexus 7 is probably the most successful Android tablet ever. It has become the one tablet I actually pick up every day and actually use, rather than just dust off and recharge, like my Surface RT. Google have historically updated their devices annually and …
At what point in history did the camera become the most important on a new smartphones spec sheet? Don’t get me wrong here, I love a decent camera phone, but increasingly I’m seeing manufacturers chase the “best camera ever” type of tagline and other specs or form factors …
Oppo are a little known Chinese Android handset manufacturer that we’ve recently become smitten with, via the reseller Oppo Style eager Europeans have been able to purchase the Find 5 which Ronnie reviewed here. But something interesting has occurred on Sina Weibo (the Chinese equivalent of Twitter), the …
The Nokia Lumia 620 is a great phone, I really liked it, apart from the fact it was just a bit too small for me (I reviewed it here). In answer to many similar reactions to the Lumia 620 it seems Nokia are going to make a bigger …
If like me you’re the proud owner of the most underrated Windows Phone 8 device, the Samsung Ativ S, then you’re in for a treat soon. It seems like some Germans are getting the GDR2 update for their unlocked Ativ S phones. GDR2 is the next big update …
Photo editors are ten a penny in the mobile app world, ranging from nice intuitive and easy to use through to something designed by an elephant with a hammer. I prefer the former myself and when something like Aviary comes to Windows Phone 8 it makes me happy …
A few months ago the first Firefox OS mobile became available. They were the Keon and the Peak. In response to the community Geeksphone have decided to release another model with a higher spec, the Peak+ After the success achieved by Keon and Peak Firefox OS Developer Preview …
As is always the way these days, when a new device comes out, the prices of the previous generation drop. Now that the Lumia 920 has two successors in the shape of the Lumia 925 & 1020. Expansys have dropped the prices of all 4 colour versions of …
Marketing and promo videos are often a little surreal and this video from Asus advertising their FonePad is rather strange. Maybe they’re pointing out the ideal size of human to use the 7″ phone or maybe they’re just being a bit odd. Either way here is the video.
The HTC One Mini could possibly be the one to revitalise the fortunes of HTC. People do like a smaller cheaper version of a well known flagship. At first we thought that the HTC One Mini was going to be very similar spec wise to the One, but …
Yesterday I watched the Lumia 1020 wondering quite how left behind me and my recently purchased Lumia 925 were going to be. I had imagined that I’d be yearning after new hardware and new software and boys was I right. Nokia demonstrated the new Pro Camera app and …
After what has to be the most leaky build up to a device unveiling ever Nokia have announced the Lumia 1020. It is their new flagship, their new PureView device and more than likely the thing they’re pinning their hopes on. As to be expected the Nokia CEO …
The thought of owning a Huawei Ascend Mate is quite an appealing one, seeing our own Leigh Geary struggle to use it one handed in his review recently made me eager to get one. It’s just what you do with a large oversized phone. The good news is that …
Another week and another podcast only competition. This week we are giving away two number Nokia Lumia 520 in red. How to win them is easy. Here’s how. Listen to Episode 54 of our podcast to hear the question Email your submission to
[email protected] along with your FULL …
Clove have posted on their blog that they have received stock of the Samsung Galaxy Z4 Zoom and you can buy one for £442.80 which is including VAT. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is a smartphone-camera hybrid. Unlike any other device currently on the market, the Zoom offers …
Episode 54 of the Coolsmartphone marks a momentous occasion, Leigh Geary has made it onto the podcast for the third time ever. Along with Leigh this week we had Ian Furlong. This weeks topics were the upcoming Nokia Lumia 1020, our competition to win one of two Nokia …
Good things come in small packages right? I think that’s what they taught us at school in the eighties anyway. I’ve been going on about oversized giant phones and 1080p flagships for weeks now and it wasn’t until I sort of accidentally bought something rather small and also …
Yesterday we posted details of the first retailer to stock the Galaxy S4 Active. Now a few more suppliers have jumped on board with it. The Galaxy S4 Active is one of the few devices in the Samsung S4 range and it offers pretty much what the S4 …
The Nokia Lumia 1020 will be unveiled tomorrow and it seems that it’s going to be quite an interesting device, what with fancy cases and fancy new software, it seems like it’s going to be the Windows Phone device to own. Yesterday we mentioned that there is going …
BlackBerry had their hopes pinned on the latest version of BB10. The new touch sensitive version of their messaging centric ecosystem was meant to be the answer to all of their woes. Things aren’t going to plan for them though, with sales and profits not exactly astounding. In …
Nokia and their Here apps are a little confusing at times, with some devices and countries not getting the full suite of apps. Nokia are due to update them this week and they have published some info regarding which devices get what. By the end of this week, …
When I got my Nokia Lumia 925 I was worried, worried about the metal sides of the phone, metal tends to scratch and lo and behold within minutes I had a tiny nick on the edge. I set about trying to find a case and barely anything existed. …
Owners of recent high end Samsung devices have probably come across Paper Artist before as it has been included as a preload on a few Samsung devices over that last 6 months (the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 among others). The developers JFDP Labs had an exclusivity …
It is very nearly time for the Nokia Lumia 1020 to rear its head and end all of the rumours. On Thursday in New York Nokia will unveil their next Windows Phone flagship and in true 2013 style pretty much all of the details have already leaked out. …
Shortly after getting the Sony Xperia Z I decided that it just felt a little too delicate for my liking. I wasn’t happy taking it out until I had a case. The nice glass backplate of the Xperia Z shouldn’t be covered up really, so I looked for …
The Sony Xperia Z, to the masses it has been eclipsed by the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4, to me it is the next logical step in my hunt to find my ideal “next generation” device. By next generation I mean compared to my Galaxy Note …
Over the past few months any Windows Phones that aren’t made by Nokia are constantly getting cheaper and cheaper. The Samsung Ativ S has seen no end of price drops and now it’s the turn of the HTC 8X which has been reduced to £219.99 including VAT and …
During episode 52 of our podcast we asked some questions, so our avid listeners could try and win some stuff. We’ve got three phones to give away, an HTC Desire X, an HTC One SV and a Samsung Galaxy Fame. We’ve got two vouchers to giveaway also. One …
Remember a few weeks ago I reviewed a Windows Phone camera replacement app? No well here is a handy link for you. Camera360 has announced that their app is being pre-installed with Nokia’s latest flagship Lumia 925, which means out of the box users will have access to …
“Impossibly Thin” they said, I laughed when I heard that. But joking aside, the Huawei is basically the thinnest smartphone in the world. We were at the press event you know, if you fancy reading about the P6 have a read of this. Our friends over at Expansys …
Nokia have some pretty damn good camera phones out at the moment. The latest the Lumia 925 broken down in this video from the Nokia YouTube channel. It doesn’t shown anything great but it’s interesting if you’re a Nokia fan. Precision: Inside your smartphone camera http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj8mjC0PXgs Nokia have …