Author: Mike
I often find it hard to review cases – most people have their own preferences, whether they’re flip cases (either sideways or up/down), shell cases, rubber cases, no cases etc. Most cases tend to do what you expect of them, and often the cheaper they are the poorer …
The Galaxy S8 is going to be an important phone for Samsung in 2017. In the wake of the utter disaster that was the Note 7, the company arguably has a lot of ground to make up in winning over buyer’s confidence. Rumours of what the S8 will …
We’ve recently reviewed a number of Aukey products here at Coolsmartphone Towers and, as a thank you, the lovely folk in the Far East have provided our readers with a series of money-off codes on their products: Quick Charge 2.0 Car Charger https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B014FHIJ1U £6 off code: ZNED2Q2I USB Wall Charger …
When I was sent these headphones I gave a sigh of relief – I’m a regular runner and use a bog standard pair of sports headphones. These fit nicely around the ear but have a wire, and for months now the wire has been driving me slowly mad …
Portable speakers are ten a penny these days. You can spend anywhere from a few pounds up to several hundred. The sound quality is often one of the defining features, as is the make and look. Aukey produce a wide variety of products, most of which are …
I confess from the outset that I’m a bit of an audio nerd. I like music to sound good and don’t flinch at spending a few hundred pounds on headphones or other bits of kit. I should also confess from the outset that I don’t like wireless headphones …
You’d be forgotten for thinking that there were no tech items last week apart from the over-priced, under-specced, headphone-less phone that is Apple’s latest offering. Far more exciting (to me at least!), was another announcement last week. It was well known that the LG v20 was going to …
In the wake of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall and the impending launch of the iPhone 7 you’ll be forgiven for having missed the plethora of smartwatches announced at IFA last week. We covered the launches of arguably the biggest two watches (or, at least, they were …
Last year LG released the V10. It is an unusual and quite novel phone that never officially made it to the UK, so coverage over here was quite limited. The V10 was a whopper – a 5.7″ screen with a smaller 0.2″ secondary screen above (see the …
I’m a massive smartwatch fan but, try as I might, every time I feel the itch for a new device, I cannot find anything to replace my trusty Garmin Fenix 3. The Fenix 3 provides notifications from your phone, the screen is always on, it has a built-in …
The Black Friday frenzy that has swept the US for the last few years has certainly made its mark on the UK. Not content to have one day of shopping craziness per year, Amazon is having a ‘Prime Day’ on Tuesday 12 July. The website explains what …
Although the Windows Phone OS remains a firm favourite amongst the highly paid staff at Coolsmartphone Towers, very few of us use the device regularly. Indeed, Leigh has written a number of articles recently on the death of Windows Phone. Microsoft seems to be prepared to have one …
Whilst I love the rumours associated with the mobile and tech industry, sometimes it’s really nice just to be surprised! Pebble was the original darling of both the crowdfunding and smartwatch worlds, but it’s fair to say that their second-generation devices – the three ‘Time’ variants, have hardly …
There are lots of streaming music services out and it often isn’t just the quantity and quality of the back catalogue that dictates which we subscribe too. I recently discovered that university graduates can pay a £12 annual subscription to get an NUS Extra card, which then entitles you …
This has got to be one of the longest-running rumours of the tech world. The first suggestions that HTC were working on some sort of smart wearable surfaced back in 2014, when a picture of this appeared online: Even by 2014 standards it wasn’t the most glamorous of …
Statistics can often be skewed to serve a particular purpose, but new data just released about the relative numbers of downloads and amount of money generated by the Google Play and Apple iOS app stores make for interesting reading. The most obvious points from the above graphs, which …
Quite a shocking headline in many ways, though it ought to be borne in mind that there are somewhere in the region of 1.5 billion Android devices registered for use around the globe. The information comes from Google’s second annual security report. Despite this figure, Google are quick …
For those few of us using Windows Phone devices it is time to rejoice! At long last it would appear that The Big Red Button is about to be pressed and the Windows 10 Mobile update will be pushed to existing Lumia handsets this month. Microsoft has had a …
MWC isn’t just about mobile phones and tablets of course. Showing off its new smartwatch in Barcelona is Haier. This is a company that makes fridges… and phones. Their Voyage V6 looks well built and comes in with a 5.5″ 1920×1080 LCD full HD screen. It’s dual SIM …
Amidst the news of Microsoft’s ailing mobile efforts comes a new approach. Last year Microsoft, in conjunction with OEM Xiaomi, released a version of its mobile OS for installation on the Mi 4 Android phone. News from China suggests that this approach is now going to be repeated, …
It might come as a shock to some readers, but Amazon is not the only manufacturer of ebook readers out there. Bookeen have a long history of producing reliable, if less popular devices. At MWC they are showing off a new case for their Cybook Ocean e-reader device. …
Amidst the chaos that is MWC is little that is of interest to iPhone/iPad users so, to keep our dedicated Apple readers happy, is an interesting story making the rounds at the moment. While mobiles may not be innovating in interesting ways (LG G5 aside), you can always rely on …
Despite the launch of two premium Lumia handsets and Windows 10 Mobile late last year, things are not going well for Microsoft’s mobile aspirations. Sales figures are down, and although the new phones received generally positive reviews, they hardly set the tech world alight with new features or …
Smartwatches tend to fall into two camps: those with e-ink screens, like the Pebble watches, which provide a week or so of battery life; and those with LCD or AMOLED screens, like most Android Wear devices and the Apple watch, whose life span is measured in hours or …
In the last week or so we’ve seen a number of different companies release their 2015 sales figures. Any guesses who was the highest selling manufacturer of 2015?? Read on and all shall be revealed… Perhaps the biggest, or at least most cited, story last week was the …
Last November Sky took the wraps off its new TV platform and box – the evocatively named ‘Q’. The main selling point, aside from the new 4k-ready box with increased storage, was the way in which content could be streamed to a variety of devices, including the ability …
Before Christmas there had been lots of speculation that March 2016 would see the release of the second generation Apple Watch. Looking back, it isn’t obvious whether these rumours were based on anything other than the fact that it would mark a year since the original release. Fresh …
Not sure this will exactly set the pulse racing, but beggars can’t be choosers etc. For those keen to try Windows Mobile 10 but don’t want the expense of the new Lumia 950 or 950XL and who don’t want to wait for the older handsets to be upgraded, …
When Microsoft announced their raft of Windows 10 products late last year the notable absentee, at least from a UK perspective, was the Surface Book. Described by Microsoft as the ‘ultimate laptop’ it was not available in the UK. On the face of it a laptop, the key …
While the tech world has been rather obsessed with CES this week, fresh rumours have emerged from China about the iPhone 7. Apple normally adopts a 2 year cycle of introducing new handsets, with the years in between saved for iterative updates. If that pattern is to be …
Just in case you haven’t got over the tech madness that was Black Friday, worry not for the Boxing Day sales are almost upon us. As Leigh mentioned yesterday, there are already tech savings to be had. John Lewis currently have £50 off all models of the Apple …
I realise that I’m in the minority here, but this news is possibly one of the most exciting tech announcements of 2015 for me. As a long time Windows Phone fan, but one who deserted the OS for pastures new that would work with smartwatches, Garmin have offered …
Having been an Android user for many years one of the great frustrations that I had was waiting for updates. While Nexus users might be able to install the latest and greatest OS updates, everyone else had to wait for both carrier and OEM approval. In some cases …
I should note at the start that this article is not sponsored by Three! I neither work for them nor receive any benefits. Nonetheless, I am a big fan. I first used Three about 13 or 14 years ago when it was first released to great fanfare about the …
Rumours of a fabled ‘Surface Phone’ have existed for a number of years now. That such a phone was originally being worked upon is beyond doubt: enough circumstantial evidence suggests that it did exist, on paper if nothing else. But sadly it was supposedly cancelled at the time of …
As an avid smartwatch wearer, I use my Garmin Fenix 3 primarily to monitor notifications, for running, and for checking the time. I’ve played with the Apple Watch and although I liked its shiny looks and nice interface, I couldn’t really see that I’d use most of its …
It is no secret that HTC’s fortunes haven’t been too great of late. Despite positive reviews of their phones, the company seem to be finding it difficult to sell their handsets in large quantities. In an attempt to improve this situation HTC now wants your help. In particular, …
With Black Friday deals looming on the horizon, a number of retailers are trying to steal a march by offering some early offers. Amazon has announced that it is cutting the price of a year’s Prime membership from £79 to £59. As a Prime member I can safely …
All I ever seem to write about these days are price reductions to Microsoft products. I’m not complaining mind; I can’t wait to get my hands on one of the new phones, it just leaves me wondering why the cost keeps dropping given that nothing has actually been …
Last week we posted a story about Argos selling the original Microsoft Band for the bargain basement price of £99.99. That’s now been eclipsed by Microsoft itself. The original Band is now for sale through the online Microsoft Stor e for £69.99, a saving of exactly £100. Microsoft …
