Author: Simon Allum

Huawei announce G330 and Y201

Huawei have today announced two new models for its line up of Android handsets. Firstly the Ascend G330, the follow up to the G300, runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, has a 4″ screen, is powered by a 1Ghz dual core processor and  incorporates Huawei’s own HAP 5.1 …

Developer Profile: Apposing

Great Britain has been at the forefront of technology for hundreds of years.  Since the industrial revolution the British have led the way with technological innovations that have improved the quality of life for billions of people around the world. From the steam engine to the television to …

Galaxy Note II 4.1.2 update leaks

James Pearce once again told us of his love for the excellent Samsung Galaxy Note II yesterday and I must say that after my review here I pretty much share his views. Well, it would seem that there is yet another reason to like Samsung’s monster handset as a new …

Battery Stats Plus – Recommended Android App

One major complaint around almost every smartphone currently available is battery life. Unless you have a Motorola Razr Maxx or the Galaxy Note 2 with their giant batteries or have every data service turned off then battery life is almost certain to raise its head as an issue …

Huawei Ascend W1 Picture Revealed

Back in October there was news of the first Huawei Ascend Windows Phone 8 handset and now a picture has been revealed! As you can see the handset comes in blue and white and whilst the specifications are yet to be confirmed the new device is rumoured to …

Android 5.0 briefly puts in an appearance.

We have only just seen the release of Android 4.2 and the new Nexus 4 (even if not many have actually seen one!!) but already Android 5.0 seems to have put in an appearance in benchmarks spotted on NenaMark benchmark charts. The OS, generally thought to be know as …

RHA MA350 Earphone Review

Whilst the majority of Britain’s manufacturing industry has disappeared, there is one area where the UK still excels and produces some of the best equipment in the world and that area is audio. With companies such as Cambridge Audio, Roth, Creek, Wharfedale and Meridian to name but a …

Google Play Music – Review

As discussed on our latest podcast, Google Music has finally arrived here on the shores of the UK and finally for all of those who didn’t know about or care to use the workaround can get a taste of what those on the other side of the pond …

HTC One X+ Review

Earlier this year HTC launched the One X.  It was generally acknowledged at the time as the best Android handset available, it had a stunning screen and a class leading camera.  Unfortunately for HTC along came the Samsung Galaxy SIII which with its aggressive marketing campaign left all …

HTC One X+ Initial Impressions

HTC recently released the HTC One X+, the update to the well received One X. After a small amount of pleading and thanks to the rather lovely guys at HTC, we here at Coolsmartphone have managed to get our grubby mitts on one to have a play with and write …

Lenovo outsells Nokia….the shape of things to come?

Market research firm Canalys today revealed the news that Lenovo has sold more handsets worldwide than Nokia for quarter three of 2012. Whilst the main mitigating factor would have been the impending launch of the new Lumia 820 and 920 handsets this signifies just how big a downfall …

Carphone Warehouse slash tablet prices for christmas

The weather has turned colder, the leaves are falling off the trees, Halloween is over and done with and Sainsbury’s have mulled wine in stock.  This can mean only one thing…..Christmas is rapidly approaching! In celebration of this fact Carphone Warehouse are slashing the prices of several tablets …

£55 Handset designed for the more mature user

  Every one of us either has an elderly relative, friend or knows someone of a more mature persuasion. Whilst many of the elderly are embracing the growing mobile technology, there are those that either can’t or won’t be able to get along with the latest and greatest …

Samsung Galaxy Note II Cases Now at Mobile Fun

Following our review of the Samsung Galaxy Note II and the news that over 3 million units have been sold in just 37 days we bring news that Mobile Fun are now selling a range of Samsung and third party Galaxy Note 2 cases. The cases which range from …

Samsung Galaxy Note II Review

I’ve often listened with interest as our own James Pearce waxes lyrical on the Coolsmartphone Podcast about the wonders of having a handset with a large screen.  James has often sung the praises of his own Galaxy Note brushing aside all ridicule.  Personally I had my doubts, I …

EE – Is It really all that bad?

So, 4G is live in 12 cities, the tech journalists have busied themselves speed testing from every street, from inside buildings, outside shopping centres and some have even got up at silly o’clock just to drive somewhere and check the speeds that can be achieved (now who would …

3G Issues on 3. Data down.

Note: If you are looking for information on the data issues from the 4th June 2013, click here. Several users of the 3 network are reporting a complete data outage this morning. Users have taken to social networking site Twitter to complain that they are getting limited or …

Google Play Store passes 700,000 apps mark

Last month it was announced by Apple that the app store had passed the 700 thousand apps mark. Well, in the spirit of true competition, Google has now also announced that the Play store has now also passed the 700,000 apps number. With the announcement of the new …

Google Maps coming to iOS – now in alpha build?

  There has been much chagrin and consternation around the removal of Google maps from iOS. Reports of Apple’s new mapping app vary from excellent to useless and the outcry was enough to provoke a public apology from Apple and also contributed to the removal of Scott Forstall …

Lookout for iOS now updated – includes Signalflare

Recently the Android version of Lookout underwent a major overhaul and redesign.  Part of this relaunch included the introduction of Signal Flare. Signal Flare is an added protection against lost and stolen phones that automatically flags your phone’s location when the battery gets really low. That way if …

HTC One X+ Now in stock at Expansys

Well, the rumours of a short delay have now been proven totally false and we are glad to be able to tell you the the HTC One X+ is now available to buy! The handset, an update on the acclaimed HTC One X comes complete with 64gb internal …

4G & EE – Now Open for business

If you are visiting the high street here in the UK today you may well notice a brand new name. With two yellow circles on a grey background, shop windows with no posters and clean fresh lines all over the place, the new brand that is EE has …

Vodafone Come out Fighting in 4G Wars

With the launch of the UK’s first 4G network only days away and after EE have come in for some major criticism over their price plans for the super-fast network, the competition have decided that they are not going to remain quiet and surrender but have come out …

Nexus 10 manual images appear – [rumour]

Pictures posted on The Verge today appear to show the instruction manual from the rumoured Samsung made Nexus 10 tablet. Google are hosting an event on Monday where it is heavily rumoured that they will launch a new handset made by LG, commonly known as the Nexus 4, …

Samsung Galaxy Note II – Initial Impressions

One of the surprise hits of late in the mobile handset arena was the Samsung Galaxy Note.  It sold by the bucketload and even now the waxing lyrical hasn’t stopped. It was therefore no shock when Samsung announced the Galaxy Note II and thanks to the lovely people …

BBC iPlayer now available on Jellybean devices

When Google decided to withdraw support for Adobe Flash player there was one obvious casualty…..BBC’s much used and much loved iPlayer. After some alleged pressure from the BBC, Adobe restored access to iPlayer on the Play store but it was still not natively supported for Jellybean devices and …

HTC Desire X Review

My introduction to the Android platform came through the original HTC Desire.  One of my bosses walked up to me knowing my love for phones and showed me his brand spanking new piece of kit, complete with scrolling widgets and all shiny and new.  My search for a …

Sony confirm Xperia Upgrade plans

The Sony product blog has today released information regarding their Jellybean upgrade schdule for the Xperia range of handsets. Upgrades are often a bone of contention for Android handset owners with many handsets receiving little or no post sales support from the manufacturers however Sony have been rather good at …

More Pictures of the new Nexus surface

  The end of October is shaping up to be a tad busy in the world of mobile communications.  With EE due to launch their 4G network, Microsoft holding their Windows Phone 8 and Google getting set to cause mayhem by holding their event on the same day …

The tablet market. It’s all over – [opinion]

Well,that’s that then. October 23rd 2012 – The launch of the iPad Mini. Put the date in your diary. The date that any competition in the tablet market officially disappears. Maybe I’m a little premature in forecasting impending doom for competition within the sector but let’s be honest, with …

Definitive proof: Galaxy SIII is better than iPhone 5

Why? Just why? There are many scientific experiments that have gone a long way towards advancing the human cause.  There are those that sacrifice everything they have in order to achieve their lifetime goal and along the way humankind benefits.   There are those that do something never …

Lookout Mobile Security for Android undergoes major update

Ok, so you have spent months looking forward to getting a new handset, weeks agonising over which OS, which handset and then even more time haggling with your network for a decent tariff. Finally your brand new device arrives and there it is looking all nice and shiny, …

Huawei Ascend W1 pics and specs leak

  Huawei’s assault on the market is set to continue as this leak from Chinese website Weibo shows. With the release of Windows Phone reported to be only a couple of weeks away the Chinese manufacturer is preparing an interestingly specified device for release. The handset may well be …

Google begins updating Play Store

Google has begun rolling out an update to the Play Store.  The new version (3.9.16) has some rather useful updates that many people have had on their wish list for a while. If you download lots of apps then you are aware of just how frustrating it is …

Samsung announces the Galaxy SIII Mini

As widely leaked, Samsung have today announced the Galaxy SIII Mini.  As the name suggests, the device looks like a shrunken down Galaxy SIII and features the same nature UX of its bigger sibling. The 4.0″ Super AMOLED handset comes with a dual core 1GHz processor, Android 4.1 …

Galaxy Nexus II is really the Galaxy Premier – Rumour

There have been rumours circulating regarding a new Nexus handset as far back as August when James reported on a possible Galaxy Nexus refresh. Well, it turns out that the i9260 is actually a new addition to the Samsung Galaxy range to be called the Galaxy Premier. According …

More new Nexus pictures surface – Rumour

Yet more pictures of the alleged new Google Nexus have surfaced on a Belarusian website.     There is still no sign of any new version of Android and with Jellybean 4.1.2 being pushed to Nexus 7 devices as we speak any other new release may well come as a surprise. …

Rumour – iPad Mini Pics leak on Twitter

SonnyDickson is not a familiar name within Apple circles, or at least he wasn’t until yesterday. Posted on his Twitter feed yesterday were a few images of what he claims is the reported upcoming iPad Mini.   The pictures unfortunately don’t stretch to a model that is working but …

Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini specs and pic leak!

Leigh earlier wrote about the Galaxy SIII Mini that is due to be revealed tomorrow. Well, it would appear that the specs and a picture have managed to find there way onto the interwebs by a German website called Mobile Geeks.  The handset is purported to have the …