Category: Android

Huawei Ascend Mate video overview

Yesterday we took a look at the Ovivo Mobile offering. Grab a SIM card for £15 and they’ll dish up 150 minutes, 200 texts and 500MB data on their Freedom Plan and you pay a big fat nothing per month. When you’re browsing you get an advert pop …

Samsung to open a new R&D facility in Finland

Finland is famous for several things, lakes, Angry Birds and Nokia. We all know how big Nokia used to be and you can imagine how many staff they used to have. Well Samsung have decided to capitilise on these technical Ex-Nokia staff and they’re opening up a new …

Are you and your HTC One a bit lost?

HTC just seem to suffer from one problem after another, some days I feel sorry for them. But this time it isn’t their fault something has gone wrong, it’s Google with their new overly complicated “Google Settings” app. The Google Settings app has a section about apps using …

Samsung accidentally leak Galaxy S4 Mini on their own website

OK, which butterfingers in the Samsung UK web team put the S4 Mini image live on the site before the announcement? Yes, Samsung have inadvertently published a picture of a Galaxy S4 Mini on their own app store. It’s been taken down now, but when browsing apps and …

My choice of apps – Android Edition #4

Although I technically use three different operating systems, long before Android was a powerhouse, I ended up going all in with Google. This means it both helps and hinders when it comes to picking my five favourite apps that I always install. 1. SwiftKey As it’s so easy …

This Call May Be Recorded

For training purposes or just to be generally nosey….. Here at Coolsmartphone we’ve been contacted by copluk. They wanted us to review their call recording app – “Free Call Recorder – ACR“. It is available for free from the Play Store, then you have the option to pay …

LG announce the Nexus 4 in white

There is something about white phones that gets me every time, it all started with the white HTC Hero, then Galaxy S2, Note, Note II, a few white mp3 players and a few white laptops. Now if a phone comes in white I just feel obliged to get …

HTC finds out why supply can hurt your demand

Are Samsung fighting HTC and other manufacturers with more than just huge advertising budgets and excellent smartphones? Well, according to Jack Tong, President of HTC North Asia, Samsung are kicking them right in the supply chain. Speaking to the press, Mr Tong mentioned how Samsung, who supplied the …

Samsung Galaxy Y Review

Someone has sent us a Samsung Galaxy Y. If I’m honest I have absolutely no idea. The bag was ripped and this popped out. This is the slightly older Y, aka the “Young”, and not the one announced last week. You can get a locked one from Tesco …

All Sky’s Android apps hacked by SEA

This morning we’re waking up to news of a pretty major security breach on the Android platform. ALL of BSkyBs Android apps were replaced on the Google Play store with hacked version from the Syrian Electronic Army. This affects all of Sky’s apps – Sky Go, Sky+, Sky …

Android 4.3 spotted in the wild

Android 4.3 “Jelly Bean” has been spotted at the Thailand Mobile Expo. Over on the XDA Developers forum, user “chaleen” has posted a few pictures of what he/she claims to be a Nexus 4 displayed at the Thailand Mobile Expo 2013. This phone shows to be running a completely …

OPPO Style announce first European web store

Do you like left-field? No, not the band, the standpoint. Well, here’s something that’s going to interest you. The OPPO Find 5, Android, 5″ Full HD smartphone is officially coming to Europe via the all new OPPO Style web store. I’ve been interested in the OPPO 5 ever …

My Choice Of Apps – Android Edition #3

As with other members of the team I’ve been writing a choice of Apps piece and the reasons why. These are the five apps that I install every time, I either put a new ROM in my phone ( which is quite a lot ) or have a …

HTC One Google Edition coming soon

Where Samsung go, HTC will follow. In a remarkable change of direction, HTC will be releasing a ‘Google Edition’ of the HTC One. This follows almost immediately after Samsung announcing the Galaxy S4 Google Edition. Based on the developer incarnation of the HTC One, the Google Edition will …

Huawei Ascend P6 leaks – updated with more colours

At MWC we brought you hands on coverage of the  6.1 inch Huawei Ascend Mate plus a look at their new phone the Ascend P2, and now it looks like the latest phone in the P-Series, the P6 is about to be announced in London on the 18th June if the …

New Samsung Galaxy Young coming to the UK

There’s already a Samsung Galaxy Y, aka the “Young” out there and it’s a couple of years old now. It had Android 2.3 and a 3″ screen. You can get one of those from your local Tesco for about £64. Now an updated version, complete with Android 4.1 …

No microSD on the global HTC One due to radio size

As you’ll know, there’s no microSD expansion on the HTC One. Although there’s more than enough internal storage, news that the Chinese version actually does have a microSD card slot has annoyed some. So, HTC have been asked why this is. Many assumed it was a difference in …

Three to stock the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3

Are you interested in that huge “phone” from Samsung, the Galaxy Mega 6.3? Well guess what, it’s coming to everyone’s favourite network Three. No word on official pricing yet, I just spotted this appear on their YouTube channel. I’ll update this article soon when we get some official …

MOGA mobile gaming controller released in UK

There have been several solutions to getting a proper game controller to work with mobile devices; most have been pants. The MOGA is the latest player on the block, and it’s now available for pre-order in the UK (with a provisional release date of 14th June). There are …

Confirmed – HTC First UK launch cancelled

Over a week ago we reported that the HTC Facebook phone – the “First” – had vanished from the “Coming Soon” section of the EE website. We reached out to EE about this and, at the time, they told us that they still intended to range the handset …

HTC One sales are encouraging as they hit 5 million

HTC have apparently sold 5 million Ones, which is quite a lot. Not a lot in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the iPhone 5 but it is still good. People are obviously buying the HTC One. According to WSJ an HTC executive has revealed the figures …

Google Drive updated

A number of Google apps have been updated recently. Google Drive, the online storage facility, has now got an updated Android app. The improvements include a new grid view to make file-finding easier, a “quick preview” option and the ability to scan documents, receipts and letters. In addition …

LG Optimus GJ will continue the waterproof trend

It was only a few days ago that we saw what will be the second high end waterproof phone the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active and now it seems that LG want a slice of the waterproof pie as well. LG has announced a waterproof smartphone, called the Optimus …

HTC announce dual sim Desire 600

HTC have just announced a new dual-sim phone for certain markets including Russia and Ukraine running Android and featuring the BlinkFeed we have seen on the recent and popular HTC One It is a shame we will not be seeing the Desire 600 here in the UK as a …

HTC in crisis – Daniel Lazarides to leave

Another day, another story about the continuing and rapid changes in HTC. We’re now up to the ninth resignation from the top-ranking staff, and it comes from Daniel Lazarides, Worldwide Communications Lead for Social Marketing at HTC. He is actually based here in the UK and used to …

The fire storm at HTC continues

Something really bad is happening at HTC. The America office is rapidly emptying as Directors, Vice Presidents and Managers depart with alarming speed. We already know that the following people have left or are reported to have left.. – Eric Lin, Product Strategy Manager – John Starkweather, Director …

Free Sony Xperia Z with Sony Bravia televisions

If you’re looking for a new TV and like the sound of free stuff, the this Sony offer may be just what you’re looking for. As of tomorrow, if you buy a Sony Bravia W9 46-inch or 55-inch telly you will get a Sony Xperia Z for absolutely …

Three dish up some cheap May deals

Fancy saving some money? Who doesn’t eh? Right now Three have chopped down the cost of the Sony Xperia T, Nokia Lumia 620 and Samsung Galaxy Ace. It’s purely for this month, but you can get all three on Pay As You Go and ther Xperia T is …

Samsung Galaxy S4 – Get £30 off

Keep this between yourselves, but we’ve got a special code if you’re thinking of getting the Samsung Galaxy S4. The S4, which we reviewed here, is now as low as £549.99 unlocked. If you’re interested, head to the links below and use SG430 at the checkout to get …

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is now available

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is an interesting device, as an 8″ device with the S-Pen it intrigues me, yet the slightly mediocre spec and the usual selection of Samsung software also appeals/worries me. The Galaxy Note 8.0 hasn’t exactly been pushed as much as the S4 and …

Picture special – Huawei Ascend Mate

Woaha. Remember the Huawei Ascend Mate that we saw in Barcelona? Well, I’ve got one. It pushes the term “phablet” as close to “tablet” as you can get. The screen is a 6.1″ 1280×720 IPS unit and the handset itself is pretty huge. Specs include an 8 megapixel …

Galaxy Mega 6.3 up for pre-order with delivery in July

“Are they big? I like them big… BIG!” The Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 is on its way, and you could be one of the first in the country to be lugging around this massive handset, because two major internet retailers have them up for pre-order. Expansys are asking …

Are you heading to Skegness this bank holiday?

Bank holidays seem to make people gather in groups. Big groups around the country, be it country parks, beaches, the capital city or just down the pub. But where is our favourite place for the bank holiday? Well that’s quite a hard one to quantify, you’d need to …

Tapatalk, get it free right now

If you’ve visited a forum such as ours then you’ll probably have seen the Tapatalk app pop up. It’s usually a paid-for app but, if you download it via the Amazon store right now then it’s free. The Tapatalk Forum App will make most forums a much easy …

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active leaked

Having a waterproof phone is increasingly becoming something that people want these days. For a few months it was just Sony with this trick up their sleeve. Samsung sell a phone for every conceivable niche of the mobile market. From tiny handed people through to giants they make …

One on a mountain top. Video call from Everest

A video call isn’t, despite what Apple might tell you, that special. I remember my mate showing me a 3G video call on the Three network a decade ago so being able to see the person you’re calling isn’t a big deal. Well, unless you’re on top of …

Samsung Push Service gets some interesting reviews on Google Play

I usually skim over the comments / reviews but when checking apps in the Google Play. Usually they’re full of comments like “d0esn’t work”, “uninstalled as this is cr*p” or just one-word responses like “Great” or “Nice”. So it’s interesting to see the comments that have popped up …