Category: Android

Which is the best Android TV box?

If you’re looking to turn your TV into a smart interactive device but don’t want to have to spend money on a whole new TV, a set-top box running Android TV is just what you need. You can easily watch videos online and media from external storage. In …

The Nokia 800 Tough. A durable, rugged phone designed for hard work.

Every now and then it’s really quite refreshing to get a press release which isn’t about a smartphone. This one is a bit smart, granted. It has an on-board (non Android) app store and there’s WhatsApp and Facebook pre-loaded, plus there’s WiFi and 4G too. It’s a mere £109.99 on Amazon and …

How mobile gaming is taking over

It’s 2020 and today our mobile modern  technology plays a massive part in our day to day lives. However, what many don’t realise is that there’s been a huge amount of attention in this area. Not just the hardware, not just the operating system or the networks, but …

Huawei to use TomTom maps

Following the embargo placed on Huawei, the Chinese phone company can no longer trade with US companies. It’s effectively received a closed door from Google and all its associated services. To be honest most of the Google services can be replaced – in fact most phone manufacturers have …

BT Broadband packages now come with Google Stadia

BT (British Telecom) has announced that it is partnering with Google to launch a range of broadband plans that come with the Stadia cloud gaming service bundled in the package. BT, which is the biggest Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the UK, is planning to offer the free …

Getting a career in games 

Like gaming ? Well yes, so do I. But how do you fancy earning some money out of it? If you want to learn more, there’s a set of interactive workshops and sessions coming up on February 1st. The industry is looking to recruit more women in, as …

Planning your summer holiday? Try these companion apps

With Christmas and the entire festive season just a dim and distant memory now, people are planning to escape the dark, cold and wet winter nights by booking a summer holiday. After getting the right deal, you’ve got to consider saving the money to pay for it all …

Huawei – Who needs Google Play?

Well, if you’ve been around these parts for a while, you’ll know that Huawei (and therefore Honor) have had a rough time of late. America really doesn’t like Huawei right now, and they’re of the opinion that Huawei are bad in every way. It’s all cobblers of course …

Board games without the boredom

Well, Christmas is over now but, it there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that board games are making a big come-back. In our house at least. Monopoly seems to be a favourite right now, and we’ve ended up with three different Monopoly boards which are themed around different …

Huawei in the spotlight again, for all the wrong reasons.

The US imposed a trade block on Huawei and stopped US companies doing anything with the company. This prevented Google from delivering Gmail, YouTube and Google Play plus many other apps to about-to-appear Huawei and Honor Android handsets. In short, all the Honor and Huawei handsets on sale …

OnePlus goes 120 Hz

So, you thought the super-slick screen on the OnePlus 7T was smooth ? That’s 90 Hz and slides along like butter on a hotplate, but now OnePlus want to go further. The company have just finished off a 120 Hz Fluid Display and they’ll be introducing it this …

Getting your mobile app design right

What I loved most about the old BBC iPlayer Radio app was the GUI. The design of the interface was straightforward, easy-to-understand and worked well. Whether you were sat still or going for a jog – you had a natural and simple interface that did exactly what you …

Asus ROG Phone II – Review

Gaming phones have now become a thing and manufacturers are standing up and taking attention. This all kicked off back in 2017 when Razer released their first Razer Phone. I reviewed it shortly after it arrived on our shores and was very impressed. At the time it was …

Nokia 7.1 to join the Android 10 deployment

People do tend to overlook Nokia when looking for a new phone, however – it should be noted that they’re continuing to update a lot of their phones. The people behind Nokia phones – HMD Global – have announced that the Nokia 7.1 will also be joining the …

Honor phones drop in price during January

If you’re after a cheap phone, Honor have reduced the price of many handsets in their range this January. Their Honor 8A smartphone (which has an octa-core 2.3GHz CPU, minimalistic dewdrop display and great power-saving) is now down to just £119.99 from Argos, but you’ve got to be …

Samsung Galaxy A71 and Galaxy A51 landing next month

Yes, we’re actually quite liking the sometimes-overlooked “A range” of phones from Samsung. You may remember our up-close look at the Samsung A70 here, and now Samsung have announced further devices – the Galaxy A71 and the Galaxy A51. These two handsets include the “Infinity-O” display and a …

Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note10 Lite announced

New phones! We like new phones. Samsung have just announced two new handsets which “build on the legacy” of the Galaxy S and Note series phones. The Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note10 Lite devices were revealed by DJ Koh, President and CEO of the IT & Mobile …

CES – OnePlus makes cameras invisible

Our smartphones are now getting more and more cameras. Wide-angled lenses, macro-lenses and more – all packed in there, all clogging up the design. Then, as we’ve seen during 2019, there’s been innovative ways of hiding the camera up front too. Flip cameras, pop-up cameras and in-display lenses. …

Boxing Day Sport ahead! Grab your phone

Gambling has evolved over the years. Technology has improved mobile sports betting to make it more accessible, more understandable and more obtainable. Now, thousands of sportsbooks such as Betway cover a variety of sports events. The number of punters who place mobile bets has soared of late but, …

Sending money securely overseas

In the financial world of today, money can be sent overseas in many different ways. Gone are the days of having to go to the bank and fill in complex forms. Now there’s instant online banking and an array of applications on your smartphone to help you achieve …

Updates ahoy for Asus owners

If you’ve got the ZenFone 6 or the ROG Phone 2, get checking for updates. A new over-the-air update should be rolling out today which will update your OS from 17.1810.1910.73_M3.18.40.6_20191119 to 17.1810.1911.110_M3.18.40.10_20191216 It includes an updated security patch, updated APN settings, new boot animation, additional languages and …

Unboxing the Asus ROG Phone 2

So I have been doing this for a while now and in that time I have seen some very cool and very powerful phone’s come across my desk. However, today is a big day as this is the day that I get the chance to unbox one of …

A smarter way to send money online

As money transfer service providers look for ways to efficiently and safely send money online, Ria has taken the game to a whole new level. Realising the struggles customers were going through in accessing international money transfer services through websites and physical agents, Ria Money Transfer developed the …

Turkey for Christmas, but it won’t be getting any Google Apps

So, very much like “the Huawei problem” and the Trump Trade block which is preventing Google Apps from appearing on upcoming Huawei phones – Turkey will soon have the same issue. Google started having a few issues in Turkey after Russian internet company Yandex decided to file an …

emporia – User-friendly smartphones for all

Back in 2013 we had a chat with a nice guy called Chris from Doro whilst touring the stands at Mobile World Congress. We met him again in 2015 as Doro continued to grow, offering accessible smartphones for the elderly, hard-of-hearing or those with sight problems and so …

National Lottery celebrates 25 years, and people still queue!

Unbelievably, despite me being just 3 years old (cough), I remember buying a National Lottery ticket on the first ever draw. In 1994 I paid a whole one pound to have a go, and everyone I knew just assumed they’d win. They didn’t, I didn’t. The 45-million to …

More selfies than ever!

The nice people at Honor have gone and commissioned a London-based street photographer to capture images on their new Honor 9X. Shane Vincent has grabbed snaps on the phone as research reveals that 85% of Brits admit they’re posting more selfies than ever before – and men are …

Fairphone 3 now available on Vodafone

The eco-friendly and easy-to-repair Fairphone 3 is now available on the Vodafone network. You can bag it from just £32 per month with a £49 upfront cost but, if you choose an Unlimited or Unlimited Max plan, you can add Amazon Prime Video, Spotify Premium and more for …

Want to secure your privacy on your Android smartphone?

As you’ll no doubt be aware by now – if you want something free, you’re usually going to be giving up some of your privacy instead. Most apps that are free, especially on Android, will be wanting some additional permissions on your phone. They might want to read …

Asus announce new ROG Phone 2 Ultimate and Strix editions!

Asus have been quietly working on their gaming phone concept for a few years and have released two version of the ROG Phone to date. These have come in the form of the ROG Phone and then more recently the ROG Phone 2 These were pitched as being …

Best phones for sports streaming and browsing on the go

Of late, I’ve noticed (whilst out shopping) a lot of dads doing a sneaky bit of football-watching on their phones. With providers like Sky Sports now delivering streams to subscribers in many different ways, it’s easier than ever to watch – and we’re more likely to thanks to …

Get Christmas Gadgets for less

I love not spending stacks of cash on Christmas gifts. In our regular “Features” section I’ve previously covered ways to get shiny, and normally quite expensive, gifts for less. There’s lots of ways to do it – trading in old phones, getting cashback and using discount codes if …

Top browser extensions for 2019

On your “regular PC” (or laptop), you’ll no doubt have a range of your favourite extensions in Chrome. Regardless of whether you’re an easygoing or avid user of the Internet, there are some must-have browser extensions that you’ll be using on a daily basis. However, when you’re on …

Motorola one hyper incoming

Available for $399.99 in the US, this is the new addition to the Motorola one family. It’s called the “hyper” (yes, in lower-case) and will be ready to buy here in the UK soon too. The phone has no in-display selfie shooter and instead opts for a pop-up …

Black Friday – Realme 5 Pro for less than £162

Good deal this one. We’ve already been up close and personal with the Realme 5 Pro and now, at the Black Friday discounted price of €189 (£161.30), it gets even better. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 AIE running at 2.3GHz and it’s got a 6.3″ 2340×1080 …

Snapping your wedding photos on a Huawei P30 Pro

This one is similar to our wedding day in a way. We had a professional photographer but we found that a lot of the ad-hoc shots taken on other cameras were actually more interesting and more natural. Perhaps it’s the fact that there’s no tripod, it’s less obvious …

Best tablet for writers. Is it right under your nose?

I stumbled across a gadget that I’d almost forgotten about recently. It was an iPad Mini. Wow. Remember this? When we used to use tablets for things? Strangely though, I’ve found a new a new use for it as our existing “radio phone” has failed in the kitchen. …

How about sticking a floppy drive in your smartphone?

Over the years I’ve put some interesting things into my Android phone. Wow, that’s an opening line isn’t it? It all started when I stuck a mouse into the USB port, just to prove that Android does indeed support a number of peripherals. Things moved on with the …