Category: Android

Linus Torvalds uses an Android phone

It’s not the mosy surprising news in the world, especially when the Android kernel is based on his creation, but the BBC interview with Linus Torvalds is well worth a read. Linus talks about the birth of Linux and why, in his opinion, Linux hasn’t cracked the desktop …

Sony Xperia Tipo – Dual SIM Smartphone

We have recently seen a couple of announcements regarding dual sim phones and whilst these are popular in some parts of the world they have yet to make an impact here in Blighty. Sony have decided however that there is a market for such a device and as …

HTC Desire C – Photo Special

HTC have sent us their new, and very red, Desire C. Previously known as the “Golf” this does remind me of the HTC Wildfire now that I’ve got it in my hand. The Desire C has only a 600MHz CPU and 3.5″ 320×480 pixel screen, but the rather …

A week with … the Samsung Galaxy SIII – Day 3

We’re doing a special week with the Samsung Galaxy SIII and yesterday we noticed that the screen brightness was a bit dimmer on the SIII when compared to the SII. We’ve got to admit that this is actually due to the Battery Saving technology which is built into …

Sony Xperia Miro Announced

Recently we brought you news of a countdown page hinting at the next Xperia Smartphone due to be announced on Facebook.  So many people moved it forward that the annoucement has been made today – the Xperia Miro Specs include running Ice Cream Sandwich, a 3.5″ screen, 5 …

Updated Spotify For Android Out Of Beta – Now On Google Play

Following the beta launch of their overhauled Android app a few months back, Spotify have now officially released the app on the Google Play store for devices running Eclair (2.1) and higher. The app features an overhauled UI that’s more in line with the Holo ICS theme, and …

Blue Samsung Galaxy SIII in video

So, as you’ll have probably seen from the previous story, we have ourselves not one but TWO Galaxy SIII handsets. One in white and the other in pebble blue. I’ve filmed a quick couple of videos to show the blue handset in the flesh, so click on to …

Picture Special – Samsung Galaxy SIII – Pebble blue vs white

So, the Galaxy SIII. What’s your favourite colour? Well, don’t ask us. It’s not like we can just rustle up the Samsung Galaxy SIII in white and blue is it? I mean, next you’ll be wanting some up-close shots comparing both of them together. You’re kidding, right? These …

A week with … the Samsung Galaxy SIII – Day 2

This one is a little tricky to show, but the Samsung Galaxy SIII has a feature called “SmartStay”. I actually found this to be disabled out of the box, but after turning on it uses the front-facing 1.9 megapixel camera to see if you’re looking at the screen. …

New Samsung GT-B9120 Android Flip Phone Announced For China

The flip form factor has suffered a rapid decline since the heady days of the original Motorola Razr and the Samsung A300. The touchscreen revolution and the emergence of the smartphone almost put paid to thoughts of any revival.  Until now. Samsung have announced a re-emergence of the …

Sony’s Next Xperia – Your Help Needed for a Big Announcement

Sony would seem to have something that they want to share. A new Facebook page has appeared with a countdown urging users to participate in order to bring Sony’s big announcement forward. Currently we can only speculate as to the nature of the announcement, the new flagship LT29i-Hayabusa has now …

Nearly a million Android devices activated.. daily

Google big-wig Andy Rubin doesn’t tweet much, but when he does we’re all shouting about it. He has no plans to leave the big “G” and claims that 900,000 Android devices are now activated every single day. Oooo.. wouldn’t you like to have growth like that eh? Now, …

ZTE Skate Competition – The winners are..

ZTE were kind enough to give us not one but two ZTE Skate handsets to giveaway. All you had to do to be in with a chance of winning was join our ever expanding forum. The winners, picked at random from ALL of our forum users, were “josh1204” …

Can you punch as hard as Rampage Jackson?

I spotted this game the other day, it lets you basically gauge how hard you can punch. You basically have to grip the phone, punch the air and then revel in how great you are. Quite what a guy who spends ten hours a day sat at a …

Linaro drops a turbo into Android

Long hair. Check. Beard. Check. This guy must be a geek that knows his stuff. I could blind you with science here but the upshot of this video is that the Linaro tweaks will make your Android go faster. Faster is good, m’kay? The people behind CyanogenMod have …

Using the HTC One S at the Monaco Grand Prix

Recently I attended the Monaco F1 racing and, as with most holidays, I like to take along a camera phone. This is so I can quickly take photos and record videos on the move. This trip was no different and, thanks to the team at HTC, I was …

Hannspree announce the new HANNSpad

A few weeks ago Hannspree tweeted a picture of the upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich HANNSpad. Today they have announced the actual spec and price for the device. The press release is below and quite a few things stand out from it. Key points for the new HANNSpad are: …

A week with … the Samsung Galaxy SIII

So, this week I’ve got myself a Samsung Galaxy SIII. It’s been loaned to us from UR-Mobile and we’ll be giving you a daily dose of this hot new handset. Simply check back at 9.30 AM every day for the latest video. I’ve had quite a bit of …

Storage Options announce two new Ice Cream Sandwich tablets

Storage Options are a UK based technology firm who make a variety of products. Some of which are tablets. Budget Ice Cream Sandwich tablets at that. Today Storage Options have announced two new tablets that are available to pre order. The 9.7″ Scroll Elite for £199.99 and the 8″ Scroll Engage for …

Coolsmartphone Recommended Android App – 0800 Wizard

We’ve all seen the adverts that say “call us free on this number now” or “freephone 0800 blah blah blah”. That’s all well and good but from most mobile networks freephone numbers are not free…yet.  In fact they can cost up to 21p per minute. Ofcom recently announced …

Ice Cream Sandwich Update for Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro

Little qwerty slider phones are few and far between these days, and what better choice than a Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro? Well… a Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro running Ice Cream Sandwich, of course! It’s been announce on the official Sony forum that the Mini Pro is …

From Russia with Love…The Lambo Smartphone!

We’ve had Ferrari and Asus, Porsche and Blackberry, and now the latest supercar manufacturer to enter the hi-tech world of computing and communications is Lamborghini! As well as a couple of rather lo-tech feature handsets, the maker of such classics as the Countach and the Aventador is launching …

Coolsmartphone Recommended Android App – ChargeBar

ChargeBar is a neat little line that runs along the top of your screen and shows you how much battery you have left. I originally had something like this back in the day of Windows Mobile. This is slightly more featured and is a clone of the charge …

HTC Desire V brings us dual-SIM action

Yeah I know, I bet you thought that we’d only see the “One” handsets from HTC this year. Wrong. Since the HTC One X, HTC One V and HTC One S appeared we’ve seen the HTC Desire C and now this, the slightly confusing HTC Desire V. I …

Orange San Diego first 24hrs

I went out and got a Orange San Diego yesterday so that I could be one of the first to own a Intel powered mobile phone; on attending the press event the other week I was pretty taken with the handset and had made my mind up pretty …

Microsoft: on{X} Beta – Automation for Android

Microsoft has released a Beta app for Android. It goes by the name of on{X} (pronounced on – ex). In basic terms, it is an automation app for you phone, that allows you to do things with your phone, depending on location, movement, weather…well, pretty much anything! The more …

Shares in HTC dip again following lower revenue forecast

A revenue forecast 13% lower than previously projected has sent HTC shares tumbling. The company, which has focused this year on three HTC One handsets, has been rolling with the punches following the continual rise of Samsung devices at one end of the price bracker and handsets from …

Euro 2012 is coming…….

Euro 2012 is about to kick off and every avid footy fan in Europe and across the world is due to be glued to the telly box watching the beautiful game. There are those who are destined to miss the games due to other commitments.  Work, the dreaded …

What happened to the future of mobile gaming?

A couple of days ago, while you lot were busy enjoying the Jubilee, we mentioned that PlayStation Suite was to be renamed “PlayStation Mobile” and games will no longer be restricted to Sony kit. We also told you that HTC was to be one of the first to …

Google Nexus tablet snapped

On the whole, it’s safe to say that Android tablets haven’t done as well as the iPad. The Android “carpet bomb” approach just doesn’t seem to have worked all that well as far as tablets are concerned. Sure, the Galaxy Tab range has done fantastically well but Google …

Galaxy SIII to be targeted by Apple

So, in perhaps the most unsurprising news in the world, Apple has now begun to try and block the Samsung Galaxy SIII in the US. Apple staff purchased the phone from the UK, checked it and determined that it should be added to the existing injunction motion against …

3D and Offline coming to Google Maps

Google held an event today to announce new features coming to their Google Maps service, 3D and Offline. The process of saving offline maps was demoed and it looks quite simple. The user selects “Make available offline” from the menu, selects the area needed and it downloads to …

Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 Launch Date Revealed

With all the furore surrounding the launch of the Samsung Galaxy SIII it’s easy to forget that there are plenty of  other phones in the Galaxy range and they are not all aimed at high end users that require copious amounts of processing power and  the ultimate in today’s …

Samsung Galaxy SIII v Apple iPhone 4s Drop Test

They are the two best selling smart phones on the planet.  With over 40 million handsets between them in circulation it only stands to reason that some are going to be dropped or broken. In order to see which would fare better if everyone’s nightmare happens and you …

Google Acquires Quick Office – Android Integration imminent?

Google have today announced the acquisition of Quickoffice, the office productivity company. Google say: We’re happy to announce that we have acquired Quickoffice, a leader in office productivity solutions. Today, consumers, businesses and schools use Google Apps to get stuff done from anywhere, with anyone and on any …

A week with the Samsung Galaxy Note

The other week I got myself a Samsung Galaxy Note. Before I had one I was always interested in it but also concerned about the size. What a lot of people ask me when they find out that I have got one, is “is it too big?” or …

PlayStation Suite re-branded PlayStation Mobile

Today, Sony announced it will be re-branding the ‘PlayStation Suite’ to ‘PlayStation Mobile’. This move will should now bring more PlayStation titles to more devices, rather than just the ‘PlayStation Certified’ handsets, which never really took off. As part of the announcement, SCE (Sony Computer Entertainment) also announced …

The Samsung Galaxy S3 and The USA

The Galaxy S3 is finally heading to the United States of America! Samsung have announced the phone for the five mobile carriers over in the United States all in one sweep. The device will start on the biggest four carriers for around $199 on a two year contract and …

Three Remove TrafficSense For High Users

Three have now stopped the TrafficSense service for restricting speed to the top 5% of users duringi peak times TrafficSense™ is there to help make sure all our customers get a fair share of our network. We continue to develop and refine it. The initial trial of one …

Time-lapse video on Android

Some years ago I filmed this summer sunrise on a Windows Mobile phone. Last weekend, with the sun actually beating down on our garden, I decided to try the same thing on Android. I ended up using Controlled Capture Lite which is, if I’m honest, a bit rough …