Category: Android

Press shots of the HTC Explorer appear

First official-looking shots of the HTC Explorer (previously snapped as the HTC Pico have appeared online. Specs now seem to suggest a 3.5″ 320×480 screen (we’d previously heard that it would have a 3.2″ 480×320) and a 600MHz CPU. It’s squarely aimed at the entry-level market but does …

Viewsonic V350 Dual Sim Smartphone now in stock at Expansys

A few weeks ago Viewsonic announced the dual sim V350 Android phone. It has a very basic spec and it runs Android 2.2, but it can use two sim cards at once. Oh and it’s cheap (£244.99 inc vat). Below is the spec for the phone. Dimensions (mm): …

Spy Shots: Motorola 7″ Android Tablet

Some footage has surfaced of a new Motorola tablet that looks a lot more svelte than the current 10″ Xoom tablet: We’ve obtained exclusive footage this morning of a new Motorola tablet (shown above) that looks to be a lot sleeker and thinner than the 10-inch Xoom that launched earlier this …

LG Optimus Q2 Sliding QWERTY Revealed

Named the LG Optimus Q2, this is the QWERTY slider powered by Android. It has a 1.2GHz CPU and a bright 4″ WVGA IPS display. A 5 megapixel camera sits around the back and you’ll find another at the front for video calls. Other specs include Bluetooth and …

Orange schedule the Acer C6 Liquid Express

Another handset arriving on the Orange “coming soon” pages is the Acer C6 Liquid Express. It’s a fairly dinky thing, measuring in at just 115×60.8×13.4, but it doesn’t hold back on specs. Powered by Android 2.3, it has a 3.5″ LCD HVGA screen, 5 megapixel camera with flash, …

Hardware Review – Android Bluetooth Soundbox with Hands-Free

I should start this review by saying I’m not a big fan of Bluetooth speakers. They usually sound awful and it’s usually more practical to carry round something larger rather than sacrifice sound quality. I was pleasently surprised with this one though. The sonic performance of this green little fella is not …

HTC Runnymede to arrive in Europe as the HTC Bass?

Leaked images of the HTC Runnymede appeared recently with the new HTC Beats goodness inside. Now this page has just popped up on Handtec showing the “HTC Bass” accompanied by the very same HTC Runnymede photo. It’s led many to believe that the Runnymede will be shortly appearing …

Come on, you want one of these in your garden

This rather splendid video has been knocking around the t’interwebs for some months, but strangely it’s only appeared in our inbox today. The T-Mobile advert, which was put together by Saatchi & Saatchi, transforms the marvellous Angry Birds game into real-life. Sure, we know that the majority of …

Free TV on offer when you buy the Sony Tablet S

If you’re wanting to get hold of the Sony Tablet S, it might be worth grabbing your tent and heading down to the Tottenham Court Road PC World store. The store will be dishing our a free 32″ Sony Bravia TV to the first 100 customers who pick …

Apple sues Samsung in the UK

If we’re all brutally honest, this is getting utterly boring and annoying. Apple has now sued Samsung right here in the UK. This is a countersuit after Samsung filed a suit against Apple in June. ZDNet states… Apple says Samsung’s Android smartphones and tablets infringe on Apple patents, …

Phones 4U Picking up the Sensation XE early plus more besides

The new HTC Sensation XE that was unveiled this morning looks set to be exclusive to Phones 4U…. for a week. They will be launching the device on October 1st. They’ve also mentioned that the HTC Radar and existing HTC Sensation handset will be available exclusively in white …

HTC Sensation handsets on Three receiving Android 2.3.4

Three UK have approved the Android 2.3.4 update for the HTC Sensation handset today. The news comes from this Twitter post which advises owners to browse to Applications-> Settings-> About phone-> System Software Update-> Check now to get the latest information. Update – Three are currently waiting for …

Android – With Intel Inside

Your next Android handset may well include an Intel chip inside after the company agreed a deal with Google. Atom CPU’s could pave the way to mobile success with future versions of Android working out-of-the-box on Intel chips. The CEO of Intel, Paul Otellini, stated that… The smartphone …

HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio becomes official

HTC just unveiled the special edition Sensation which features Beats Audio technology (along with a rather fetching pair of Beats headphones to be included with the device). This Sensation sports a 1.5Ghz dual core processor and bigger battery than the standard model, which will equate to better performance …

The iPhone is not cool…

Well according to the (acting) president of HTC America that is.  On the iPhone 5 hype: “Apple is innovating. Samsung is innovating. We are innovating. Everybody is innovating. And everybody is doing different things for the end consumers. I brought my daughter back to college — she’s down …

HTC cleans up in the UK

HTC phones now account for 50.9% of UK Android phones – more than double their nearest rival Samsung (on a lowly 21.6%). That’s quite staggering for a company who used to only make rebranded products for other people – indeed their first Android phone was for T-Mobile. However, …

Xperia ray now in Orange coming soon section

The Sony Ericsson Xperia ray was spotted a short while back in the support section of the Orange website. We had the official confirmation from Orange shortly after but now you can sign up for either the black or white model through the coming soon pages. The Xperia …

PingMe – Instant Messaging across Android, iPhone and BlackBerry

Instant messaging has always been a tricky thing to perfect. The biggest problem usually getting people onto the right IM platform. Are your friends on Google Chat ? Windows Live ? ICQ ? Enter PingMe, another messaging app which offers real-time chat, group chat and geo-location. It’s easy …

It’s not just me – Cat Deeley loves her Tab!

Cat Deeley. Photoshoot. Right, now I’ve got the attention of 90% of our audience I can talk about the new Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Galaxy Tab 7.7 appeared at the IFA show in Berlin recently and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 got the full hands-on treatment back at Mobile …

Smartphone shipments outstrip feature phones

It’s official, more smartphones are sold that feature phones here in Western Europe. Stats from research firm IDC shows that Samsung is ahead with 13.9 million phones sold in the second quarter of 2011 (feature phones and smartphones), with Nokia behind on 9 million followed by Apple and …

Samsung Galaxy Y Coming to Vodafone UK

If you want an entry-level Android then this new Samsung Galaxy Y could be your thing. Samsung appear to be naming their phones according to “class designators”… S – Super Smart – Devices at the very pinnacle of Samsung’s mobile portfolio. This class will only be used on …

Google redefines “open”

Papers marked as “Confidential” have popped into the limelight today as part of court papers submitted by Google. It seems to reveal that companies who adhere to the Google specs are able to put phones and tablets on sale first. One section reveals how Google attempts to ramp …

T-Mobile and Orange also offering the white Galaxy SII

Eeek.. OK, the white Samsung Galaxy SII is now almost everywhere. T-Mobile have now joined O2, Vodafone and Three in offering the handset. It’s free on T-Mobile on plans costing £35.75 or more per month. Edit – Looks like Orange is selling it too, so now every UK …

Sony Ericsson Xperia ray on the way to O2

O2 are also set to range both the Sony Ericsson Xperia mini Pro and the Sony Ericsson Xperia ray. The Xperia ray is just 9.4mm thick and has a 3.3″ 854×480 screen, 8.1 megapixel camera (with that clever Exmore R technology for better low-light shots) and is powered …

O2 to range the Samsung Galaxy W

Also on the September roadmap for o2 is this, the Samsung Galaxy W. The handset is also arriving on Three shortly and is powered by Android 2.3. It comes equipped with a 1.4GHz CPU, 3.7″ Super LCD screen, GPS and WiFi. The Galaxy W seems to be a …

White Galaxy SII Also arriving on O2

If you’re looking for the Galaxy SII in white then you can get it on Vodafone or Three. However, we’ve also noticed O2 are about to sell the white version too. O2 already sell the darker model for free on plans costing £37 or more per month. Link …

Android 4.0 on the Sony Ericsson Xperia roadmap

A Sony Ericsson rep has confirmed to somobile that their current Xperia handsets will be updated to Android 4.0. Speaking to SoMobile, a representative from the London-based phone-maker assured that its 2011 Xperia smartphones all come with support for Android Ice Cream Sandwich – the next iteration of …

Google hand over weaponry to HTC

HTC have added more patents to a lawsuit against Apple. The patents were purchased from Google last week and actually come via Pal, Motorola and Openwave Systems originally after Google purchased those companies last year. At face value it seems that Google are helping HTC to fight their …

TouchTalk – Translate on the fly

Whilst looking at Push To Talk apps I stumbled across this real-time translation software. It’s fairly easy to setup and is completely free from the Android Market. There’s two steps really. First, choose a source and “destination” language, then speak the phrase you’d like to say. It’ll translate …

Problems sending picture messages on the Galaxy SII ?

I’ve had two Samsung Galaxy SII phones and have noticed the same issue with both. I can’t send MMS (picture messages). I thought I’d sorted it the other day but no, I continually get the “Failed” message flash up even after coming away from the UMA connection I …

HeyTell – An app that should be in all smartphones

It’s not often that an app causes me to record a video review, let alone two, but I’ve been using my Android phone in totally new ways recently and wanted to share the love. 🙂 I’ve tried “Touch To Talk” apps in the past and I’ve seen, many …

Review – ABBVY Business Card Reader

There are many business card apps out there. Some are tied to larger applications, some integrate to other products, but few accurately OCR your contacts business cards. CoolSmartPhone would like to present to you ABBYY Business Card Reader (BCR) for the iPhone . BCR  allows users to capture contact …

White Galaxy SII now available on Vodafone

It’s been just days since we spotted the all-white Galaxy SII was on its way to Vodafone. Today it’s appeared on the Vodafone site and you can get the pearly white version for nothing on £36 per month plans. The white version is also available on Three on …

Toshiba AT200 – Supermodel thin

The AT200 tablet may not have a catchy name, but Toshiba have squashed this new Android tablet down to a mere 7.7mm thickness. Using Android 3.2 Honeycomb and powered by a TI OMAP 4430 1.2GHz CPU, this has a 10.1″ screen and weighs in at 558g. The new …

LG Optimus 3D to cut down on the burgers?

We liked the LG Optimus 3D but it was, how can we say this, a little on the heavy side. It looks like LG have noted this criticism and are, according to pocket-lint.com, planning on a Slim-Fast diet for the handset. LG’s Dr Hentry Noh explained that.. Everyone …

Android almost doubles UK market share according to report

Just in case you weren’t aware, Android is continuing to rise in popularity. Research from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows the sheer seismic shift in the market share for Android. Android now has a 47.1% share of the smartphone market here in the UK, with BlackBerry some distance behind …

LG Optimus 2X – Video overview

A couple of weeks back we had a look at some of the latest LG handsets. The first was this, the LG P990 – aka the LG Optimus 2X. It’s been known as the Optimus Speed or the Star and has a Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 CPU. …

Galaxy Tab 7.7 Removed from IFA show

Apple have fired yet another shot at Samsung in their continuing patent battle. This time it’s resulted in Samsung removing their new Galaxy Tab 7.7 from the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin. The BBC states .. The two companies have been fighting legal battles in the US, …

Orange to carry the Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray

It looks like the Xperia Ray will be heading to Orange in the not-too-distant future. The handset has just appeared on the help and support pages and, whilst this page alone isn’t concrete proof that the network is taking the phone, “Rich” has mailed in to say that …

Radar Love – HTC’s new handset in video

The HTC Radar got the hands-on treatment last week when we attending the big HTC reveal. It’s a Windows Phone device with a 5 megapixel camera, 1GHz CPU and 8GB of storage built in. The full specs are here, plus HTC have now added these YouTube videos…