Category: Android

HTC ChaCha Gets Speed Boost

The HTC ChaCha has been given a quiet speed boost from 600Mhz to 800Mhz according to ITProPortal.  This is a 33% speed bump on the same hardware and will help with browsing, navigating and using more applications at the same time.   HTC has quietly upgraded the Chacha, …

HTC Flyer Gets Quiet OS Upgrade

Anyone lucky enough to have a HTC Flyer might have been informaed about a new version of the software is now available for a free OTA download. The download is said to ‘improve system performance’ so we wait and see what has been improved. Your Tablet will receive a …

Toshiba Thrive tablet ready to roll. Cheap too.

Meet the Toshiba Thrive. It runs Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) and is powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual Core CPU. It comes with a 10.1″ IPS 1280×800 720p 16:10 screen and has two cameras – a 5 megapixel rear shooter with auto-focus and a 2 megapixel front-facing webcam. …

Sony Ericsson add more than 20 games to the Xperia PLAY

Remember the Samsung Galaxy S II review ? We took a good look at some rather excellent Gameloft games and were mightily impressed. Now Sony Ericsson are teaming up with Gameloft to launch Rainbow Six – Shadow Vanguard exclusively on the Xperia PLAY. 20 other games have been …

Motorola Atrix now available on T-Mobile

The Motorola Atrix is now available on T-Mobile. The device, which had a short exclusive on Orange has been floating around the T-Mobile site for some time so if you’ve been waiting, head on over and get yourself one. The handset is free on plans costing £35.75 per …

Xperia Pro up for pre-order with Sony Ericsson

If you’re looking for an Android device with a sliding QWERTY keyboard then your choices are somewhat limited at the moment. Most people will choose the Desire Z, but now Sony Ericsson look set to make their Xperia Pro available to buy. It’s currently up for pre-order on …

More malicious Android apps get zapped

More apps have been yanked out of the Android Market after they were found to contain malicious code. Again it seems that modified versions of existing apps found their way into the Market and again these apps have sent personal data to places you wouldn’t want it going …

Motorola XOOM 2 spotted, other devices on the way

Pocketnow.com have stumbled across a page on the Motorola website which seems to show lots of new devices. The site, which was taken down shortly after, revealed part of a new Motorola XOOM 2 tablet and two new Android devices called the “Slimline” and “Zaha”. There’s also a …

Acer beTouch e210 Review

Android device manufacturers have pretty much stuck to the standard design, that is a touch screen 3.5″-5″ with a few buttons dotted around the screen. Over the years we have seen various devices with a physical keyboard such as the G1, Motorola Milestone (Droid) or the HTC Desire …

Asus PadFone now official

Asus have now made the PadFone official with a product page, Press Release and several YouTube videos showing a lucky owner getting popular with the ladies. The device lets you switch from the phone to the tablet for a “seamless experience” between your activities and a single SIM …

Asus PadFone – A Tablet and Smartphone make sweet love

It’s got some weird sort of glove box-style mechanism to swallow-up the phone and, around the other side, it’s a full Android tablet. The Android march continues and there’s more cross-over devices appearing month by month. This will be known as the Asus PadFone and, when you want …

Smartphones. What can you do with them?

So you have a smartphone.  Be it Android, Apple or Windows Phone 7.  Or some other platform.  Now what? Smartphones are becoming more and more popular, as they become cheaper to produce and more popular, and people are following their friends and buying something similar to them.  Now, …

Introducing Twitsprout, one page twitter analytics.

OK, so this isn’t smartphone specific and is best viewed via a PC, but as we mostly use smartphones to use twitter I guess I can get away with featuring it here on Coolsmartphone. So, Twitsprout is a one page twitter “social media analytics and intelligence service”, or in …

Android App, Words With Friends – First Look

This is the first time that I am going to take a look at a game. Words with Friends is also available on the iPhone though so you Apple fans might want to pay attention too. I’d also like to invite you all to download the app now and …

Xperia PLAY now on O2

Looking for the Xperia PLAY ? Want it in white ? Want to use O2 ? Well, I’ve got good news for you. O2 have the handset up for free on plans over £37 per month and for £299.99 up-front on the £16.50 per month plans. If you …

Locked bootloaders are history – HTC

HTC have officially given the green light to unlocked bootloaders following a number of campaigns and petitions around the web. The news, which was posted on the HTC Facebook page, comes from Peter Chou himself… There has been overwhelmingly customer feedback that people want access to open bootloaders …

NHS Direct – A Doctor in your pocket

Many of you will be aware of NHS Direct. If you need health advice, reassurance or help, they’re just a phone call away. Now there’s an Android app and it’s available before the iPhone app. It pulls together the online symptom-checkers available from the normal NHS Direct website …

Sony Ericsson updates available – Facebook inside Xperia

Sony Ericsson have started to roll out a software update for new Xperia arc and Xperia PLAY customers. It’s starting to roll out now, so keep an eye out for an update message on your handset. The improvements include battery performance, software and WiFi stability, touch responsiveness and …

INQ Cloud Touch Just £120 On PAYG!

Carphone Warehouse have had the INQ Cloud Touch for a little while now but at a rather expensive price of around £250 on launch.  Tonight on checking their site they have lowered the price on PAYG (which also happens to be unlocked!) to just £119.99 when topping up …

BBC release dedicated news app for Android

Today the BBC released their dedicate long awaited news app for Android. There are plenty of third party news apps out there linking to the BBC, but Android fans have been missing out on the official app up until now -all you iphone owners can stop sniggering at …

Samsung Galaxy S II Update now rolling

Quick. Get your utterly brilliant Samsung Galaxy S II and check for updates, it looks like extra battery life and camera improvements are ready to download. The update, which is available via Kies too, should give you better GPS accuracy and a performance boost too. If you’re still …

Alcatel OT-990 gets previewed, coming to O2 soon

Back at Mobile World Congress we got some time with the Alcatel One Touch 990. It’s powered by a 600MHz CPU and has a 320×480 pixel screen with a 1300mAh battery, WiFi, GPS and a 5 megapixel camera. Aimed squarely at the mass market, this is coming to …

Twitter adds email notifications for @ replies

In a rather strange move,Twitter has added email notifications for @ replies. You may have noticed this by the amount of emails suddenly appearing in your inbox! This does seem strange as you surely know when someone has mentioned you by simply looking at and reading your timeline… …

HTC to do a U turn on locked bootloaders?

If you had read my post yesterday < Here > ( of course you did! why did I even ask….) you would know that HTC have recently changed their policy on locking bootloaders for their smartphones and basically doing their best to stop the devices being played with …

SPB Time for Android

SPB  have recently been porting their various apps from Windows Mobile and iOS over to Android. We have seen them release SPB Wallet, SPB Shell and SPB Wireless Monitor. Today they have released SPB Time. To quote SPB, “SPB Time is an adavanced, skinnable time toolbox for your …

Locked bootloaders, custom roms, developers and hackers.

So, you either know what the title is referring to, you’ve a vague idea or you haven’t the first clue. Stick with it though as i suggest this could affect all smartphone owners. I’ll explain, in simple terms, what this means, what you can do with your phone and what …

Are Google Too Much Like Apple?

Are you Team Android or Team Apple? Well, the side whose colours you nail to the mast are usually picked solely on user preference, company offerings, and not least, first impressions. After what seems like an eternity (but in reality is only 2.5 years since Android came onto …

Sony Ericsson – Facebook inside

During my visit to Sony Ericsson in London a new service for the Xperia range was shown – Facebook inside. It adds much more integration to the native apps in Android. As we know Android phones synchronise with Facebook already but this is really as far as contacts …

Hands on – Xperia Mini and Mini Pro

Sony Ericsson have taken the original Mini and Mini Pro and given them a dose of steroids. Added is the latest Gingerbread Android OS, a 3″ screen with reality display with BRAVIA engine and 720p video recording. Both have 2.3.2 at present but an update to 2.3.3 for …

Windows Phone 7 style music player for Android

It seems a ton of Android developers are keen to mimic the minimalistic style of Windows Phone 7, and the developer of hugely popular Launcher Pro has decided he wants to make his own replica of WP7’s music player for Android. It is a pretty much perfect copy; …

Vodafone to carry the HTC Evo?

A couple of months back rumours were circulating that the HTC Evo 3D would be coming to Europe and it looks like those rumours might be coming true. Various blogs are reporting that Vodafone UK will be launching it as just the “HTC Evo” with a release date …

Android App, Bully Block – In Depth

So I have been playing with this application for a week know and I have been quite happy with it’s performance. There are a few things that could be improved and I’d like to reach out to the developers and offer my help as a tester because I …

Samsung Galaxy Tab, now just £249.99

A month ago we saw the Samsung Galaxy Tab on O2 for £299. Now eBay appears to have gone one better, with this £249.99 offer on the 7″ Android tablet. eBay have got 500 of these in stock (so we shouldn’t see any delays in theory), but be …

Sony XPERIA Play deal

Ebuyer have a limited supply of the new Playstation phone for £399.  This is unlocked (SIM free) and comes with 5 games pre-loaded, including FIFA 10. So if you’re looking for this phone, its a great price, but supply is limited.   Link – Ebuyer

Dominos release pizza delivery app for Android

Tonight my wife is out, which means I’m cooking, which means we’re ordering in. Luckily Dominos Pizza have come to the rescue of lazy / rubbish cooks everywhere by releasing this free app. You can simply click in, choose a pizza, add you own toppings and even use …

HTC Sensation hits Vodafone UK

It’s official, the HTC Sensation has hit Vodafone UK. You can pick up the phone for free with a 24-month, £30 per month contract. If you want to pay less than £30, you’ll be paying around £100 for the phone depending on the contract you choose. If you’ve …

Sony Ericsson reveal more new handsets – Win 10 of them!

OK, so you guys probably think that filming video reviews is glamourous right ? Supermodels, world travel, super-stars and fine wine ? Well, it’s not quite that flash, but you can now have a go yourself courtesy of Sony Ericsson. Best of all, you can win yourself some …

Orange Incredible S units next up for Gingerbread

The HTC Incredible S is also getting in on the Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) action with Orange customers seeing the update today. Glen and Tony Mann emailed us about this, with Glen stating…. Just to let you know, my UK Orange contract Incredible S received its Gingerbread update last …

Vodafone offer up exclusive HTC kit

Fancy the Desire S, but in a nice shade of red? Head over to your local Vodafone shop with a nice smile on your face and it could be yours. It forms part of their extensive line-up of HTC devices which also includes the Sensation (available from today) …

HTC Flyer now on sale with Three

We’ve been tracking this since Three announced it was to carry the device back in February. The 7″ tablet, which has a 5 megapixel camera, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, also includes the clever HTC Scribe technology. One thing that has confused us slightly is the …