Category: Android
If you constantly get distracted by your smartphone, there’s a simple fix. Just turn the thing off. Leave it in a cupboard. However, if you need to actually do work on your phone then… well, it’s easy to get distracted by Facebook messages and tweets appearing on the …
Those of you that have ever dabbled in changing the OS on an Android phone will no doubt will have heard of Cyanogenmod. This group of enthusiasts built operating systems for a myriad of Android phones compiled from the base AOSP. At one time things were going well, …
Well, as you’ll know if you’ve seen our contract and SIM-only deals recently, we love to find a good deal. Here, from TOMTOP, is an offer on the Letv LeEco Le 2 X520. It’s a smartphone with an octa-core 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 (1.8GHz x 4 + 1.4GHz …
Just last week we told you that the new Motorola Z2 play was about to arrive on the Vodafone UK network. So, just like clockwork, here it is. If you want to be a bit different or try something that isn’t a Samsung or an iPhone, the modular …
We all use the web, and we all see the horror stories associated with data and the privacy of it. Cybercrime is, unfortunately, a real thing these days and keeping you and your family safe online is very important. Here is a quote that sums it all up, …
Got £8 in your pocket? Have a phone you’re happy with? Like the coverage provided by the EE network? Listen up! Right now, Plusnet have a bit of a special deal on. It’s a SIM-only offering and it’s just a 30-day rolling contract, so you can hop out …
Seriously – Google went in. The best place to start is with what we knew – or thought we knew from the rumour mill (if you want to catch up on what we thought we knew, the best place would be alongside the podcast Jawas helping keep the …
It’s probably fair to say that Android Wear is yet to capture the popular mood in the same way that the Apple Watch has. Although there are a fairly wide variety of watches out there, there is little to differentiate them apart from aesthetics, with manufacturers hardly changing …
If you want to get the latest info on what Google have in store for us then you can now tune into their live stream below. We will be keeping our eyes peeled to see what they have instore and we will report back to you once we …
Back when everything was black and white, we had something called MSN Music. That launched in 2004 and had 1.5 million tracks available. It was designed to compete with the iTunes Music Store, but the catalogue quickly dwindled. No matter though, because Microsoft had an idea! Let’s kill …
At the weekend I had “that call”. I’m sure many of you will have had a similar call from a friend or relative. It happens when you somehow become the “computer guy” and you seemingly have the ability to fix anything relating to tech. In this case, it …
I’m getting in the habit of not carrying cash much now. There’s several benefits to this. For starters, everywhere I go there’s the “tap to pay” machines and I tend to use my phone. Also, there’s the added benefit of using the, “Oh lads, can you get the …
Although tech can sometimes be a little imposing, it can supply the tools and the solutions for endless business opportunities. Some of the UK’s greatest start-ups have technology to thank, and this is especially true with companies like Uber and Swifkey. The mobile app industry has grown to …
Yes, that’s pretty much the entire content of this story, right there in the title. Still, I’ve read the Daily Mail website and, if we now throw in 40 very similar photos with 4 paragraphs of text, it will apparently constitute a story. The Moto Z2 Play, which …
Fancy a new handset with the Sony design skills and a 5.2″ 1080×1920 pixel screen? Want it to be dust and waterproof? Want it to measure 148 x 73.4 x 7.4 mm and weigh in at 155 g? Sorry. I can’t help you with that. ONLY KIDDING! Coming …
The Amazon Alexa offering got an added bonus yesterday. The Amazon Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Show, Fire TV and Fire HD 10 will all be arriving here in the UK on, of course, Amazon UK. There’s a new version of the Amazon Echo, which will be £89.99, and …
So we all live in a socail media age, and one of the main protagonists of this age is Twitter. Since its inception many years ago, Twitter users have been restricted to getting their musings across in 140 characters. This was both a blessing and a curse. It …
It’s not something I talk about much, but I’ve actually met Bill Gates. He’s a bit shorter in real life and had a lot of bodyguards following him around at the time. We spoke about the Microsoft Smartphone because, way back when, Microsoft was actually pretty successful at …
Just last month we covered the fact that Google Play is now listing real-money gambling apps. For quite some time before, the iPhone and Android stores have differed in this respect. On the iPhone, you could download gaming apps that let you transfer your own cash into an …
Right now I’m carrying around the Honor 9. It definitely ticks a lot of boxes for me. The battery life is decent, it takes great photos, it has a great screen, there’s 64GB of on-board storage and it’s pretty nippy too. The blue or grey one is available …
It seems a long time since we first saw the Sony Xperia XA1. It has a bigger brother, the XA1 Ultra, too. The XA1 has now popped up on Vodafone has a 5″ screen 720×1280 pixel screen. It’s powered by Android 7.0 and has a 64-bit MediaTek Helio …
Some of my favourite iOS and Android games I tend to see the same games being played on the bus to college in the morning, but I’m a little different. My choice of apps, and the games I have installed, isn’t always mainstream, but I enjoy them all …
A few years ago I worked for an internet provider. My advice, if any parents ever asked, would be to keep the PC in a “family room”. Now, well now you just can’t do that. Kids demand phones, and those phones aren’t “dumb phones” either. No. The latest …
Overnight Google gave us the official news which confirmed the substantial HTC rumours. It’s loose change for Google, who have almost $100 billion in the bank. They will now acquire the HTC for $1.1 billion. Their announcement is as follows.. With this agreement, a team of HTC talent …
With the Pixelbook leaking, we’ve already seen a bit of what Google will be announcing on October 4th. However, there’s much more.. Leaks suggest a new Pixel, cunningly named the Pixel 2. These pictures have been found on the internet and there’s rumours that the HTC-built phone will …
OK yes. The iPhone 8 is a great phone. The iPhone X is an even better phone. But if your son, daughter or significant other wants one of these, it’s a LOT of money to be spending. Take, as an example, the iPhone X pricing we covered recently. …
Here at Coolsmartphone Towers we always like a bargain, and we also love supporting the underdog. Which is why this deal seems to appeal to all my senses, especially after the shock of the iPhone X pricing! Small upstart brand WileyFox have been bashing out smartphones for the …
As we mentioned earlier on Twitter, new iPhone handsets tend to go through a number of stages during their lifespan. Stage 1 – The iPhones are announced in front of a set of carefully-selected press. Stage 2 – The handsets are derided and criticised. Stage 3 – The …
Many of us will probably be getting numb to the fairly regular security warnings that become inextricably connected to our smartphones. There’s an acceptance of risk when we download apps, and we freely skip past that screen which tells us just how many permissions an app requires. Now …
Recently we told you about the Lindy NC-60 Headphones with Active Noise Cancelling technology. They have at last dropped through the Coolsmartphone Towers mailbox. What arrived was a nice glossy black box displaying the NC-60 in all their glory in a nice tight wrapper. Just like Christmas, the …
Huawei are now the second-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. The latest data from market research firm Counterpoint Research shows Huawei overtaking Apple to become even bigger. This result is from strong sales in June and July, which have allowed the Chinese manufacturer to inch past Apple into …
EE are showing off a new type of store in Tottenham Court Road. It’s one of their new “Showcase” stores and basically lets you play with and enjoy the range of tech and services that the network provides. You get to experience experiential zones and there’s the chance …
Recently we covered the fact that Google Play have now allowed real-money gambling apps into their software store. Until recently, you either had to side-load (downloading an APK manually and then installing it with the security permissions reduced) or you would need to just browse to the site …
A full aluminium body, curved glass and it’s 7.5mm thick. Not bad so far and, with a 5.2″ FHD 1920 x 1080 pixels screen at 423 PPI it’s going to be pretty decent to use. Specs on this one include 16GB of internal memory (plus a microSD slot, …
We’ve managed to get our hands on with the newly-announced LG V30. It’s a big launch here at IFA for the company, but we’re still not exactly sure whether it’ll be coming to the UK. The closest we have is “key European markets”. We’re hoping.. Anyhow, here’s it’s …
Did you see the Galaxy Note8 launch? We’ve got all the Note8 details and we’ve taken an in-depth look at the Note8 deals on offer too. But how about seeing the thing in the flesh eh? Let’s see. It’s pricey. Very pricey, so we had to handle this …
Play House Plumb. Grape Jamboree. Butterscotch Tempest. Daft names for paint colours. You’ve probably seen those paint shades in your local DIY store and thought, “How do they come up with those names?”. Well, now mobile manufacturers are doing it too, and we’ve got some reasoning and descriptive …
OK, short version. The BlackBerry is back, albeit with TCL Communications at the helm. In February I took a look at it. It’s a bit heavy and a bit chunky compared to some handsets, but that keyboard has returned and you’ll find a range of BlackBerry apps inside. …
Anyone remember Golden Axe? Well, me neither, but this new / old SEGA game is now available for both Android and iOS. It’s free to download and play but you’ll obviously get a few ads to pay for the thing. You can though, if you wish, remove all …
This morning I just made it to the Sony Press Conference with Peter Holden of Talk Android. Another event, another incremental series of product launches, or was there more? Read on here on Coolsmartphone.com to find the answer to this existential question… We came in as a German …
