Category: Android
Sony has had an interesting year so far. It’s seen the launch of several handsets, including two flagships – the Xperia X and Xperia XZ. The latter of these phones is the subject of this review. If you wish to find out a bit more about the former …
What do your facial expressions say about you during meetings? Getting meetings right can be tricky. Whilst some are productive and full of ideas, others can be a snooze-fest filled with a stack of irrelevant information and death-by-PowerPoint moments. CheatSheet says that small businesses waste about 37 billion …
Jide Tech is a company we are huge fans of here at Coolsmartphone. I have a particular affinity with them as I was lucky enough to be one of the first people in the UK to use their first product, the Remix Ultra Tablet. This was then followed …
For me it’s not too surprising. While networks concentrate on pushing out 4G networks, they do so from existing masts, so the actual coverage doesn’t really change a great deal. Sure, you could argue that the different frequencies used by some networks for their 4G signals has improved …
I’ve got used to press releases now. Usually, if a company is launching a new phone and they’ve no experience in phone making, it’ll be a rebrand of another phone. Take the Bush Spira E3X for example. It’s basically an Archos phone with a different logo on the …
Virtual Assistants are something that major phone vendors have been pushing for a while. Whether it may be Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana or the new Google Assistant on the new Pixel phones. Now Sony has gotten into the act with their new Xperia Ear. According to the Sony blurb, this …
A couple of the writers here at CSP are interested in devices that originate from the far east and are relativity unknown here in Europe. I’m currently reviewing an completely unknown device from a unknown manufacturer, which at the moment is well above my expectations… review coming soon. …
RIPTec announced today a new service called RIPDialer, which has been developed to allow users to continue making personal calls via their SIM card and work-related calls. The system distinguishes between personal and business contacts making calls across the correct network using the right number. To reason, instead …
Yesterday, for a special treat, I used the M6 Toll road. It’s just a couple of miles from my house and takes around 20 minutes off my journey but I, along with many, many, many other people, simply don’t use it due to the insane cost. At £5.50 …
The lower-end of the smartphone market has become very competitive of late. Not only that, but it’s also got better. The build quality is better. The specs are better. So, when I say, “the lower-end”, I generally only mean the price. Bush isn’t a brand that many today …
I’ve just wasted an hour and a half trying to get a refund on an in-app purchase that my son mistakenly made within Real Racing 3. It’s a great EA game and you can improve your experience by purchasing items for varying quantities of cash. Writing about smartphones …
On a drive home last week I remembered that I had to get some supplies for the regular “Dad Camp” that I take my son on twice a year. It’s a weekend away with a number of other dads where we completely ban gadgets and take the kids …
The Note 7 is lit. Unfortunately not in a good way — for Samsung anyway. The news of exploding phones has spread from a few tech related reports, to dramatic news stories in main stream media. Samsung have finally admitted defeat and cancelled further production and sale of the Galaxy …
Serial leaker Evan Blass is rarely wrong when it comes to upcoming handsets and gadgets. He’ll get the pictures and the gossip ahead of time and today he’s revealed that Google will indeed be stepping into the Smartwatch ring very soon indeed. As we mentioned before, Google seems …
HTC have got a lot of ground to make up. They’ve got less cash coming in and have recently launched a brand new handset with no NFC in it. Now there’s another mid-range device coming, this time with a 5.5″ screen. It’s the Bolt, known internally as the …
Welcome to the first in a series of articles celebrating apps which are an example to others on how things should be done. I’m probably preaching to the converted, but I wanted to talk about the BBC iPlayer Radio app. It’s available for iPhone,, Android and Kindle. For …
I think it’s fair to say that Samsung have been having quite a few “problems” recently. The initial reports of Galaxy Note7 handsets going up in smoke were one thing, but then when replacements started to do the same, Samsung canned the phone completely. What has to be …
Head to Amazon and you can pick up a ZTE Blade V7 for a pretty small amount of cash. For your money you’ll get a phone with a 5.2″ 1080 x 1920 pixel screen, Android 6.0 and an octa-core 1.3GHz CPU. It also comes with 2GB RAM, 16GB …
The smoking Galaxy Note7 situation has now officially gone from bad to worse. Initially the first few exploding phones were said to be due to bad batteries, and a recall was issued. New phones with green “fixed” battery technology were issued and we assumed that Samsung would weather …
South Korean news reports are today stating that Samsung have halted production of their troubled Samsung Galaxy Note7. It follows replacement handsets continuing to go bang despite being checked and cleared by Samsung. Two US mobile networks have also taken the decision to stop selling the phone. Both …
I still love HTC. I really do. Sure, they’ve made some missteps over the years in terms of product, and they may have put out one too many phones that are pretty much exactly the same bar shape and look, but Nokia did the same thing when they …
HTC were responsible for kick-starting this site way, way back in 2002. They were just a manufacturer then, with Orange or other networks sticking their branding on. Back then nobody knew who they were. Then they fought. They pushed on and built a brand. Soon everyone had a …
As much as I hate to admit it, we’re now definitely in the Autumn. The leaves are falling off the trees and I can no longer sit outside the pub without several coats on. It’s a bit naff, but if you time the weather right, there’s still the …
If you are a regular reader of this site, you will know that I’m a real OnePlus fanboy. I’ve owned every device that the company have released, and upon seeing the price of the new Google Pixel phones I’ll definitely be staying in the OnePlus stable. To be …
There’s a definite increase in popularity for mobile trackers. Many attach negative connotations with the software, perhaps thinking that their only purpose is to track and secretly spy on partners. However, with the traditional PC now leaving our homes, more and more kids are using the internet in …
Having a dabble online with one of the many betting and casino sites is something that some may shy away from. It involves spending money and maybe, perhaps, winning some back. The part in the middle – where you’re actually playing those games and enjoying them – can be the …
Fancy a phone and a 4G contract for just £6 per month? Check this offer out from iD Mobile. They already do SIM only plans from just £4 per month and sure, that’s only 250MB of data, but for another £2 per month you can get a phone …
Morning. Last night Google unveiled the phones we all expected them to unveil. The Pixel and the Pixel XL – a phone and a slightly bigger phone. From a distance, from far, far away, it’s like the Apple launch in a way. Two phones, one a big larger …
Yes, we kinda know what we’re going to see now. The two new Google handsets leaked all over the place yesterday so the Pixel and Pixel XL are going to be no surprise when the event starts at 5PM UK time. If you’re elsewhere in the world, don’t …
Head down to Tesco Mobile to get your Galaxy S6 and S7 and you’ll get more than just a very smart Android handset. Tesco are giving away goodies worth between £39.99 and £199 which you can perhaps keep and use as Christmas presents if you don’t want them …
We have managed to do it – we finally have an unboxing before a phone is due for release. This took us a fair few hours of persuasion and persistence from me upon the bigwigs at Sony to allow us to have this device, the Sony Xperia XZ. …
Looks like someone at Carphone Warehouse is going to be buying the Fail cakes after full details and product shots of the Pixel and Pixel XL spilled all over the interwebs. The actual launch is tomorrow, but we now have various photos and specs of both devices. These …
It’s that time of year again the lull between the iPhone launch and the Google phone launch. It is during this time that we normally see a few other smaller scale players have announcements in time for the holiday season. One such company is Huawei (who are by …
At school I played a game to see how well me and my friends “matched” each other. It was a bit like the origami paper game where you’d create a folding “fortune teller” device which had a concealed message. You’d ask each other questions and then, based on …
Are you an “OK Google” superuser? To be honest, I’m not. I keep forgetting that it’s there, but today Google has announced an update to the Google Maps app which I think that I will use and be an extremely useful addition. “OK Google” and voice commands …
Not being able to get a signal in the middle of a city is still, in 2016, all too easy. In Lichfield I can walk out of a Vodafone or EE store and, just a few metres from the door, I’ll have no signal at all. Even with …
Over on VentureBeat, serial leaker Mr Evan Blass has posted an image of the device we’re all expecting Google to announce during their October 4th event. It’s thought that the “Nexus” brand will be cast aside in favour of the new “Pixel” name, and this HTC-built device is …
Those of you who follow us on Twitter can look away now. Indeed, if you’re a regular visitor then you really don’t need to read this story, because this is something we told you about way back in June. Our readers knew all about the OnePlus 3 arriving …
When I was in my teens, smartphones weren’t really a “thing”. Sure, we had mobile phones, but they were big clunky things and you couldn’t even text on them unless you paid for the texting “service”. Plus, they were pretty much confined to older people, not “grandpa” old, …
As Coolsmartphone Podcast Listeners probably realised, there is a slight difference of opinion within the team on the whole issue of how Samsung have performed over the Overheating Galaxy Note 7 issue and associated product recall. Judging by my Twitter timeline today, it looks like it’s not just …
