Category: Android

Note Edge not launching in the UK

The Note Edge certainly caused a stir when it was announced, leading to much debate on the podcast with most people wondering what the point was and how it would work. Now it seems that we might not have to worry about that with Clove saying that the …

Samsung Mega 2 revealed

The popularity of large screen phones is growing, take the recent sales figures of the iPhone 6 plus for example (as a side note the 6 plus is bigger than my Note 3 and I’ve got a bigger screen. Just saying). Anyway this large screen malarkey in the …

The Hudl phone is dead, long live the Hudl 2

Speculation was rife recently that Tesco would shortly announce its own smartphone.  Based upon its success with the Hudl tablet, this was supposedly going to be an affordable phone.  A week is a long time in the tech world though, and with the recent announcement of cheap but well specced …

OnePlus to try the pre-order route next

A lot has been said about OnePlus over the last few months. Some of it good and some of it bad. Most conversation revolved around people trying to get an invite. Amazingly I managed to get one and I subsequently sold it on. None the less I was …

bam, Shazam, buy through Google Play, man

For the life of me, I can’t remember when I first used Shazam. I know it was so far back that I used to have to either call or dial a number to let it do its magic. Even when music recognition became built in to smartphones and …

Keyboard for likely Nexus 9 shows up online

Unless you were lost in a techless-like black hole for the last couple of weeks, you’ll already know how Apple’s annual release revealed the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. What we don’t have is confirmed knowledge of what happens when its Google’s turn… Although we have seen …

Are Samsung Planning a 5 inch ‘A Series’ Executive Smartphone

Whilst for many the Samsung Galaxy Range of devices may look and feel somewhat ‘plasticky’, the recently announced Samsung Alpha has turned a few heads with its executive and luxury styling. Over recent weeks rumours have started to surface on the net of further devices sharing the same …

New Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 comes to town

A slight improvement in specs, but not a great deal else from what we can see here. The new Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 is still the same price as last year but with an uplift in specs (2.5GHz quad core Snapdragon 805), Dolby Atmos surround sound and a …

Kindle Fire HD gets a makeover

New Kindle Fire HD devices have also been announced today. There’s some funky colours and 6″ or 7″ versions with quad-core 1.5GHz CPU’s, dual cameras and Dolby Digital audio. Price-wise, they’re attractive – the 6″ is £79 and the 7″ is £119. You can pre-order on the Amazon …

Those fancy looking OnePlus One covers won’t ever be released

When I bought my OnePlus One one of the things I was itching to get hold of was the replaceable backs, they were going to be available in several different materials, such as kevlar, denim and bamboo. Upon receiving mine I set about trying to order the back …

Meet your Moto Maker

Hot on the heels of the Moto Store opening virtually in the UK, Moto Maker has now become available here in the UK too. As predicted when the store opened up, Moto Maker, Motorola’s online phone customisation tool, has become available to us here in the UK. As …

Samsung Galaxy Alpha available today on Voda

The shiny metallic Galaxy Alpha is now available in a choice of three colours on Vodafone. You can get it on 3G or, if you choose a 4G Red XL or Red XXL plan then you’ll get the double entertainment deal we mentioned last week. Prices start from …

Android One starts with India

Android One is an idea, an idea that is starting to grow into something that could be huge. The idea of a low cost Android device, with hardware hand picked by Google and the latest software, could be seen as a way for Google and Android manufacturers to …

Rumours – what are they worth?

Let’s get the what right out of the way: There’s been a tip from a trusted source that CPW will have the new Nexus device on sale on 1 November. Interesting, right? That gives all us all sorts of possible timelines to work with. But what does that …

Motorola’s online stores make it to our rainy shores

Firstly, if you have still decided to indulge in this article after reading my terrible rhyming title, thank you. Motorola has, for a short while, been selling their latest generation phones through their own website in the US. This current generation has been met with open arms and …

The Oppo N3 starts to make an appearance

The Oppo N1 was one of the most intriguing devices of recent times, with its rotating camera, enormous display and touch sensitive back panel, many people round the world got one, thanks somewhat to the Cyanogenmod support. So it makes sense that Oppo are going to release a …

Android apps running on ChromeOS from today

Well it’s started. Google has today begun rolling out Android applications that can be run directly from your Chrome OS browser. Initially there are four apps available –  Evernote, Vine, Duolingo and the children’s app Sight Words but there will undoubtedly be a deluge of apps that follow in quick succession. Chrome OS …

My Xperia Z2 and its organising skills.

For the past few weeks I have been working on organising a charity sailing event. Why is this relevant to Coolsmartphone? Well there are a few reasons for that. Number one, I have been doing most of the organisational work for this event on my smartphone. Secondly, my smartphone will be …

First HTC, now Samsung take a swipe at Apple

Now, give me grief if you wish, but this is how things happen. 1 – Apple release a product. 2 – A lot of people think it’s pap and deride it publicly. 3 – A lot of people think it’s great and they go out and buy it. …

HTC to at last make a tablet again

Remember the HTC Flyer? Although it wasn’t a runaway success we were all a bit saddened to see HTC shy away from producing any further tablets. Since then Samsung have cornered most of the Android tablet market with many other brands and even supermarket names filling the gaps …

October Fool’s Day? Meet Viro, the phone that never needs charging

No, this is not some sort of late April Fool’s Day prank.  Just as James wrote about the need for innovation recently, the one area that old dumb phones still triumph over modern smart phones is in battery life.  Long gone are those days where a battery would last …

Hannspree move into the smartphone market

Hannspree have today announced their intention to enter the budget Android smartphone market. They already have a range of Android tablets and monitors under their belts so the move into smaller devices makes sense. Also considering that their sister company Hannstar make a range of displays as well, …

Fanbois! Assemble!

The launch of a hotly anticipated Apple product usually ignites passion in both fan camps. Apple followers will applaud the bigger screens and Apple Pay system, plus the launch of the Apple Watch, which has fitness tracking and NFC too. Meanwhile, the Apple haters will be stating that …

What’s next for innovation?

Innovation is a much abused word these days, manufacturers toss the word around like many other clichéd words and phrases in their press releases and promotional materials, sales reps blurt it out regarding every last tiny feature whatever they are trying to sell has. Even I’m contributing to …

Amazon Fire exclusive to O2 UK

Amazon have just announced latest mobile phone – the ‘Fire’ – is to launch in the UK on the O2 network. Customers can register for more information right now. Visit your local O2 store and pre-order ready for launch on the 30th September when signing up to a £33 …

Hannspree CT23H0B Android All In One – Review

The lines between devices are becoming blurred these days, what with phones getting bigger, tablets getting smaller, laptops trying to be tablets, desktop PCs trying to still be relevant and Android and Windows 8 both trying their hardest to work well on all of those devices. I have …

Samsung Galaxy Note Edge – Up close

A phone with a screen that wraps around the edge of the handset? The Note Edge does just that, and although the edge is getting used as a notification area for the most part, it’s a sign of what’s possible. Something to Note though (see what I did …

Doro Liberto 820 Launched – The Smartphone for seniors

Making phones for the elderly is one thing, but making a smartphone that’s approachable and still powerful is another. Doro have got a pretty respectable history of making phones for seniors and this, their new Liberto 820, adds the power with the support and encouragement that customers may …

It’s Zen time

Along with a range of Zen phones, Asus also announced their first smartwatch – the Asus ZenWatch. The ZenWatch is an Android Wear device in a similar vein to the recently announced Samsung Gear S and LG G Watch R. The ZenWatch has a 1.63″ 320 x 320 …

Samsung Galaxy S3 – SIM Free, £199.98

As I’m stuck in B&Q in what looks to be the longest checkout queue in history, I figured that a browse of eBuyer was in order. They’ve got free delivery on everything at the moment and they’ve also dropped the price of the Samsung Galaxy S3. Sure, it’s …

Weekend deals – The Galaxy S4 Zoom

Fishing around, I actually found a news item we ran last year for this very same phone. The S4 Zoom, at the time, was a steal at just £442.80. Since then, the K Zoom has appeared so it’s knocked the price of the original phone down quite a …

Nvidia launch patent case against Samsung

Samsung are no strangers to the US courts, with their ongoing case against Apple the most well known. This time round they are defendants with Nvidia taking exception to some of the mobile phones and tablets Samsung sell. The mobiles and tablets in question are those that use …

Motorola announce the new Moto X

The Motorola Moto X and Moto G put Motorola back on the map last year, they showed the world that you didn’t need to have the latest and greatest specs or a huge great screen as both of them had screens under 5″. So when rumours starting appearing …

Fancy my One pink mini 2?

You’ve read our HTC One mini 2 review surely? Of course you have. You’re an avid Coolsmartphone reader and you follow us on Twitter too. How about getting it in a lovely shade of pink? Yeah, you’d love that. I know you well. You want a pink phone …

Which app categories are banking the most?

How much do app developers make? Really? Well, it’s a tricky one to answer. Research by CasinoDailyNews seems to suggest that making a game is your best bet, with 90% of the top grossing apps being games. Currently, at the top of the pile in the Google Play …

Google Chrome for Android gets a material update

The Material design guidelines are slowly being applied to Android apps, with Google randomly update their apps one at a time. The latest app to get the new modern layered flat look is the Chrome Browser. Once I’d updated there isn’t a huge amount that has been modified, …

Huawei reveals the 6 inch Ascend Mate7

Today at the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (or as we know it, IFA) Huawei launched Ascend Mate7 alongside the Ascend G7. The Mate7 features.. – A 6″ screen with FHD display for enhanced entertainment viewing. – A Slim 7.9mm body. – A octa-core chipset for superior performance. – Massive 4100 …

Huawei announce the Ascend G7

Huawei make some great looking devices and this afternoon in Berlin at IFA Huawei announced a new giant phablet plus the budget 5.5″ LTE equipped Ascend G6. The pictures certainly make it look good. Spec wise it’s as follows: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 quad-core 1.2 GHz processor. Internal …

Samsung announce the Galaxy Tab Active

Imagine the Galaxy Tab, but built for the rough and tumble of the real world. It’s just like normal tablets, but this one has an anti-shock covering which can resist a 1.2 metre drop with the protective cover on. It’s water and dust resistant with IP67 certification and has …