Category: iOS

Roadchef have released an app. Stop press!

Roadchef want us to mention their app. Roadchef, if you weren’t aware, are one of the UK’s leading “Motorway Service Area operators”. If you, like me, live in the UK you’ll have no doubt encountered the motorway services. They’re a place where you meet mortgage advisors in order …

UK Transportation now comes to Google Maps

For some time now Google Maps has shown Transportation info for the USA. However, Google has now updated Great Britain too. You can now get directions for travel using public transportation. The app update is available now for iOS and Android, as well as on the web on …

Apple hire the head of the “Pure View” camera team

Ari Partinen, the man who introduced Nokia’s “PureView” and had been the head of the company’s photography unit since 2007, has been hired by Apple to work on its iPhone camera systems. We all know that Nokia has been famous for both it’s camera software and hardware. And …

Apple to buy Beats

Beats are perhaps best known for their presence on HTC handsets. The logo,  the chunky headphones and the beefy sound quality plus the clever on-board sound technology on many HTC handsets won them plenty of fans,  but sadly HTC and Beats went their separate ways. According to multiple …

In London? Tube staff on strike? Try the updated Kabbee app

If you’re looking to get yourself a cab in London then you could just flag one down. However, if there isn’t a rank or cab in sight you can easily book one with apps like Kabbee. The new version now has a fresh look with the entire booking …

BUKcase Originals iPad Mini with Retina Display case – Review

Have you ever felt that iPad cases just aren’t bookish enough? Not in a geeky student wearing glasses and beige slacks way, I mean that they tend not to look like books. Well, you’re in luck if you have, because BUKcase have it covered… so to speak. Constricting …

Apple wins yet more cash from Samsung

Making and selling Android phones can be a tricky business. As part of previous licencing deals you’ll end up paying Microsoft a fee per handset and, especially if you’re Samsung, you’ll be getting sued fairly regularly by Apple. In the latest courtroom battle,  the jury has sided with …

New iPhone 6 fodder for the rumourmill

It’s nicer when we can talk about things other than dodgy power buttons…  April may be a little early for the annual frenzy of speculation surrounding a new iPhone release to kick off, but there’s been a lot of speculation over the last few months over what the …

Have you got a dodgy power button?

The Apple iPhone 5 has an issue with the power button, where some users are finding that the button just stops working. Apple are now going to address the issue by replacing buttons on qualifying devices, they’ve said the following about it all. Apple has determined that the …

Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed now available for nothing

Love Sonic? Interested in playing Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed but don’t want to pay? Hey, your luck is in my friend. The game is now free, and that’s across all platforms – iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and via Google Play on Android. It’s an exciting and fast …

RAVpower Wireless FileHub RP-WD01 – Review

We live in a world that is becoming increasingly mobile, wherever we go we have our mobiles and now and again you find yourself stuck. Stuck trying to get a set of files onto your phone, usually when a client or friend has some vital pictures or files …

Tipping Point for iOS – is there a point?

Tipping Point is a game show on ITV. This app is the game of the show, released on both Android and iOS, though this review refers specifically to the iOS version, priced at £1.49.   The object of the game is really rather simple – contestants have to …

iWalk Backup Charger Review

I’m not usually one to run out of power on my mobile device. At work I have access to a multitude of chargers all day. I also tend to get about 1 1/2 to 2 days out of my phone and more from my tablets. However, as the …

WWDC 2014, Keep June 2nd Free

It’s that time of the year again when Apple set their date for WWDC and we are inundated with ideas of what might be released this year. Will it be the Ipad 12, Iphone 26S, Mac OS 134.23.  Okay they are a bit over exaggerated but we have …

iPhone 4S deal at Vodafone

Now, if we’re honest and we don’t look properly enough, someone walking past with an iPhone 4S is pretty much the same as someone walking past with an iPhone 5S. They look the same… from a distance… ..am I selling this yet? 😉 So, if you want to …

Exclusivity agreements blocking you from getting that latest game

Just recently the new version of Cut The Rope arrived on Android. Trouble is,  it’d been released months before on iOS. Watching an app or game being used by your mates which you can’t download is difficult and, according to the Wall Street Journal,  it’s due in part …

Don’t worry, Sky Go and Now TV is back!

A couple of days ago BBC iPlayer, Sky Go and NOW TV packed up for iOS users. The reason behind this seems a little mysterious, with a temporary work-around involving setting the date back a day, but that’d cause other issues trying to get onto the App Store. …

iGuy iPad Mini case review

Do you have a young child? Does you heart jump into your mouth when those grubby little hands reach out and grab you iPad? If the answer to either question is yes then you need to keep reading. The iGuy case from Speck comes in iPad mini and …

Facebook to separate Messenger from normal app

Facebook looks like it will be separating the messaging and instant chat part of its mobile app and making you use the messenger app.   This screen has been showing for quite a while whenever you access messages via the mobile app. It prompts to install Facebook Messenger. …

Dropbox releases Carousel

Dropbox is an online cloud storage offering that allows you to sync your files to the cloud, and the app is available on computer, tablet and phone varieties. Now Dropbox have a new trick – Carousel.   Carousel allows you to not only save all your pictures to …

Orangepixel’s new game: Groundskeeper2 now available

OrangePixel have been making some great retro 8-bit style games for a while now, they’re behind the Meganoid games, Gunslugs, Heroes of Loot and many others and now they’ve released Groundskeeper2 another retro style shoot em up. From the guys who brought you Gunslugs and Heroes of Loot …

ARQ – the kickstarter with curves

Kickstarter has always seemed to be the sort of place where venture capitalists hang out online when they’re slumming it. The idea of it is great, but what would make one want to shell out cash in the hope that a project makes it? Because of the design …

Spotify turns to The Dark Side… May the new look be with you…

Now before you panic, Spotify hasn’t actually turned to the dark side as such..  But it has had one of it’s biggest updates for the web, iPhone and Android since it first launched all them years ago. Spotify are calling this their Best Ever looking Spotify with a …

CoPilot on test

So just to set my stall out, pre-Lumia and “Here”, I used CoPilot. It was one of the most feature-packed and reasonably-priced navigation products for Windows Mobile at the time. So here we are on a new platform – Windows Phone. It’s the same product and of course …

Three Rescue – New Insurance Option

“Whoops.. There it goes… Damn It”, are usually the words of some variety we use once we send our beloved piece of technology hurtling through the air at speed, before it comes into contact with the floor, grass, road or worse.. The toilet. What am I talking about? …

iPhone 5c 8GB pricing on Three

We mentioned the new 8GB version of the iPhone 5c recently and Three have sent along their pricing for the new handset. If you don’t mind diving into a 2-year contract then there’s some pretty decent deals to be had. You pay just £19 up-front for the phone …

Monitor your car from your phone with Carlock

I’m sure there’s some of you out there who know exactly where the diagnostic port on your car is. That OBD connector might’ve been used by yourself with one of those cables you bought off eBay (and that “iffy software” that “fell off the internet”) or the brilliantly …

I’m a special effects MASTER!

I’ve been lucky enough to travel to the latest phone launches and see some pretty smart innovations lately. Camera technology on the latest high-end smartphones is getting better all the time, but inside there’s some clever software tweaks that are doing some pretty amazing things. As a quick …

Downloads to possibly increase in price?

How many people paid attention to the budget last week? I mean fully because if you didn’t you might have missed this little bit of information, I know I did.   One of the leading accountancy firms in London reported that one of the changes in the budget last …

Snake ’97 free

If you have an iOS device but are craving for an old school Nokia Snake fix then why not try Snake ’97. The app is now free until 28th March on the App store.The app simulates one of 4 old school Nokia handsets, the 5110, 3210, 8210 and …

iPhone 5c 8GB Now available to buy

As we first predicted yesterday,  the new 8GB version of the iPhone 5c is now available to buy for the…  ahem.. “bargain-basement” price of £429 unlocked. The usual bright colours are available and you will have it despatched within 24 hours. This is a £40 discount off the …

Goodbye iPad 2

Apple have announced today that they are finally putting the iPad 2 out of its misery. The three year old A5 powered tablet is being replaced by the (much much much better) iPad 4. For the same £329 you now get a retina display, double the RAM an …

Pebble Steel – Review

The original Pebble was one of the first SmartWatches that actually got my attention, up until then SmartWatches were just trying far too hard. With devices like the Sony Liveview being flawed by horrific software and driver issues. What Pebble were offering seemed to fit a lot of …

Apple to launch iPhone 5c 8GB tomorrow

We’ve received an anonymous email from a Coolsmartphone reader evidencing the arrival of an 8GB variant of the iPhone 5c. The new device will be available in all the currently available colours, and represents Apple’s push into the midrange phone market. The device is to be unveiled by …

Decisions, decisions…

It has come to that time again, the one that occurs every two years and send shivers down the spine of every mobile phone addict… upgrade time. As yet I haven’t had the barrage of phone calls from my network asking me to upgrade to whatever random handset …

The Garmin VivoFit is now available exclusively at John Lewis

I just don’t get exclusivity deals, in my eyes it only benefits the manufacturer and the retailer, not the consumer and the Garmin VivoFit fitness band is one such tie up. With it being available exclusively at John Lewis. The NEW Garmin vívofit is the only fitness band …

iOS 7.1 Released

After what seems like forever in testing, iOS 7 was today pushed to iPhones, iPods and iPads around the world. I’ve posted a full changelog as a GitHub Gist here, but here are some of the key changes. iOS 7.1 integrates CarPlay, the AirPlay equivalent for motorists that …

The next Angry Birds game teased

Seriously, I’m really going to struggle to stretch this post out to any more than two paragraphs. It’s a teaser video for the next big Angry Birds game from Rovio. All we know is what is revealed here, which is the fact that it… A) Involves Angry Birds …

Samsung owes Apple a lot of money

In a legal battle that has been going on for the last 20 years (or so it seems), Apple have been fighting with Samsung about patent infringement in pretty much any court that will listen to them. The original and biggest case is the one that has been …