Category: Computers

Canary – Smart home security for everyone – Review

Canary is more than a simple surveillance camera for your home. From the very moment you purchase your Canary for £159, you’ll instantly notice the quality. Canary was launched back in July 2013 on crowdfunding site Indiegogo. There was clearly a market demand, as within a month over …

Remix Mini – Review

Mini PC’s are quite the thing at the moment and seem to be popping up everywhere. Now for a while, these were nothing more than Netbook components being shoved into a small box. However, with the recent developments in Android and, to a lesser extent Chrome, there has …

Remix Mini – Unboxing

You may recall a little while ago I was raving about an Android PC Box that came from the Far East. China to be precise. Well, the time has come for the unboxing to happen and I’m of course talking about the Remix Mini. I have already had …

Super Bluetooth in 2016

Bluetooth is about to change from what we all know and love (or not, in some cases). The organisation that looks after the Bluetooth standard is updating it next year to increase coverage distance by 4 times the current distances, so we should see Bluetooth speakers work up …

Remix Mini breaks $1million mark

Some good news for those of you who backed the Remix Mini. It has now achieved more than $1million and as a result two cool things have happened. The early bird $40 tier for the 2gb ram 16GB storage version has been reopened. In addition to that anyone …

What’s in my bag (Garry) – MWC 2015

Well that came around quick didn’t it? MWC 2015 is here and, in preparation of the team arriving in Barcelona, we have decided to share an insight into the kit we are taking with us. I have tried to go relatively lightweight with my gear as I’m going …

CES – Asus unveil the new Chi lineup

Asus have been busy out in the desert today, not just with the announcement of the new Zenfone Zoom and Zenfone 2,:) but with the announcement of the new Transformer Book Chi range. The range will come in three sizes and with differing specs for each size. The …

Getting a Chromebook? How does 1TB of Google Drive space sound?

A couple of us writers here in Coolsmartphone towers use Chromebooks. I for one love my HP11. In the past, when you purchased a new Chromebook, Google would give you 100GB of Google Drive storage free. This would last for two years and would act as a little …

Free PCs with new TalkTalk broadband package

Here are some thrilling clichés: Everyone loves something for free; If it looks too good to be true it probably is. Microsoft and TalkTalk have signed a deal for customers taking out a new subscription to ‘Simply Broadband’ package.  For the princely sum of £217.40 for the year …

Can surface keep up with the changing Microsoft?

Surface… No longer is it the large boardroom/restaurant table. It’s that small tablet sized computer we now hold in our hands. Ever since it launched it has been something you either love or hate and sadly it may not survive too much longer if Microsoft continues the way …

UnoTelly – Streaming service review

One thing we are not short of is apps or services that stream TV channels. The problem is that many of these are tied to your location. For instance, I can easily watch live World Cup games using TVCatchup, the BBC iPlayer or ITV players apps. Upon visiting the US a …

HP to announce an Android powered laptop

Following a very brief appearance on the HP website, the interwebs are now full of rumours of a upcoming 14 inch Android powered Laptop, named the Slatebook 14. The company hasn’t yet officially announced the SlateBook 14, but a video outlining the device’s key features and specs has …

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 …

Flipboard is released for Windows 8

Flipboard is possibly the most gorgeous news reader app EVER. It originated on iOS, eventually moved over to Android and it is now coming to Windows. If you’ve never heard of Flipboard and you have a Windows 8 computer or tablet then you are in for a treat today. This …

Acer Aspire S7 – Review

A few years ago I thought that to have a small lightweight easily transportable device you would have to get an iPad or an Android Tablet. Or get cross with a Netbook or break the bank and get a fancy Ultrabook. I settled for an Android Tablet a …

MWC – Asus transformer Aio PC

As well as the Padfone, Fonepad confusion Asus had the Transformer Aio PC sat in the corner, looking rather lonely. Essentially, the device is an 18.4 inch tablet that has a rather nice looking dock, which also connects to a keyboard and mouse. The clever part is that …

Getting your Android notifications in your Chrome browser….EASILY!

I don’t know about everyone out there, but I have not found a very easy way to sync my phone’s notifications to my desktop both easily and reliably…..until now. Android Desktop Notification is super easy and reliable. It doesn’t push things immediately, but I am sure that the …

Seagate GoFlex Satellite – Review

About two “Gadget Show Live” events ago I was approached by a man carrying a iPad with a HD film playing on it. Nothing new there I thought, but as I was walking away, he showed me a small portable hard drive which he had in his pocket. …

Christmas Gift Guide: Raspberry Pi Special

This Christmas, the CoolSmartPhone team are hunting out the best presents for your nearest and dearest. If you’re looking for an out-of-the-ordinary gift this Christmas, why not have a look at the Raspberry Pi? I’ll show you the kit you need to get the most out of this …

Play Left 4 Dead 2 free this weekend

Are you a Steam user who hasn’t got Left4Dead 2? Well then, we have some good news – this weekend, you can play the apocalyptic first person shooter for free on Steam! In L4D2, you play as one of four survivors fighting off hordes of the zombie-like ‘infected’. …

Valve announces Greenlight Concepts; allows free submission

Valve today announced the creation of Steam Greenlight Concepts, a project that has come off the back of the recent decision to change a $100 mandatory donation the Child’s Play to help cut down on fake registrations such as ‘Half-Life 3’. The move didn’t exactly prove popular with …

Argh! Borderlands 2 Pirate DLC Available Today!

Looking to set sail on the Seven Seas in Borderlands 2? Gearbox is continuing their aggressive DLC rollout after adding the Mechromancer by adding the Caption Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty campaign add-on. The DLC is available for download today for 800 Microsoft points or $10. It will …

Surprise! Gearbox Launches the Mecromancer a Week Early!

Don’t believe that picture above, Gearbox went ahead and launched their Mechromancer DLC a week early. The Mechromancer joins the other four Vault Hunters today, October 9th, for 800 Microsoft Points or $10. Some players received the Mechromancer for free for pre-ordering the game. Her skill tree is …

Angry Birds Star Wars Announced for Nov. 8th

Angry Birds is extending its space invasion into a galaxy far, far away with Angry Birds Star Wars. Available on November 8th, one of the most iconic mobile games will join forces with one of the most iconic movie franchises. Each bird will be themed to a different Star Wars …

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PC Game Review: Borderlands 2

Borderlands is back, and the hunt on Pandora is bigger and badder than ever.We left our favorite Vault Hunters disappointed after opening the Vault only to discover a giant, mutated, bird octopus hybrid thing, but things have not been peaceful on Pandora. The Hyperion company commanded by Handsome …

First Impressions: Space Pirates and Zombies (Humble Bundle 6)

So, I bought the Humble Indie Bundle 6. Over the next few days, I’ll be posting my first impressions of the 6 games I now have in my possession, starting with the space-shooter S.P.A.Z. S.P.A.Z. is a space-action shooter where you control every aspect of the game – …

Humble Indie Bundle 6 Now Out

Good news! The Humble Indie Bundle 6 is now available to buy from https://www.humblebundle.com/. The Humble Indie Bundle (or Humble Bundle for short) is a promotion where, for two weeks, you pay what you want for a selection of indie games – and a portion of the profits go …

How-to: Run Black Mesa on a Mac [Updated]

Thanks to R. M. Hoffman, we now have a great guide for getting Black Mesa, the Half-Life mod, to run on your fruity computer. Follow the steps below… Please Note: I’ve updated the guide with my experience in italics. Mileage may vary! Prerequisites: Wine or Winebottler Play on Mac …

FTL: Faster Than Light

You start off in a warehouse choosing a ship, difficulty and naming your crew. Setting off you come across a usually empty system while a H.U.D appears over your screen, displaying Scrap, Fuel, Hull Strength, FTL Jump, Missiles, Drone Parts, your ship’s upgrade system button and most importantly …

Black Mesa now available!

Yep, you read that right. The long awaited Black Mesa Half-Life total conversion is now available to download! For those not in the loop, Black Mesa is a total conversion (remake) of the critically-acclaimed Valve Corp. game Half-Life. Black Mesa re-introduces Gordon Freeman to the world, with remade …