Category: Features
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 …
I admit from the outset that despite being a mobile phone addict, I have never been tempted by the iPhone. The iPhone announcement did little to increase my enthusiasm. I am, on the other hand, quite a supporter of the Windows Phone OS. Observing the difference of opinions …
For our third instalment of our teen developer interviews I had Chris Frees come on to talk about his experiences with developing and designing websites. You define yourself as a designer and developer. Which do you enjoy most? Do you define yourself with one over the other? That’s a …
YouTube, as I’ve mentioned before, is a dangerous place. If you leave your children using it unmonitored then you really need to change your ways. As an example, there’s a channel called Fatal Accidents where you can watch just that. There’s no warnings apart from one that the …
Before beginning this week’s interview, I’d just like to thank everyone for the great response we got to our first interview a few weeks ago. The feedback we got was great and we have an amazing lineup that we can’t wait to show you. This week I …
HTC are a company that have given the mobile device world a number of firsts, LTE, 3D screens, front-facing stereo speakers, Duo camera to name but a few. HTC will once again be a ‘first’ on releasing the first 64-bit Android phone — nearly a year after Apple released …
Google’s Play Music All Access music service is rumoured to be changing things up in a big way. According to Android Police, Google’s new music streaming service will be called YouTube Music Key, offering content from Google Play All Access, as well as from YouTube Music Key. The …
It’s the start of a new football season and many people will be looking for a way to watch Sky Sports on their Smartphones. Sky have provided access to their Sky Go App for a while, which allows Sky Digital customers to watch live sky streams on their …
I’m on holiday at the moment, but the temptation to check email and Facebook is just too much for some. Where I am, there’s sadly no free roaming from the likes of Three so you either have incredibly expensive data roaming or the hunt for free Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi …
Developers are the architects of our modern world. Without them, the device you’re using to read this would not exist. Neither would Facebook, Twitter, or the GPS in your car. Every day they are creating amazing things to help make our lives better. Programming is a skill everyone …
You’re in danger. In fact, your personal life is in danger according to a survey of 5000 people by Tiger Mobiles. It reveals that only 1 in 3 people actually use some sort of security on their lock screen. Over half of the people not using any sort …
Designed in collaboration with fashion designer Michael Bastian and retailer Gilt, HP has announced the company is going to release its first smartwatch later this year. The watch features a circular face with a diameter of a 44m, making it far more smaller than the Moto 360 and puts it …
This weekend, following quite a bit of advertising by the company, I gave the Music Magpie app a try. The company buy DVDs, CDs, games and electronics plus clothes, but their app lets you snap barcodes and you get an instant price on your stuff. So, armed with …
Bear with me on this one, because I will eventually relate this to smartphones 😉 Pirate radio stations have always interested me. Despite endless streaming services and internet radio, pirates still take a chance and launch a station on FM without a licence. It seems that, regardless of …
Thought that might get your attention 😉 Imagine the scene, you are on a bus /train/aeroplane/horse drawn cart or other mode of transport. You are minding your own business and get off without a care in the world. A while later you go to get your phone and …
I know I’ve mentioned it before, and yes, I’m guilty of repeating myself. However, it’s something I’d like to bang my drum about because, for the most part, people tend to switch off when the words “online safety” are mentioned. Still there? Good, because a recent survey of …
Our frequent readers will know that I had a meeting last night that I was quite excited about. It was with a man who has a vision of the future. This vision was brought about by something that was missing in his life and that of his friends. …
This evening I am having a meeting. This meeting will be taking place in a bar. Some drinks will be drunk and words will be exchanged. It sounds quite dull and mundane. However, the meeting is with a very interesting chap by the name of James Hepburn. Chances …
Google Now keeps growing for strength to strength with yet another ingenious feature added, it can now alert you when it’s time to get off your bus or train. If you are using public transport and you open Google Now you may find that it offers you an …
Google is rumoured set to reveal a new extension to the Android Location Services called Nearby, with the goal to provide increased accuracy for your smartphone to know your exact location and to know what’s around it. The Nearby application will use Bluetooth and audio clues to pinpoint …
During a developer session on “Designing Accessories for iOS and OS X” at Apple’s annual World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC), Robert Walsh, manager of platform accessories at Apple, announced the new Lightning headphone module. This, of course, means that those “Made for iPhone” headphones really won’t connect to …
Following last night’s announcement by Apple announcing iOS 8, the latest version of its mobile operating system for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch people are wondering which device’s it will run on. For the moment the good news is, that unless you are running anything older than …
Google Maps is something we’ve all used daily. The initial thrill of viewing our homes in the “satellite view” changed recently to the popular “street view”. However, actually getting those initial satellite views (many of which are actually supplemented with shots from planes) takes time. So step forward …
Today I embark on a brief sojourn to Paris for a the Huawei press event. I thought I would enlighten you as to the kit I intend to use for the trip. As this is a reasonably short trip I don’t need to be hugely weighed down so …
Most of you will have heard of Siri, the personal Apple assistant used by millions of people around the world. It’s used for all sorts of different tasks and has been around for a while now. Maybe you only use to set an alarm instead of going into …
Since buying James’ Note 3 (or, if you listened to our podcast, me bullying it off him), I have wanted to look into wireless chargers mainly because it came with the Samsung wireless charging back. Now here comes my dilemma, which is of two parts.. 1. I need …
Android if full of malware and viruses isn’t it? Well no, not unless you believe the hype. Yes the Android operating system has its weaknesses, but as long as you’re careful and not go around side-loading apps from the less desirable sites things should be OK. This is …
So another year has gone by and the Gadget Show Live is opening its doors again for another gadget filled festival of tech. The doors will open tomorrow morning at 10AM and it will be here until the end of the week. If you are even remotely interested …
After finding out that users could accidentally disable the device by waving their arms. Google owned Nest Fire Protection has halted sales of the Nest Smoke detector. The company said the feature, Nest Wave, which allows users to wave their arms to deactivate the alarm, could be activated …
Are you a Android phones user? Do you use the Google Chrome browser on your device? I do and to be honest there is a lot of functionality but it certainly isn’t the fastest browser out there. I’ve found a couple of tips that you can use on …
Following today’s announcement of Office for the iPad, Microsoft also announced Office for Android completely free to use on phones. Office itself has always been free, but you needed to have a paid Office 365 subscription in order to make any use of it. As long as you …
I’ve just back home and I’m checking out some of the photos I took whilst in London. They were snapped on the brand new HTC One M8 so we can see if the camera is all it’s cracked up to be. These are some of the very first …
The new batch of flagship smartphones are coming out with great battery saving features, but what if you haven’t got a new fancy flagship device, what if your smartphone has a sealed in battery? Which is becoming the norm nowadays. Well either don’t stray too far away from …
We’ve been at the launch event today and have already detailed all the HTC One features and the specifications you should expect. The new device is now in shops and available to buy, but how does it compare to the older version? Both phones go under the name …
We were at the HTC event in London today and, with the press area so busy and loud, we really couldn’t get proper shots. Luckily enough we were given a handset to take away and review for the next few weeks. The device was announced and available on …
When we first heard it, we were blown away by the audaciousness of those GooglePlex dwellers. Its long been a bone of contention between the Android faithful and those who prefer Apple’s way of doing things, but when the rumours of PBT were posted up on the code.google …
Yes, I say this every year but I’ll say it again. You may think it’s a glamorous trip, but in reality you’re trapped in a building the size of an airport and you almost forget you’re in Barcelona. It could be Birmingham, where I spotted these signs before …
Where do I start really? This is a game that got people talking. Sure, it didn’t always gain positive comments, but it lit the social media candle and soon turned into a bonfire. It’s become the most popular app so far this year, but has now been taken …
If you’re here in the UK and use Three, you will no doubt be excited by the thought of free 4G access. Three, unlike many others, won’t charge extra for 4G access. Tweets are going out today from some happy customers stating they’re now seeing 4G on their …
Have you like me got a Pebble smart watch or, if you’re a lucky boy like our own Dan, a Pebble steel ? Well, if you are you will know only way to install apps to your watch is by using “third party” sites to download and then …
