Category: Editorial
Acer are sending me up to Scotland at the moment and I’m blogging this from the Scotrail Sleeper to Edinburgh.. I should be brutally honest though, and admit that I’m in the bar. The Scottish staff are giving me beer and I’m not refusing. It’s the way my …
Well the event is done and now it’s time to review how the event went and how once again mobile tech helped me during the event. As those of you who read my previous article will know I was planning on covering the event for the site by …
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 …
You know that new service that EE have started offering everyone but their pay and go customers? Yeah, the one where you pay 50p to queue jump. Well, it has landed them in some hot water on social media channels. #EE is just the RyanAir of mobile networks. …
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 …
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 …
Was my previous post just a cheap way to get donations to the Douglas Macmillan Hospice? Well yes, it probably was a bit, but they provide care for those with progressive diseases and a limited life expectancy. It’s a bloody good cause and I’ve only had 11 donations, …
Friday. I think something is happening to me. At work, during my lunch hour, I did my usual trip to the supermarket to get a sandwich. Like many, I filled the period of “dead time” by faffing about with my phone. Twitter, Facebook, the news, checking email. The …
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 …
I am writing this whilst travelling down to Birmingham from south of the border. Why would I willingly come south of the border? Well there is only one reason gadget fans – a show dedicated to gadgets! As you will have no doubt established, I will attending Gadget …
Not that we wouldn’t pay attention to one of the most popular messaging mobile applications in the world today, but there’s been a lot more attention placed upon it recently since Facebook snapped it up. Those who were concerned about privacy have been trying out a number of …
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 …
I’ve fancied a change for a while now, something totally different, a change of OS, a change of apps, processes, gestures, hardware and even size. I don’t know what’s happened to me, my normal daily setup of a Nokia Lumia 1020 and a Nexus 5 just isn’t doing …
I could just dress this up and tug on your heart-strings like those daytime TV adverts asking for “just £2 per month” but I won’t. I’ll instead tell you a story. A few months ago I’d visited a friends house. It was just after Bonfire Night and I …
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 …
We’ve all either been on the receiving end of that line, or said it to someone else, you hear it all the time. It’s often used as a reason that our society is getting more unsociable, or cited as reasons young relationships break down! I know I’ve been …
Shopping days are running out rapidly, panic buying will soon be setting in. The festive period is nearly upon us and all of the shops are playing that peskily annoying Christmas music that we have all heard a million times before. The old ladies are saying “Oooo I …
Today I received an email. That, in itself, isn’t remarkable. I get a few. However, this one was from the Police. Luckily it arrived to inform me that a number of bikes had been stolen from the local area. This, in fact, was the second such email and …
Most of the major networks have now announced their 4G pricing models. They vary a little but, with one notable exception, there is a premium for the new technology as well as limits. Data is the new king. No longer do we want more and more texts bundled …
In the olden days picking a new mobile phone was easy. I used to grab the Argos catalogue and flick through until I found a reasonably priced phone and then I’d buy it. Done. Simple. Fast forward a few years decades and the list of specifications, manufacturers, software …
Popular video and text messaging app Tango has been hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army. You remember the SEA, they’re the ones who hacked the Sky apps so you couldn’t control your Sky Plus box from your garden. We reported earlier that Viber – an app for making …
At what point in history did the camera become the most important on a new smartphones spec sheet? Don’t get me wrong here, I love a decent camera phone, but increasingly I’m seeing manufacturers chase the “best camera ever” type of tagline and other specs or form factors …
Although I technically use three different operating systems, long before Android was a powerhouse, I ended up going all in with Google. This means it both helps and hinders when it comes to picking my five favourite apps that I always install. 1. SwiftKey As it’s so easy …
Water, water, everywhere, but it’s all in my phone. AGH! You know what it’s like, the screen looks like an electronic goldfish bowl and it makes a sad swishing sound when moved around. A drop in the bath, a fall into a drink or even an unfortunate accident …
If you listened to our lovely podcast this week you’ll have heard us discussing the various merits of the Samsung Galaxy S4, in particular, VS other (cheaper) handsets like the Google Nexus 4. I really like my Nexus 4. I like stock Android, it’s whizzy fast and does everything …
It’s fair to say that ever since I saw a carphone in a Jaguar XJ6 I’ve been obsessed with mobile telephones. Over the last few years I’ve swapped phones around regularly, usually flip flopping between Android and iOS devices. I usually end up going back to the iPhone sooner or later. …
Anyone who’s been more than an occasional Google services user on their phone will recognise the problem. You send an email to a friend through Gmail, follow up with a google talk chat session, send a post through Google+ to illustrate your point and may also have a …
Perhaps for the first time, Google released a new service which I didn’t immediately rush to try out. In the wake of the Reader spring clean, I now have to think about whether or not I can rely on a new Google service being around for the long …
Money. It’s increasingly hard to come by. The recent Budget yet again showed that the country is really stretched. But, in the middle of it all, we’re still finding ways of affording phones that cost around £500. It is, if we’re honest, a lot of cash. If you …
By now the news is everywhere. Andy Rubin is leaving Android, the project he brought with him to Google in 2004, to work in their famous Project X department (responsible for Google Glass). There are many theories as to why Andy Rubin has left the effort – some …
With recent rumours suggesting that the new Samsung Galaxy S4 may contain ‘eye scroll’ technology, it got me questioning whether smartphones are simply too smart? Do we really get the full use out of our phones? Plus, are all these features worth the loss of battery life? Personally, I hardly …
We are living in a smartphone world of mobile fun and wherever you look the worlds of mobile and traditional computing are converging – from the technology itself to the sites that cover it. Facebook and Twitter are appearing across all platforms from the new Playstation 4 to …
