Category: Gadgets & Tech

TeckNet iEP517 Power Bank 5200mAh backup battery pack – Review

Batteries are a contentious issue when it comes to smartphones. It seems that no matter how much the phone technology advances, batteries can only just keep up. One day on a full charge is normal but, quite frankly, unacceptable. There are various options available to ease your power …

Review – StreamPort Universal

Let’s see if this can be summed up in a few short words shall we? What we have here is a Bluetooth receiver that’ll pump out an audio output to your existing stereo equipment. Yep, that seems to describe it quite nicely. It hit me this weekend. My …

Try superfast 4GEE for free

Sometimes thing seem to good to be true and no doubt I’ve missed something here but if you’ve been wanting to try out the supposedly “superfast” 4G now might be your chance. Basically EE are offering a free 4G MiFi for a month to try out. DON’T JUST …

Huawei E589 unboxing

After arriving in London for a 4 day break I knew I was going to be enjoying 4G speeds thanks to my existing EE account and having both a HTC One and Sony Xperia Z with me. However using internet on these drains the battery and these mobile …

Create your own micro SIM. Just hack it with scissors.

I’m old school. I’ve got a standard sized SIM card. A card of this size has been around for quite some time and over the years my Orange SIM has prostituted itself with so many handsets I’ve lost count. It’s only when I actually call Orange and they …

Reviewed – Innergie Magic Cable Trio

Cabling is always a bit of a nightmare. I can’t be the only one who’s got a knotted mess of cabling behind sofas, under beds and in the foot-well of my car. The microUSB charging standard should be just that – a standard. For most of the time …

Hi-Fun Bluetooth Gloves

Hi-Fun Bluetooth gloves… Yes, bluetooth gloves. These are brilliant. You will look like a fool using them but if that doesn’t bother you then go for it. They are cool too. The gloves are made from the same material as most gloves. Thinsulate springs to mind but these …

GEAR4 Angry Bird Speaker

Cool new gadgets just keep coming and coming! GEAR4 have added to this with a new range of speakers. The one we have is the Purple Bird from Angry Birds Space. I’m not usually a fan of portable speakers, seeing the little “chav” stood on the corner with …

Nexus 7 dock lands in the UK

Anyone with a Nexus 7 here in the UK and who wants to get the desktop dock for it, well you are now in luck as Google are selling them direct from the Play Store for £24.99 plus delivery right now! Which we reviewed here. Whilst now available …

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 …

Doro announce the new PhoneEasy 622

In recent research Doro found that half of people aged over 65 years want a reliable, stylish and easy-to-use feature phone. Not everyone wants the latest and greatest 5″ smartphone, my parents are a prime example. My father in law for instance, he struggles to send a text …

Rhinoshield – the future of screen protection?

I’d be very surprised if you were reading this and you don’t own a smartphone. I’d be even more surprised if you said that you hadn’t dropped your smartphone at some point in time. Then I’d be even even more surprised if you said that you hadn’t heaved …

HTC One vs the iPhone 5 – Camera samples

Well we all knew this was coming didn’t we. Here are the first comparison shots of the HTC One camera with it’s Ultrapixel technology and the iPhone 5. From the samples (and with the caveat that the HTC One may not be final hardware / software) is looks as …

Qualcomm providing public transport?

Bagh! No way man. We’re not going to fall for this blatant advertsing campaign. If Qualcomm are looking for a free plug for their Facebook page and their Mobile World Congress activity then they can look elsewhere. They decided to demonstrate how mobility is in their Qualcomm DNA …

Sony Playstation Meeting – Live with Coolsmartphone

The traditional console-based (and PC) entertainment and mobile worlds are converging at a rapid pace. With this in mind, what lies in store at this evening’s PlayStation Meeting? It’s rumoured that Sony will unveil the PlayStation 4 – and you can get the latest action, video, news, photos …

Google shows off Google Glass UI

Google has today posted a video on YouTube entitled How It Feels , showing a series of both mundane and out-of-the-ordinary experiences through the eyes of Google Glass, showing people skydiving, skiing and navigating through traffic. The UI has changed it a bit since the last video Google …

Logic 3 Ferrari Cavallino T350 headphones – Review

Over the ear headphones have seemingly become popular again. Not a day goes past without me seeing some kid in a tracksuit and a huge pair of white headphones costing hundreds sat on top of his head. I haven’t really bought into either the over ear headphone market …

Powwaaaaarrr!! (Desk charger review)

This week is going to be a bit of a blinder in the world of technology. There’s a HTC event tomorrow..at which HTC have something special to announce. Sony are apparently unveiling something the following day (Playstation 4?), and Coolsmartphone are heading to Mobile World Congress. With that …

BlackBerry Z10 – Initial Impressions

The BlackBerry is one of those phenomena that have totally passed me by. I have never used one, touched one or even within about 4’ of one. So when the whole world erupted with excitement a few weeks ago with the arrival of BB10 and the new flagship …

Deal – Dirt-cheap iPhone 4 / 4S Battery Case

I reviewed the Movpower portable charger recently after buying the thing for our regular madness at Mobile World Congress. But wait, there’s more, hows about a iPhone 4/4S battery case? It’s down to £3.99 from £24.99. It doubles your iPhone 4 / 4S run time with a 1500mAh …

Amazon launches its own currency: Amazon Coins

It’s fair to say the Amazon have had some great success with the Kindle Fire tablets. The tablets sport some great specs (nothing ground breaking though) and a nice low price tag to match, making them great for family use and ideal for children. Today Amazon have announced …

Is an iPad the right thing for your baby?

Perhaps I’m getting a little old or a bit “fuddy duddy”, but this seems a bit wrong to me. Sure, my four-year-old son plays with an iPad. We restrict his time with it because, along with a Nintendo, he can quickly get addicted. However, this Fisher Price product …

Power Jacket Case for iPhone 5 – Review

Regular listeners (and now viewers) of our podcast will know that I recently moved from a Galaxy Note 2 back to the iPhone 5.  I won’t go into the reasons why here, as it’s worth a good article on it’s own. On the whole, I’m happy with that …

A mobile phone that gets you drunk

This one is definitely for the weekend. If you’re looking to.. err.. sneak a little alcohol into somewhere, try this. It’s a hip flask, which you can fill with your booze of choice, but it’s got a trick up its sleeve. It’s shaped like a retro mobile phone! …

Archos Gamepad – Review

The Gamepad is a unique device, it is like nothing I have ever used before. In the past my mobile gaming had been done on a Nexus 7 or a Galaxy Note, so using real buttons was going to be something new for me. with the Gamepad I …

A bumpy experience – The Tactus morphing screen

We covered this way back in June but it’s popped up again at CES and perhaps deserves another mention. Tactus Technology have developed a way of converting your standard touchscreen into a “tactile experience”, which basically means that keyboard buttons magically morph out of your screen. The result, …

Spigen SGP Slim Armor for iPhone 5 – Review

The trouble with phone cases are that its long been disputed which is better for protection. Hard cases, or softer silicon/TPU cases. The solution may be hybrid cases which is where the Slim Armor for the iPhone 5 comes in. The Slim Armor is a 2 part case …

U2 Android Mini PC available super-cheap

OK! Ready for this. Strap yourself in for another random Android gadget. This one comes thanks to my cousin, who spotted it on HotUKDeals. This one works out at about £12.54 and is sent from Hong Kong. It’s basically a media player running Android 4.0.4 and has, we …

Pebble to make announcement at CES 2013

Pebble backers will be receiving an email hinting at the Pebble watch being shipped some time after CES 2013 with an announcement being streamed live @ 09:00hrs PST (17:00 GMT) on Wednesday 9th January I like many backers can’t wait to get my hands on my new bit …

Touch-based Ubuntu arriving tomorrow?

Ubuntu, for those who aren’t aware, is a Linux OS based on Debian. It’s free, open source and has a desktop UI. It’s got quite a following and has breathed life into a range of netbooks and PC’s. However, with smartphones now having specs equal to advanced PC’s …

OUYA Console gets unboxed

  Following an extremely successful Kickstarter project, OUYA Consoles are now shipping. They’re arriving after the developer portal went live and the OUYA dev kit is now ready for download too. For those who aren’t aware, the new OUYA console is an Android-powered device that’ll let you play …

Review – Avantree Hive Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headphones

Recently, I’ve found myself needing to replace my ageing bluetooth headphones. The pads are wearing out, and Sony don’t make them any more. Whilst there have been quite a few pairs of headphones that have caught my eye recently, my requirements dictated that I wanted something with Excellent …

More Sony Yuga photos appear online

Following on from our previous article Mobile-review.com have a set of images of the new Sony Yuga, rumoured to be making an appearance at CES in January. The device has some rather crazy specs, a 3ghz processor, 128gb of storage, and a 16MP camera to name a few. It looks …

Anecdote: The most ill-informed man in the world

Working in retail store for a network is quite possibly the best way to meet ill-informed people, most of the time this mis-information is minor and forgivable such as calling a BlackBerry a Blueberry or asking if we stock the HTC as if there is only one. Now …

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 …

Things a bit tight? Try financing your next gadget

With Christmas fast approaching and budgets getting tighter by the day, it’s good to hear that 0% finance packages are now being made available on some of the expensive gadgets we like to buy. iPads especially can be pricey, so Expansys have started dishing up payment plans with …

Coolsmartphone Christmas Gift Guide Part 3

Christmas is nearly upon us and sometimes it can be a struggle to find a present to give for that one particular person. Well, struggle no more for we here at Coolsmartphone have teamed up with some of the leading retailers in order to provide you with a …

Will.i.am iPhone camera add-on – more details revealed

If you happen to be drinking tea whilst you’re reading this.. I’d stop now. It may end up all over your monitor. As we reported a few days ago Will.i.am has shed some more light on the iPhone camera attachment. There are two models, a contemporary (named C.4) version …

Sony Ericsson Liveview Smartwatch £19.99 For Limited time at Expansys

The deal of the day today at Expansys is an absolute corker…. For the bargain basement price of £19.99 you can bag yourself a Sony Ericsson Liveview Smartwatch. The SonyEricsson Liveview Smartwatch  lets you check your Android phone without taking it out of your pocket. Acting as a second …