Category: Gadgets & Tech

Alleged assembled ‘iPhone 5 pictures’ surface.

TheVerge have posted pictures of an alleged iPhone 5, courtesty of one of the suppliers, ILabFactory. The device has all the features of the leaks we’ve seen previously, the centered FaceTime camera, the smaller dock connector, and the longer screen which will hopefully take it up to at …

Nexus 7: first impressions

You know what they say about third time lucky. Having made and then cancelled orders with Google and Currys, I decided to try my luck with Ebuyer yesterday afternoon as they were advertising the Nexus 7 as in stock and ready for delivery today. Roughly 16 hours later …

The Android Games Console

Take an Android phone or tablet with a powerful Tegra 3 CPU, 1GB of RAM and a HDMI outout. Now, take out the expensive high-resolution capacitive screen, the camera, the Bluetooth, GSM radio kit and battery. You’re left with something which costs a lot less to build. Put …

Mobile security – You never know you need it, until you need it

Earlier in the week I received a mobile phone to review. This isn’t unusual, but what I found on it was. There was a definite “pre-owned” feel to it. No, it wasn’t scratched. It wasn’t damaged in any way. Instead it had stacks of data on it. Someone …

RIM post large losses, cut jobs and delay Blackberry 10

5000 jobs are set to be axed by Blackberry maker RIM as the company announced a $518m (£334m) net loss in the three months to June 2nd. This, when compared to the $695m profit made in the same period last year, shows how the tide has turned. Sales …

Open webOS Community Edition released

For those of you who have a HP Touchpad, the Open webOS project came one step closer to fruition this week. The Open webOS team have released a package for the Touchpad that allows users to “learn how the TouchPad works, modify your TouchPad experience and then apply …

Samsung Galaxy S3 MHL HDTV Adapter Review

So, you have a quad core beast of a handset, and it seems a shame to contain all that power to one (admittedly rather large and beautiful) mobile phone display. Step in the official Samsung HDTV adapter for the Galaxy S3.. The included video demonstrates the capabilities of the …

NFC – What you need to know *Updated* with forum link

NFC stands for Near Field Communication you may have seen it in shops now as contactless payment basically its a set of standards for smartphones that enables the transfer of data such as text or numbers between two NFC enabled devices. NFC tags, like stickers, key fobs or …

Are screen sizes out of control?

Following the recent releases of large screened super phones from the likes of HTC and Samsung there has been a lot of discussion over whether the mainstream phone market is ready devices of this size. So are we ready for larger screens? Well with the pre-orders for the …

Gear4 StreetParty Size 0 Portable Speaker Review

The Gear4 StreetParty Size 0 is a small, thin and light speaker designed for ad hoc music listening. I’ve been using it over the last few days but is it any good? Read on to find out… The first thing I noticed when taking the Size 0 out …

Microsoft Surface: Opinion & CSP Staff Sound off!

    As a CoolSmartPhone reader, there’s a very good chance you are already aware that on Monday, Microsoft announced their own Surface branded 10.6” Windows 8 family of tablets PC’s and accessories. Microsoft announced it at a surprising presentation. Not surprising that it was a tablet, more …

Come and feel my Surface – Microsoft tablets are go

Just a few hours ago, as expected, Microsoft unveiled their own brand of tablets called “Surface”. They will be powered by Windows 8 and have 10.6″ (26.9cm) displays with built-in kickstands. They’re also built with magnesium cases, which Microsoft tell us are a first. You’ll be able to …

Coolsmartphone New Tech Watch: Tactus & Tactile Layer Technology

If any of you have heard the Coolsmartphone Podcast you will have noticed several of our writers mention the loss of a physical keyboard. Many moons ago I owned a Blackberry Bold 9700, the keyboard on the handset was fantastic, I seemed to type more and quicker. Now …

Kickstarter Recommended Project: Plugbook

We here at Coolsmartphone are always on the lookout for new technology, technology that can enhance your lifestyle or make a job easier. One such technology that is currently looking for backing on Kickstarter is Plugbook, an innovative solution to the common problem of not having a charger …

Microsoft To Unveil Own Branded Tablet??

  Monday June 18, 3.30pm, A secret venue somewhere in Los Angeles. That is the time the Microsoft has set aside for a cloak and dagger operation where a big announcement is scheduled within which it is speculated that they will reveal their own branded tablet challenger to …

It might be raining, but I can charge my phone and keep dry

With the British summer becoming a bit of a wash-out, Vodafone have stepped up with a solution. It’s an umbrella. Sure, we’ve seen umbrellas before. I’ve got a collection of broken ones in the boot of my car, but none of those will act as a high-gain antenna …

From Russia with Love…The Lambo Smartphone!

We’ve had Ferrari and Asus, Porsche and Blackberry, and now the latest supercar manufacturer to enter the hi-tech world of computing and communications is Lamborghini! As well as a couple of rather lo-tech feature handsets, the maker of such classics as the Countach and the Aventador is launching …

LG Debuts First Full HD Smartphone Screen

LG has today revealed the worlds first “Full HD” handset screen.  It is an Advanced High Performance In-Plane Switching LCD ith a 1920 x 1080 resolution.  This means a pixel density of 440ppi and is equivalent to the resolution now found on most flatscreen TV’s. LG has been rumoured to …

Sony Smart Wireless Headset Pro Arrives at Clove on 25th May

Added to my rather long “I want one of those” list is the new Smart Wireless Headset Pro. This universal accessory offers premium stereo sound, MP3 player, FM radio and an Android remote that displays messages, caller names, media titles and more. You can even call a contact …

Three Announce New HSPA+ Value MiFi

Three today announced their new budget version MiFi device, budget but just as good as the other HSPA+ MiFi on sale at the moment with the only real change being the display.  Ignore that and you have a HSPA+ device which still allows for up to 21Mbs connections …

Apple readies iPhone with larger screen (Reuters)

Reality check … is this true? Apple are readying a 4″ display on the next iPhone…. Well Reuters (and WSJ) appear to believe this to be true….. It is being quoted that production of the screens has already begun at LG, Sharp and Japan Display manufacturers…. we could …

Cisor BT5 Review

Here we have a new entry into the market of audio accessories for mobiles and tablets. It comes in the form of a small cylinder about half the size of a drinks can, but with enough power to blow your socks off. So what is this almighty cylinder …

Eton Soulra XL Solar Powered Speaker – Review

It seems odd to write a review for a solar powered product, based on the biblical amounts of rain we’ve had recently, but I’ve had this unit for a week or two and we did manage to have a little bit of sunshine during that time! The Eton …

Olloclip Review

The Olloclip falls into a category I’ve never reviewed or even used before. It’s a 3 function lense that clips over the camera on an iPhone 4/4S and adds three new functions, Wide Angle, Fish Eye and Macro. Read on for my thoughts and some sample pictures. The …

O2 are ending support for the O2 Joggler

Do you have an O2 Joggler? Well if you do you will be interested to know that O2 are about to release a final update for it. What is an O2 Joggler I here you ask, well The O2 Joggler is a 7” Touchscreen mains powered device which …

Skross World Travel Adaptor with Twin USB review

I was preparing to go on holiday the other week. As always I end up with a big pile of phone chargers, camera chargers, mp3 player chargers, my wifes proprietary cables for her antiquated phone and sometimes even the charger for one of my tablets. It always soon becomes a …

Sony Smartwatch – Review

It’s here, it’s really here! I was so excited to see the ‘missed delivery’ card from the postman, knowing what was in the packet. I had been anxiously waiting for the delivery from Clove since I first read about the new version of the SmartWatch, hoping Sony had improved …

Barclays Unveils Paytag: NFC Payments from any mobile!

In the US there is Google Wallet but here in the UK, NFC and contactless payment has been very slow to take off. Issues around trust and security have led to a sceptical public which in turn has led to retailers unwilling to commit and the banks treading very …

Pebble E-Paper Smart Watch Breaks Kickstarter records

Since the Double Fine Adventure Game Kickstarter funding back in February, Kickstarter seems to have kicked into high gear for tech related projects. The latest record holder and one that I’m personally backing, is the Pebble E-Paper Smart Watch. In simple terms it connects to your iPhone or Android mobile …

Google Drive – Cloud Storage

Google have seemingly been a little slow on the uptake of cloud storage, especially as they currently hold 7339 terabytes of emails in the Gmail service, offering over 7gb per email account. At the moment, details are sketchy, with no firm launch date or pricing information. The screen …

Review – The Oona

Another stand for you now but this one is a bit different. It’s not just one stand, it’s many, many stands all in one. A multi-purpose stand that you can construct and adapt to your needs. Their Oona website has just one video to show it in action …

CoolSmartPhone Goes 4G LTE

Thanks to the kind team at O2, I have managed to get myself onto the very limited trial of 4G LTE in London currently being run by O2 UK who are owned by Telefonica. Currently a 40km section of the capital has been enabled with this new LTE …

Tivizen Digital TV Receiver review

This diddy little gadget is called the Tivizen Digital TV receiver. It’s surprisingly small, about the size of a credit card and the thickness of a normal smartphone. Put simply, this just grabs TV signals and then pumps them out over a WiFi hotspot that it creates. You …

Nokia’s Pureview tech coming to Lumia Windows Phones

Remember this stonking 41mp monster Nokia announced last week at Mobile World Congress? Well it appears Nokia’s Jo Harlow has all but confirmed the company are using that technology in upcoming Windows Phones. The actual quote is “I can’t say precisely when, but it will not take very long.” …

MWC – MIPS helping to bring us better, cheaper devices

The final day of Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona and, although the crowds are starting to thin out, it was perhaps the best time to go to the very back of these great halls and seek out companies that have great products and ideas but don’t always …

MWC – Is it all about the brand?

What is it about a brand? I had a pretty long conversation this evening about just that. Sure, specs and build quality matter. Innovation, ease-of-use and simplicity matters. However, there’s a definite brand following that people might not admit to. Take Apple for example. Truth be told, there’s …

MWC – OK, we had to do it..

Every year, without fail, the infamous CBOSS girls send attendees towards their stand. This year they’re doing more leaflet drops but never fail to pull men in like a tractor beam of hotness. Here’s a quick couple of videos. Sorry about this.. we’re only human 😉

MWC – Duracell Powermat in action

Wireless charging ? We had to give this a try. The Duracell Powermat promises just that. In reality you need a special case to get it to “talk” the Powermat, but for those having that already this shouldn’t be a problem. In the demo we were shown an …

MWC – Motorola MOTOACTV – Up close

So today I went to see Motorola. Two very nice gents (Bobby and Joel) took me through the latest Motorola gear and it started with this – a watch. Now, I should just point out that this isn’t just “a watch”, it’s actually more of a personal trainer …