Category: Mobile News

Mobile device use while driving is on the increase!

British motoring association, the RAC, has carried out a survey of motorists. It’s revealed some rather worrying results. The number of motorists illegally using mobile phones while at the wheel is rising. After surveying 1,714 UK motorists it found… 31% of motorists says they used a handheld phone …

Turrah Lumia. Nice seein’ ya.

Get yourself a drink Lumia fans. Turn the lights down. This is the end, my only friend, the end… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSUIQgEVDM4 News from WinBeta and elsewhere seems to confirm it. The Lumia range is dead. An anonymous employee states that Microsoft is about to “end sales” of the range …

Apple admit the Jet Black iPhone 7 prone to scratching. 

Let’s be honest, the Jet Black iPhone 7 looks …. absolutely gorgeous. Ooooo! Shiny shiny! Who in there right mind would want to shove that beautiful design and that polished finish in a case eh!? Well it appears that’s exactly what Apple want you to do after the …

Three Feel At Home – Speeds abroad on test

This has been a hotly debated topic. It’s understandable because, when you’re in the UK using Three on a brisk 4G connection, you get certain expectations about download speeds. It’s these expectations that you might take with you when you go abroad and, with the Three Feel At …

Vodafone want to stick brains into your bikini

Sitting out in the sun all day long might seem like a great thing to do, especially when you look out of the office window here in London to see nothing but rain. However, there’s risks associated with this, and Vodafone have been dreaming up ways to keep …

OnePlus3 soon available in Gold

There is no denying it OnePlus have definitely hit their mark on the fourth attempt at a phone. This time they promised a flagship killer and according to most reviews (including rather excellent one that can be read here), they nailed it. If there was a fly in ointment at …

BlackBerry announce their second Android device

BlackBerry, one of the past greats of smartphones, have just announced the DTEK50. This will be their second device running Android after the (also appallingly named) Priv. The Priv was a first for the company – it was the first to run Android rather than its proprietary BB10. Whilst it …

A blast from the past.. a Gionee Flip Phone – MWC Shanghai

Whilst I was walking through the halls of MWC Shanghai I came across the Gionee booth. We’ve had some dealing with Gionee before on the site including a demo in Barcelona. They also brought a couple of phones to the UK under the Kazam brand. Unfortunately that partnership …

Remix Pro 2 in 1 Hands on – MWC Shanghai

Jide Tech recently announced that they were making a follow up to the Remix Ultra Tablet. This was funded through Kickstarter last year. I was very lucky to find one if these devices at MWC Shanghai on the Qualcomm booth. The device I found was all setup for …

ZTE Axon 7 hands on – MWC Shanghai

They only announced that this would be available the other day, but us being eager beavers here at Coolsmartphone (and with me being in Shanghai), I thought it would be worth a visit to ZTE. Before we get into that though let’s see what this thing is all …

OnePlus keep the punches coming with the OnePlus 3

I was recently on holiday and when I returned I found that this strange contraption was waiting for me in my hallway. Now for those of you who have followed us a for a while, you will no doubt be familiar with what this is. It is, of course, …

Tesco launch Mobile Xtras

Well, this is awkward. We’ve been given some information about a new offering from Tesco Mobile but their PR team aren’t getting in touch. We’re not totally sure if we’re breaking an embargo or what-not, but here goes anyway. So, word on the street is that Tesco Mobile …

Has TeamViewer Been Hacked?

The popular remote desktop app TeamViewer has apparently been hacked. However, TeamViewer claim the issue lies with its users reusing the same password across multiple sites which makes sense…. until reports started to surface users with 2FA were also affected. It appears hackers gained control of victims’ TeamViewer …

Man with a suitcase is coming to fix your not-spots

We all want better coverage. In a perfect world we’d stop building offices and houses that play havoc with mobile signals. We’d live in a completely flat country without hills or valleys. We’d have planning regulations that allow for networks to deploy masts easier. But we don’t live …

Microsoft off-load nearly 2000 staff as the smartphone adventure ends

It’s a sad day for hard-working smartphone employees, especially in Finland. Microsoft has just announced that 1,850 jobs will go as they “restructure” their smartphone hardware business. 1,350 of the staff affected will be from the Microsoft Mobile division in Oy, Finland. The remaining 500 will be from …

Motorola unveil the new Moto G series

The Moto G range has always been a stalwart in the budget Android device segment and with their latest release nothing changes on that front. As is expected from my new phone release the specs have taken a bit of a jump, as have the screen sizes. This …

Huawei add the P9 Lite to their portfolio

As you can see in the review we are pretty big fans of the Huawei P9. It now seems that Huawei is going to be making a bigger push into the UK market than we first thought. Coming very soon to a network near you is the P9 …

Xiaomi’s Mi Max launched

I am a fan of big screened phones this is something that I don’t try to hide at all. One of my favourite devices of all time was the Xperia Z Ultra from Sony, I have owned 3 of them in the past. I just really liked the size …

BT investing £6bn in faster broadband

Following on from a reported 15% rise in annual profits to £3.03bn, BT has announced plans to invest £6bn in faster broadband and mobile services over the next three years. The company plans to offer their “ultrafast” broadband to 12 million premises by 2020. With speeds of 300 …

LG Stylus 2 first DAB radio equipped smartphone coming to O2

UK carrier O2 has announced they are going to exclusively carry the new LG Stylus 2, which is the first smartphone with DAB radio support*, meaning you’ll be able to enjoy your favorite radio stations without using your data allowance. The device is available right now on O2 …

You’re only getting 4G 53% of the time.

According to a report published by OpenSignal and consumer watchdog Which?, smartphone users here in the UK only appear to get access to 4G data speeds for about half of the time on average. From the four UK networks tested, EE was found to have the best 4G …

BBC launch iPlayer Kids app

If, like me, you have a little one in the house, you’ll know what a minefield it is keeping them safe while letting them having access to the internet. My little boy loves to watch people gaming on YouTube, but sometimes what appears to be a suitable clip …

OnePlus Marshmallow Update

Yo OnePlus owners waiting for your Marshmallow update still…. It’s coming… it’s on its way… it’s nearly there!! I know this has been said before and has been due from earlier this year. But listen, the word from the company’s co-founder Carl Pei is that the update is in …

Moomin Emojis can now be used on your phone!!

Have you ever wanted to get a weird looking pig thing on your text messages? No, me neither. Then again I am a thirty-something years old. However, if you are one of the cool kids and you like Emojis then listen up. Something called “Moomiji” will now allow …

WhatsApp now fully encrypted.

Unless you have been living in a cave, with your eyes shut and your fingers in your ears, you will have heard of the recent hoo-ha over a certain company and a law enforcement agency request to unlock an iPhone. This has spiralled into a privacy debate, which …

Huawei announce the P9 and P9 Plus

Today Huawei have just finished their press conference which we covered live with the help of Paul O’Brien from MoDoCo. The event was full of glitz and glamour as their events usually are, and if you wish to relive the blow-by-blow report from the event then take a look …

Cyanogen’s Steve Kondic at MotD

No, it isn’t Match of the Day for all you comedians out there. We’re talking March of the Droids, the annual event held for and by mobile technology aficionados. Things kick off in Edinburgh this Friday and the cool news is that somehow these wily chaps managed to …

Trouble with your 4G? You don’t know you’re born son

Getting your tweets and Facebook updates can be a little infuriating if your signal isn’t up to scratch, but think back 32 years and you’ll suddenly realise how lucky you are. For a moment, let’s pretend you’re back there. Back in 1984. Mobile phones were a pipe dream. …

Angry Birds, coming to a cinema near you. Not long to wait now..

Remember when everyone played Angry Birds? It was before everyone started getting into Piano Tiles, Clash of Clans and that talking cat thing. Anyhow, after a million versions of Angry Birds they decided to make it into a movie. The release date is now just over two months …

Android Pay arriving in the UK at the end of next month

After what feels like an age it appears that Android Pay is finally making the journey across the pond to the UK. The Telegraph is reporting that Google will launch the mobile payments system in the UK at the end of March. Since Apple Pay’s debut in the …

MWC – Canonical and the BQ Aquarius M10

A few weeks ago we heard the very exciting news that Canonical, in conjunction with BQ, were going to be releasing a tablet device. I wrote a brief article about the device then with all the bits and pieces about it, and was very keen to get my hands …

MWC – LeEco Le Alpe d’Heuz bike

LeEco also had some other toys to show us at MWC in the form of what they call a “rideable”. This is a connected bike that is designed primarily as a Hybrid Bike for city use. We did manage to have a brief look at this, and it …

MWC – LeEco showcase

This morning I headed out to meet a relatively unknown company, in the UK at least.They are called LeEco – formally LETV. The reason I was so keen to go out and meet them was that they were the first manufacturer to release a smartphone with the new …

FlexEnable – A colour screen on your wrist, it’s here at MWC

Sure, we’ve seen curved screens in the past here at Mobile World Congress, but this is something else. A thin film of plastic has been created here on a prototype line in Cambridge. It’s the product of a very young company – formed only a year ago – …

A tour around Hall 7, and I have to apologise

I thought it would be a good idea to take you on a tour around Hall 7 here at Mobile World Congress. Indeed, we got to see the Gionee S8 5.5″ Android handset with a full metal body and Intex, with their Cyanogen-based handset. Unfortunately, somewhere along the …

MWC – Remix OS Update

For those of you who have been following the site for a while, you will surely be aware of the fact that I am a massive fan of the Remix OS in all its forms be it the Remix Mini or the Remix Ultra tablet. Well, today I …

MWC – What’s in my bag – Gears

Short version. I’ve been doing this for a good amount of years now and I’ve developed my own way of covering live events. Also, after cycling over the pennines and from London to Paris with nothing more than a backpack, you learn to “go light”. So, here’s my …

MWC – HP Elite X3 brings Windows 10 Mobile back in the game

Long when we thought Windows 10 Mobile wasn’t going to see any support further than the Lumias and the Acer Jade Primo, HP has surprised quite a few people with the announcement of the Elite X3. Yes, that’s right – not only are HP going in on Windows …