Category: General

Momax The Core Smart Case for Samsung Galaxy Note II – Review

Momax have taken a fresh look at the case/stand hybrid concept with The Core Smart Case, which uses an origami inspired design for the stand coupled with a traditional gel casing. Good Fits perfectly Magnetic fasteners Screen protector and cloth included Bad Stand angle is too upright Unstable …

Want a more individual iPhone 5 case?

Phone cases are all pretty similar from a certain distance. This one, though, isn’t. An iPhone 5 case that costs £199.99? That’s gotta be pretty good to start with. The Izzi camera case protects your iPhone and also adds three different lenses that sit over the existing lens. …

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 …

MVNO Feature – TalkTalk Mobile

Over the next few weeks we’re taking a look at the many MVNO’s here in the UK. That acronym, by the way, is just fancy talk for a network using masts owned or operated by others. With the shift and merger of Orange and T-Mobile into “EE” you, …

Facebook Home released in US; Messenger updated

Can’t wait for the HTC First? Want to make your high-end smartphone the ultimate Facebook machine? If so, good news – Facebook Home has just been pushed to the Google Play Store and should be available shortly. If you have a Samsung Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S3, HTC One X, One X+ …

O2 to make mid-contract swapping easier with O2 Refresh

You know how it is. You’re on the bus with your Samsung Galaxy S2 or HTC Desire S and some flash Harry steps on with the latest HTC One, iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S4. It’s a pain, but we’re all resigned to either waiting our turn for …

Londoners, keep an eye on your Gok, the 4G 800MHz test is coming

Following pretty successful tests across the Black Country, the company responsible for checking that the 800MHz 4G doesn’t bleed into digital TV is now testing in London. This test is far bigger than the first and will squirt a 4G signal at 800MHz across 170,000 homes in Greenwich, …

Nokia patent application shows what might one day be a real thing

A Nokia Lumia tablet has been something that a lot of people have wanted to see for quite a while. It is something that I feel might improve Nokias financial situation. A patent application has appeared online showing what Nokia have dreamt up as a possible tablet and …

Viber beta for BlackBerry – free VoIP calling

It’s true – in this day and age, there is actually a company who keeps their word. When Viber announced free calling between its users for iOS and Android, they did say Blackberry 7 users would also receive the update at some point. We weren’t sure about that, …

Google Babel – one tool to rule them all – opinion

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 …

Chrome beta for Android gets a rather nice new feature

The Chrome beta has been out for a few months now. In the past it was hard to see what the beta version actually offered over the normal version, but with last night’s update they’ve gone and added fullscreen browsing. Plus some other stuff of course. – Fullscreen …

Samsung Galaxy S4 Cases on sale now!!

Well, the handset hasn’t even gone on sale yet but don’t let that stop you! Available now from Mobile Fun is a selection of Galaxy S4 cases that range from the official Samsung flip covers to special tyre tread styled cases. First up we have the official flip …

Mini microSD reader – Kickstarter project

The Nexus 7 is a fine device however it isn’t without its issues. One of the most complained about is the lack of internal storage or a microSD card slot which leads to issues with how much information you can hold on your device. There is now a …

Poll – Is speed what you want, what you really, really, want?

According to Wikipedia EE have around 28 million customers in the UK. That’s Wikipedia numbers though, so I wanted to be sure about this before I started to write this article. The Q3 2012 financial figures seem to have a slightly different number.. … EE is the most …

Instagraph for Windows Phone 8 is now available

I said Instagraph there not Instagram, Instagraph is a Windows Phone client for Instagram that actually allows you to upload your pictures. They’ve done this via a server upload loophole they’ve found. The app costs £1.99 which pays for the server and the time spent sorting it all …

Galaxy Note 8.0 Accessories Available for pre-order

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 has just gone on sale from certain outlets but what does everyone need to snazz up their brand new premium tablet? That right, official accessories. The good news is that whilst the accessories aren’t quite available yet, they are up for pre-order from …

MVNO Feature – Virgin Mobile

I was having a think last night, which is pretty unusual for me. It was a good think. It occured to me that here on Coolsmartphone we’re always mentioning the major networks when mentioning which new phones are arriving and when, but we don’t mention the MVNO’s – …

Windows Phone App Review – [+] Lockscreen Style

My Lockscreen on my Windows Phones is the one place you can truly express yourself and have pretty much any picture you want displayed. This in itself isn’t anything new and nor are the new features that Windows Phone 8 brought to the Lockscreen either. I like wallpapers …

EE 4G to double in speed

With other networks (most notably Three) ramping up their existing 3G speeds, EE had to do something. Three are already offering speeds on their DC-HSDPA+ network of around 12Mbps and were keen to state that they’re not in a hurry with 4G because it would only offer customers …

Snugg Live Wire charging cable review

A cable is a cable. One of those things you leave on the floor, at the back of the sofa, under the bed. However, if you want a cable that’s just a big more special, then consider this Snugg Live Wire charging cable. From the instant I unpackaged …

Blackberry Q10 coming soon to Vodafone

It has been confirmed that Vodafone will soon be carrying the new Blackberry Q10. The new handset has the full QWERTY keyboard that Blackberry are famous for and runs the new Blackberry 10 OS. The device comes with a 720×720 3.1″ AMOLED screen, 16GB internal storage, an 8MP …

Sony Xperia Z – On test by a baby

The Sony Xperia Z is a crackin’ handset. Me though, I’m after the Xperia Z Tablet, which is just as thin as the phone and just as waterproof. Now, just to show how useful the dust and waterproof features are, Three have employed a little baby to fully …

O2 goes deep, deep, down.

So, a quick tally. If you use the London Underground then you’ll know that there’s a number of options for getting online through the WiFi system that’s provided by Virgin Media. EE, Orange and T-Mobile are all signed up in partnership agreements, so if you’re a customer then …

Rejoice! 4G at 800MHz doesn’t kill Jeremy Kyle that much after all

Just last month we told you about the 800MHz testing that was underway across the Black Country. Those tests, which involved masts being erected to pump out 4G at 800MHz, were designed to see if this lower frequency would interfere with DVB digital transmissions. So far, things are …

More Nexus 4 accessories now available from Google

Google’s flagship handset, the Nexus 4 has had some more accessories listed on the Google Play store. Anyone that has purchased the latest Nexus phone will know that the box simply contains the handset and a charger, with no earphones or fancy schmaltz. Well, now available on the …

Dock your headphones and reduce the cabling headache with Elroy

Meet Rob. He has had an idea. Headphones, or “earbuds” as he likes to call them, have a little issue – the cables that come off them. They’re usually long and get snagged somewhere on your clothing despite those clips that come with the headphones. Here the Bluetooth …

HTC One V Competition – The winners are..

You may remember that we recently had a competition to win one of three HTC One V handsets. I have to admit, we were swamped with entries. We’ve had to delay the announcement of the winners because, as the competition hit the likes of HotUKDeals, we had a …

New Nexus 7 Coming In July ?

Thinking of getting the Google Nexus 7? Well I’ve got one and I’d say go get one, for the price the specs and performance are second to none. I say get one but I also say wait till July if rumours from Reuters are to be believed, Google’s …

Facebook Phone….. Who really wants one? – Editorial

There have been rumours of a Facebook Phone doing the rounds for a while now.   The device would be a follow up to the ill fated HTC Chacha and looks likely to once again be manufactured by HTC. The new device is alleged to be a mid range …

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 …

Mega or Fonblet?

Phones are getting bigger and bigger, the Note II, the LG Optimus G Pro, the Huawei Ascend Mate, the rumoured upcoming Note 3 and of course those 7-8″ tablets from Asus and Samsung that can make phone calls. The term “phone” has become a somewhat almost misused word, …

SwiftKey Tilt – Save your thumbs and bust a move

At Coolsmartphone we realise that our readership are all far too intelligent to be sucked in by April fools jokes (why else would you come to a site with the word smart in the name?), so we’re going to lay this one on the line. 1st April, the …

If Apple made cider they’d sell it like this

Apple have become world leaders in marketing and selling their products, with the Apple stores being their crowning glory. But what if Apple stores were for real apple products? Cider, for example. The makers of Somersby Cider decided that it would be a fun idea to find out …

I wish I could just make my mind up

I’m confused, I don’t know what to do. At times I feel I should give up and just not bother. Mobile phones have me confused, I spend most of my days reading up on and writing about the latest phones. A good chunk of my life is also spent …

Voda add a new Red XL 4GB data plan and the Galaxy S4

So there’s a new phone around. You may have heard about it. The Samsung Galaxy S4. Yeah, that one. It’s popping up on pre-order everywhere today and now Vodafone have stepped forward with a double-offer. Firstly, you can pre-order the 4G-ready Samsung Galaxy S4 right now in either …

HTC One now available on Three

So, you’ve read our HTC One Review and you want to slot this hot new handset firmly into your soft pocket. Now it’s time. Three have now got the HTC One in silver and you can grab it online or in store. It’s available free for a limited …

Flipboard 2.0 comes to iOS

Flipboard has today hit version 2.0, and the big new feature of this release is the ability to create your own magazine(s). Borrowing a trick from Instapaper/Pocket/Tumblr, users can now Flip stories using a bookmarklet, instantly adding them to their very own magazines. These can be both public …