Category: General

Take card payments with iZettle

iZettle is a really handy and affordable way of taking card payments using your mobile phone.  No longer do you have to be a big business or shop to be able to receive card payments, perfect if you are always buying lunch at work or for friends who …

O2 Confirm – The S4 is approaching

Just yesterday we looked at the UK networks and checked to see who was going to carry the Samsung Galaxy S4. The only network who hadn’t confirmed were O2, but they’ve just uypdated their Twitter feed with confirmation that they too will be carrying the handset. You can …

AdBlock Plus removed from Play Store by Google

AdBlock Plus, the app that blocks those pesky mobile ads has been removed from the Play Store by Google. In a move that could be seen to be protecting their own revenues, Google are running the risk of upsetting the many users that only want the content of …

Why I think Andy Rubin left Android [Opinion]

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 …

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 …

Pebble unboxing and first impressions

Ok, it’s finally here! The last post I made about the Pebble was back in January where I roughly estimated that we’d have our Pebbles with us by the end of March, so my estimate seemed pretty realistic. Those that backed the Kickstarter project are more than familiar …

Samsung Galaxy S4 – Which networks are taking it?

Time for a quick round-up on which networks will be picking up the Samsung Galaxy S4. Now, if I’m a betting man, I’d put £10 on all of the networks picking it up, but here’s how things stand currently.. T-Mobile T-Mobile have stated that they will carry the …

Google Reader to be removed in July

In a move that I can only describe as baffling, Google have announced that their free online news reader app, Google Reader, will be shut down on July 1st. The system alllows you to read and process RSS news feeds (like our very own one here) in a …

Perhaps I’m a little too inquisitive

Trains. I love them. If you want to be nosey and have a look at what people are up to, they’re brilliant. Over the course of the last few weeks I’ve been on quite a few, including a few trips to London and my own local city – …

Another price increase from Orange

Last week news of tariff increases for pay monthly customers came from both Orange and T-Mobile. Well, it seems that Orange are at it again as letters have been sent to customers that elect to cover their prized handsets with Orange Care informing them of another price hike …

Galaxy S4 heading to Three?

Samsung are set to announce their new flagship phone in a few days time over in New York. We are all expecting this to be the Samsung Galaxy S IV which might be dropping the Roman Numeral system and be called the Samsung Galaxy S4. We have just …

Virgin Media disable speed caps

The recent speed caps on Virgin Media appear to have now been lifted but don’t get too excited, they look to be coming back soon enough. The “teething troubles” have led to some customers getting pretty useless speeds on the network, which is hosted on the back of …

Win an iPhone 5 plus Bang & Olufsen speakers

So, if you’ve not already entered our HTC One V competition you can now also enter another one over at Expansys. To enter you just need to write a review of one of their products and then you could win a Bang & Olufsen BeoSound8 and an iPhone …

Are smartphones too smart? – Editorial

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 …

Birthday present from Three

Recently… well on 3/3/13, the UK network Three celebrated their 10th birthday as the all 3G network opened it’s doors for business on 3/3/03 in a select few locations with some rather large NEC phones and a plan to sell content such as ringtones and video clips. Here …

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 …

Motorola RAZR HD – Review

First of all I’ll quickly run through the good and bad points. Good Points 4.7″ inch 720p Display Expandable storage up to 32GB Smooth Operating system Bad Points Not a good looking device Non-removable battery Build I don’t think the RAZR HD is a good looking device, there …

The rise and fall of HTC: Android gains wiped out

It was the mobile manufacturer success story. HTC, the company which started life as an ODM supplying low-cost network branded handsets, has now lost all the revenue it gained from being an early adopter of Android. Since it brought us the G1 back in 2008, it has been …

Tesco Commit to no mid-contract price rises

Tesco Mobile, the countries largest MVNO, have today committed to no mid-contract price rises. In what they are calling the “Tesco Mobile Tariff Promise” Tesco say that they will not raise its customers core tariff prices mid contract and also state that they are the first operator in …

Loyalty, Not on Your Nelly – Editorial

Today I received my price increases letter from Orange.  It informed me that my tariff will be increasing by 3.3% in the near future.  I have been a customer of Orange for over 5 years and one of my contracts is due an upgrade. Bearing this in mind …

O2 offering 4GB data on new plan

Data use is a subject that often gets people talking especially as data use is at it’s highest ever on mobile devices and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. O2 have recently revamped their contract plans and now have a plan available with a generous 4GB …

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 …

What’s next for the Coolsmartphone Podcast

Our podcast has seen a few changes over the last 36 weeks since we started. We’ve had awkward silences, pots and pans being bashed in the background, we’ve had Ravi trying to watch the football during the podcast, we’ve had our move to a companion live video feed …

New firmware for Note II available on Three

Three have rolled out a firmware update for the Samsung Galaxy Note II, which is said to bring with it a number of bug fixes and enhancements. This went under the radar mostly because it brings device stability to Samsungs other flagship handset rather than a large number …

Globalgig reduces prices, adds more data-roaming countries

If you intend to go abroad and use data then you usually need to either remortgage your home or take out a roaming data plan. Three do unlimited data for a daily charge of £5 and other networks are starting to offer smaller allowances at a daily charge, …

Google Play celebrates first birthday with another sale

Can you believe that it’s already been a year since Google relaunched the old Android Market as the Google Play Store? To celebrate this momentous event, they’ve decided to have (another) big sale. It’s already started over in Australia as I write this and should hopefully be on …

Lumia 920 available on O2

Hey you. Fancy a bit of Lumia 920 action on O2? You do? Well, you’re in the right place my friend. The 920 has an 8.7 megapixel PureView camera (with Image Stabilisation and Carl Zeiss lens), 4.5″ display and a Snapdragon S4 CPU. There’s also a 3.5mm audio …

Virgin Mobile introduces speed caps

Virgin Mobile have become the latest network to cap mobile data speeds, to a lowly 2mb/s. Rumours had been circulating, but Virgin admitted the 2mb/s cap last night and tried to put a positive spin on the situation, saying “to ensure all our customers can continue to enjoy …

Hook up your internal network to 4G speeds

So, you don’t have a reliable fixed-line internet connection and you decide instead to get yourself a 3G dongle. That’ll do you for one laptop or PC. If you want more computers connected you can perhaps use a MiFi, but for an ethernet connection you might want to …

Discount available at Orange Accessories

This fell out of my local newspaper, so I thought I’d share the love. If you’d like to get anything from the Orange accessories store there’s a £5 voucher here. Just whack in “5offaccess” and you’ll see your total bill reduce by a fiver. There’s also 30& off …

Release your Phone with TU Go from O2

We live in a well connected world these days where you can instantly draw upon the the great search engine in sky for the answer to any question, watch videos of Shetland Ponies moonwalking and other such delights that the Internet can bring. Now while this is all …

Orange and T-Mobile contract prices to increase

It has been announced that both Orange and T-Mobile are to increase the price of current pay-monthly customers bills by the rate of the Retail Price index which stands at 3.3%. This price increase will take effect from 10th April 2013 for Orange customers and 9th May for …

The Coolsmartphone Podcast – Episode 36

MWC has been and gone and in Episode 36 of the Coolsmartphone Podcast we talk about MWC quite a bit. This week predictably we talked about the Galaxy Note 8.0, the Huawei Ascend Mate, the Asus PadFone, the Asus FonePad and a range of other new items. Joining …

Audioboo Android app has a revamp

Having relaunched their web platform earlier this year, social sound platform Audioboo have turned their attentions to their Android app. The app revamp means it now includes a more visually-appealing and easier to navigate user interface; it has options to download clips and listen to audio offline; the …

Apposing acquire Swipe and Tap

Liverpool-based mobile and digital creative studio Apposing have acquired London app company Swipe and Tap. Known for creating apps for company’s such as Nando’s and Carphone Warehouse; this acquisition marks an expansion to Camden Town for Apposing and amplifies the studio’s London presence and support for their city based …

MWC – Behind the scenes. Keeping connected

Connectivity out here in Barcelona is always part of our planning when we do these trips. A local SIM came to our rescue this time, but there’s also the option of unlimited roaming data packages from the odd UK network provider. What has surprised me, as someone who …

Pocket Casts 4 debuts on Android

It’s not often that you see an (non-Google) app launch on Android before iOS. However Shift Jelly have today released Version 4 of Pocket Casts for Android, with its iOS cousin nowhere in sight. And it’s a fairly dramatic update at that. Gone is the tired old iOS …