Category: General

Phones 4u to join the MVNO party

Hosted on the EE network, the new offering from Phones 4u will actually carry the name “LIFE Mobile” and will be sold in stores from March. Initially it’ll be a 3G service but a 4G offering will be made available “by the end of the year”. It’ll be …

RIM hints licensing switch and more

The RIM CEO, Thorsten Heins, has spoken in an interview to the German site De Welt (The World, for those of you less versed in the German language), revealing some rather interesting proposals for the future of Research in Motion. Having finally found a use for the German …

DC-HSDPA – Just how much better is it?

This year we’re seeing a huge roll-out of the fastest version of 3G yet on many networks. Started by Three, who have already rolled this new standard out to 50% of the population and will get to 80% by the end of March, the other networks are now …

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! …

Android App Review – Simple Dialer Widget

I never thought that I wouldn’t be using the stock Google dialer. But, I am now using the Simple Dialer Widget instead. Simple Dialer Widget (or SDW since I hate typing the whole name!) is a very straight forward widget and is surprisingly convenient. It has the dialer …

Notification Weather app

The notification bar is one of the key strengths of Android. It is the main place where we keep track of what is going on in the foreground and it is also where we are notified of, you guessed it, notifications. We are able to put information in …

Samsung Galaxy S4 to offer wireless charging, leak suggests

Wireless charging could be front and centre on the Samsung Galaxy S4, reports suggest, as details about the next Galaxy S-branded kit continue to circulate ahead of its expected launch later this year. According to Korean site D Daily, S4 owners will be able to charge their handset’s …

Samsung are to announce the Galaxy X Cover 2 at MWC

MWC is coming and as usual in the lead up to it various devices get leaked. Yesterday we heard about the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 via Samsung fansite SamMobile and today they have information about the tough Galaxy X Cover 2. It’s the next in line for Samsung …

EE to close 78 shops nationwide

Everything Everywhere has announced that it is to close 78 of its stores throughout the country. This will be where there is more than one store within close proximity to another. This happened here in Stockport for the launch of EE, we had three stores but they soon …

Are you protected? Mobile Phone crime is on the rise….

Statistics released by the Metropolitan Police show that once again mobile phone crime is on the rise. The fact that 158 iPhones are stolen in London every day (total of 56,680 mobiles stolen between April & September) has led the force to launch an awareness campaign around personal …

Sony Xperia Z hands on

Interested in the forthcoming Sony Xperia Z? It’s water resistant and comes with a 13 megapixel camera and 5″ 1080p screen. It’s all looking like a rather attractive package. Below is a hands on video, which Clove have put together, the device is expected to be on sale in the …

Beemo 4G USB Modem Review

Back in the early days of the 3G dongle, I bought a USB device from the 3 store.  It came with 1Gb data and a few text messages all for £49 and £15 per month.  To be honest it was terrible.  Connectivity was poor and it the signal …

XYFI Personal Hotspot – Review

I know what most of you guys are thinking. “Why do I need a MiFi?” or perhaps even, “What is a MiFi?” Put simply, it’s a gadget you stick your SIM card in. It’ll connect to the internet through the mobile network and then beam out a WiFi …

HTC One SV LTE – Buy it on EE right now.

Hi, I’m Kevin Bacon. Superfast 4G now comes with a new HTC device – the HTC One SV LTE. Of course, you knew it was coming when we first mentioned the handset back in December, but now we have the prices. It’s free on £36 per month plans …

Text payments service to launch in UK in Spring 2014

UK mobile users will be able to send and receive money by sharing only their phone number by Spring 2014, the Payments Council has said. Account owners will be asked by their banks if they want to opt-in to a database that will allow the sending of money …

Full Monty speed caps return (UPDATED)

A reliable source has information that the “Full Monty” package from T-Mobile will once again be speed capped starting from the 16th January! Nearly a year ago we brought you the news that T-Mobile had a speed cap on their top end Full Monty plan and despite the …

Tile Launcher Beta app review

Tile Launcher Beta is an awesome app! I absolutely love it! And, yes, that is how I am opening this post. I am too excited :-). Tile Launcher Beta is a replacement for your good old stock home screen. The basic idea of it is using tiles for …

Google to add boarding passes

Many of you have heard of Google Now, but for those of you who have not, Google Now is an application designed to quickly display personalized location and time pertinent information for you. It can quickly search your phone or the Internet for whatever you are looking for, …

LG Nexus 4, get it on Virgin Mobile

Can’t get yourself a Nexus 4? Are you one of the unfortunates who tried to place an order on the Google site, only to be knocked back at the last minute? Well worry no more. Get your nose out of the keyboard, dry those tears, because Virgin Mobile …

New phones use lots more data, especially the iPhone 5!

Data analysis firm Arieso have been studying the data usage habits of global data connections to thousands of mobile devices, and has come up with some interesting trends on devices. Using the iPhone 3G as their baseline case and measuring other phone relative to that, the latest crop …

Jelly Bean for Orange Galaxy SIII’s – At last!

Well, it certainly took a while for Orange to sign this one off, but the Samsung Galaxy SIII Jelly Bean update is now rolling out for handsets on Orange. Reader John Bairner tells us… It’s here at long last Via Kies Jelly Bean 4.1.2 Orange update for the …

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 …

Celebrate our 10 Year Anniversary

Back in November last year I mentioned that it had been a decade since I started creating a few pages on the back of a family website. However, as you can see below, the Coolsmartphone domain becomes a full 10 years old on February 14th 2013 – just …

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, …

Lightwedge Verso Artist Series Case Review

Last week you’ll remember we announced the winners of our Kindle Fire Accessories give-away. To make sure you guys with the older Kindles aren’t left out MobileFun sent me a case for my Kindle Keyboard to show to you guys. Press play, sit back and enjoy the video. I’ve had this for …

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 …

Terra Time – Recommended Android

Different people want different things from their smartphone. There are those that view their device as purely functional.  It is there purely to make calls, do a little surfing and reply to emails. Then there are those that cannot be separated from their mobile device, who feel that …

Does Apple need to move to 6 monthly releases? – Opinion

Historically Apple has launched a new version of each of its products once a year dating back to the iPod. Even Macs follow this cycle for the most part but October saw a new version of the iPad announced only 8 months after the iPad 3 This has …

Try EE 4G yourself, free for a month. Here’s how..

Those bods at Expansys are offering up free 4G SIM cards on EE. Now wait, I know – we’ve heard quite a bit about the data limits on EE, but this might be worth a looksie if you’re after some extra speed. Here you can get a 4G …

A new European network heading our way?

If you’re in the US you’ll know that, whether you’re in New York or Los Angeles, calling your friends in other American cities isn’t that expensive. However, if you live in the UK and travel the short distance to France you’ll suddenly find that calling costs ramp up. …

My 2013 wishlist – Simon

Let’s face it, 2012 was a year of veritable delights.  From the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 to the iPad Mini the mobile world was once again a technology lovers paradise and 2013 promises to be no different. I’ve had a few wishes for the world of mobile technology …

Review – AppBlaster

Today we’re having a look at a gun. Now, before you call the police, this is a toy gun. I’ve actually got one of these for my 9-year-old nephew and he loved it, so I figured it was worth a review. We all know that kids love iPhones, …

My 2013 wishlist – Khellan

Continuing the theme of our wishlists for 2013 here is my list of things I’d like to see in then next few months. 1. This is easy. Its at the top of the list: battery life. I’m really tired of being given decent handsets that don’t last the …

Sony Xperia Z coming soon to Vodafone, O2

O2 and Vodafone have joined Three in announcing that they will be stocking the recently announced Sony Xperia Z. Neither of the networks  have yet announced any prices or a date for availability. So not really much info to go on as yet. What we do really know is …

Pong Case for the Samsung Galaxy S III – Review

We’ve already seen the Pong iPhone 4 / 4S case and recently had a nose around the iPad case too. A case, you might think, doesn’t take a great deal of explanation or reviewing. However, the people at Pong are quite clever. All of their cases, including this …

My 2013 wishlist – Mark

Well, 2012 was a funny old year wasn’t it! Some of my highlights are as follows; Everyone sued everyone else Apple released a new iPhone (surprise!) Samsung released just about every form factor under the sun including  the behemoth Note 2 (one of my favourite devices of the …

BBC Sport App launches for iOS

The BBC have today launched an app for iOS specifically for their extensive sports coverage. Unsurprisingly called BBC Sport, the app is curated by the top BBC sport journalists and is “the sports fan’s guide to live sport news, stats, fixtures and results” The BBC’s Head of Interactive’s …

EE take note … T-Mobile enhance US 4G offering

Just a few months after debuting its truly unlimited data plan for contract customers, T-Mobile USA will begin offering the same service option to Monthly 4G prepaid customers as well. Prior to this, the highest tier of the Monthly 4G service was $70 (£43) for unlimited talk, text …

My 2013 wishlist – Tom

My dreams are small, I don’t want much. There are a few things I do long for though. Wireless Charging I know we already have this, and I know we have a standard so this will most likely be something that will actually happen. I just wanted to throw …