Category: General
The first 4G network in the UK called EE use twitter to communicate with their customers and try to help out as best as possible without having to call customer services. Whilst results so far have been rather mixed and a lot of people (myself included) never getting …
We picked up the news on Christmas eve, but some of us weren’t able to post up in a timely fashion (I was busy doing Christmas things, my bad). However the BlackBerry has been spied and that traditional blurrycam has the pictures to prove it. As an …
Recently, I’ve found myself needing to replace my ageing bluetooth headphones. The pads are wearing out, and Sony don’t make them any more. Whilst there have been quite a few pairs of headphones that have caught my eye recently, my requirements dictated that I wanted something with Excellent …
HTC are in a dark place at the moment and they’re obviously looking for new product ranges to sell. Their recent move into the phablet arena is an example of this. Bloomberg have reported that HTC are working on two tablets, a 12″ one and most interestingly a …
We knew the auction for LTE Spectrum was due to start in January 2013, but we didn’t know who would be bidding. Until now. 7 Bidders have finally been announced by Ofcom as qualified to offer us our lovely high speed, long distance cellular goodness. The bidders will …
The team we have here at Coolsmartphone is an excellent one. We all enjoy voicing our opinions and get on really well with each other. Well, with Jamie and Ravi on the podcasts you wouldn’t always think so. Anyway, with some changes coming to the site in the …
The guys over at MobileFun have sent us an extended battery case for the iPhone 5. The Power Jacket is the first extended battery case to enter the market for the iPhone 5 and we have the privilege of getting one. First impressions when getting it out of …
Good news for customers today as Vodafone announced on the official blog that the Nokia Lumia 920 is soon to make an appearance on their network. This is clearly important news as EE have had the exclusivity on the flagship Nokia since its UK launch however this …
In a totally unexpected twist a few of the networks today have announced they are going to be selling BB10 devices next year. Not that this is totally unpredictable. A network selling devices on a new OS. Well I never. It has started with official announcements from EE, …
If you’ve got an S3 and want a little more battery life, the official and genuine battery kit will be available in around 8 weeks from now. It’ll match the colour of your blue or white Samsung Galaxy S3 and will cost £39.99. Not only is the battery …
It won’t even be officially announced until the end of January, but preorders are already up for BB10 devices. Unfortunately for us in Blighty, its for the Rogers network in Canada, so they’re likely to be the CDMA variant of the handset, but at least there’s one network …
Wowzers trousers. Google Maps has reportedly been downloaded for iOS more than 10 million times in 48 hours.That’s 5% of iOS 6 devices in under two days. Most impressive. Jamie and myself discussed the app briefly in this week’s podcast. In short, it’s great. It looks terrific and performs …
Following on from our previous article Mobile-review.com have a set of images of the new Sony Yuga, rumoured to be making an appearance at CES in January. The device has some rather crazy specs, a 3ghz processor, 128gb of storage, and a 16MP camera to name a few. It looks …
Grokr, lauded as a ‘Google Now for iOS’, has been launched in the U.S. App Store. Feedback from the trial has been widely positive, so we’re anxious to see how it performs in real world tests. Hopefully it’ll show up in the UK app store. We’ll update you …
Android, Blackberry OS, iOS, Windows Phone – All current(ish) mobile operating systems and all with their own good points and foibles. I have never made any bones about the fact that I am an Android user. I have had a few Blackberry devices but moved on once the …
Many of us who use Google as our email service have been used to the very handy way of syncing contacts, emails and calendar entries using the ‘Exchange’ setup as it only needed your email address, password and the server which was always m.google.com However we have just …
Since the Nexus 4 became available and then promptly sold out on the Play store a few weeks ago, thousands of customers have been waiting for their orders to be delivered and even more have been waiting just for the opportunity to place an order. Anyone who listened …
EE today have introduced the first Android tablets to their range of devices accompanying the iPad and iPad mini. As of today, you can get the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 LTE or Google Nexus 7 by ASUS bundle (paired with Huawei E589 Mobile Wi-Fi) Price details are included …
Looking for a Nexus 4? Whilst generally browsing around and I’ve been checking different websites to see what’s available. I think I’ve found a bargain. The guys over at Digital Phone Company sell Vodafone contracts and they have discounted the Nexus 4. They’re showing the 16GB variant as …
BBC iPlayer was updated late this evening so that it now works on Android devices running version 4.2 Jellybean. Whilst users who already had the app installed then upgraded to 4.2 had a working version, those who had a fresh install or new device couldn’t download either iPlayer …
If you’re a Vodafone customer who’s unfortunate enough to live, work or generally frequent a signal blackspot area then you may be interested in one of their signal boosters: the Sure Signal, which has now been redesigned and improved. These are nifty little boxes that plug into a …
If you’re an O2 customer, this information may not be welcome but we thought you’d like to know. As of the 28th February 2013 you will see an increase in your monthly charges. 3.2% increase to be exact, 99p per month for £31 per month plan. A small …
Working in retail store for a network is quite possibly the best way to meet ill-informed people, most of the time this mis-information is minor and forgivable such as calling a BlackBerry a Blueberry or asking if we stock the HTC as if there is only one. Now …
Wallbase is one of my favourite websites for tracking down wallpapers for my phones, tablets, laptops and desktops. In the Android world there is quite a nice third party app to serve up some wallpapers to me. In the Windows Phone world it’s something I’ve always missed. Having …
During our testing of the EE 4G network we found a blob of LTE coverage tucked away in Sutton Coldfield. Now Sutton Coldfield, along with 16 other towns and cities, are to be bathed in 4G coverage by March. The list includes five other areas close to me …
Oh Nokia… some good press would be great, wouldn’t it? It seems analysts are revising earlier predictions that Nokia would have a strong Q4 with “an overly optimistic interpretation of initial Lumia sales commentary”. That’s “we thought they’d sell more phones” to you and me. If the analyst …
While I do love my Nexus 4, I did spend a fair amount of time in my review, and on the podcast, discussing its design flaws. Although the glass back might look and feel great, it certainly doesn’t help with durability or handling. It’s an accident waiting to happen, both …
Let me into a little secret, We review a lot of phones and sometimes, just sometimes, we don’t have time to test everything. In the Samsung Galaxy SIII review I looked at the headphones that came in the box, but never actually used them. The same headphones are …
One of the major drawbacks with Android 10″ tablets is the complete lack of apps specifically designed for them. Google has recently issued a call to arms for developers to try to get them coding tablet specific apps and has decided to lead the way with a version …
By far the biggest bone of contention for most Android handset owners is the lack of updates or the lack of information regarding updates. Many manufacturers have a page that details which devices will be receiving updates with a rough approximation of when they will arrive. Motorola is no …
The wife wanted me to take her to one of those festive German Markets this weekend. She wasn’t too please when I pulled into Aldi, but hey – £2.38 for four cans of lager? You can’t argue with that. If you are planning on actually going out to …
This Christmas, the CoolSmartPhone team are hunting out the best presents for your nearest and dearest. If you’re looking for an out-of-the-ordinary gift this Christmas, why not have a look at the Raspberry Pi? I’ll show you the kit you need to get the most out of this …
An update on the EE Twitter account has just announced that the Lumia 820, powered by Windows Phone 8, is now available to buy on the 4G network. Plus, if you buy in store, you get a free wireless charger to go with it too. The @nokia_uk 820 …
It is a conflicting tale of two major companies, one was once the biggest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world whilst one was on the verge of bankruptcy. Fast forward in time and the roles, whilst not completely reversed are almost exactly the polar opposite. Apple, who …
Just how can we make this paricular story more than one paragraph in length? Should I mention our festive Coolsmartphone logo? Or the fact that my wife just filled my diesel car up with petrol? No… That wouldn’t work, surely. Three, hot on the heals of EE, have …
Interested in getting the iPad mini on EE? Well, we’ve already mentioned that the New iPad and the iPad mini were about to arrive on the network, but today the iPad mini is appearing in stores. Pippa Dunn, Chief Marketing Officer at EE stated… To celebrate the launch …
HTC is loving the 5-inch phablet form factor at the moment, what with the Droid DNA and J Butterfly launching in the USA and Far East respectively. But don’t think for a minute that the quietly brilliant Taiwanese company is stopping there. Several sources have leaked information on …
Another day, another case review and this time its something a little different. The Spigen SGP Illuzion case is folio style case with slots for credit cards in the front flap. The case I have is black and orange, although a range of colours are available. The case …
I remember many years ago a phone was a phone, you could text people, you could call people and if you were lucky you could play Snake on your phone too. Jump forward 15 years and we have a totally different world and totally different phones. My outlook …
So, the Nexus 4 has launched but has been rather difficult to get hold of which means that those of us that want to upgrade from the Galaxy Nexus need to wait a while longer. Whilst waiting there is no point in jeopardising your still rather nice device so why …
