Category: General

That Windows 8 Phone can go Everything Everywhere

If you’ve been reading us at all, you’ve read that Nokia has announced its Lumia 920 Windows phone 8 flagship, the 4.5” beast with the pureview imaging technology that the Finnish company is touting to put them back at the top of the smartphone pile.   What seems …

Nokia announces Offline Maps

Nokia have been in the news lately, not only for their release of the Nokia Lumia 920 & 820, but also because of the controversy surrounding it. Today, however, Nokia have announced another fairly crucial feature for the new 920 and 820 phones – Offline Maps. This will …

Nokia Lumia 822 lurking on Verizon

You might think, after the criticism I gave to the Nokia launch yesterday, that the appearance of a Lumia 822 on a Verizon screen might be a good thing. It is, if we assume, a sign that a variant of the new Nokia Lumia 820 will be hitting …

Ask us a question for our podcast – Episode 13

13, unlucky for some. Hopefully not for us as tonight we are recording episode 13 of our Podcast. It will be published tomorrow and here is where we ask you to ask us a question. Your question will be read out and we will all try our best …

UK mobile payments platform gets the go-ahead

The European Commission today gave clearance for the joint venture between Everything Everywhere, O2 and Vodafone to bring an open mobile commerce solution to the UK. In a statement from the companies, they announced their intention to get the system off the ground as quickly as possible. The …

Nokia gets caught faking advert for the Lumia 920

So you’ve seen the coverage of the Nokia 920.. you’ve seen the details of the new hardware, the fancy screen, new dual core processor and the improved camera. Unfortunately it seems Nokia’s own advert for a key feature, OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) was faked, or at least unfairly …

Second Hand News – A Guide to Buying Used Mobile Phones

Technology is all about the next big thing, so you should be upgrading your phones and tablets every month or so, right? Well, besides the sheer impracticality, most of us don’t have the budget to do that. So, how do you stay in touch without a second mortgage? …

Bruce Willis to sue Apple? No, not really

Perhaps he’s got a little too much time on his hands. Perhaps he’s just a really big music fan. Either way, Bruce Willis, who featured in great films like “Die Hard” and utterly terrible ones like “Armageddon”, has apparently launched a legal battle against Apple. I know ! …

Is NFC About to Take Off in the UK with the Galaxy SIII ?

Barely a couple of days after Everything Everywhere announced that they have teamed up with Mastercard comes another announcement, this time from Orange, one of the partners in the EE stable. Some time ago, Orange launched Quick Tapp with the Samsung Tocco Light.  This enabled NFC payments to be …

Talk to us, give us your thoughts

Hi, it’s me, Leigh. Every year or two I write a post like this, so long-time readers might know what to expect. Many sites tend to irritate the flip out of visitors by adding those horrible “Feedback” surveys that pop-up on your browser. Personally, I think these are …

Why I’m quite excited about September the 5th

No I’m not referring to the Motorola event in New York. I’m referring to the Nokia event on the same day. I should have perhaps titled this “Why I’m looking forward to Windows Phone8” as that covers the bigger picture here. A few days ago at IFA we …

Sony Xperia Tipo – Initial Impressions

The Xperia range is rather large, covering every possible budget range some of the latest Xperia phones have been in the budget range. Including the Xperia Tipo. The Sony anti naming convention Xperia Tipo. It is a tiny little thing with an almost identical spec to the Motorola …

Google Play End Of Summer Sale……

Google Play appear to be having a bit of a digital clear out with an End Of Summer Sale. No less than 18 apps or games are up for sale from just 69 pence each and there are some biggies in there too. Swiftkey 3, Virtua Tennis Challenge, …

Xperia arc, ray and neo updates blocked by O2

O2 announced today that they have blocked the release of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for the Sony Xperia arc, Xperia ray and Xperia neo. The move, that was announced today over at the O2 Blog, cites “speed and performance issues” as the reason for O2 not releasing …

Fruity Tokyo blow for the Applesung Rodeo

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the courts, this time Samsung Electronics got a tick in the win column in Tokyo for patents relating to transferring media between devices. “We welcome the court’s decision, which confirmed our long-held position that our products do …

Something PIG is coming…….

Rovio, the makers of the famed Angry Birds series have launched a teaser trailer for their upcoming spin off, Bad Piggies. Angry Birds is one of the biggest games if not the biggest available on mobile and has seen releases across almost all smartphone platforms. The video ends …

Amazon Appstore launches in Europe

Amazon today announced the official release of the Amazon Appstore in the UK, France, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Although European users have been able to unofficially download the app since it was released in the US, the timing of this launch could have something to do with …

Samsung Galaxy Note II

Samsung’s IFA event hasn’t even started yet. Already, part of it has been spoiled. Say hello to the Galaxy Note II. We expected that it would be coming along with Jelly Bean for the S3. We didn’t know much about it until now. The Samsung Galaxy Note II …

Alchemy HD For Android

I first played Alchemy a long while ago and spent many a frustrating hour trying to achieve perfection…I didn’t succeed then and now as if to haunt me comes Alchemy HD.  The same riveting game designed especially for HD resolution screens – it looks like the Nexus 7 …

Samsung Galaxy Note – Mugen extended battery review

You get a phone, you use your phone, you start to use your phone a lot more as you slowly realise what it is capable of, you then start to carry a charger around with you every day to charge up your new wonder phone. Your battery just …

Google comments on Apple Vs Samsung verdict

AllThingsD are reporting Google has finally issued a statement in response to the “AppSung” verdict. Fairly predictably, it attempts to distance Google, and the ‘core Android operating system’ from the infringements. It will certainly be interesting to see what affect the rulings will have on future versions of …

Weather HD Now Available On Android

iOS users may well be aware of the popular app Weather HD. This visually stunning weather forecasting app has now been made available for Android devices. The weather is displayed in high-definition videos, with accurate weather forecasts from all around the world and comes complete with 7-day and …

Opinion: Apple v Samsung – After the Main Event

So the dust is beginning to settle after the so-called tech court case of the decade.  Apple has come out the victor and Samsung supposedly have been crushed – or at least their lawyers have.  So what’s next? For Apple it will be business as usual, there will …

My Phone History – By Ronnie Whelan

Before I start, I have to apologise for my lack of detail with regards to my pre-smartphone phones. I had very little enthusiasm for phones before my Orange SPV, and even a brief spell working in the Nokia factory in Finland didn’t spark an interest. Motorola MR30 It …

My Phone History – James Eley

Being one of the babies of the Coolsmartphone team my phone history is considerably less impressive than Jamie’s museum of mobile tech!!! The first phone I ever owned had a colour screen and if I remember correctly I saved up my £2 a week pocket money for ages …

Will HTC slash its prices?

HTC devices have always had a premium cost, the quality of the craftsmanship has always made this mandatory when buying a HTC. This may no longer be the case if those Chinese sources are to be believed. It’s being talked about that HTC are planning to lower the …

My Phone History – Jamie Ryan

A few months ago I figured out that since 1999 I’ve owned more than 170 phones. I’m going to tell you a little about some of the ones that stick out most for me. The chronology might be a little wonky. This is the first phone I ever …

4G – What and Why….

Over the last couple of  days you may have heard and read alot of coverage regarding 4G and the fact that Everything Everywhere have been granted a license for Britain’s first 4G network. When discussing this with people who love their smartphone but aren’t really followers of the …

Mobile Banking – Do YOU Dare??

The number of smartphones in use around the world is growing everyday and the functionality that they offer is growing with it.  Things that previously could only be done at home or on a visit to the local high street can now be done on the move, be …

Ask us a question for our podcast

We are approaching episode 11 of our Podcast, so far it has been an enjoyable challenge for most of us,  although hearing your own voice is always a bit odd for the first time. If all goes to plan we will be recording it tonight for publishing tomorrow …

Spigen SGP Ultra Capsule Samsung Galaxy Nexus case review

The second case we have to review today is the Spigen SGP Ultra Capsule case. The Ultra Capsule is a TPU case. TPU stands for Thermoplastic polyurethane which is a flexible, hard wearing, strong and transparent material. That makes it ideal for phone cases. The case is well …

Spigen SGP Neo Hybrid Samsung Galaxy Nexus case review

Choosing a phone case is almost as hard a choice to make as the initial choice over the phone. You can buy cheap soft rubbery silicone ones, harder flexible TPU ones, two part cases that make your phone look like a piece of military equipment and then you …

Orange-T Finally Semi-Official; Branding Confusion Begins

Six months ago, Everything Everywhere said it would never happen. Now, the day after OFCOM gave approval for EE to use its existing 1800 MHz spectrum for 4G use ahead of the long awaited 4G Spectrum auction, the cat has been let out of the bag. In a …

My Phone History – By Simon Allum

So after the chat about old phones in the most recent podcast it got us all talking (behind the scenes) about all the phones we have had through the years. So, inspired by that, a few of us have put together our phone history! So, here we go… Motorola M3188 …

My Phone History – By Stephen Murray

Today it is the turn of Stephen Murray to share with us his phone history. Panasonic GD30 This, as far as I can remember, was my first phone. Battery life was pretty good, and it did everything I needed it to. How times have changed! Nokia 3210 Ahhh, …

Ofcom approve Everthing Everywhere to deliver 4G very soon

Ofcom have today approved Everything Everywhere to deliver 4G from September this year. Which means T-Mobile and Orange will be able to offer super fast mobile broadband very soon. Obviously you will need a compatible handset, but this is great news for the consumer. What it means for …

Galaxy Note 10.1 now on sale

CarphoneWarehouse and Expansys are now selling the Galaxy Note 10.1 Expansys models start at £404.99 for the Wifi only version (including delivery), whilst at CarphoneWarehouse the base 16gb model is £399.99 with free delivery. Expansys also have the 3G model for £484.99 including delivery. Links – CarphoneWarehouse and …