Category: General

New iPad on sale at T-Mobile, same price as old iPad 2

T-Mobile have joined many other networks in announcing availability for the slightly different iPad 3 new iPad. It should be arriving in stores today, with T-Mobile promoting the fact that their joint Everything Everywhere network and “advanced 3.5G rollout” can offer much improved coverage and speeds. You can …

Don’t know how to text? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one

We get a few press releases and research results posted through our door here at Coolsmartphone towers. This one flashed up on our radar and well, we figured it was worth telling you about. The Geek Squad asked 1,837 people about their mobile phone usage and found that …

Signal Boost now available on more handsets

It’s been a good few months since we looked at the Orange Signal Boost technology. Now it’s available in more and more handsets on Orange and solves that “in building coverage problem” you may have experienced. During my completely unscientific research, I’ve found that networks using the 900MHz …

O2 to offer up the HTC One X on April 5th

O2 have confirmed via Twitter that they will be offering up the HTC One X from April 5th – just 4 weeks from today. There’s no news on pricing or plans just yet though. We do, however, have some HTC One X deals on O2 if you’re interested. …

Everything Everywhere looking to get a head start on 4G

Everything Everywhere have been given the green light by Ofcom to, in principle, use some of their 1800MHz spectrum to roll out LTE. T-Mobile and Orange already use 1800MHz for their existing 2G networks, but have enough “room” to roll out 4G LTE ahead of other networks, who …

Virgin Media drop WiFi into the London Underground

Here in London there’s been a big push to try and get WiFi available in the Tube. London Mayor, Boris Johnson, and Transport For London have been linked with an earlier deal with Huawei. Unfortunately this didn’t see the light of day.. or should that be the dark …

Sony LiveView bargain – today only

  Remember the Sony LiveView? It was like a watch, but a bluetooth accessory that connects to any Android phone, showing texts, emails and various other features through plug ins available from the Android Market (sorry, Google Play shop!). Original costing a fairly steep £70, Play.com have a …

Expansys tablet sale now on

If you’re looking for a Android tablet for not-much-money then the Expansys sale is worth a look. There’s more than 50% off the S7 Slim we reviewed – now £109.99, whilst the Storage Options Scroll tablet is going for £89.99 – that has a 7″ capacitive screen. The …

Tivizen Digital TV Receiver review

This diddy little gadget is called the Tivizen Digital TV receiver. It’s surprisingly small, about the size of a credit card and the thickness of a normal smartphone. Put simply, this just grabs TV signals and then pumps them out over a WiFi hotspot that it creates. You …

Galaxy Note Now On Vodafone UK

Vodafone have today launched the Samsung Galaxy Note on their UK network.  Available online using the Vodafone Store you can get your own Note on various deals depending if you are a business or personal customer there is a plan for you starting from as little as £26 a …

Data Security: Lock your smartphone

There’s a great article from Bloomsberg Business week that I wanted to share, involving a study with Symantec on what people do with your lost smartphone once they get their hands on it. As part of the study,  Symantec ‘lost’ a total of 50 phones in the US …

Hello again Orange data users

If you’re looking at this on an Orange data connection then hello! This afternoon a large portion of the UK lost any sort of data connection. It wasn’t just traffic, there was no 3G or GPRS logo at all. Switching to the T-Mobile network didn’t do anything either. …

Grab deal on a Transcend 32GB – 24 hours only

Hey you. No, not you. You in the jeans. Come close, and keep this one to yourself. If you’re quick you can get your hands on this Transcend 32GB Micro SDHC card for just £13.99 tomorrow (Friday). The offer kicks off at midnight, so if you want to …

Orange push out WP update

Had notification this morning that my Lumia 800 phone has a o/s update which now takes it to 7.10.8107.79 this fixes the frustrationg dissapearing keyboard among other things as well. Full list of fixes below On-screen keyboard. Fixes an issue to prevent the keyboard from disappearing during typing. …

Live From ThreeMWC Event London

We are Live at the ThreeMWC event here in London bringing you news and any announcements as they happen plus plenty of photos and other content ThreeMWC Event

Three remove out-of-bundle data charges with new contracts

New plans will shortly be added to the Three offerings to stop out-of-bundle data charges. The network has already delivered “The One Plan” for those wanting the unlimited data experience, but now the “Ultimate Internet” offer something pretty similar – and plans start from just £18. The Essential …

Orange bundle mobile calls into their landline deals

So, you know how it is. You’ve got one of those home phone and broadband packages but, when you call a mobile phone, it’s not included in the deal. Somehow, every month, you go way beyond the “headline figure” that got you hooked into the deal in the …

Nokia’s Pureview tech coming to Lumia Windows Phones

Remember this stonking 41mp monster Nokia announced last week at Mobile World Congress? Well it appears Nokia’s Jo Harlow has all but confirmed the company are using that technology in upcoming Windows Phones. The actual quote is “I can’t say precisely when, but it will not take very long.” …

MWC – MIPS helping to bring us better, cheaper devices

The final day of Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona and, although the crowds are starting to thin out, it was perhaps the best time to go to the very back of these great halls and seek out companies that have great products and ideas but don’t always …

MWC – Is it all about the brand?

What is it about a brand? I had a pretty long conversation this evening about just that. Sure, specs and build quality matter. Innovation, ease-of-use and simplicity matters. However, there’s a definite brand following that people might not admit to. Take Apple for example. Truth be told, there’s …

MWC – Have you missed something?

Missing some Mobile World Congress information? Want to know all about the CBOSS girls but can’t find the story? Are you looking for our first unboxing of the Xperia S? Maybe the HTC One Series pictures? Don’t worry, we’ve got all our coverage right here and down the …

MWC – The protests

OK, we wouldn’t normally post anything like this but we’re here in Barcelona reporting live from Mobile World Congress. Right now the gates are locked and riot police, as they have been for a number of days now, are standing outside. Today their numbers appear to have swelled …

MWC – OK, we had to do it..

Every year, without fail, the infamous CBOSS girls send attendees towards their stand. This year they’re doing more leaflet drops but never fail to pull men in like a tractor beam of hotness. Here’s a quick couple of videos. Sorry about this.. we’re only human 😉

HSPA+ 42 Comes To Three

Three have posted on their blog this morning that “4G” is coming to the UK on their network (Three have now reworded this to state that this is HSPA+42 and NOT LTE to clear up any confusion). At home I get speeds of around 10Mbps off-peak times using …

Roaming Charges Set To Fall?

Whilst attending Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona we know too well about the expense of roaming data and to be able to use your phones outside of your home country. Thankfully this could all change!.  Why?, Read the information below and let out a little smile once …

Vodafone & Visa To Offer NFC

Vodafone and Visa have announced a deal to bring NFC to the masses this year using your smartphone.  Orange have been actively promoting NFC since joining Everything Everywhere group especially and now Vodafone are getting in on the game Full (and long) press release below…. Near Field Communication, or NFC …

Orange To Offer New Roaming Bundles

Orange have today sent out a press release with information on a new pricing scheme for roaming in the EU including access to a new smartphone application which will let you track your use when roaming, especially good when it comes to roaming data use!. Check below for …

MWC – Duracell Powermat in action

Wireless charging ? We had to give this a try. The Duracell Powermat promises just that. In reality you need a special case to get it to “talk” the Powermat, but for those having that already this shouldn’t be a problem. In the demo we were shown an …

O2 Coming Soon Page Updated

O2 have updated their coming soon page for the UK network and now show the Xperia S in March (we hope to be getting one tomorrow), the HTC One X, S and V all show as coming this April too. No word on any set availability or pricing …

MWC – Motorola MOTOACTV – Up close

So today I went to see Motorola. Two very nice gents (Bobby and Joel) took me through the latest Motorola gear and it started with this – a watch. Now, I should just point out that this isn’t just “a watch”, it’s actually more of a personal trainer …

Stop Motion – App Review

Stop motion is cool. <End of statement>. We all appear to be transfixed whenever a stop motion production is realised, it lures us in with it’s time lapse photography and catchy background music…. why is that? Well I thought I’d investigate, and in particular look at a fairly …

MWC – Nokia PureView 808 Hands On

Just out of a meeting with Nokia and one of the best optics team in the mobile industry, We also managed to get some hands on time with the new Nokia PureView 808 and it’s amazing 41 megapixel camera. From initial impressions as a Nokia fan I am …

MWC – Behind the scenes

We arrived yesterday, and I figured that it’d be fun to show you a bit of “behind the scenes” footage from our coverage here in Barcelona. It all started with an early wake-up call on Sunday morning, then a drive up to the airport for our First Class …

MWC – Nokia 808 arrives

The Nokia 808 PureView has just been announced here in Barcelona. Normal stuff really. Nokia phone, running Symbian, 41 megapixel camera. .. pardon? Yes, we figured this was worth covering, even though it’s not iOS, Android or Windows Phone – a 41 megapixel camera. That’s kinda raising the …

MWC – Orange to release Intel’s Santa Clara

Remember the Orange London we mentioned a short while back? Well, it turns out that this is real after all. It’s had a slight name-change, but the Intel innards are right there. The Orange Santa Clara will use an Intel Atom Z2460  CPU and will feature a fast …

Vodafone to sell HTC One X & S

Vodafone have also just announced they will stock the HTC One S and X here in the UK.  No information as of yet with regards to a price or release date but at least we know it is coming to the UK network  HTC Onex  Set to become …

Three to sell the HTC One S & V

Three have just tweeted they are to stock the new HTC One S and One V devices on their UK network and in traditional THree style have posted a Sneak Peak video on their Blog and YouTube channel It might sound a bit odd, but I love manufacturer …

MWC – Orange to sell Xperia U in white

Orange have just announced that they will carry the Sony Xperia U exclusively in white. To be honest there’s not a great deal we can tell you about this currently but we’ll get a hands-on with the device shortly as it’s literally been announced in the last few …

HTC Rhyme. Has it got the Rhythm?

I am a fan of big screen phones. There I admit it, so why I may here you ask do I have HTC‘s latest offering in the Rhyme sitting in front of me for review. Well the reason couldn’t be simpler, if you are a regular reader of …