Category: General

Win a FurCode tag!

Right, bear with me on this, but when we get offered stuff to give away to you guys, we rarely say no. FurCodes are high-tech ID tags that will connect your pet to the web. On one side you’ll find a QR code with your pets’ information on …

Samsung Galaxy Note – released tomorrow

Carphone Warehouse on Oxford Street are hosting a launch event for the much discussed and anticipated Galaxy Note tomorrow at 12:30 according to the official Facebook channel. I’m going to pop down to my local store tomorrow and see if they have any that I can play with …

O2 BoostBox

Femtocells have been around for a while, Orange have permitted users to connect their Blackberry’s via VOIP (home WiFi) for a while, and Vodafone launched there SureSignal box a while back. Following on from our earlier story we can now reveal that the O2 solution will be called …

O2 to offer up the HTC Explorer this month

Looking to get HTC Explorer? O2 have now got it listed on their site. It sits squarely in the “affordable” or “entry level” category and has the Sense 3.5 UI. It has a 3.2″ HVGA screen (320×480), 3 megapixel camera, 600MHz CPU, G-sensor, proximity sensor, light sensor, FM …

O2 to launch calls over WiFi too

O2 are trialling a new VoIP service that will let customers use text and voice services over standard WiFi networks. Named “O2 Connect” it’s currently in testing but will shortly be available on iOS and Android smartphones. We assume that this will be similar to the Orange Signal …

Turn your existing mobile broadband dongle into a WiFi hotspot

Share your Three mobile signal with up to five different devices using this, the new Mobile Broadband WiFi hub. Also known as the ZTE MF10 Dongle Adapter it will convert an existing USB mobile broadband dongle into a hot-spot. So, instead of plugging your mobile dongle into your …

Three Launch HTC Sensation XL

UK network Three has announced today that they have in stock and are now selling the new HTC Sensation XL which is the next step forward from the original Sensation Featuring a larger 4.7 inch screen, 8 megapixel camera with better low light optics and Android Gingerbread giving …

Samsung Galaxy Note coming this week!

I have a dilema at the moment where my contract has run out and I’m itching to buy a new phone. I was holding on for the iPhone 5 and was a little miffed at the 4S. For me I use my smartphone as a portable information, resource …

Nokia Lumia Xbox deal detailed

We’ve had a bit more information about the free Xbox 360 deal we spotted yesterday. Orange customers who upgrade to the new Nokia Lumia 800 on the network will get a 4GB Xbox 360 provided you choose an 18 or 24 month deal. The full details are below. …

T-Mobile offers up the Nokia Lumia 800 too

Whilst reading my favourite daily newspaper (I’m so high-brow), I tripped over yet another Nokia Lumia ad this morning… ….and then, I got yet more Nokia Lumia goodness on the YouTube page…. …I figured it was worth looking to see if any other networks are carrying the handset …

Travel SIMs – XXSIM offers free incoming calls

We all know the story by now. You go abroad, you use your mobile, then you come home and collapse in shock when the bill arrives. If you’ve got an unlocked handset there are ways around the “roaming shock” by using roaming or travel SIM cards. There’s a …

Orange to give away an Xbox with upgrades to Nokia Lumia 800

Orange have joined Vodafone and Three to range the Nokia Lumia 800. But hey, there’s a twist. If you upgrade to this phone on Orange you get a free Xbox ! Get your interest registered here. An Orange spokesperson told us.. Orange UK will launch the Nokia Lumia …

Vodafone to carry the Nokia Lumia 800

Vodafone have followed Three in announcing their intention to range the Nokia 800. Their website now has the handset on the “Coming Soon” pages and you can get your name down for updates. Link – Vodafone Shop Credit – James Pearce

Three to carry the Nokia Lumia 800

You knew it had to happen didn’t you ? Those lightening-quick people at Three have already confirmed that they will be carrying the Nokia Lumia 800. The lucky monkeys have already got their hands on it too… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYgBWoh8F7c That curved OLED glass certainly looks interesting. If the “First …

NuGuard Silicon Case for iPhone 4/4S

  I don’t know anyone who uses a smartphone without a case; a phone is (usually) something of an investment, and so in order to protect said investment, a case is needed to keep away any bumps, knocks and scratches.  For years I’ve preferred the ‘wallet’ style case …

Enter the v-JAYS

We’ve been in the market for a new set of earphones recently and had the opportunity to review the v-JAYS Headphones over here at CoolSmartPhone.com. Here’s a link to a little bit of an unboxing for you …. v-JAYS unboxing (to download and view at your leisure) For those in the …

It has been an eventful week for the HP TouchPad

This week has been quite an eventful week for the HP TouchPad. Firstly HP actually released an update for it. Secondly the Cyanogen team working on the TouchPad also released an update.  The HP update had a lot of different bug fixes and features, the in depth details of …

Orange refresh their SIM-only plans

Orange have just polished up their SIM-only plans and have added a new SIM-only Panther deal. There’s a 12 month Dolphin deal costing £7 per month and includes 150 minutes, 500 texts and 250MB of data which is available for a limited time. That headline Panther deal includes …

Waze app review

      Waze is a new take on the traditional sat nav apps we’re all familiar with. There are two major differences; one, the maps are not stored on the device (although recently visited areas are cached on the device I believe) and two, the incidents on …

Three To Sell Samsung Galaxy Nexus

UK mobile network Three has announced that they will be stocking the just announced Samsung Galaxy Nexus device which is the latest in the ‘Nexus’ range after the Nexus S and the original Nexus One. In a press release Three have said.. Samsung Galaxy Nexus – coming soon …

HTC Sensation update – Have you got yours?

We’re seeing some HTC Sensation owners on Orange get system updates today. It seems to introduce the rather excellent Signal Boost technology which hooks onto any WiFi and gives you a mobile signal. Ideal for in office environments where those special reflective windows kill mobile signals from normal …

Rainbow Waterfalls

Rainbow Waterfalls developed by Lazyboy Developments is an addictive little game. I’ve tried my hardest to put it down on a number of occasions today and struggled to succeed. It’s an excellent little time waster and you find yourself saying “I’ll just do this next one” 5 levels …

RIM: Free app apology

RIM are offering some free apps to all Blackberry users affected by last week’s service problems. Ill timed to say the least as the iPhone 4S was due for release not long after so RIM are trying to hold on to the disgruntled by giving away some premium …

iPhone 4S unboxing and 2nd glance

Literally in the door, on the table and under the knife … here’s an unboxing…   … and after the break we take a look at this …   and then a gander at Siri….    

iPhone 4S vs Samsung Galaxy S2 – FIIIIGHT!

Ok, so the iPhone 4S has been out since Friday and much has been covered on lots of different sites about Siri, the various speed improvements etc.. However, whilst all these things are great, the thing I use most on my phone is the camera.  I wanted to …

iPhone 4S – First Thoughts

Got my iPhone 4S today. Walked straight into the Vodafone Store, no queues, had the device I wanted in stock. Thanks very much Vodafone Stockport. The new device looks very, very similar to the iPhone 4 other than a few cosmetic changes; The antenna – The 4S now has …

Xperia Play less than £150 on O2

If you’ve got £150 lying around it is, as we always say, quite welcome here at coolsmartphone. If you’d rather spend it on one of those phone things then the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is down to £149.99. The white and black. We had a good hands on …

Secret videos filmed by many

Surveys, we love them. A Harris Interactive poll has revealed that 50% Americans would use smartphones to take secret videos. Tskk.. the naughty blighters. More than 2000 adults were questioned, with half of them revealing that they would secretly record people tripping over, wearing embarrassing outfits, cheerleaders, sexy …

5 Essential Gadgets for the mobile professional

Working whilst travelling means having to adapt to a wide range of technology barriers, such as a lack of charging facilities, patchy WiFi / 3G coverage, limited packing space for every gadget, and bad data back ups. Although most travellers wouldn’t think adding to their stack of gadgets …

iPhone 4S US sell-out

Despite what I’m sure a lot of people feel is a disappointing release of the iPhone 4S, it is still proving hugely popular: Apple really do seem to be holding on to the winning formula. All US carriers have already sold out of the pre-order allocation and what …

Orange and T-Mobile 3G roaming. Switch begins today?

Last week we started hearing that the T-Mobile and Orange networks were getting ready to flick the switch on their 3G mast-sharing. Customers of both networks have been able to jump onto the other network when they lose signal for a while now but, due to various rather …

iFlashDrive iOS USB stick up for pre-order

iPhone, iPod and iPad users rejoice! You can now move data around easily with the HyperDrive iFlashDrive. On one end it’s a standard USB connector and works just like any other USB stick, but on the other there’s the 30-pin dock connector for connecting to your iPhone or …

BlackBerry problems continue

If you’ve got a BlackBerry (let’s admit it, a few of us have to use them for work phones), then you’ll probably have heard and experienced the issues they’re having at the moment. It’s another day of disruption and a rather worrying admission by RIM, who have tweeted …

iOS5

For those of you waiting for iOS 5, from past experience Apple will most likely wait till the usual release times. Since I have been a Fanboy, updates for iOS devices have come at specific times; 10AM PST 1PM EST 6PM GMT etc… I am hoping not to …

Facebook – iOS app issues

The Facebook iOS app, updated yesterday to Version 4.0. It also includes an iPad version but threw a wobbler for a lot of people. After updating, this image is an example of what a lot of users could see, and they could only dream about how the new …

Play Android apps on your desktop PC

Want to run Android apps on your PC ? Grab Bluestacks. It’s a free app which is now available to download and seems to run the majority of Android apps we’ve thrown at it. The app runs on Windows and there’s a Pro version in the works which …

Samsung Galaxy W now available on Three

Hey, if you’re one of those lovely people who check us daily (and follow us on that Twitter mularky) you’ll already know that the Galaxy W has shown up in Three catalogues. Now we’ve had the official stuff from their PR people, so you should find it in …

The Galaxy S II cleans up in Mobile Choice Awards

Mobile Choice have dished out their Consumer Awards for 2011. The event was hosted in London with 10,000 readers voting in an online survey. The results are as follows… Tablet of the year – Apple iPad 2 Phone of the year – Samsung Galaxy S II Best camera …