Category: General

Want to charge your phone? Just look in the mirror

Usual introduction to this. You know the story. Smartphone batteries aren’t great. We don’t want fat batteries, but at the same time we don’t want to be running back to a power point to juice the thing up every few minutes. So what are you going to do? …

BT and Openreach go their separate ways

Whilst it will still be owned by BT and it remains to be seen how things will change, Openreach is finally to become a legally separate entity. Telecoms regulator Ofcom has announced they will no longer have to take legal action to split the two companies, and BT …

Shining a light on Blackberry Aurora

The Blackberry Aurora Effect Hot off the heels of the Blackberry KEYone finally being announced this year at MWC 17, news of another Blackberry handset has broken: the Blackberry Aurora. As with most things to do with the once-great smartphone giant, the handset is interesting. Or, rather, the …

MWC – Remember when we used to hunt for WiFi?

After returning from the Barcelona madness, I’ve finally got chance to reflect a little on the experience. It’s somewhere I don’t get to see a great deal, and instead it’s the inside of taxis or the rather excellent Metro system which runs through the city that I see …

A remote controller actuator. What could be greater?

So, I’m pretty geeky guy with the home automation gadgets. I started off with a Nest thermostat, which a lot of even my non-geeky friends are getting into. It’s a simple and clever way to save cash on your heating bills. Put simply, it knows when you’re not …

MWC – A chat with Marc Allera as EE increase coverage.

My first ever mobile phone was connected to Orange. I stayed as a customer all through the transitional phase as T-Mobile and Orange joined forces to eventually become EE. The new brand seems to have woven its way into our subconsciousness rather quickly, and they have pushed hard …

More Galaxy S8 info leaked – specs galore.

We’re approaching the rumoured Samsung Galaxy S8 flagship announcement, so here we go with some more Galaxy S8 info for the faithful and eager. This is currently believed to be March 29th with a date for pre-orders on the 10th of April. As usual, the internet is now …

Vodafone are helping calves to be born safely

Weird headline, granted, but these tail-mounted sensors are connected to the Vodafone network and will help to bring a healthy calf into the world. No, the cow isn’t going to be making any strange phone calls, this is a sensor and it is triggered by labour contractions. When …

MWC – Hands-on with the Arlo Go 4G mobile camera

This one is still on pre-order but you can get it first in the US for $449.99, then you’ll need to put a SIM card in. It’s a camera that will monitor movement and, if you want, live stream from anywhere with a 3G or 4G signal. Created …

EasyAcc Power Bank Review

At a whopping 20,000 mAh capacity, the latest EasyAcc Power Bank is a bit of a behemoth. I’ve been using one for the last couple of weeks and must admit it does exactly what it says on the tin; it provides a whole load of power in an …

Find your local mast. The 2017 version.

21/02/2020 – The best solution to finding your local mast is now located within this recently updated article. A lot has changed over the years, and this is now the best place to go. This topic seems to pop up time and time again. Our original story from …

MWC – A year on. FlexEnable and their bendy screens.

To be honest I was quite surprised that the flexible screens we saw last year are still being made on the same production line and not by a big smartphone manufacturer. FlexEnable tell me that they’re now looking to include their screen in factories, production lines and distribution …

MWC – The Deconnect Gloo

No! Don’t make me leave Barcelona! It’s warm and sunny here! OK so this one isn’t a smartphone, but it is a rather cool charging unit. You can charge it up and then unscrew the bottom to reveal charging points for your devices. Inside, depending on the model, …

New tougher mobile laws live today for drivers

Whether you’re a new driver or a more experienced one, it’s really worth paying attention to this. From today, if you’re caught using your mobile phone at the wheel in the UK, you’ll get 6 points on your licence and a £200 fine. New drivers who have passed …

Fantastic data deal on EE. 32GB data per month for £14.50

Yowser. 32GB of 4G Data on a SIM only deal, currently half price at £14.50 per month. You can’t argue with that can you? This one got spotted by Jack F, who emailed me when it appeared on HotUKDeals. Just head here to get the offer. It’s worth …

Seriously Boston Dynamics. Stop now, you’re scaring us.

Those rather clever robot makers are getting a little too good at their job now. This latest robot is called “Handle” but look a little bit too “alive” for me.. What next? Will it start watching TV and reading books really quick like Johnny Five in Short Circuit? …

Remix OS is coming to your phone… Kinda

We here at Coolsmartphone like Remix OS. I have personally used it in the form of a tablet, and also a set top box. I have also seen a prototype of their next tablet (which sadly seems to have stayed as a prototype). Now along with their recently funded …

UPS Test Drone Deliveries

Things didn’t go all that well for the initial press event but it looks like courier firms are also looking to drones to help with parcel deliveries. This YouTube video shows how UPS are envisaging the process, with the drone able to assist the delivery driver on normal …

EE look to the skies for emergency coverage

We all tend to have a bit of a whinge regarding coverage. Indeed, I’ve mentioned that even outside network stores in cities you can struggle to get a decent signal. However, when disaster strikes then getting a connection to the outside world is even more important. In recent …

The fallacy of connected light bulbs

It seems so simple doesn’t it. A short cut into making your lights ‘smarter’, with no need to re-wire anything or even look at a screwdriver. Unfortunately almost every brand has adopted connected light bulbs as their go to smart home tech and I’m here to tell you …

Microsoft hike Surface prices and blames Brexit vote

Following the Brexit vote last year, it appears that Microsoft has jumped on the “Let’s hike the prices in the UK and blame Brexit bandwagon“. It always intrigued me that in the past when we had a strong pound, we had the 1 dollar = 1 pound pricing. …

The Nokia 3310. Will we see Snake heading to Spain?

Want a proper old-school phone? Back in the day, when the internet was in its infancy and phones weren’t touch screen, the Nokia 3310 was quite advanced. For a start, let me tell you, it had no external antenna. A lot of phones at the time had a …

Facebook to play videos with sound ON as you scroll

We don’t tend to have too many disagreements with our ad suppliers, but one thing we really don’t like is adverts that autoplay sound. Sure, we have to display adverts to pay for the increasingly large servers, but ones that start shouting some Daz washing powder at you …

More data and mins From Giffgaff 

If you are an avid reader of our site, you’ll know that us here at Coolsmartphone Towers love a good bargain. And whenever we find one, we like to pass it on. Well, check out low-cost carrier GiffGaff, which runs on the O2 network. Customers purchase bundles which …

Three launch Wuntu – A new customer rewards app

Three has today launched Wuntu a new rewards app for Three customers that will deliver a personalised range of offers, discounts and exclusive competitions. You’ll receive your selection of rewards each week and it’ll get to learn more about you based on his you’ve used to app in …

Tesco Mobile to deliver money-saving perks to families

A refreshed Family Perks scheme has been launched on Tesco Mobile here in the UK today. It means that, if you get your family together on one bill, you can choose perks for each member. Those perks include free minutes, data or Tesco Clubcard points. Using the O2 …

Smartphone shopping to treble in just four years

We’ve got the result of some research from OC&C Strategy Consultants, Google and Paypal. It shows that shopping on your smartphone is going to treble in the next four years. Treble. Yes, treble. Think about that. It’s already pretty massive as it is – £13.5bn. This research states …

Hard-wearing hardware – ICZI USB-C cables – Review

The Cables It’s hard to get good cables, and it’s almost unheard of to get good, good cables. This is why I like this ICZI range of USB-A to USB-C cables. I crossed over to using the USB-C standard over a year ago now, when the Nexus 6P …

Adidas miCoach crosses the finish line

Members of the Adidas miCoach community have started receiving emails informing them that the service is no more. They are “passing the baton to Runtastic” and won’t be updating their existing website nor the Trail and Run apps. With the service finally shutting down for good on 31 …

Beats X finally released in UK

A long five months after initially being announced at the iPhone 7 launch, Apple’s Beats X are now available in the UK. The new Beats X, designed by Dr. Dre of course, earphones are priced at £129.99 and are on sale now in white and black, although the black …

Honor 6X Launches on Three UK

How does £16 per month sound for your next smartphone? The Honor 6X has now arrived on Three UK and, if you’ve already seen our first impressions, you’ll know what it looks like. It comes with a dual 12+2 megapixel rear camera for wide aperture range, an 8 …

Three help to reconnect the disconnected

UK network Three has launched a new scheme called ‘Reconnected’ which aims to get smartphones into the hands of everyone, especially those out there who do not have one and want to improve their daily lives. The scheme targets disadvantaged people, with free donated phones provided to the …

Vodafone block 100 million nuisance calls in 6 months

These days it is hard to get away from them – those pesky calls that come in about PPI, claiming for an injury you never had in the first place, offering you services you didn’t ask for etc… There are a wide range of apps you can install …

dodocool 4-Port USB Charger – Get a discount with Coolsmartphone

Yesterday we took at this dodocool wall charger. It has 4 USB outputs and you can still use the electrical socket you plug it into because it passes through an international socket. The only minor issue is that, here in the UK, it’s a bit upside down. That’s …