Category: General

4G in the UK. How fast can you go?

Ah. I should’ve expected this shouldn’t I really? Just yesterday we asked whether any of you had ever received a 4G download speed that could beat 133.11Mbps. Well, guess what? Yep, Dan himself has beat his very own speed test. It’s in Torquay again and it’s on EE. …

133Mbps on 4G. Can you go faster?

Our man Dan has definitely got some “skills” when it comes to finding fast networks. Back in 2014 he managed to get 149.74Mbps from a Vodafone mast outside Victoria station in London on an early Sunday morning. After visiting Wembley recently it’s clear that competitor EE are proud …

EE to turn on 800MHz next week

If you’ve got an iPhone or an EE-supplied LG G5, Galaxy S7, S7 Edge or Sony Xperia handset – listen up. According to jmcomms.com EE will be lighting up the 800MHz slice of their 4G service next week. Whilst it’s not known exactly where the 800MHz coverage will …

Three admit that nearly 134,000 accounts were accessed

Following on from our earlier story, Three have now admitted that yes, their systems were accessed and yes, customer information was obtained. The whole event appears to have spooked quite a number of Three customers, as their site became overloaded last night due to the amount of people …

LIFE Mobile merges into Plusnet Mobile

I’m sure you’ve all heard about Plusnet. They’re a “no nonsense” UK internet provider based in Sheffield. They do broadband, landlines and calls… oh, and they’re owned by BT after an acquisition in 2007. Who else is owned by BT? Well, EE of course. EE in turn own …

Man with drone, now alone. Wife playing away from home.

Every little piece of me wants to believe that this is fake. The YouTube account only has one video uploaded (which is weird if you’re a big fan of drones and film lots) and there’s “helpful” on-screen graphics and special effects so that it’ll help grab your attention. …

Three arrested in Three data breach

The UK mobile network, Three, has seen an increasing level of attempted handset fraud in recent weeks. Now, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA), three men have been arrested in connection with a data breach. Although credit card and bank details weren’t taken, the company …

Get your make-up on! WhatsApp adds video calling

After being rumoured for a while, and then available through a beta build, WhatsApp continues on its quest for global domination of its messaging platform with video calling. Whilst it is arguably the biggest cross-platform messaging service, with a 1 billion users, WhatsApp has fallen behind competitors such …

New Snapdragon chipsets announced   

At the last 4G/5G summit hosted in Hong Kong, Mobile chip giant Qualcomm unveiled its latest mid-range chipsets, the Snapdragon 400 and Snapdragon 600 ranges. The Snapdragon 427 replaces the current budget Snapdragon 425, and improvements for the Snapdragon 427 chipset include the inclusion of Qualcomm’s X9 LTE …

Is it time for the big players to move aside?

Whether you want to communicate via social media channels or check out spread betting with IG, you can do so with the latest smartphone devices. These days, everyone seems to have a portable gadget glued to their hands, with the iPhone being one of the most popular models …

“So what Android phone do I buy?” – A conundrum

My friends and family know me as a tech enthusiast who is forever buying new devices and perusing the technology press. This has meant that I often I get asked questions on what devices people should buy. This is because (at least in my social circle) most people …

Vodafone is number 1

According to P3 (umm?) Vodafone have got the best network for voice in the UK. Not only that but they’ve got the best network in London and the most improved network in the UK too. Vodafone tell me that they’ve worked hard to improve their network and they’ve …

Microsoft Office on your Chromebook? Get ready to pay.

As more and more Chromebooks are being granted access to the Google Play Store and the millions of apps within, people are trying to activate their copy of Microsoft Office for Android. Unfortunately, they’re finding out that a subscription to Microsoft Office 365 is required, especially if your …

Moto M released, bringing bling to a premium low-tier thing

Earlier on this year, I recommended the Moto G 4th gen to someone. They were on a budget and they’d been using what I think was the original Moto G (the Moto G OG, if you will) quite happily for a very long time. Alas, no memory card …

Samsung Galaxy S7 nibbling nougat near you

Or, without that annoying alliteration about, Samsung seems to have finished testing Android 7 – AKA Nougat – and is starting to roll out a beta testing program for those folks with a Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. It’s not important that the rollout for Samsung is something …

Blackberry to make one more physical keyboard device

It’s no real surprise that when to comes to mobile devices with physical keyboards, Blackberry were the industry leaders. But despite this the company slowly declined, beginning with the company ending the use their own Operating System, and then not even producing devices, but using rebranded TCL devices (well hello, …

WhatsApp Messenger to incorporate two-factor authentication

Surprisingly, up to now, Whatsapp Messenger – which is probably one of the biggest messaging services in the world, hasn’t supported two-factor authentication. Well, that was until now. People that are using the latest beta version of Whatsapp are starting to see the option to turn on this …

Pebble 2 Smartwatch – Review

I was one of the Kickstarter backers for the original Pebble smartwatch back in 2012. I still actually own that too. Shortly after I purchased the Pebble Steel. However, when the colour Pebble Time watches appeared, I fell out of love with them. I thought the new colour ePaper interface was a …

Venturer Windows 2-in-1 Notebooks get updated

Premium audio and video manufacturer, Venturer, previously brought us the successful BravoWin and EliteWin 2-in-1 affordable notebooks. These were released here in the UK earlier this year. Today they’ve announced their new models – the BravoWin S and EliteWin S. Both Mini Notebooks have a stylish new build with a …

Samsung grab a patent for a flip phone … sort of 

Earlier this year the interwebs was full of rumours that Samsung was planning to ship smartphones and tablets with a bendable OLED screen. In fact in June this year Lenovo displayed a prototype of its own bendable phone. Well a recent leaked patent application from the Korean Intellectual …

Locate your local mobile mast

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. Quite some time ago we published a story about the Ofcom Sitefinder database. It’s …

4G – Still not as widespread as 3G

This morning OpenSignal have published a new “State of LTE” report. You can find their February one here but today the report, which focuses on the speed and availability of 4G networks around the world, gives us a number of highlights. First, the fastest 4G countries in the …

OnePlus 3T to be released next week

Cast your mind back dear reader, many moons ago when HTC furst released the “One” series of devices. Well just a few months after release, the company released a higher spec updated version of the same device. It well and truly upset the customers that had forked out …

Nomu S10 – Review

Here at Coolsmartphone we are approached by device manufacturers from all over the world. I must admit that it is the unheard-of devices from the far-east that intrigue me the most, so I jumped at the chance to review the unknown brand Nomu and their S10 device. ‘Who …

Or you could perhaps just get a portable charger

I’m confused by this whole thing. Yes, its interesting that this is possible, but at the same time it just seems like a whole lot of hassle to produce something that you can buy relatively cheaply off the internet. Here someone shows you how to make a portable …

Android Auto now becoming a standalone app 

I’m a firm believer that drivers should have limited, if no access to mobile phones whilst driving. Having just returned from a family holiday in Florida, I saw many drivers using their phone and even texting whilst driving. It just shows how distracted drivers can be whilst fiddling …

Huawei Mate 9 Unboxing

The time has come to unbox Huawei’s latest and greatest phablet – the Mate 9. If you have read the launch article then you will know what to expect, but for those of you who didn’t then here are the highlights. Kirin 960 chipset, the world’s highest performing …

Papa’s got a brand new p BAG

You may have bought yourself a phone cover with a couple of credit card slots in the back recently. It’s becoming a bit of a trend and, thanks to Android and Apple Pay becoming more popular too, we’re carrying more of our life around with us on our …

Smartphone + Music Festival = Festival Fuel

It seems that the days of picking up a cheap phone for a festival are long gone. It is a regular site to see folk using portable phone chargers now, to prolong the smartphone goodness and for the selfies with your mates when the headliners are on. You …

Huawei Mate 9 arrives

I’m sitting in Munich right now having just finished at the Huawei Press event. We saw the bigwigs at Huawei talk about their latest release, the brand new Huawei Mate 9. There’s been lots of speculation about the specs and looks of this particular phone. Some people have even suggested that it …

Huawei November event – Liveblog

Hello! We are here in Munich to cover the events of Huawei’s unveiling LIVE. We expect to see the Huawei Mate 9 in at least one variant with the possibility of a Pro version appear as well. Also expect to see Lecia on stage and a lot of …

EE – The Robin returns

Remember the kid-friendly EE Robin? It was the world’s first 4G-connected tablet which was designed specifically for parents and their children. Now an updated version is available, with the new Robin adding an improved Hopster app for “digital playtime”. This app delivers 1500 episodes of kids TV shows, …

Netatmo Presence – A new outdoor security camera with a light

Another security camera for you today and this time it’s from Netatmo. We’ve already written about their kit, and they’ve now moved on from weather stations with this Netatmo Presence camera. It’ll detect people, cars and animals, plus it should hopefully prevent break-ins. How? Well, unlike some connected …

Nest Outdoor Cam now available

If you’ve had a read of our Nest Thermostat review and want a bit more Nest tech, there’s already the Nest Protect smoke + CO alarm for £99 plus the indoor camera. Now, if you want to keep an eye on what’s happening outside of your house, you …

Your social media posts could cost you dear

If you’re on Facebook and you’re a young driver, watch out. Your social media updates will soon impact the cost of your car insurance. Admiral Car Insurance will soon build a “reputational record” of new drivers by analysing your Facebook page, and will reward more conscientious and organised …

Acer Iconia Tab 10 – Unboxing

Today we have a new tablet in the house from Acer – the Acer Iconia Tab 10. The Iconia Tab 10 is Acer’s take on the low cost but premium build tablet that aims to be your new multimedia device. The Acer Iconia Tab 10 is currently available …

Use the phone whilst driving. This could happen to you.

It could be you that causes an accident. It could be someone else who crashes into you. Just a quick check of the email. It can’t hurt. Perhaps I should just reply to that text message or check Facebook. Yes, it’s that video from the news, and this …