Category: General

A little extra Christmas cash is always welcome

Yes, it’s that time of year again and we’re all a little bit short on cash right now. I think this year I’ve been a little too sensible and I’ve actually bought all my gifts already, meaning that my bank balance – and any cash set aside for …

Oppo Digital Unboxing HA-2 and PM-3

Christmas is coming and you need that knock-out present – well we’re here to save the day. Back in November, we looked at Oppo Digital’s new HA-2 portable amplifier and PM-3 headphones (Come in Major Tom? New Christmas Presents from Oppo), which boasted some great specifications. We have …

“Alexa book me a flight please?” Wait who is Alexa?

Have you ever found yourself talking to yourself out loud and thinking it would be nice if I didn’t need to then dig out the laptop to do what you just said? Weirdly I have. Now, take this concept one stage further and make it useful. Say for …

TVPlayer launches on Apple TV

TVPlayer has just announced it has joined Apple TV with two of its services. The first will be giving Apple users the opportunity to watch over 85 of the UK’s top TV channels within a single app for free called TVPlayer Basic. The other is TVPlayer Plus, the low-cost pay …

Merry Birthday from Three

Christmas time is upon us once again and Three have come out with a cracker of an advertisement campaign (excuse the pun). The new video shows someone who is born on Christmas day and who feels let down that you only get one set of presents instead of …

Thank you Three!

I should note at the start that this article is not sponsored by Three! I neither work for them nor receive any benefits.  Nonetheless, I am a big fan.  I first used Three about 13 or 14 years ago when it was first released to great fanfare about the …

Can a £139 Windows Tablet replace your Laptop? – Part 2

Part 2 – The Lenovo Miix 3 Review (Read Part 1 here) Which Device? So, the scene having been set, how did I proceed? There were a variety of other options. First the size issue, 8 inch or 10 inch. There were 8 inch tablets by Linx, Lenovo …

More strangeness. The VCHOK M9-LTE gets buried in concrete

It’s time for another weird smartphone pitch from China now. This is the rugged VCHOK M9-LTE handset. The people promoting this haven’t given us a link to where you can actually buy it and they’ve not even told us about the specs of the phone either, so we’ve …

Honor to launch in the US next year.

Don’t know who Honor are? For one they are the company that pinched our own James Pearce, secondly they are part of the phone manufacturer Huawei. They’re based more on-line than having retail outlets, but they’re still able to supply high spec’d devices with reasonable price tags. As …

Huawei Mate 8 specs released

In November, Chinese phone manufacturer Huawei announced their highest specced phone to date, the upcoming Mate 8. On-paper specifications do look mighty impressive. The Huawei Mate 8 is now available for sale, with the promise of better performance and battery life. The device features the new Kirin 950 …

GoPro’s first drone will be called called ‘Karma’

GroPro’s first drone, due to arrive in the first half of 2016 will be called ‘Karma’ (a potential dig at DJI for not partnering with them?), but that is pretty much all we know. Back in October, GoPro did tease us with test footage that was filmed with …

Fix your broken screen, all you need is some cola

Broke your screen? Sure, you could spend money getting it fixed properly (the people at iMend can do that for you) or you can try this simple trick at home. It involves some Coca Cola, or it could be Pepsi, I’m not sure. I’m not going to sway …

Case of the missing Microsoft OneDrive storage

Remember recently when Microsoft announced that it was going to reduce the storage it offered on OneDrive, and that the unlimited tier was going away because some people were treating it as – well, unlimited? I know that some people were using up to 75 TB of that …

Pixel C – was it meant to be a Chromebook?

There are some stories doing the rounds at the moment about the Pixel C. They aren’t just reviews and first impressions, but about the origins of the tablet. Let me explain. We know that the Pixel line has long been attributed to Google’s own high-end Chromebook range, and …

Plemo LG G4 Heavy Duty Case – Review

I recently received a Plemo LG G4 heavy duty case from Avantek UK for review. So here is a run down of the case and my thoughts on it. The case comes in three parts, the first two of which are required and form the main case, the third …

iPhone 6 users get VoLTE on Three

iPhone 6 handsets are currently receiving the new iOS 9.2 update, but it’s not just a new font or a patch. There’s also a little surprise inside in the shape of a carrier settings update. This will let Three users access VoLTE via a new setting in the …

Fancy a fun and intelligent hybrid scooter?

A few months ago I had “a few beers” after taking the kids to the pub (always good in the sunshine – they can go in the pub garden on the swings and you can have a refreshing pint). On the way back I decided to use my …

Review – Elivebuy External Battery

We get a lot of these. Basically, when you’re walking around or away from a mains socket or far away from that cigarette lighter in you car, you can get a boost with a portable battery like this. Yes, it’s a bit heavy and a bit clunky but …

Apple releases iPhone battery case

The achillies heel of the modern smartphone is battery life, hence the multitude of battery packs and third-party battery boosting cases flooding onto the market. It’s solved a problem, but you’ve had to get that solution from elsewhere. Now Apple has finally decided to step into the battery …

Review – Retro TV Gaming system

Dude. Let me set your expectations right now. This is £11.95. No. It’s not going to be challenging your XBox or your PS3. In fact, it won’t challenge your Nintendo Wii U, or Nintendo DS… or Game Boy. Think back to those arcade games from the ’80s. This …

The CoolSmartPhone Christmas Tech Gift Guide 2015

It’s that time of year again when we start looking to buy Christmas gifts for our loved ones, and I’m sure for some of you, technology and gadgets will feature heavily. There’s the small chance that some of you haven’t managed to get Christmas presents yet, but over …

Lumia 950 now available on Vodafone

Fancy one of these? The Microsoft Lumia 950, which is powered by a hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragom 808 CPU and capable of achieving a 50% charge in just 30 minutes, is available for just £35 with a £9 upfront cost. That will provide 1GB of data, unlimited texts and 1000 minutes …

An insight into the future of Digital Payments – opinion.

Time for something a little different. The other week I had the pleasure of attending one of the ongoing Westminister e-Forums. These are a series of events in London where the various regulatory bodies that keep things working properly in the UK convene to discuss a wide variety …

[Feature] Inside Vodafone – Part 4 – The network

During my time with Vodafone I got to speak to Dr Rob. This guy is a man after my own heart. He hates acronyms and over-complifications, prefering instead to break down the technology into easily understandable and enjoyable information. Dr Robert Matthews, to give him his full name, …

Whats the point of launch events?

It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that there have been multiple events in the last few months. Apple started the rollercoaster unveiling the new iPhones & iPads. This was closely followed by a Google event unveiling its new Nexus phones (Nexii?) Chromecasts etc. There was also an LG …

OnePlus makes phones invite free

The most annoying thing about trying to get a phone from OnePlus has been their insistence on using an invite system in order to allow you to buy one of their phones. It seems like there is some good news on that front as for the next few …

Could we see a Pixel C launch next week? I hope so.

The rumour train has once again stopped by at Coolsmartphone Towers. It dropped off the usual detritus, however, whilst sifting through the rubbish we found this thread of info about the recently discussed Pixel C Android tablet. Dutch website tweakers.net are stating that Google plans to open the …

OnePlus X – Unboxing

Have you been thinking to yourself, “It would nice to have a handset that didn’t require a backpack or a monolithic battery”? I had the thought occur to me the other day but then instantly dismissed it as nonsense and told my brain to behave itself. Of course bigger …

15000 unsafe hoverboards seized

The latest craze to hit Britain is the Hoverboard/Self Balancing scooter (well it’s not really a Marty McFly Back To The Future-styled device. Think more along the lines of a skateboard with a buggy wheel at either end). Companies are trying to get cheaper and sleeker versions in …

[Feature] Inside Vodafone – Part 3 – Be an early adopter

After looking at the working environment in Vodafone and how they test new handsets. Next I take a look at Vodafone xone (pronounced “Vodafone zone”, although I did slip into calling it “Vodaxone” at one point). This will really light your candle if you’ve followed this site for a while, …

Remix Mini – Unboxing

You may recall a little while ago I was raving about an Android PC Box that came from the Far East. China to be precise. Well, the time has come for the unboxing to happen and I’m of course talking about the Remix Mini. I have already had …

Samsung announce the 2016 Galaxy A range.

Today Samsung announced the details and specs of the 2016  Galaxy A series range of devices. They will be coming in three screen size options: 5.5-inch for the A7, 5.2-inch for the A5 and 4.7-inch for the A3. Equipped with an enhanced camera system for brighter and clearer …

Moto 360 Sport available December 18th

Since it was announced earlier in the year, people have been waiting for for the launch  of the hotly anticipated Motorola 360 Sport smartwatch. Now Motorola has finally announced the launch date for their latest device. This will now be available to purchase from 18th December for £219.00 …

SIM unlocking – the easy way

If you’re looking to get a phone for someone this Christmas then you may have already had a read of our how-to. It details the best way to switch contracts. However, if you want to get yourself a SIM-only deal and carry on using your existing phone, you …

Samsung Gear VR available to buy in UK

Looks like Samsung have released their Gear VR headset for sale on the online shop (Samsung Shop). Priced at £80 and currently in stock. Head on over if you interested in grabbing one. It’s compatible with Galaxy S6 edge+, S6 and S6 edge. The headset straps onto your …

Here’s one way to get some Beats headphones with your next smartphone

Remember when HTC used to give away Beats headphones with their smartphones? Ahh, those were the days. Now, thanks to lots of “accidental” shots of Beats headphones in many music videos and a big advertising budget, Beats is a bit brand there’s usually a premium price tag connected …