Category: General

No more European roaming charges. We promise this time.

Hopefully it’ll actually definitely happen this time, because we’ve been promised an end to roaming charges before. Now, we hope, the European Parliament will stick to the decision. First, from April 30th next year, an interim cap on roaming charges in Europe will kick in. This will mean …

Are digital advances really good for our health?

I love my wife. She’s a little bit bonkers in all the right ways. If you live near us then you’ll probably already know of my wife through her singing. Now, whilst I don’t think she’ll end up on X-Factor anytime soon, she does love a good singalong …

When it’s not about the money – RHA is pretty impressive

So here’s how it works. You buy something and you quite like it. then it stops working. You try to get it fixed, and get prepared for a battle royal with a company that doesn’t give a hootenannie about you once the sale’s been made. This isn’t that …

Sony set to buy Toshiba’s camera sensor business

Mobile image sensors embedded in smartphones are revolutionising journalism and photography. Ever taken a selfie or a picture of your pizza? Or maybe a high quality image of the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal for bragging purposes? Yep, we’ve all been there. There’s no doubt image sensor …

Bluetooth enabled coffee cup available at a bargain price

   Like everyone who reads these pages, I’m into gadgets in a big way.  Anything that can be digitised or connected to the internet is alright by me, but sometimes there are some gadgets that even push us hardy folk at CSP Towers to the limit.  Enter Ember, …

Blackberry Priv pre-order now live

The day has arrived for Blackberry fans (all 10 of you). You can now pre-order the newest Blackberry… the Blackberry Priv. We have been tracking this one with a lot of interest here at CSP Towers. If you’re wanting to get one ordered, then head over to our friends …

Can your smartphone really improve your maths?

I’m currently spending quite a lot of my evening helping my son with his homework. Part of that is maths, and things have either changed a lot since I was at school or I’m just incredibly rusty. I’m perhaps the lazy one, not my son. I pick up …

Vodafone include roaming into new bundle

We all know about Three and how well received their “Feel At Home” offering is. It allows customers to use their phone in America and a range of other countries just as if they were back in the UK for no additional cost. There’s 18 destinations in total. …

Filofax iPad Case – Review

Filofax is a well-known brand name associated with traditional paper-based diaries and personal organisers. Filofax products were always high-quality but there may be a natural assumption that their target audience shrank due to electronic portable replacements. But in order to remain relevant, Filofax have diversified into tech cases. …

EE launch a superhero for your kids – The Robin

Most kids, unfortunately, end up sat in front of a tablet for a portion of their day. Hopefully it isn’t for that long but, with Christmas on the horizon and more kids wanting to play games and apps, EE have release a child-friendly device called “The Robin” to …

Three hit the boost button – 4G speeds increased by 50%

We here at Coolsmartphone towers love UK mobile operator Three. They were the first operator to roll out a 3G network here in the UK, plus they rolled out unlimited data and 4G for no extra cost etc. I think nearly all our writers have a least one Three …

Inateck 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub – Review

Good Points: Well made and lightweight. Ability to transfer data and charge devices. Solves the issue of of small number of USB inputs in your laptop. Plug and play no drivers needed. Bad Points: Not a powered hub. Short cable to plug into computer. Design: Made out of high …

Motorola wants to make you think

We just received this rather bizzare email from the Motorola PR team. Here is the first line from the email… Motorola has created a video with comedian Alfie Brown and a member of the public for the #PhonyJob challenge to see how tough a day in the life …

Blackberry Priv official!

Who’d have thought it, a desirable Blackberry? Well, that is exactly what has happened with the newly announced Blackberry Priv. This one has been in the pipeline for some time now, and it’s got a few of us at CoolSmartPhone Towers rather flustered. We have written about it …

giffgaff flies high with new ad campaign

Back in the late 90’s I was using a clunky big Nokia phone and colour screens were just a pipe dream. There was a TV show on back then called “TFI Friday”, hosted by Chris Evans. He bought and sold a radio station, became a multi-millionaire, shacked up …

Bump uglies with a sexy wristjob

Woah, woah, flippin WOAH. Fitness bands, that’s fine. Wearables that show notifications from my smartphone, that’s cool too. But a new wearable that monitors your sexual performance?? Just wait right there. The new #LifeLoversWatch is now on the market for €99.90, which is £73.37. As with other fitness …

Lollipop, now pounding on a quarter of Androids

The release of a new version of Android always means a good look into how the versions are distributed. The ‘good’ news first: Android Lollipop is now up to 22.9% – almost a quarter of current handsets. Next up is KitKat (which is specifically Android 4.4) at a …

OnePlus X to be revealed on 29th October

  Despite the launch of the first two phones from OnePlus being, shall we say, less than smooth, (I know I had to jump through the invite hoops for both my OnePlus One and Two) the company are still struggling to to get the Two into customer’s hands. …

Orange list the HTC One A9

Yes, you’re right. This is a phone that hadn’t even been announced yet. HTC are trying to do a big build-up to their October 20th launch event. However, Orange France have just gone ahead and listed the thing on their website anyways. Details are there, plus pricing and …

Goodbye Sainsbury’s Mobile

Have you got a mobile running on the Sainsbury’s Mobile network? Well, sadly it won’t be working much longer. The supermarket has given a 90-day notice that all services will be discontinued and you’ll see the network completely snuffed out on January 15th. The reasons, it seems, revolve …

It’s an Apple Watch, honest. I paid less than £17 for it too.

Right, I’m not going to say anything. I’m not going to say APPLE WATCH or type it in capital letters. I’m not going to mention that this ZGPAX S79 Bluetooth Smartwatch is just $25.74. That’s £16.87. £16.87?! That’s a touch cheaper than the Apple Watch isn’t it? Take …

Rock on – Mini amp speaker for your smartphone

Simple and easy this. It’s a miniature speaker for £13.99 which you plug into via a 3.5mm audio cable. It’s just like those amplifiers you’ll see on stage at rock concerts, but this mini amp speaker is powered by AA batteries or a USB port instead of directly …

Driver decides to broadcast drive home on Periscope… whilst drunk

There’s a few things that Florida resident Whitney Beall did wrong on Saturday. First, she decided to hold her phone aloft to film herself driving. That’s a bad move. Fiddling with your phone whilst driving is never a good idea and is against the law here in the …

Vodafone Call+ in action

Following a quick demo from the team at Vodafone on their new Call+ features, I thought it would be useful to do a short write up before a full review in the coming weeks (should the loaner phone arrive soon). If you aren’t familiar with Call+, it’s a …

Z3 or Z3c owner? Want to test Marshmallow?

I like the Sony Z range. They look like well-designed and distinctive pieces of kit, but I was a little hesitant. I never knew what their upgrade strategy would be from handset to handset, so when I heard about this Concept for Android initiative, where Sony allows you …

‘Cute’ Smartphone – RoBoHoN

If you’re like me you probably spend more time with your phone than with any other person. My phone is my alarm clock, my personal assistant and my exercise coach all in one. But there’s a reason why most people wouldn’t consider it a friend, it looks nothing …

Vodafone get into the home phone and broadband game

Want broadband at home? Mine is from EE and the fibre broadband connectivity has been OK. Sadly I can’t say the same about the home phone service, which was completely broken for well over a month. Anyhoo, now Vodafone are getting in on the action with broadband and …

VR – Is now the time?

Remember my Google Cardboard review? If I’m honest that headset did, eventually, fall apart. Mostly because of my bad construction. However, on a recent holiday my son went on a new type of ride which featured an Oculus Rift, as you can see above. It’s a gadget which …

FreedomPop UK – An overview. £0 per month is back again.

Over the years we’ve seen a number of MVNO’s here in the UK attempting to give you something for nothing but, each and every time, they’ve failed. First we tried Ovivo, then we tried Samba Mobile but both went pop fairly quickly and customers were left without service. …

Huawei Mate S – Review

Huawei released their new flagship phablet last month – The Huawei Mate S. I was lucky enough to attend the launch event and got a hold of one of the devices. I have been using it over the last few weeks to see how good it was, and …

Lumia 950 and 950 XL pre-orders open

Clove has opened up their preorders on those two new fantastic Lumia devices that we saw the other day. Yes, of course, I am talking about the Lumia 950 and 950XL. Both Lumia 950 and 950 XL pre-orders are now up and available. They don’t yet have the estimated …

A look at the Zing Smartwatch – A different approach

Smartwatches are starting to diversify. Each manufacturer is trying to carve out their niche in the market, and the Zing Smartwatch aims to provide a fashionable, modern, and fun approach to the wearable market. Let’s get Social The Zing is an activity tracker designed for the social generation. …

Android 6 Marshmallow OTA rolling out.

Have you got a Nexus 6, 5 , 7, 9, or Nexus Player? If you have, it looks like now is the time for mashing the “check for updates” button. It appears that the latest version of Android is being sent out as an OTA update to those …

Windows 10, Lumia and Continuum – Have we been here before?

Heard about the new Microsoft launches yesterday? Sure, there was a new fitness band and a few new handsets, but it’s those high-powered handsets and the tricks they can do that matter. Microsoft, on the current Windows Phone platform, has a problem. No matter how you dress it …

HTC unable to commit to monthly security updates

Android security is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons after the latest round of vulnerabilities have made international press. The background problem is that Android is supported on multiple platforms via a wide range of manufacturers from Samsung to HTC, and all those in-between. …