Category: General

Cyanogen OS CM12.1 for the One Plus in testing.

OnePlus have announced that the latest version of Cyanogen OS, Cyanogen OS 12.1 (based on Android 5.1), which is currently undergoing testing and Google certification. On the other side of things OxygenOS, which is OnePlus’s own operating system update based on Android 5.1, is in the works. Sadly …

Vodafone announce Connect home broadband

Vodafone today became the latest network to join the home broadband market, with their Connect offer. Vodafone Connect is a fibre service offering speeds of up to 76 Mbps with unlimited downloads. https://youtu.be/Ysjo5PsSb3I Rather than charging for different usage amounts, Vodafone have different tiers based on speeds, up …

Carphone Warehouse’s iD network to stock Huawei P8

  Huawei has just announced that its new flagship smartphone, the P8. Our very own James reviewed here and it’s now available for pre-order exclusively on iD, the new network from Carphone Warehouse. It costs £21.50 on a almost unheard of 12 month contract, which gives you 300 mins, 5000 …

EE announces 4G action camera

Not content with mobile phones, home broadband, mobile broadband and in-car WiFi devices, EE is now branching out into action cameras with the 4GEE action camera. The EE connected strategy focuses on 4 main areas: home; you; car and business. The new action camera is part of the …

Android M overview on Nexus 5

Last week Google I/O happened and Google announced Android M to the world. This week I have been testing Android M on the Nexus 5 and I am actually using it as my daily driver (brave/stupid time will tell).  Here is a brief overview of the big changes …

Apple Pay coming to UK

  Currently confined to the US Apple Pay, (the tap to buy service that uses the NFC to beam your relevant card details to the vendors terminal, similar to “contactless payment we already have fitted to some UK credit/debit cards.) might not be US only for much longer. …

Android wear 5.1 delayed for Moto 360

Back in May, Google started rolling out the Android Wear 5.1.1 update for Android Wear smartwatches. All the current Android Wear smartwatches have received their update including my first gen Samsung Gear Live. But the hugely popular Motorola Moto 360 is still stuck on an older version of the …

How about a 512GB micro SD card?

Rumoured for a July release, California-based company Microdia announced plans to launch The Microdia Xtra Elite microSD card. It’s the biggest yet at a whopping 512GB, and was announced at the Computex 2015 show (but strangely no working versions were displayed. In that case, keep ’em peeled for the …

Three vow to #makeitright

Three have today launched their latest advertising campaign featuring purple character ‘Jackson’ and will air tonight at 9:30pm in the UK. The new motto for the brand and advert is #makeitright where Three want to take on the challenges of the mobile industry….and if something sucks….they want to …

Sony Xperia Z3+ – Photo Special

Today we were lucky enough to get hands on with Sony’s new flagship the Xepria Z3+. This is a really nice evolution of the Z3 and one that would make a nice upgrade from anyone who is using a Xperia Z or Xperia Z2. It is also a …

Tesco Mobile proper sticks the boot into Three

Yesterday we detailed the move by Three to tweak their terms and conditions and allow mid-contract price hikes. Now Tesco Mobile, an MVNO running on O2, have given us their take on all this. Other networks have “amended” their terms and conditions to allow increases in line with …

Review of the EnerPlex Kickr II+ Rugged Solar Charger

Last summer I camped for the first time in years.  It was fun but it got me thinking about going back to basics.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t comprehend leaving my phone aside for anything more than a few hours.  Of course we are now …

WowWee Reveal MiPosaur and REV robots with apps

This is just plain cool and for that reason and no other (well I kinda want to play with one) I am going to post something about it. Anyway moving on. WowWee have just announced that they are going to be making and selling some “next robotic innovations”. …

Alcatel OneTouch PIXI 3 (4) now available on O2

It’s been just a couple of weeks since we told you about the cheap and cheerful PIXI 3. This is the PIXI 3 (4) version, which basically means you’re getting a 4″ 480×800 pixel screen at 233 PPI. The phone is also available with a slightly smaller 3.5″ …

Hey Three. Remember your promise?

In January last year Three were quick to jump on EE mid-contract price hikes that had just happened. We covered the news following the EE fall-out and Ofcom decided to put in new rules to stop it reoccurring. Three were quick to congratulate and stated that… No nasty …

Vodafone unwrap their Big Value Bundles

Contract customers can get the latest phones for a low monthly cost, but if you choose a SIM-only or Pay As You Go plan you can get a better deal. New Big Value Bundle deals from Vodafone all include unlimited texts, 4G access and substantial data allowances. Plus, …

Looking for something a bit different? BQ Aquarius E5

Today the smartphone market has 3 main player’s, iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Of course we also have BlackBerry sitting on the edge looking in but they are loosing relevance to be fair. In the last year or so we have started to see the emergence of some …

Hexo+ – A faster autonomous flying camera

A short while ago you may remember just how impressed we were about the Lily drone. It’s basically a very intelligent camera attached to a drone that knows where you are. You chuck it up in the air and it follows your adventures from on high. However, there …

LG G4 up on 3UK too.

OK, OK, following our post mentioning the Vodafone pre-orders, you guys got in touch to point out that it’s on the Three website too. Prices start at £37 per month with the phone free and 4G is available for no extra cost. Three also has an exclusive on …

Update – LG G4 now available on Vodafone

If you read about our afternoon with the LG G4 and you’re looking to get it on Vodafone, here’s some good news. The network will be carrying the new handset and will have a network exclusive on the red leather version pictured above. To be honest, I’ve had …

Google I/O 2015 – Now on Tap

There for me was one feature of Android M that stood out above and beyond the rest – Now on Tap. Why is it so amazing? Well, let’s have a look. We all know that Android can support Google Now which is all well and good, but is …

The 100MB data challenge

First, a bit of detail about how all this came about. Phones. I get a lot of them to review. I borrow them then send them back, but with different sizes of SIM cards and some handsets offering dual-SIM functionality, it can result in me using Pay As …

Google I/O 2015 – Android M Preview and Wear update

Here is a brief overview of what went down in the Moscone Centre last night at Google I/O 2015. The conference started with a massive Pong game stretching across the panoramic screen around the venue. Some guy won a giant fluffy Android toy! Last year 8 out of …

Insane? Money no object? No taste? Get yourself a 3D selfie!

For a moment early this morning I honestly thought I’d dreamt this. Perhaps it was part of a drunken vision. No. Wait… it’s a real thing. Oh dear me. Where do I start with this? Well, let’s say you’ve just taken a really good selfie and you don’t …

Crash an iPhone with a text message

Fancy totally upsetting your iPhone friends? Well, send them a text. It seems that if that text has a certain Arabic character sequence in it then it’ll totally ruin their day. Good huh? Well maybe. Something like this… لُلُصّبُلُلصّبُررً ॣ ॣh ॣ ॣ 冗 ..will totally crash their …

LG G4 Black leather option now exclusive to CarphoneWarehouse.

Independent UK mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has announced that it has started sales of the latest LG flagship device the G4, and the retailer has the black leather clad device as an exclusive, while also stocking the brown leather option as well as the plastic-clad grey model. …

IDC publishes another load of analyst prediction guff

Here is the smartphone market share according to IDC. Have a look at that purple line. That’s Windows Phone. As you can see, for 3 years, it’s not really moved a great deal. I’m not going to say anything more about that. I wish Windows Phone was more …

Xperia Z3+ announced

Today Sony announced an edition to its Xperia Z3 range, imaginatively titled the  Xperia Z3+ The newly announced device is both slimmer (6.9mm) and lighter (144g) than the Xperia Z3, and is available in four colour options to meet your individual taste and style. Choose from classic black, white or …

Huawei Watch priced up. You got £300 spare?

We had a play with some of the Huawei smartwatches at Mobile World Congress and they’re looked really rather good. What was of concern though, was the possible price of their new Huawei Watch. MobileFun appear to have slid it into their website for a cool £300 here …

Learning to print the perfect picture

My main concerns, when snapping photos on my phone, is whether the photo is going to be backed up and just where it’ll be backed up to. Usually I store everything on an ever-filling storage card as I snap pictures randomly through the day. Those pictures, for the …

O2 having signal problems

It appears O2 is having a rough time this evening. The network says it is having intermittent problems affecting some of its customers in various parts of the country including London and Birmingham. You can see from their with their own status checker that there’s a number of …

KitSound Tilt Bluetooth Portable Speaker – Review

My smartphone forms a central part of my life. It helps manage and organise my time, it helps me communicate and is my main entertainment hub. This is why for me smartphones and music are synonymous. Whether you store your music on your device or choose to stream your …

Microsoft Band – Review

A few weeks ago you may remember that I was able to get hold of the Microsoft Band briefly at its launch event. I have now had some time with the device and thought I would share my thoughts with you. I am not the fittest guy in …

Broadcast Yourself with Stre.am

Periscope has been been finding quite a following recently. It’s all over Twitter and it’s made by… Twitter. The app allows iPhone users to broadcast a live video stream around the world from their phone. However, despite being released by Twitter themselves, the app is only available for …

Pebble Time update.

For a moment yesterday we were concerned that Pebble Time, a device we were waiting patiently for, was going to be nothing but vapourware. This morning there was a collective sigh of relief as, in our inboxes, we were greeted with an email from Kickstarter with an update …

A tablet stand? For £3? Yes, actually

Want a tablet stand that’s cheap and portable? How does £3 grab you? This one is made from strong cardboard and ideal for slipping into your case or bag. It’ll prop up your device and you can get a dozen of them for £16 – about the same …

Get loads of data… for a bit..

If you like your data, check out this deal from EE. Right now they’re offering a limited edition SIM, plus you can win tickets to Glastonbury. Order by 31st May and top up a £10 1GB data pack with 50 texts and 50 minutes of calls. Once that …

The drone that follows you. Lily.

Our daily dose of Kickstarter pleas usually go into a box marked “meh”. Some are pretty dull, and they almost make us want to add our Kickstarter Campaign for the “Coolsmartphone Readers Beer Bus”. This one, though, jumped out of our crowded mailbox and has caught the imagination …