Category: General
There is no doubt about it, children are becoming more tech savvy than ever before, even from a very young age. My four year old son certainly knows his way around a tablet and enjoys watching films or listening to music on his iPad, iPod and Hudl. This has …
I’m still sitting on the fence with smart watches and smart bands if I’m honest. There’s a piece of me that wants a “normal” watch that I don’t have to tap or faff with to check the time and date. However, there’s another part of me that secretly …
Acer are sending me up to Scotland at the moment and I’m blogging this from the Scotrail Sleeper to Edinburgh.. I should be brutally honest though, and admit that I’m in the bar. The Scottish staff are giving me beer and I’m not refusing. It’s the way my …
As promised, I’m writing all the Coolsmartphone content this weekend on my phone. It’s part of #acerliveblog2014. There’s a number of challenges facing rail commuters still, even in our modern world of 4G communications, HD video and on-demand content. It’s not always the trains themselves though. On the …
OK, I’ll be quick with this one as Aran is going to update you on all the Vodafone Black Friday / weekend deals in a moment, but you can bag yourself the rather nice LG G2 (which we lovingly reviewed here) for a mere £150. That’s not an …
OK, here we go. Ready for the insanity? Black Friday, as you’ll all know, marks that horrific day, just 10 years ago, when the Coolsmartphone server went off-line for a day. People went mental, they put their phones down and went into stores, trying to find phones and …
Richard Branson is doing his thing with space flights, sure. It’s a nice idea but let’s be honest, I doubt I’ll be able to afford the journey. So, when I get an email telling me that a space flight can be done for less than £135 I’m already …
I have one rule. Don’t post about Kickstarter projects. We get several emails per day and I try not to mention them. However, this one looks like a very good idea. Picture the scene. You’re on the train, the bus or you’re walking down the street. You’ve got …
If you’re looking for a SIM only deal, have a word with the dudes in your local Vodafone store. They’ve got some new offerings, which we’ve just had mailed to us, and they won’t be available online until next week. There’s new lower pricing and additional data available. …
That time is nearly upon when the internet goes crazy for one whole day to try an get you buThey the latest products at cut down prices. Now, whilst we won’t see the door buster deals that are present in the States, more and more companies are jumping …
Well OK then, I’ll give these guys some airtime as they’ve been bugging me to heck about their app. Kabbee is a licensed minicab price comparison and booking website for Londoners. There’s an app for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone too. You just whack in your pick-up …
This weekend we’re doing something a bit different. It’ll involve one phone, a few battery packs and a lot of train journeys. From Friday all of my posts, pictures and updates across the weekend will be created and sent purely from my phone. We’re going to see if …
Xiaomi are a big name, a big name across the world, they are the third largest phone manufacturer at the moment, behind only Apple and Samsung. They are from China and along with companies like Oppo, OnePlus and Huawei they are starting to show people you don’t have …
If you’ve watched football on TV recently you’ll no doubt be aware that BT aren’t afraid of splashing their cash. They’ve already upset Sky TV by grabbing a big chunk of Premiership matches and viewers t’boot. So, if you’re gunning for the “quad play” market (broadband, TV, home …
Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod. How good is this eh? This man played Darth Vader. I mean sure, they got James Earl Jones to do the voice (y’know, with great lines such as “The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force”). Anyhooo.. This, my friends, …
There are some of us who get to travel through the channel tunnel on a jaunt, whether it be a full-on holiday or just a day trip. Others have to pass through on a business trip, but whatever your reason for needing to be inside the tunnel, it …
Do you use your iPad naked (ooooo missus, the iPad, not you) or do hide all of the Apple design inside a case ? I recently took my iPad mini out of its case and instantly remembered how thin and light the device was. I decided that’s how …
Here we are folks, the long awaited Xperia Z3 Tablet Review. First things first, why has it taken so long to get this review done? It’s simple really. The first tablet developed a dead pixel line from top to bottom and needed to be replaced. I also decided …
Hello there, welcome to the “listen in live” page for our podcast. Joining me this week should be Gary, Khellan and John, topics this week will be about the Nexus 6 almost being available, March of the Droids 2015, the Nokia N1 tablet, the crowd sourced Jolla tablet …
If I was in Los Angeles, and not in the middle of Walsall, I’d have seen a rather cool innovation from JLR (Jaguar Land Rover). It’s called justDrive and it’s not just built into their cars – this is an app that is available for Android and iPhone. …
The HTC Desire Eye is a new phone that will be of interest to many of us. It’s not just because of that 13 megapixel front facing camera with dual-LED flash, but because it is a stunning piece of hardware put together at a very affordable price. Oh …
Here is a pretty neat idea for keeping your devices tidily stored and charged at the same time. Available from Amazon and various other stores (including Maplin etc), this is the Quirky Converge dock. It’s around £45 (although if you can get the Amazon free delivery you can …
Like most people nowadays I love listening to media from my phone. Be it either music, podcasts or audio books, I love it. I would say 90% of the time my listening is done through headphones. Now, I mainly use two sets of headphones. The first are my …
The mid-range Ascend P7 launched six months ago and our very own Gary reviewed it here. Now it’s rumoured that the next phone in the Ascend series, the P8, is currently undergoing internal testing at Huawei HQ. Rumours are that the new device could make a appearance as …
You may remember our look into the world of virtual network operators, which can offer a great alternative to the main networks. MVNO’s, as they are known, use one of the original “big four” for connectivity but the pricing, plans, services and branding are all very different. Tesco …
People tell me that this is a known scam, but to be honest I’d not heard about it. However, a neighbour (at least according to the Neighbourhood Watch Newsletter I seem to get every week) had scammers do this to him. Luckily the guy realised, but this is …
It’s still in beta, but it’s hope for those who can’t install the relevant Skype client. This should be good news for those wanting Skype on a Chromebook, but to be honest we’ve already sorted that one and I couldn’t get the Skype for Web beta working on …
It appears that phone manufacturers are moving away from the camera megapixel race and instead onto who’s got the higest resolution screen. A screen resolution is measured by pixel density, or Pixels Per Inch “PPI” (not payment protection insurance). Now the human eye struggles to see anything more than …
In May EE announced a new in-car WiFi solution called Buzzard. Plop it into your cigarette lighter and it’ll beam out a WiFi hotspot for the kids to connect their tablets / phones / iPods to in the back of the car on a long journey. Now EE …
I mentioned fairly recently that you could get some pretty sizeable online storage from a variety of places but Amazon wasn’t included. It’s worth considering though, because they’ve now added the ability to upload an unlimited amount of photos if you’re using their Prime service. Unlimited? Is that …
If you’re a fan of our weekly podcast then you’ll probably already be aware about the delights that can enter your ears on a regular basis. However, if you’re on the bus, in the car or stuck on a train and want to even more audio entertainment, how …
Our National Heath Service (NHS), love it hate it, it’s still the envy of the world. As we move ever closer to the digital edge, it appears that the NHS is following too (abeit slowly). The NHS today outlined a number of new digital improvements that include making …
Google have announced that they will shut down the Google Wallet API for third-party digital goods purchases from March 2nd 2015. Google Wallet will continue to function, however, for Google Play purchases. Google Wallet will still exist and consumers will be able to make purchases for goods in …
This just dropped into my inbox today. The data friendly Pay and Go network is now offering 4G on their vvarious goody bag deals. This is great news for anyone who is looking for a cheap but reliable alternative to the big four who are currently offering 4G …
Hello there, welcome to the “listen in live” page for our podcast. Joining me this week should be Dan and Ian, topics this week will be about the Nexus 6, the Microsoft Lumia 535, March of the Droids 2015, the Nokia Lumia 830 I’ve got and no doubt …
I’m really not sure where to start with this Kickstarter project. To be honest I’m glad that (at the time of writing) it’s only managed to achieve $1 of the $35,000 which is supposedly needed to put it into production. Now, we know that driving and texting is …
The original Android Wear devices were about showing the world what Android Wear was about, the initial lineup included the LG G Watch which I reviewed here, it was just a black square on my wrist that basically showed some pictures of watch faces on my wrist to trick …
A new phone means that it’s time for a new case. This time around I have moved away from the Roxfit cases that are abundant for Xperia phones and I’m instead trying a different maker – Encase. I have already tested one of their keyboard covers for small tablets and, …
I recently managed to pry my iPad Mini from my little boy’s hands, meaning I could finally use it for myself. I’ve been sent the Tactus Buckuva for review, so now was the perfect time to test it out. Good Points The case has a quality premium feel …
Today UK independent phone retailer Carphone Warehouse announced that it would be exclusively stocking the flagship handset, the HTC One (M8), in blue for the first time in the UK. This striking coloured version of the phone will be available exclusively from the Carphone Warehouse, for those who …
