Category: General
There was, for a brief moment there, a glimmer of hope for the Phones 4u staff. We told yesterday how a plan was being formulated to give bondholders of the company a share of equity in an attempt to get stores opened and trading again. Sadly this plan …
There’s various reasons that people want to get phones unlocked and, although some networks are now supplying unlocked handsets as default, many people make the choice to unlock on a daily basis. Let’s go through some of those reasons. It could be that you’re looking to exit a …
How does a brand new iPhone 6 at £29.89 a month sound? Good? Well, on giffgaff they split the cost of phones and talk plans (aka, “goody bags”) so you need to add on the goody bag you’d like on top of that. If you go for a …
Yes, I recently dropped my phone into a pool. I tried to dry it out, but alas the damage was done. I didn’t have one of those clever EVAP pouches to try and get the moisture out and I quickly learned to be a bit more careful. Trouble is, …
Welcome to the live, raw, unedited and often broken version of our podcast. Joining me this week are Ian and Nirave. This weeks topics revolve around Phones4U, readers questions, the iPhone pre-order stampede and our usual chit chat about our mobile goings on. To listen live it’s dead …
Three new Kindles have been announced today. Some may sound familiar but have extra grunt, whilst others are new to the market and have more storage. They are…. Kindle Voyage Costing jsut £169 it’s 7.6mm thick and weighs less than 180 grams. This one has a Paperwhite display …
Could Phones 4u still be saved? A last minute plan is being put into motion to swap some of the money owed to creditors for equity. If EE and Vodafone agree to the plan and start supplying contracts again, it could mean that all jobs are saved. If …
Our weekly podcast is just about getting into its stride, we’ve been at it for over two years now and we’d like to involve you guys in it a bit more. So we are going to try something we did ages ago, we want some questions from you …
Today, EE have updated their SIM only pricing here in the UK with data now offered up to 10GB a month. Before now the maximum data allowed on a SIM only deal was just 4GB, a massive drop from the largest 50GB package offered with a handset, however …
EE are really pushing forward with their NFC payment service they call ‘Cash on Tap’, and what might be one of the most exciting and most convenient services has just been added. EE customers with the Cash on Tap service can now use this for the London Underground. …
The shiny metallic Galaxy Alpha is now available in a choice of three colours on Vodafone. You can get it on 3G or, if you choose a 4G Red XL or Red XXL plan then you’ll get the double entertainment deal we mentioned last week. Prices start from …
Let’s get the what right out of the way: There’s been a tip from a trusted source that CPW will have the new Nexus device on sale on 1 November. Interesting, right? That gives all us all sorts of possible timelines to work with. But what does that …
Sky News is reporting that there’s more to the Phones 4u events of the last few days than at first thought. Vodafone and EE have until now been painted as the villains of the piece, causing Phones 4u to close stores now rather than waiting for the inevitable …
Carphone Warehouse have already extended a helping hand to Phones 4u employees today, with 1,500 jobs on the table for those working in current concessions sites, such as this PC World one.. Now a “source” has told Mobile News that 80 stores have already been earmarked by EE, …
If your commute involves walking then you’ll have probably witnessed the “Phone Zombie”. It’s a creature that stares blankly into a mobile phone without really paying attention to their direction or surroundings. Usually there’s a few last-minute turns as the person (or you) changes direction before hitting something. …
This morning Phones 4u stores up and down the country have closed their doors. They have effectively been blocked from trading by their suppliers. If you operated lots of ice-cream vans but all the suppliers of ice-cream refused to supply you, you’d be pretty much out of business. …
As you may have read yesterday, Phones 4u have shut up shop this morning with the firm calling in the administrators. As part of the announcement, Phones 4u owners BC partners attacked the networks, particularly Vodafone for not giving them enough time to sort out alternative arrangements and …
When Vodafone decided not to renew their contract with Phones 4u, it left the independent on thin ice with just EE, Virgin Media and their own (EE provided) network LIFE. However, now EE have decided to pull out of the independent retailer, leaving the chain without any of …
Following on from my other Inateck speaker review I have been sent a further bluetooth speaker to review, this one being the entry level BP1002B portable speaker. Features : Bluetooth v2.1 and EDRAux-inBuilt-in-mic for handsfree calling. Charge via micro-USBBuilt in Li-Ion battery1 x 3W speakerDimensions: 61.5 x 61.5 x 71.5 …
There was a time, not so long ago, that we thought 8GB SD cards were enough. Now a 32GB, 64GB or 128GB card could be considered normal and, despite the rise of cloud storage, many are still using their storage cards. Now SanDisk have produced this 512GB storage …
With the O2 and EE websites both struggling under the load of iPhone fans trying to pre-order, we headed over to Carphone Warehouse to check prices. We’ve already covered the Vodafone deals, but if you’re looking to get the handset on either EE or O2 then expect to …
If you’re looking to get the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus on pre-order today, definitely read our earlier story with all the links, stores and networks offering the device. As I type a lot of mobile networks have their websites collapsing under the sheer volume of traffic, …
For the past few weeks I have been working on organising a charity sailing event. Why is this relevant to Coolsmartphone? Well there are a few reasons for that. Number one, I have been doing most of the organisational work for this event on my smartphone. Secondly, my smartphone will be …
Good evening and welcome to another episode of the Coolsmartphone Podcast. This is the live unedited complete with awkward pauses and my ill thought out jokes. Joining me this week are John and Matteo. The topics as you’d expect are rather iPhone based this week. To listen just …
Come now, this is getting daft. I mean no, it’s not going to beat much in the specs race, but less than £40 for a 7″ tablet? Buy yourself a cheap Bluetooth speaker, install TuneIn, TV Catchup, BBC iPlayer etc and you’ve got yourself an instant internet radio …
One of the reasons I didn’t want to leave Orange was because me and my wife were both customers and I’d got used to the HD voice quality. In the early days (Orange rolled out HD Voice in 2010) this wideband audio functionality was only available on just …
On EE? Got data issues? Yeah, you’re not the only one. This evening, and for a number of hours now, data connectivity issues have continued to plague users. The most recent update we have now is from the EE community section, and this is being given out to …
Speakers. They’re great, sure, but not very interesting to look at. How about a Bluetooth one with a funky graphic equaliser on the front? Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Not only is the Helium T900 waterproof, but it can take calls, it’ll blast your tunes out and has these …
Public transport is my thing. I use it to get to work and to see friends. In a way I quite like it, because instead of being one of those people texting while driving (and believe me. I see this a lot from up high in the buses), …
Now, should you perhaps be holding out for a “certain” mobile phone, Vodafone have today announced a little sweetener for you. It’s available for a limited time and they’re offering Netflix and either Spotify or Sky Sports. So you can get either Netflix and the top sporting action …
A few months ago we brought you news that the government wanted the UK networks to band together to eliminate blackspots by sharing their masts and hence network signal in a similar way you roam on another network whilst abroad. However according to the Financial Times, the networks …
Innovation is a much abused word these days, manufacturers toss the word around like many other clichéd words and phrases in their press releases and promotional materials, sales reps blurt it out regarding every last tiny feature whatever they are trying to sell has. Even I’m contributing to …
Remember how giffgaff began their “#alltheboss” advertising campaign? The MVNO network recently tweaked their prices and packages but their advertising campaign definitely hasn’t slowed down. In fact, it’s gone over the line a little. It’s basically, as far as we understand it, a way to promote the network …
Apple are having a conference on Tuesday, which means a new device is imminent. What this also means is a new set of adverts proclaiming why the new device is the best thing since sliced bread (or the last iPhone at least). The success of the adverts has …
Heard about that cool Samsung Gear VR Virtual Reality Headset for the Galaxy Note 4? It was announced at IFA and, if you’d like one, you can pre-order it for £150 from MobileFun. The headgear straps to your face and makes you look like one really cool cat. …
We had a great stack of articles online yesterday, but unfortunately our magical Twitter rabbit failed to post any of them. If you’re following us on Twitter then you’ll have presumed that we were all asleep. Truth is, we actually added a stack of items. You can check …
Controlling stuff around the home with one of those funky home automation things does seem quite daunting, but this doo-hickey seems like a pretty good and simple solution. It plugs into any electrical socket and, using a smartphone app, lets you flick appliances on or off. The WiSPP …
Today at the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (or as we know it, IFA) Huawei launched Ascend Mate7 alongside the Ascend G7. The Mate7 features.. – A 6″ screen with FHD display for enhanced entertainment viewing. – A Slim 7.9mm body. – A octa-core chipset for superior performance. – Massive 4100 …
Welcome to the Coolsmartphone Podcast, episode 108. This is the live feed post, just click play on the Mixlr plugin below at about half seven tonight. Joining me this week are Dan, Garry, John and Johanna. Coolsmartphone is on Mixlr
What size of Z3 would you like? If you’re on Vodafone, it doesn’t really matter. They’re going to offer both the 5.2” Z3 and the 4.6” Z3 Compact. You know how you can’t really choose whether you want that fits-in-the-hand, 2600mAh battery, or the3GB, 1080p display? It doesn’t …
