Category: General
The updates just keep on coming from Google. Along with the Quickoffice update, Google Maps is now undergoing a staged rollout, this time to version 7.3 The update contains a few UI changes and several under the hood fixes. Firstly, the notification window now has more detail than …
A short while ago we reviewed the OTONE Soundship Micro. It’s a Bluetooth speaker which also acts as a stand. Connect it up and boom, your tunes come out while you charge. However, there’s a bigger unit. A mothership if you will. OTONE call it an “intergalactic Soundship” …
The summer, at least here in the UK, is well and truly over. I’ve had to stop sitting around in my garden wearing just shorts, especially now that the police have told me that my front garden isn’t the best spot. It’s too cold, and it’s getting dark …
Mobile Choice have an awards event every year to celebrate the best of the industry in different categories from best handset to best network. Winners of these awards are usually quick to include the prize in their advertising or PR information so these results are a pretty big …
If you are a fan of BlackBerry devices and want to get your hands on their latest flagship, listen up. Vodafone have just put the Z30 on sale here in the UK. The Z30 is the largest phone BlackBerry have made and comes with a 5″ display, 8 …
So, thanks to you lovely people we’re pretty much there now. Only £40 stands between us and our spanky new server. We’ll be announcing the winners of our prize collection tomorrow, but I just wanted to say another rather massive thank-you to those who’ve chosen to donate and …
One device that is hotly anticipated here in the UK that has been available in the US for months is Google’s Chromecast. The media streaming device that connects directly to your television’s HDMI port and is controlled by your Android, iDevice or Chrome browser has been generally …
You may not remember the first ever iPhone commercial. After all, it was 6 years ago. It featured scenes of people using various telephones in movies and TV shows. At the end the first ever iPhone is displayed with a catchy strapline. Matthew Panzarino (@panzer), remembers this well …
The Xperia Z Ultra is a great bit of kit but with the giant screen I am worried that I will break all that lovely glass in my bag or pocket (yes you can put this beast in a pocket). So the first thing I did after getting …
I’d like to say a massive thank-you to everyone who’s donated so far. It’s warmed the ‘ole cockles and we’re already in the final few days of our donation drive by the looks of things. We’re trying to buy ourselves a powerful new server which will keep the …
Three have just sent out a press release confirming the latest Nexus 7 tablet is now available in the UK via their network. This is the WiFi model costing £199.99 and can be paired with either a PAYG or Contract MiFi for browsing access. Wait, you want to …
So, following the GiffGaff failure yesterday, now the parent network – O2 – has failed. It seems to have kicked off earlier today and, 11 hours later, there still appears to be people who are experiencing problems. The status page currently states that, as of 8PM… We are …
I’m a bit of an OtterBox fan. I like to have my latest device protected. By protected I mean really protected, I usually choose an OtterBox case happy in the knowledge it will be nice and solid. Well today OtterBox have announced something new and a bit different. …
Got GiffGaff? Got cheap data? Well, unfortunately that’s all you have as I type. The 2G side of the network seems to have failed, with calls failing to connect and text messages popping up with a failure message since around 4PM today. The GiffGaff Twitter guys have already …
Google has announced an update to the stable channel of Chrome for Android which brings gesture support to the browser. According to the latest Google blog post, in Chrome for Android, you’ll be able to: Swipe horizontally across the top toolbar to quickly switch tabs. Drag vertically down …
I shouldn’t really say broadband should I? I mean, any sort of stable connectivity would be a start. Perhaps even the ability to make a call that lasts more than 20 seconds? That’d be good. Today the Department for Transport has announced that 70% of rail passengers will …
Imagine the scene. You work for Volkswagen. You work on the Service section. You’re not the guy who sits in the showroom with the badge that says “Service” on it. Oh no, you’re not that guy. He’s the guy that gets to sell “Service Plans” and sells £17 …
Back in August the BBC launched the CBeebies app on iOS, Android and for the Kindle and now the same app has been released for the Windows Phone platform. The app which is completely free of in app purchases has since kept my little one occupied with its …
We’re over half-way to our goal now and, again, I must thank everyone for helping towards our new server. Coolsmartphone has been going for well over 10 years now and we’ve grown to be more than just a “blog”. We have a dedicated team of knowledgeable writers and …
Your phone camera, let’s face it, is pretty fantastic. It’ll let you take photos at any time and you never have to worry about going home to get your camera, because it’s always with you. If you’re anything like me you’ll probably have already filled up your phone …
If you’ve bought one of those shiny new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 handsets you’ll probably want to protect it. These cases are now available on Mobile Fun and include this case with funky laces. Look at that! It’s like having a foot against your head (and believe me, …
Imagine the scene…. Your boss strolls around the corner and tells you that you are needing to go on a top secret mission to some war torn part of the world and that he is going to want you connected the whole time so he can ring you …
Do you remember back to when you were a kid and you used to watch Knight Rider? Remember looking wistfully at the Hoff’s watch communicator that he used to talk with Kitt? I did anyway. Now we’re getting a step closer to this becoming a reality. I present …
Well, we kinda knew it was on the cards, now it has indeed happened. HTC has sold the remaining shares in Beats Electronics. Bloomberg reports that the deal is expected to complete in the fourth quarter and will raise $265 million for the rather battered HTC. HTC originally …
I want to say a big thank-you to everyone who’s donated towards the cost of our new server so far. You’re all amazing, and we’ve already got £116 in donations. There’s still a long way to go though, and we need £699 for a more powerful server to …
Now, if you’re in the cool gang and follow us on Twitter, you’ll already know that we’ve had a full hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. You’ll also know that it’s popped up on Three already, but we’ve now got the official press release, which is brimming …
Morning all. Hope you’re all well. Recently we’ve struggled somewhat with the increasing amount of visitors on Coolsmartphone. After the issues last year we, thanks to your help, moved to a new co-lo provider with ample bandwidth and we’ve recently increased capacity, but the outage during our live …
As recently confirmed by Google a new version of Android is due to be released rather soon. Around the time that Google releases a new version we often see updates to the major apps that make a fundamental part of the OS. The first of these updates appears …
Today I nipped to the local Three store to obtain a SIM card,. While there I was just making general enquiries about the Galaxy Note 3, the guy serving me said that the Samsung retail rep was in the store and they should be told release dates today. …
OLED (Organic LED) televisions with curved screens were first demonstated at CES in 2012 and the technology has hit the market this year for anyone with curved walls to buy. Samsung have confirmed that they will be releasing a smartphone based on the same technology with a plastic …
Just yesterday I asked whether mobile phones had stopped evolving. With an endless tirade of slab-style phones I really couldn’t see what could happen next. Where could phones go from here? Well, a lot of you are interested in wearable tech. A watch that you can speak into …
Amazon has announced two new Kindle Fire HDX tablets, one with a 7-inch 1920×1200 screen and another with an 8.9-inch 2560×1600. These screen sizes and resolutions are enough to give Google’s Nexus tablets a run for their money, and their 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 SoCs and 2GB of RAM …
Supply chain problems may add to HTC’s difficulties this quarter, if a recent report from Reuters is accurate. The news agency reports via “sources familiar with the matter,” that the Taiwanese manufacturer is facing shortages of the HTC One Mini’s aluminum casing due to “design difficulties.” The report …
There is, if we’re honest, a bit of a problem with phones now. They’re all a little bit too good. Personally, sitting here, apart from making me a cup of tea or driving me to work, I can’t think of much else that I want my phone to …
I can’t believe it’s been nearly half a decade since I got my hands on the the HTC G1, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Today marks the 5th anniversary of Android. The initial release was on September 23rd 2008 and we covered the launch and the new …
A fake Apple advert claiming the new iOS7 software makes iPhones and iPads waterproof has apparently fooled some users into destroying their devices. The “advert” circulating on social media sites claims that updating devices with the operating system installs a “smart switch” that cuts off the phone’s power …
The New York Police Department has started handing out flyers outside the city’s Apple stores, asking people to update to the latest version of iOS. Well, it would appear that the police in New York are entirely fed up of chasing after iPhone thieves. In New York, iPhone and …
Following on from my last post about a number of fake BBM apps in the Play Store, BlackBerry has finally given a statement on the status of the BBM rollout for users on Android and iOS, and it looks like things are on hold for the time being. …
Since everyone’s asking, yes. There are a bunch of “BBM” apps in Google Play at the moment. None of them is real. We know that people are getting excited about BBM for Android. We are, too. But we also need to be a little patient as BlackBerry works …
