The fallacy of connected light bulbs

It seems so simple doesn’t it. A short cut into making your lights ‘smarter’, with no need to re-wire anything or even look at a screwdriver. Unfortunately almost every brand has adopted connected light bulbs as their go to smart home tech and I’m here to tell you …

Microsoft hike Surface prices and blames Brexit vote

Following the Brexit vote last year, it appears that Microsoft has jumped on the “Let’s hike the prices in the UK and blame Brexit bandwagon“. It always intrigued me that in the past when we had a strong pound, we had the 1 dollar = 1 pound pricing. …

The Orange SPV – An update

A little update on the Orange SPV story we ran a short while ago. The SPV was from a different era – a phone with a numeric keypad, no touch screen and something called “Microsoft Smartphone” as an OS. John Brown got in touch with us because he’d …

Samsung S7 Upgrade to Android 7 available – ish

Our friends over the water are getting their Samsung S7 handsets upgraded to Nougat 7 finally but only if you are on T-Mobile in the US. Sadly, we still have to wait in the UK due to no longer having T-Mobile as an operator in the UK. Since …

ARCHOS to launch KODAK tablets into Europe

The KODAK Ektra is already a strong first handset from the company, but now ARCHOS will be helping to push the brand further into the European market by licensing the KODAK name. ARCHOS CEO, Loïc Poirier, tells us the following… We are very proud to become one of …

Blue Google Pixel coming to UK via EE

The Pixel was the first ‘Made by Google’ smartphone by the tech giant. It brought customers new features such as a new Google Assistant, and unlimited photo storage free of charge. EE were the exclusive partner here in the U.K. Both the White and Black models have been …

SAVFY Wireless Bluetooth FM Transmitter – Review

Get this for $19.99 from Amazon US or just £13.99 from Amazon UK and then stick it into your cigarette lighter / 12V feed. After a simple pairing procedure it’ll hook into your phone via Bluetooth and pump out the music via FM. Then it’s just a matter …

Google Assistant “Can I Help You?” – Apparently Not

For less than 24 hours, the new shiny Google Assistant was available on non-Pixel handsets running Android Nougat or 7.0 in old money. If you don’t know what the new Google Assistant is, well it is the new version of the service we have got used to on …

LG at MWC 2017 – Like a G6, Like a G6

If LG don’t use this song as part of their G6 launch I will be properly upset. The phone will be introduced Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona, Spain on February 26th. It’s not long to wait, but you can at least have a look at their new …

The Nokia 3310. Will we see Snake heading to Spain?

Want a proper old-school phone? Back in the day, when the internet was in its infancy and phones weren’t touch screen, the Nokia 3310 was quite advanced. For a start, let me tell you, it had no external antenna. A lot of phones at the time had a …

Coolsmartphone Podcast 197 Live

This week you can watch Matteo, Garry and Majid live as they record the Coolsmartphone Podcast. Coolsmartphone Podcast 197 Live will be available as a live stream embedded here and on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ2e4KBrp3w The show will start at 8pm UK Time-ish. While Matteo tries to avoid the trigger …

I accidentally bought another Chromebook

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but Microsoft Windows and I have had an argument. After many years together we’ve now gone our separate ways. Quite some time ago, when I first started messing around with PC’s, Windows 95, Windows 98 – they were the operating systems you’d …

Facebook to play videos with sound ON as you scroll

We don’t tend to have too many disagreements with our ad suppliers, but one thing we really don’t like is adverts that autoplay sound. Sure, we have to display adverts to pay for the increasingly large servers, but ones that start shouting some Daz washing powder at you …

Fancy more than just another Android keyboard? Try Redraw Keyboard

If you’ve got an Android device, then you’ll probably know just how easily you can swap keyboards. The latest Google keyboard comes with a raft of Emoji icons, so that you can convey your emotions in a text, a WhatsApp message, or a Facebook update. However, there’s only …

More LG G6 details emerge – focus on audio

We already know that one of the big announcements that will be made at MWC in a few weeks’ time will be the LG G6.  The G5, launched a year ago, was initially lauded for its novel module design, but that praise was short-lived and the phone sold …

More data and mins From Giffgaff 

If you are an avid reader of our site, you’ll know that us here at Coolsmartphone Towers love a good bargain. And whenever we find one, we like to pass it on. Well, check out low-cost carrier GiffGaff, which runs on the O2 network. Customers purchase bundles which …

Three launch Wuntu – A new customer rewards app

Three has today launched Wuntu a new rewards app for Three customers that will deliver a personalised range of offers, discounts and exclusive competitions. You’ll receive your selection of rewards each week and it’ll get to learn more about you based on his you’ve used to app in …