Rebtel’s Cheap International Calls app – Review

Rebtel’s Cheap International Calls App Review It’s that time of year again. The sun is out and those big school holidays are just around the corner, so it’s time to fill a suitcase and head off abroad for … even more sunshine. Trouble is, when you’re abroad, the …

Android Distribution Numbers For June 2016

Google has released the Android distribution numbers for June 2016, and the breakdown makes for interesting reading. Every month Google releases the stats which indicate the percentages of users running a version of Android and using the Google Play Store. This is useful to developers (and testers) because …

NatualRays Bluetooth Speaker – Review

Well, this is small. I’ll give it that. You can bag one on eBay for $28.99 in the US or £21.99 in the UK. There’s a blue one or this green one. In the box you’ll get a USB-to-microUSB cable for charging and a 3.5mm-to-microUSB cable should you …

Virgin add entertainment to your train journeys

A journey for me to London usually falls into two categories. I either take a “cheap” train which takes a couple of hours, stops at places I’ve never heard of and has no on-board “booster” so the signal on your phone is totally pants. If, however, I pay …

FireOS 5.1.4 Rolling Out

My trusty Amazon Fire tablet updated over the air this week and the new version number of FireOS is 5.1.4. FireOS is Amazon’s operating system, based on Android, which is built to run on the range of Amazon Fire tablets. It definitely has a different look and feel …

dial wearable now on Three PAYG

UK network Three have now made their latest exclusive device the ‘dial’ from will.i.am. It’s available on Pay As You Go for anyone wanting to purchase – no need for a contract. The dial is an interesting idea – making a smartphone with voice assistant available on your …

HTC post some rather disappointing revenue figures

Following the launch of the HTC 10, all eyes are on the HTC revenue figures. The company has just announced their unaudited revenue for May 2016 and, well, things don’t look too hot. The company have announced an NT$6.75 bn revenue for May 2016. For  January to May …

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Mediatek) – Review

Last year I reviewed the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2, a great value device with excellent specs. Just over three months after the launch of the Redmi Note 2 Xiaomi announced the Redmi Note 3. I spent some pocket money recently and purchased one to see if it is …

Make your own Google Cardboard glasses. From food.

Yeah. It’s a weird idea, but someone in the US decided to make some virtual reality glasses with crackers. Not just any crackers, but Graham Crackers. They’re a bit hard to get hold of here in the UK, which is particularly annoying as my wife finds them to …

Noke Smart Padlock – Review

On first impressions you have to wonder why. Is this a product that didn’t need inventing? What was wrong with the way we do it now? Noke was founded in 2014 after a very successful Kickstarter campaign when it launched its ‘Smart Padlock’ product rating over $652,828 in …

Has TeamViewer Been Hacked?

The popular remote desktop app TeamViewer has apparently been hacked. However, TeamViewer claim the issue lies with its users reusing the same password across multiple sites which makes sense…. until reports started to surface users with 2FA were also affected. It appears hackers gained control of victims’ TeamViewer …

Get your mates on Three and bag a £25 Amazon gift card

Well. There I go again. I’ve included the entire post within the title. Now I’ve got to that Daily Mail thing where I basically repeat the contents of that headline, but again and again throughout the article. Hey ho… Three have come up with a new referral scheme. …

HTC 10 – Review

I write this shortly after reviewing the Huawei P9 and, I have to say, the first thing I noticed is how much heavier the HTC 10 is. The P9 is 144g and the HTC 10 is 161g. It might not sound much, but boy – I noticed it …

Ubuntu OTA brings Wireless Display to Meizu Pro 5

Announced yesterday on the Ubuntu site – the Over The Air update 11 for Meizu Pro 5 Ubuntu Edition brings the much delayed full Ubuntu PC experience from a mobile phone handset. In addition to this feature, this update also brings overall performance improvements to the M10 tablet …

An Android TV box – It’s time for me to dive in

Some time ago I nearly got into the whole Android TV Box experience. I’d written this post about how some “fully loaded” boxes are able to deliver Sky TV without you actually paying for it. I’ve not taken the leap just yet, but I have been messing around …

EE Launch 4GEE WiFi and 4GEE WiFi Mini

Some people call these things “MiFi” units. Basically they’re tiny gadgets that you can pop in your pocket which will fire out a WiFi hotspot for you to connect to. Share the hotspot or keep it secure, it’s up to you, but it can be a life saver …

XQISIT iE 200 Bluetooth headset – review.

I for one always have some sort of headphones stuck around my head, to be honest, I can’t even walk to the shop without popping a set on and listening to a podcast or two (the fantastic coolsmartphone podcast is one I happen to listen to). I have been …

Introducing – Syncwire

Cables! Cables! Cables everywhere! At Coolsmartphone HQ we are starting to get quite a lot of requests to review cables, not the most exciting subject matter but it is nice to have good alternatives to the usual high priced branded versions. Typically if you purchase a cheaper cable, …