Welcome to the Cool Smartphone Podcast Episode 164, where John is joined by Gary and Matt to chat about the latest mobile news. In this episode we discuss: The Moto X Force The Lumia 950 XL & how it compares to the £40 Blu 4.5″ JR The recent Apple earnings call …

Was £130 million enough to catch up on a tax bill for the last 10 years? Sales of £4.6 billion in 2014 and profits of £106 million in 18 months? It just doesn’t seem like a reasonable amount, and it’s becoming a political football. This, despite the fact …

Imagine the scene. You’re driving along and you put the radio on. You tune around, but every station is either pumping out the same tune or there’s a never-ending barrage of adverts for local window companies and the like. You dig around your CD’s but they’re either scratched …

When I was young I really didn’t, for one minute, think I’d be reviewing chargers when I grew up. Never mind though, because we’ve got ourselves a charging station from Tronsmart. We found it under the name of the “family size” multi-port charging station here in the UK …

Mobile World Congress is drawing closer and the inevitable rumour mill starts picking up pace. Also at this time of the year though we get a variety of figures from the companies regarding revenue and profits for the preceding year. Apples figures are eagerly awaited (even the BBC …

I love the idea of wireless charging. Part of the reason that I’ve had an LG G3 for so long is because I’m now so used to dropping it on a charging plate or into a holder in the car and really not worrying about wires. This, then, …

Picture the scene. I’ve got me a brand new LG G4. I’m polishing it, I’m treating it well and I’m being told that I spend too much time on it by the wife. It’s situation normal. But then, for some unexplained reason, it starts to reboot itself. It …

We are only a few weeks away from MWC, probably the biggest event in the smartphone calendar. There are many big flagships devices that are expected to be announced, the Galaxy S7, the LG G5 and the new HTC One amongst the others. Its at this stage that …

I’m terrible at backing things up. I mean, really terrible. I like technology because it makes my life easier, but sometimes it does make you a tad lazy. Backing up the photos, videos and messages isn’t too difficult if you’re technically aware. You can hook up your Google …

As Microsoft launch the new flagship Lumia 950 XL, it’s easy to forget the other end of the smartphone market, for example the BLU Win 4.5″ JR which was recently available for just under £40 from Amazon, but what do you actually get for your money a decent …

The other night I had a sudden realisation. Since 2003 this lovely website has been on the t’interwebs. We’ve been around the world. We’ve seen smartphones grow from clunky devices with tiny screens and terrible battery life to bigger devices with terrible battery life. I’ve actually been writing …

Powerline adaptors that allow you to extend your network have been around for a while, and potentially provide the perfect way to extend your network range. When these first launched on the consumer market, I purchased a pair to extend my extremely poor WiFi coverage. My home WiFi …

To be honest, Google Now just sits in the background of my phone, and it’s one of those features I forget is even there sometimes. Until I get a notification that is, and realise what a really useful app it is. Well, Google has announced that the company has …

Here in the UK we have a number of large overseas companies earning cash from UK customers but paying little or no tax. It’s usually achieved by the company in question shifting cash around internally or operating from foreign shores. Amazon, for example, is based in Luxembourg and …

Just a short while ago we had an excellent author, editor, podcast creator and general phone guru writing for us. You may remember him. He goes by the name of James Pearce and sadly only managed to write 1,707 articles before the boys at Honor went and offered …

Further embarrassing news for Google today following our earlier story revealing just how much Android makes. Today Bloomberg reports that Google paid $1 billion in 2014 to ensure that they were the default search provider on the iPhone and iPad. It seems that the deal was done on …

It’s an OS which is given away, and one that also makes Microsoft a bit of cash thanks to a licence Google has to pay them for patents used in each handset. So, during a long-running legal spat between Oracle and Google, it’s interesting to see just how …

If you’re prepared to do a bit of work then getting cheap calls is relatively easy. There’s a range of solutions if you have a mobile handset, and when you’ve got an internet connection then everything becomes either extremely cheap or totally free. Having a call package with …

Mobile gaming is an industry that is growing stronger each year with increased revenues every quarter. Whether you are playing an online game or an online casino (온라인 카지노) having the right mobile phone can make a difference in enjoying the game or not. Check our list of …

Last year, as you can see below, we got to speak with Saygus about their new V2 handset. Tim Rush, their VP of Public Relations, showed me their engineering samples as they sought to create a really high-end phone for the slightly more geeky customer, like myself. Packing …