Episode 78 of the Coolsmartphone Podcast will be spent trying to get our heads around the Motorola Lenovo deal and some other things of course. Joining me this week were Ian Furlong, Ronnie Whelan and Jon Love our special guest from Clove.co.uk. This weeks topics were quite varied ranging …

Many Android users are very familiar with Swiftkey’s excellent replacement keyboard, which is one of the best on Android. However, Apple are far more restrictive on custom keyboards – as in you can’t replace the keyboard, only make some enhancements in individual apps. This has obviously been vexing SwiftKey, …

Three may have been the first network to announce that they wouldn’t charge a premium for using 4G, but now your local Tesco are to do exactly the same. The Tesco Mobile 4G service, which runs on top of the relatively young O2 4G network, will be offered …

The Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (to give it its full name) has arrived on our shores. We’ve had info from O2 that they will be stocking it in its full technicolour rainbow of options. It’ll be be free from £32 per month on the Refresh plan. If you …

Morning guys. Don’t worry, it’s Thursday – nearly the weekend. Now, do you remember the Vodafone 4G deals that included Sky Sports Mobile TV? Now O2 are now doing something similar, and if you sign up to a 4G tariff with either 5GB or 8GB of data you’ll …

Now and again you come across some crazy news on the internet and today is one of those times. Lenovo are apparently in the final stages of buying the Google owned Motorola mobility for $2.9 Billion having bought it for $12.5 Billion in 2011. On the face of …

Blackberry have today begun to roll out their updates to Blackberry 10 OS to bring it to 10.2.1. This brings with it a number of advantages and new options including: Video Call has the new call screen FM Radio (Only Q10, Q5, Z30.. Z10 does not support this) …

This morning we received an email announcing that the Moto X is available to buy in Phones 4U stores from Wednesday 29th January (today). The Moto X heralded a big-bang-like resurgence to smartphone relevance for Motorola last year, so much so it earned a special mention in the …

The Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 is a honking great tablet with stylus functionality that was announced in the first week of January. Now, for those craving the foot-long tablet, it is available for pre-order. Order it now it will ship to you on 4th February (next Tuesday). …

I’ll be honest, Kensington sent me this a long while ago and it sat in a drawer for far too long. I’d forgotten about it until this last weekend, when “something” happened. The EVAP Rescue Pouch is a step up from the “bag of rice” solution should your …

We’ve all got very modern and well-equipped smartphones. They can take pictures, locate you from space, navigate you home and let you browse the internet. With a smartphone you can achieve a great deal, but you’ve still got a fairly short battery life and, for some, it can …

We’re hearing from many of you that your mobile data connectivity on Three hasn’t been well this morning.  Symptoms seem to range from extremely slow data throughout all the way through to having no data connection at all. Twitter is also alive with frustrated customers who are without …

The rear buttons on the LG G2 and the G Flex have divided the nation. Many say they are a gimmick, that they are non intuitive and that they get in the way of the camera lense. Those who have actually used them for more than a minute …

One billion. It’s a big number. It’s like the APR on a Wonga loan. IDC reckon that just over one billion smartphones were shipped last year – the first time this many smartphones have ever been shipped in a single year. Ryan Reith, programme director at IDC, stated …

To be honest, I’ve only got a vague recollection of how poker works, but it you want to play the game there’s plenty of apps kicking around the various mobile stores to let you practice and play without losing any money. When you get good and know the …

The Oppo N1 is unique in many ways, with its rotating camera and rear touch panel, but I’m pretty sure it’s the first phone to have its own horror web series. Oppo Thailand has posted the first episode of a drama named The Killer’s House on YouTube. In …

Chromebooks. Are they a good alternative to your day to day laptop? That is the question we are going to try and answer over the course of this review. I have been using one now for the past few days courtesy of Acer who lent me the device …

So. over the last few weeks the interwebs have been getting in all sorts of a muddle over a phone called the Nokia Normandy. This phone is purportedly Nokia’s Android handset. What? Nokia running Android? Yep, you read that right. It is believed that the boys and girls …

For those of you out there who want the Lumia 1520 but are little bit “size conscious” then worry not. Nokia have got you covered if these shots are to be believed. What you are looking at may be the Lumia 1520 z. These leaks come from China …

It’s unfeasibly big, it’s got a rotating camera, a rear touch panel, and it runs a custom ROM out of the box, but is the Oppo N1 CM Edition innovative or just a giant freak? I put my credit card where my mouth is to find out. So …