How much data does your radio app really consume?

Some 9 years ago I performed a test of radio streaming over the internet. I was fed up with the slim choice of very “samey” FM radio station so, with the aid of some cabling (or a smartphone FM transmitter) I fed the audio output of my smartphone …

Why HTML5 is the future of web

Over the last week I’ve been playing with the next phase of Remote Desktop Services. What is that exactly? Well, for those of you who have used a “SaS” (Software as a Service), you might already know. It’s the way of delivering desktop applications to your machine via …

MWC – LG pulls out. ZTE still to appear.

The massive mobile show that is Mobile World Congress is now just days away. This year it kicks off on February 24th, with over 109,000 attendees and the best of the mobile industry displaying their latest phones, gadgets and accessories. Trouble is, two big companies have already cancelled. …

EE wins Best Network again

Yet again EE have grabbed the top spot in performance as part of the RootMetric’s testing results. The network, now owned by BT, is obviously pretty happy about all, with BT CEO Marc Allera telling us.. We’re continuing to invest in our network to help keep our customers …

No more BlackBerry handsets from TCL

I vividly remember rushing across the Mobile World Congress halls to see the rebirth of BlackBerry. Chinese firm TCL had a agreed a deal back in 2016 to make BlackBerry-branded phones, which ran on Android. In 2017 the KEYone appeared on the Barcelona stands. There was a definite …

JBL launch some swish AirPod challengers

These are £99.99 and available right now from the boys at JBL. They’ve got a good pedigree too as Harman are the company behind them. They offer a “Pure Bass” sound and the ability to switch tracks by merely tapping the button on the left or right earbuds. …

How to make a traffic jam without a car

Google Maps, without doubt, is fantastic. After the company bought Waze for a huge amount of money seven years ago, it’s integrated a lot of the Waze crowdsourced driving features into Google Maps. The result is definitely beneficial for Google Maps users and we’re now used to seeing …

MWC – Let the rumours commence. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip

Each year the entire mobile industry gets together in Barcelona to meet, eat and launch. It’s in Barcelona and we’ve been on the ground every year since it first landed in Spain. In 2018 our HQ was a boat and the year before that it was a van …

Moto G6 Deal – Less than £90

This is a handset that’s more than a couple of years old now. The Moto G6 Play has a 5.7″ 720×1440 pixel screen and it’s running a slightly older version of Android (Oreo), but it’s now down to just £89 with Tesco. There’s 32GB of storage (plus a …

Get Gapps-exit done. Huawei says, “No going back”

The mighty Huawei and Honor have been properly stuck over the last few months. The delightful and totally sane Donald Trump has put the company into the USB security bad books, and has banned them from working with any US company. That means that upcoming Huawei and Honor …

Keeping your old router will cost you dear on BT, EE and Plusnet

Our very own BT has announced that customers will now face a £50 charge if they choose not to return the supplied broadband router once the contract ends. It comes as the company tried to reduce waste and mirrors a similar scheme by Virgin. BT have added a …

Chargeasap launches the world’s most powerful 150W USB-C powerbank

Sydney based consumer electronics brand, Chargeasap, has announced its latest innovation. It’s called “Flash” and is a 20,000mAh powerbank. This has already busted their funding goal on Indiegogo. It’s touted to be the world’s most powerful, most versatile and fastest charging powerbank. If you want to be part …

Moshi Digits Touchscreen Gloves- Review

There’s nothing like the approaching winter to remind you that you need to cover your fingers in a touchscreen-driven world. Upon writing this, here in the UK, we are being warned of a “cold snap” – so time to warm those hands up. In a world where people …

Building a modern, mobile-centric website

Websites, as you have most probably noticed, have changed immensely over the last decade or two. For us here at Coolsmartphone it’s been quite a transition. We had a separate website for mobile phone users, which was a slimmed down and low-tech version. To get the full experience, …

Electric scooters to be legalised in the UK?

Here in the UK these things have a bit of a vague legal stance for most people. If you’ve got a non-electric one, you’re probably scooting along the footpath. Likewise, if you’ve got one with an electric motor inside, you might assume that it’s fairly OK to hammer …

Realme 5 – Review Part 1. The Unboxing.

I’ve been wanting to take a look at the Realme 5 Pro since getting a hands-on with it last October. That phone is available to buy for €199, which works out at £168.45. The “Pro” has a 6.3″ screen with a 2340×1080 (409ppi) screen and measures in at …

Lewis Hamilton gets a little carried away with 5G

So, we know what this is, right? Last year Vodafone recruited Lewis Hamilton to promote their 5G network (because Lewis is fast and – durr… so is 5G, right?) Anyhow, now they’ve got him testing out virtual reality games and it’s pretty cool to see the results if …

Using Pay As You Go? Use it or lose it!

Whilst browsing through my tweets I noticed this exchange between Phones Show producer Steve Litchfield and the Vodafone Twitter account. It relates to a Pay As You Go handset / SIM and the fact that it’s been unexpectedly disconnected… The disconnection of an apparently unused line might seem …