The metal-framed Samsung Galaxy Alpha in testing before it’s sent out into the world. Samsung The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is the toughest Galaxy yet. Drop tests of the new metal-framed phone — Samsung’s first ferrous foray for the popular line of smartphones — reveal the curved corners mean it can take a licking and keep …

Shutterstock If you want to post that beach selfie to Facebook faster than ever, EE now offers 4G roaming in 14 new destinations around the world. Customers of UK network EE, formed by the merger of Orange and T-Mobile, can now enjoy faster Internet connection on their 4G LTE phone. 4G costs slightly more than a regular contract or pay …

The Omate X claims battery life of a week. Omate How do you follow “the most full-featured smartwatch we’ve ever seen?” Last year’s Omate TrueSmart, which makes phone calls and shoots video and chucks in the kitchen sink, is basically an Android phone on your wrist. It’s sequel, the new Omate X, is a simpler and cheaper smartwatch that acts …

LG If you’re right in the middle of your favourite song but you’ve just got to leave the house, LG’s new Music Flow system has you covered. The Music Flow sound bar, network bridge and wireless speakers connect to an app that seamlessly keeps playing as you leave the house. Clever, eh? And you can control it over IM! OK, …

Microsoft If you fancy a Windows Phone for £60, you only have a couple of weeks to wait: Microsoft has confirmed the Nokia Lumia 530 goes on sale in the UK on 4 September. The 530 is one of the first Lumia phones to arrive since Microsoft bought the phone-building branch of Finnish company Nokia, and the cheapest Lumia smartphone …

Shutterstock A third of people in the British countryside are unhappy with their mobile phone service. New research shows that rural and remote areas of the UK are under-served by mobile phone signal, let alone 4G, with Vodafone the worst network for call quality. UK telecoms watchdog Ofcom compiled the data from surveys of phone users and data supplied by …

The new no-frills Nokia 130. Microsoft/Nokia Nineteen euros won’t buy you much in this day and age, but it will buy you a no-frills Nokia phone. The Nokia 130 is an old-school mobile phone at an old-school price for developing markets, with basic smartphone features like music and video in a phone that will last over a month before it …

The LG G3 Stylus, on the right, alongside its stablemates the G3 and G3 Beat. LG/YouTube The LG G3 has a great screen and a camera with lasers in, but one thing it doesn’t have is a pen. The LG G3 Stylus solves that, appearing in a new video showing off its Galaxy Note -rivalling phablet size and stylus. The …

Google Vodafone is the first UK network to sell the Google Chromecast as it expands the bonuses available to customers, especially 4G subscribers who get a discount on the cheapo streaming stick. All roads lead to Chrome Google Chromecast review Google Chromecast arrives in Europe: undercuts Apple, Roku Roku’s new Streaming Stick takes on Chromecast (pictures) Google puts itself front …

Old meets new: the classic Nokia 3310 reimagined as a modern-day Lumia smartphone. Curved/Labs Do you remember your first phone? For many of us it will have been a Nokia or Ericsson — but what would classic phones like the Nokia 3310 and Ericsson T28 look like if they were made today? Cast your mind back through the mists of …