Say goodbye to your UK paper driving licence, it’s all online now

As of today, driving licences have gone digital. Don’t go throwing away your photocard, though, as that’s still vital proof you’re allowed to get behind the wheel, but your paper counterpart is now all but useless. The easily misplaced document was introduced alongside the photocard licence for recording additional info like the type of vehicles you’re allowed to drive and how many naughty points you’ve racked up. But for anyone in the UK outside of Northern Ireland, these details are now held and easily accessible online. And it’s actually pretty convenient, since you no longer need to dig through kitchen drawers to find it or pay for a replacement if you can’t. If you need to share your driving history with anyone — a new employer, for example — you can jump online and request a one-use “licence check code” a third party can securely retrieve your info with.

There are certain stumbling blocks that come with transitioning from a paper-based to an online system, however. The check code is only valid for 72 hours, and the DVLA has come under fire for not properly considering how this could affect your impulsive holiday travel plans. Traditionally, car hire agencies would need to see the paper counterpart before agreeing to lend you a vehicle, but as the new check code has a limited lifespan, you could be left in the lurch if you wanted to hire a car on a whim — if you had no internet access and were outside the operating hours of the back-up telephone request service, for instance. We’ve reached out to some of the biggest names in vehicle hire to see how their policies have changed, and surprisingly, there’s no real concensus.

Avis, Hertz and Budget are happy to hook you up without a check code, whereas Europcar and Sixt require them. National and Enterprise are still figuring out how to approach the new scheme. They both recommend you make a code available if possible, but National says it’s not a requirement and Enterprise will endeavor to source any necessary information from the DVLA directly to spare you the trouble. Also, for now, both will still accept the paper counterpart as an official document, so if you think you might embark on an impromptu road trip this summer, perhaps it’s best to not destroy the parchment just yet, as the DVLA is currently recommending.

Filed under: Transportation, Internet

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Via: BBC

Source: DVLA

Buying a new phone: how important are the warranty and damage protection plans?

Choosing a new smartphone often depends on price, your choice of platform and/or manufacturer, as well as the recommendations from friends and family. But is after-sales care just as important to you?

What happens when disaster strikes and you’re left paying an expensive contract but have a phone that doesn’t work as it should do? If it’s a manufacturer fault, it should be covered under your warranty but if you’ve broken your phone, you may need an additional policy.

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While some of you may have insurance, others will rely on the options offered by your manufacturer. So what does your warranty cover and what happens if the worst does happen and your phone no longer works?

Warranty

The warranty is a key part of any smartphone experience as it determines how long each manufacturer is liable for faults with your handset. However, most warranty agreements have certain clauses and don’t cover faults that you may believe are covered under your warranty.

As an example, dropping your phone and denting the corner could result in a warranty claim months later for a faulty USB port being rejected due to accidental damage, even though the fault is unrelated to the damage. Another example I’ve seen first-hand in the UK is with manufacturers refusing to repair device faults due to liquid damage, even though there are no outward indicators showing liquid damage.

Some examples of issues covered under the manufacturers’ warranty are the headphone jack no longer working, the display not turning on (unless it’s been damaged), the USB port no longer functioning and most faults that naturally occur with a handset through use (any accidental damage doesn’t apply).

Let’s take a look at the warranty included by some manufacturers:

In Europe, all electrical items must come with two years’ manufacturers warranty but the same rules don’t apply in other markets. However, some manufacturers offer extended warranties for their flagship devices so the warranty included with your device will vary depending on which phone you buy and which region you buy it in.

When the worst does happen, you’re often left without a working phone so what do manufacturers do? Let’s take a look at some of the damage protection policies available:

Damage Protection

When disaster does strike and you’ve got a broken phone, your options are either to rely on your manufacturer or your insurance company to repair your broken phone. With most people buying expensive smartphones on lengthy contracts, having a broken device with no protection can often mean relying on an old phone while still paying for your new device.

The accidental damage policies of each manufacturer do vary and often, some companies will provide one-off assistance that’s out of policy but this depends on each individual case. Some manufacturers have revealed accidental damage protection policies to protect your phone so let’s take a look at the different options that are available:

The table shows that the availability of policies varies according to the region you purchase your phone in and each policy has specific terms regarding registration, the amount of claims and the period of protection. The policies can be categorised into two categories: the freemium ones that offer one claim at no additional cost and the premium ones that offer protection for multiple incidences at a price and personally, I think the premium ones are worth the cost when something does go wrong.

A special mention goes to the HTC Uh Oh program, which offers you $100 towards the cost of your next phone if you don’t make a claim for repair in the 12 month period. If any of these do interest you, it’s worth noting that some require you to register within a certain period to be eligible to claim.

A new battleground?

OEMs have traditionally competed on price and features but with the introduction of extended warranties and damage protection policies, after-sales care is slowly becoming another area that these OEMs can compete on. Whether it’s to compare their policy to the competition or just to provide reassurance to customers, after-sales care is only something that many users consider when the worst does happen.

Apple has always offered shorter warranty periods that its rivals but has made up for this with its Genius Bar and in-store service, while Huawei hopes that its extended warranty and same-day replacement services might entice customers to buy its handsets. HTC’s Uh Oh program offers some peace-of-mind should the worst happen and LG’s screen-replacement programs promises to repair your handset for free should the screen break. Samsung‘s Protection Plus policy offers extensive coverage and should keep you covered for the length of your contract.

While these policies do offer some protection, are manufacturers doing enough and do you really care about after-sales or is the price and features enough to base your decision on? Let us know your views in the comments and be sure to vote in our poll below!

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Deal: Pick up a Sound Kick Bluetooth Speaker for $50 (50% off), Nikon COOLPIX P530 Camera for $270

Father’s Day is just around the corner, and now is the time to start thinking about what great gift you’ll get your dad this year. If you haven’t found the perfect gift quite yet, we may be able to help. Right now in the AA Deals Store, we have a few awesome deals that you might want to check out!

For starters, you can pick up a Sound Kick Bluetooth Speaker for 50% off, which drops the price down to just $49.99. This Bluetooth speaker allows you to stream up to 7 straight hours of audio on a single charge as well as charge your mobile device with the speaker’s built-in USB port, even when the Sound Kick is running on battery power. It also provides full sound, natural bass response, vocal clarity & UQ3 spatial enhancement. We really think you’ll enjoy this super-sleek speaker through and through. The best part? If you order the Sound Kick by Monday night, you’ll get guaranteed delivery for Father’s Day!

The Android Authority Deals Store is also offering the Nikon COOLPIX P350 Digital Camera for $269.99, which is a massive 39% off the normal retail price. The P350 is one of the more capable digital cameras on the market, and will provide great quality photos for experts and novices alike. You can choose to go manual or automatic, zoom in or out with Nikon’s infamous NIKKOR glass lens, or even record clear HD video.

Great deals like these don’t come around often, so you may want to head to the Android Authority Deals Store links below before it’s too late!

• Buy the Sound Kick Bluetooth Speaker for just $49.99
• Buy the Nikon COOLPIX P530 Digital Camera for $269.99

There’s now a Popcorn Time clone for porn

Using Bittorrent to pirate brand-new movies and TV is nothing new, but Popcorn Time’s genius was to wrap the activity in an easy-to-use, Netflix-esque bundle. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before someone used the system’s freely available technology to build the exact same system, but, you know, for porn. The unimaginatively named Porn Time does exactly what you think it does, letting you pull down high-resolution grot and push them to your TV via a Chromecast or Airplay device. We would test it, but a) this is an AOL-owned computer and we don’t want to be fired, and b) the creators should have, surely, called it PopPorn Time. Right?

[Image Credit: Getty]

Filed under: Internet

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Via: Gizmodo

Source: VentureBeat, Porn Time