Vodafone UK now offers Pay-Monthly upgrades for its SIM-only subscribers
An easy way to save money on your monthly outgoings is to take out a SIM-only contract, handy if you are content with the handset you currently use and aren’t tempted by the latest and greatest. But what happens if you take this path and a few months later decide you really want that LG G4 or Galaxy S6 smartphone? Vodafone has taken notice of such a likelihood, with customers now being able to take out a 12-month SIM-only plan that includes a flexible upgrade option to a Pay-Monthly plan.
What it means is that you are eligible to upgrade to a new handset on a Pay-Monthly tariff after a qualifying period of 3-months on the SIM-only plan, with no Early Termination Fees payable. The SIM-only plans start from £9.50 monthly, and Vodafone is offering a 25% launch discount on its Red Value Bundles. For £19.80 a month, you can get 3GB of 4G data, unlimited texts and minutes as well as gaining access to premium content such as Spotify Premium, Sky Sports Mobile TV or a NOW TV Entertainment Pass. You will still need to pass a credit check to take advantage of the 12-month SIM-only Flexible Upgrade plan. We have the full press release below.
Full Press Release:
12 June 2015
VODAFONE UK LAUNCHES FLEXIBLE UPGRADES ON SIM ONLY
- Customers who sign up for one of our flexible 12 month SIM only contracts can now upgrade to a new Pay monthly phone bundle after only 3 months
- 12 month SIM only bundles start from only £9.50 a month
- Our Data Test Drive remains to give customers the confidence to experiment with their new phone or plan
Vodafone UK has launched the latest in mobile flexibility with our new SIM only bundles. As of today, customers who sign up for one of our 12 month SIM only bundles* will have the freedom to upgrade to a new Pay monthly phone bundle after only three months.
For customers that are waiting for the next big phone launch to upgrade or those that are happy holding onto their current phone, our flexible upgrade on SIM only really is the way to go. By taking advantage of one of these great value bundles, customers really will have the freedom to make the choices that work for them without being tied in to a full-term contract.
There’s no hassle, no early termination fees, and customers won’t have the remaining time from a previous agreement added on to the new one. Plus, they’ll get all the minutes, texts and data they need from just £9.50 a month. To celebrate this launch, Vodafone is offering an additional 25% off Red Value Bundles, so for £19.80 per month, customer can enjoy 3GB data, access to our 4G network**, unlimited minutes and UK texts as well as access to a choice of Spotify Premium, Sky Sports Mobile TV or a NOW TV Entertainment Pass as part of Vodafone’s Ultimate 4G Entertainment Package***.
Cindy Rose, Consumer Director at Vodafone UK says: “Our SIM Only bundles are already massively popular with customers, but we knew there was more that we could offer, so we have! It means that our customers now really do have the flexibility to upgrade to a phone or bundle that they want, when they want to. And with access to our ultrafast 4G network, our great entertainment packages and unlimited data for the first three months of a contract with Data Test Drive, customers really can enjoy more of what they love.”
Vodafone has now expanded its ultrafast 4G coverage to 564 cities, towns and districts as well as thousands of smaller communities across the UK
Come comment on this article: Vodafone UK now offers Pay-Monthly upgrades for its SIM-only subscribers
Anywhere SIM uses different networks to dodge UK not-spots
One company is promising to end Britain’s so-called “not-spot” problem with a special SIM card that automatically switches between carriers. The “Anywhere SIM” will alternate between Vodafone, O2 and EE’s mobile networks for the best signal, and it’ll also offer a single flat rate for roaming across Europe. The UK’s major networks are opposed to such a system, but the startup seems to have side-stepped the problem by working with a company based outside the UK. According to the BBC, this firm already has roaming agreements with British carriers — so it’ll be like using a foreign SIM in the UK.
Such an offering comes with a laundry list of caveats. When it launches in five weeks, there will only be a pay-as-you go option (pay monthly plans will launch this autumn) and the pricing isn’t cheap: 5p per text, 5p per megabyte of data and 5p per minute for calls. There’s no 4G and if you want to make calls or browse the web on a non-O2 network, you’ll have to pay extra. Finally, the SIM won’t switch between networks mid-call — if you encounter a not-spot, you’ll have to hang up and wait for your phone to pick up a new carrier. We’re skeptical about the practicalities of such a SIM card, but if you regularly find yourself with zero connectivity in the UK, this could be an option worth investigating.
[Image Credit: Getty Images]
Filed under: Cellphones
Via: BBC
Source: Anywhere SIM
Parrot unveils 13 new minidrones to tackle air, sea and land
Well, here’s a fun surprise! Parrot has just revealed a pile of inexpensive new minidrones, 13 in all, including one that tackles a new medium: water. That hybrid UAV/Boat is called the Hydrofoil Drone, and is joined by a couple of new ‘Jumping’ drones and a new flying model, the Airborne drone. Parrot chose to reveal all these new models, which cost a maximum of €200, on its French site and nowhere else, though it recently scheduled a UK event to reveal them on July 2nd. We have all the details (and videos) for the new products now, however, so let’s, um, dive in!
The Hydrofoil Drone is the most interesting, since Parrot has never done a water-based product before. But it’s actually a hybrid product that uses an ‘Airborne’ minidrone to power it, so let’s start with that model.
The Airborne model comes in two flavors: ‘Cargo’ (€99, or around $110) and ‘Night’ (€129). Both are pretty tiny at 58 grams and controllable using Bluetooth via Parrot’s FreeFlight 3 smartphone or tablet app. Each also has an autopilot that taps a 3-axis accelerometer and gyro for control, along with a speed-measuring vertical camera that also lets you take VGA photos to a 1GB memory card (no video, unfortunately). Charging time is 25 minutes with 9 minutes of autonomy, and you can cruise at up to 11mph while doing “aerobatic” maneuvers like loops or flips.
As for the different models, the ‘Night’ drone is equipped with LED lights to let you fly around in the dark and even flash Morse code signals. The ‘Cargo’ model, meanwhile, has an adorable Lego-style receptor so that you can… send Lego bricks to your friends, we guess? It wouldn’t be the most efficient way to send Lego, but it would be the most fun. Or you could pretend that the bricks are parcels and that you’re Amazon.
As mentioned, the €169 (around $190) Hydrofoil Drone is a hybrid boat/UAV model that’s powered by an Airborne drone. You simply click the Airborne model to the boat and fire it up, at which point it flips it to a vertical position. You can then steer it around the water using your smartphone, with a first-person view through the Airborne’s camera. Once the Hydrofoil section starts to plane, it can hit around 6mph and buzz around calm, fresh water for around 7 minutes. Judging by the video (below) it looks peppy, maneuverable and… well you probably don’t need any more convincing.
Finally, we have a bunch of new Jumping Drones. As with the previous Jumping Sumo, they’re basically two-wheeled remote-controlled cars that can ply rough terrain and do a unique trick: jump up to 32 inches in height or length. They come with retractable wheels and an on-board camera that gives you first-person steering and captures video live to a 4GB memory card. You can even record and broadcast your voice to freak out your younger siblings, thanks to a built-in microphone and speaker. As with the Airborne drones, it comes in too models: A Jumping ‘Night’ drone (€199, around $220), with similar LEDs and capabilities to its flying sibling, and the Race Drone (also €199), which can buzz along at a much quicker 8mph.
Parrot hasn’t said when all these new models are coming to the US, but as mentioned, they’re planning on a wider reveal on July 2nd. There’s no US pricing yet either, but the it should hew pretty closely to the European figures.
Filed under: Robots
Via: Stuffi (translated)
Source: Parrot (translated)
‘Battleborn’ seduced me with arcade spirit and role-playing style
Battleborn looked like it would be my kryptonite. When Gearbox Software showed the game to a group of reporters at a pre-E3 event, the roster of 25 characters looked like League of Legends clones, all of them clashing like a teenage anime enthusiast’s backup Tumblr. That the studio emphasized a 5-vs.-5 competitive mode, where players would hit and shoot each other in online matches, only further entrenched its cosmetic similarity to that game. What’s more, Gearbox promised that playing Battleborn would be all about the “ding” moment, when you level up your character in each match; again just like League of Legends. All those signifiers on top of a name that made it sound like an off-brand He-Man playset, and Battleborn came off like everything I detest about modern gaming. Then I played a co-operative story mission with four other people and never wanted to stop.
Orendi and Phoebe are two heroes with more character than you’d expect.
Don’t let the bad name and eSports marketing fool you: Battleborn is a delicious mix of old-school arcade spirit and Gearbox’s beloved Borderlands role-playing games. Battleborn utilizes the same mix of light cartoon art, snide humor and characters with complementary skill sets that invite players to experiment with how they destroy hordes of enemies in tight, tiered spaces. Unlike Borderlands, though, its challenges are compact. There are no huge worlds to explore, wandering from town to town and you don’t spend dozens of hours building your character up. In the campaign, which you can play by yourself or with up to four other people cooperating, you goals are refreshingly set and simple; it feels far more like a classic arcade game like Final Fight than it does League of Legends.
Battleborn feels far more like a classic arcade game like Final Fight than it does League of Legends.
Gearbox acknowledges that inspiration up front. The demo we got to play was just one section of a larger mission, where our crew had to fight against a bunch of angular monsters called Varelsi. (Those beasts work for some jerk vampire named Rendain, who’s trying to control the last planet in a dying universe. You and your pals are trying to do the same.) Our goal was to fight through an alien canyon, activate a beefy robotic tank and escort it to a giant set of doors so it could blow them up and the good guys could plumb farther into Varelsi territory. Before all that, though, we got to pick our characters from a colorful grid of portraits that looked, as Gearbox noted, like it was lifted straight out of Street Fighter. The simplicity of this setup was extremely welcome and its vivid, exaggerated characters were charmingly approachable rather than cloyingly trendy as they first seemed. Compared to other games at E3 this year, there’s a refreshing clarity in Battleborn when you play it that’s weirdly absent in its marketing.
Building your character in each mission is nice and simple in practice.
Only 10 characters were available in the demo and I tried three of them, each one providing a unique approach to the find-and-protect-the-‘bot scenario. Miko is a giant, sentient mushroom carrying throwing knives and who can toss out smaller fungi to heal companions or hurt enemies. Orendi, a four-armed demon in a witch’s hat and with a jack o’lantern grin, casts big, violent spells and shoots balls of purple fire from her hands. Rath is an iron-haired swordsman who looks like he’s on loan from Samurai Jack. He carries a big red sword and unlocks special moves that let him twirl around like a particularly sharp tornado.
The first thing that impressed me was how much character Gearbox has instilled in these weirdos even though you don’t see them on screen. Battleborn is played in a first-person perspective, but your field of view is full of each hero’s details. Orendi cackles and shouts nasty quips while her four spiky hands flit about the corners of the screen. A cloud of spores drift around you as Miko. Phoebe, another character I didn’t get to try, uses four rapiers simultaneously, and the way they’re angled on screen while you’re playing tells you everything about her; she’s poised and balanced with a flair to her sci-fi fencing skills. Vibrant personality is one of Borderlands‘ biggest strengths. It’s striking how swiftly Gearbox affects that level of soul in Battleborn in so short a period of time.
Gearbox has a knack for making games that feel like more than just another shooter.
The second thing I noted was how natural it makes an outwardly complex style of play. The idea that you have to build your character up from Level 1 to Level 10 in each mission, unlocking new skills and improving old ones as you dispatch enemies, sounds needlessly complex in the abstract. In execution, it gives Battleborn a wonderful thrust. It took about 20 minutes to play through the demo area, just enough time to fully build up each character. Each time they leveled up, a notice would flash on screen and you could pause to select from one of two upgrades. For example, do I want Rath’s sword to be stronger or do I want to be able to use his special moves faster? It adds just the right level of complexity to the rush while keeping the action propulsive, essential when you’re playing with a group.
It’s striking how swiftly Gearbox affects that level of soul in Battleborn in so short a period of time.
Each time through felt fresh thanks to the differences in the characters. While Orendi felt vulnerable and needed to keep a distance from the action, you could wade into the thick of a fight with Rath and just slice away. And although the stages themselves were just corridors leading to slightly more open areas, navigating them always changed depending on whom you were using. Some characters can jump twice, leading you to previously inaccessible platforms and hallways where you could snipe enemies from far away. It has everything old arcade action games needed to thrive; instantly satisfying action with multiple ways to approach and replay it.
Miko is probably gaming’s first truly badass warrior mushroom.
While I never had a chance to try out Battleborn‘s competitive options, I walked away more than impressed by just this fun-size piece of its campaign. Gearbox is making something with real potential that stands to broaden its success beyond the Borderlands games. If the generic name and oppressive trendiness of the messaging surrounding Battleborn have made this seem like a late-2015 game to dismiss, ignore that impulse. This is one to watch.
Google can tell you which Android phone you should buy
The sheer variety of Android devices out there means that it’s hard to know which one best serves your needs. That’s what we’re here for, but if you’d prefer not to take the advice of technology reviewers, then Google is now offering a second opinion. The company has launched Which Phone, a website that asks you a handful of questions to narrow down which device you should purchase.
Would-be Android owners are asked which three things they do with their phone most often, from a list that includes the obvious things like Photos or Social Media through to Staying Fit and, uhm, “Expressing My Style.” When you’ve gone through each one, you’ll be asked how much time you spend on each activity and which American carrier you’d prefer to use. When that’s done, you’ll be offered up a trio or more of suggested devices.
Interestingly, we ran through the site several times, decreasing our requirements each time, until we were just asking for a device that could handle phone calls, texts and playing music. Despite this, the service only offered up a list of flagships like the Galaxy Note Edge, HTC One M9 and LG’s G4. That’s because you’ll only be suggested lower-end models if you specifically select the low-cost tab on that final page. Still, seems like a bit of an oversight, since at first blush it looks as if only the very best phone would suit your needs.
Filed under: Cellphones, Google
Via: XDA, VentureBeat
Source: Google
Google Improving Chrome for OS X Performance to Better Rival Safari [Mac Blog]
Google senior software engineer Peter Kasting this week announced that his team has been working to address Chrome for OS X battery hog complaints by improving the performance of the browser on Mac, especially in areas where Safari appears to do better (via iPhoneHacks).
Chrome for OS X has received multiple under the hood improvements that should result in faster performance and longer battery life while browsing. The browser, for example, now requires significantly less CPU usage when loading the Google search results page and various other websites.
The other technical changes to Chrome for OS X are outlined as follows:
“The team has been working on addressing this; here are some cases that have recently been improved on trunk:
Before: Renderers for background tabs had the same priority as for foreground tabs.
Now: Renderers for background tabs get a lower priority, reducing idle wakeups on various perf test, in some cases by significant amounts (e.g. 50% on one test).Before: On a Google search results page, using Safari’s user agent to get the same content that Safari would, Chrome incurs ~390 wakes over 30s and 0.3% CPU usage vs. Safari’s 120 wakes over 30s and 0.1% CPU usage.
Now: 66% reduction in both timer firings and CPU use. Chrome is now incurring ~120 wakes over 30s and 0.1% CPU use, on par with Safari.Before: On capitalone.com, Chromium incurs ~1010 wakeups over 30s vs. Safari’s ~490 wakes.
Now: ~30% reduction in timer firings. Chrome is now incurring ~721 wakeups over 30s.Before: On amazon.com, Chromium incurs 768 wakups over 30s and consumes ~0.7% CPU vs. Safari’s 312 wakes over 30s and ~0.1% CPU.
Now: ~59% reduction in timer firings and ~70% reduction in CPU use. Chrome is now incurring ~316 wakeups over 30s, and 0.2% CPU use, on par with Safari at 312 wakes, and 0.1% CPU use.”
The changes should first appear in Chromium before going live on Chrome for OS X.
Deal: Blu Vivo Air (4.8-inch 720p, octa-core, 5.1 mm thick) is just $150 on Amazon
US-based phone maker Blu made a name for itself with affordable devices with decent specifications, and the Vivo Air is one of its best offerings. Today only, the Vivo Air is available on Amazon for $149.
The Vivo Air launched at CES in January, bringing a great 4.8-inch 720p AMOLED display, an octa-core processor from MediaTek, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage (sadly there’s no microSD card slot), an 8MP rear camera, and a 2,100 mAh battery. Everything is packed into a nice, albeit unoriginal design, that impresses through its petite waistline of just 5.1 mm. Our Lanh Nguyen called the Vivo Air’s build quality “fantastic” in his review, but he also singled out the camera, lack of LTE, and occasionally performance hiccups as drawbacks.
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The biggest selling point of the Vivo Air is its price. Initially available for $199, the smartphone can normally be had for $180 on Amazon, but today only, the retail giant is offering both variants of the phone for $149. That’s a great deal for what this phone offers, and we definitely recommend you consider it if you’re looking for something affordable.
Get the Blu Vivo Air (black or white) for $149.99 on Amazon
This Amazon Deal of the Day is valid for another 20 hours or so (US only). Happy shopping!
7 reasons why you should develop apps for Android rather than iOS
There are multiple operating systems powering our mobile devices today. For both indie developers and large companies, there is a critical question that needs to be answered before development begins: what platform should be targeted first? For larger companies, with more resources, development can be done simultaneously for different platforms, while for smaller shops, it is a very critical question, which could determine the success or failure of the business.
In this article, we discuss seven reasons why we believe developers should develop apps for Android devices first, rather than iOS, Windows and/or Blackberry.
7. Portability
Native Android apps are developed using the Java programming language, and can easily be ported to other mobile operating systems like Blackberry, Symbian and Ubuntu. In addition, Android apps can also be ported easily to Chrome OS. Not surprisingly, Microsoft has also announced that it will provide an easy method to port Android apps to Windows 10 devices.
6. Android Studio
Android Studio is an excellent IDE, based on the equally excellent IntelliJ IDE. As the name suggests, Android Studio is an IDE designed and developed specifically for Android app development. It is blazingly fast and efficient, and you can setup a new Android project for different types of Android apps within seconds. When Android was launched, Android app development was done with Eclipse and the Android Developer Tools plugin. However, that changed with the release of Android Studio. Some key features include:
- Gradle-based build system
- Live-layout WYSIWYG Editor with real time app layout rendering
- Option to preview a layout on multiple screen configurations while editing
- Build variants and multiple apk file generation
- Lint tools (used to catch usability, performance, version compatibility and other issues)
- Supports developing Android Wear, TV and Auto apps
- Enables app integration with Google Cloud Platform (App Engine and Google Cloud Messaging)
5. Java
Java is a proven and powerful programming language, used on a wide range of devices and operating systems. Learning Java can open doors for other opportunities, including the ability to develop applications for other operating systems (Windows, Linux) and devices. Developing for iOS, on the other hand, requires that you learn one of Apple’s development languages (Objective C or Swift). Both of these languages are really only used for Apple-centric development (iOS and OS X), and the skills needed to develop in these languages cannot be carried over to other operating systems. But to be fair, Apple has announced Swift will be open sourced, with Linux tools available before the end of the year.
4. Google Play Store
Apps deployed to the Google Play store are available for download by users within a few hours, compared to a few weeks for Apple’s App Store. An app can literally be updated multiple times a day on the Google play store, in response to user complaints and/or issues, while on the App store, your app would have to pass through the same lengthy process whenever you submit an update and/or bug fix. For a new app or game that might need to be constantly and speedily refined and updated in response to user feedback, the Play Store is the perfect platform.
Another excellent feature of the Play Store is the ability to release an app as alpha and/or beta releases, which would be available only to members of a selected group of testers. With this, you can provide early access to a subset of users, and use their feedback to polish your app before finally releasing it to the general public. You can also perform a gradual/staged roll out of an update. With the staged rollout, you specify what percentage of users should get the update, and you can then monitor the feedback and crash reports before increasing the percentage of users to receive the update.
3. Low barrier of entry
To develop for iOS devices, a developer must use a Mac. However, Android app development can be done on Windows, Mac and Linux. Also, to register as a developer on the Apple App Store requires a yearly fee of $99, whereas to register as a developer on the Google Play Store requires a one time payment of $25. In plain terms, all a developer needs to begin developing and releasing Android apps is a $25 payment, and a computer, while for iOS, you will require a Mac and a $99 yearly subscription.
2. Profitability
The general consensus has always been that the iPhone is used by richer and more affluent users, and so, iPhone users are more likely to spend money on apps than Android users. This might have been true in the past, but not any more. In most app categories, Android apps have been found to be as profitable (even more profitable in some instances) as iPhone apps, both for initial app purchases and for in-app purchases. Also, with many apps using a free with ads model, as long as the ads are being shown to app users, the app generates income. According to DAU-UP, the average revenue per user for Android games was a measly 20% of that from iOS games in January 2014. By December 2014, the figure had spiked to 65%. In addition, advertising costs are generally lower on Android devices, which means that apps can advertise to more users on Android devices than users on iOS devices for the same amount.
1. Market share
This has to be the number one reason why indie developers should develop for Android first. According to IDC, Android absolutely dominated the number of smartphones shipped worldwide in the first three months of 2015, with 78% market share. The estimated total number of Android devices in the hands of consumers, as at December 2014, according to statista.com, lies north of 1.6 billion. This is a staggering amount, and a very large potential market of users. Compare this with an estimated 395 million iOS devices, and 46 million and 45 million Windows and Blackberry devices respectively. If you are designing an app (or game) for the general public, it makes economic sense to target the platform that would give you the greatest access to potential users.
For developers looking to maximize their chances of success, be it from a mobile game or niche app, targeting Android devices first can mean the difference between success and obscurity. Do you agree, or have another reason(s) for going Android first? Hit the comments and let us know.
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‘Transistor’ takes its sci-fi swordplay to iPhone and iPad
Dig Transistor‘s blend of hack-and-slash action, role-playing elements, and sci-fi storytelling? You no longer have to sit down in front of your console or PC to give a shot. Supergiant Games has released Transistor as a universal app for both iPhones and iPads, so you can carry on the adventures of Red and her giant, intelligent sword when you’re on the move. The mobile title has a new touch-oriented control scheme, although there’s also an optional “Classic Controls” option if you’d prefer gamepad-like input. There’s no mention of an Android version, but we wouldn’t count on one when Bastion hasn’t received an Android port so far.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Tablets, Mobile
Via: iMore
Source: Supergiant Games, App Store
France tells Google: expand ‘right to be forgotten’ globally, or else
It’s been a tough year for Google, especially after it was told it must delist search results as part of the so-called “right to be forgotten” ruling. In that time, the company has vetted each individual request, throwing more than half of them out, but also getting some of its decisions wrong. CNIL, the French privacy watchdog, also takes exception with Google’s judgement, but is more worried that when it does carry out a delisting, links are only removed from Google results in Europe. The regulator today announced it’s giving the search giant 15 days to make them apply globally or face sanctions.
CNIL says that according to the European Court of Justice, Google must remove links “on all extensions of the search engine and that the service provided by Google search constitutes a single processing.” Google, however, believes it’s doing exactly what is asked of it: “We’ve been working hard to strike the right balance in implementing the European Court’s ruling, co-operating closely with data protection authorities. The ruling focused on services directed to European users, and that’s the approach we are taking in complying with it.”
Right now, the regulator’s demands serve only a notice, but if that period expires without any action on Google’s part, CNIL will seek to draft a report asking the CNIL Select Committee to establish a formal judgement against the company. This would likely come in the form of a fine, something Google is familiar with following previous privacy rulings in France and in Europe. CNIL threatened to take action last month, but is only now acting upon it.
[Image Credit: Shutterstock]
Source: CNIL
AIVAnet 