Helio returns from the dead via UBI Telecom
Mobile virtual network operator Helio has returned after about a four-year absence. Back in 2011, Helio’s service ended with Sprint’s takeover of Virgin Mobile, but now it is back with the help of UBI Telecom.
The company’s aim is to target consumers who use their devices primarily for communication rather than for data. There are two plans, one of which is still being worked out:
- Worry-Free Unlimited $29 – No Annual Contract Plan
- Free first month of service (No-risk trial)
- Unlimited Talk, Text (Including international), and Data (capped at 128Kbps with a restriction on video streaming)
- Included taxes and fees
- No annual contract
- Free voicemail, three-way calling, and MMS
- Nationwide Sprint network and free domestic roaming
- $29 / 30 days
- Voice & Wi-Fi Lover Plan – No Annual Contract (TBA in August 2015)
- Nationwide Sprint network and free domestic roaming
- Included taxes and fees.
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Sprint CEO calls out the Uncarrier and Legere as a “fake show”
When it comes to being bold and edgy, T-Mobile CEO John Legere constantly takes the cake. Legere isn’t afraid to move beyond the typical PR responses and jabs that we see from companies like AT&T and Verizon,and it’s his loose cannon personality that has at least partially attributed to T-Mobile’s recent reputation as the “cool” carrier. As it turns out, however, Legere isn’t the only one in the business willing to speak his mind.
Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure has now responded to Legere calling Sprint’s new All-In plans a “Swing and a miss”. Taking to Twitter, Claure fired off several tweets making his stance on the uncarrier pretty clear:
@JohnLegere I am so tired of your Uncarrier bullshit when you are worse than the other two carriers together. Your cheap misleading lease imitation is a joke.
You trick people to believe that they have a 15 dollar iPhone lease payment when it’s not true. You tell them they can upgrade up to 3x but you don’t tell them the price goes up to 27 dollars when they do.
You say one thing but behave completely different. It’s all a fake show. So its really #Tmobilelikehell.
Whether you agree with Sprint’s CEO or feel it’s just an angry response to T-Mobile’s aggressive marketing techniques, there are at least some that feel that Legere’s bad boy-esque attitude is more of a gimmick to make the company seem edgy. One thing is for sure though, the wireless industry has certainly changed a lot since the uncarrier initiative began, and for the better.
Even if Claure’s response seems more like a childish tantrum than anything, it’s still at least semi-refreshing to see another CEO in the wireless industry not afraid to get a little dirty and move beyond the PR-speak. Either way, it’s time to grab the popcorn and sit down — We imagine a direct response from Legere isn’t too far off and we’ll be sure to update this post when it happens.
Deal: Pick up the Hale Dreamer Alarm Clock for 51% off, ChargeTech 24000mAh Outlet for 39% off
Nowadays, many of us have replaced our standard alarm clocks with our smartphones… and for good reason. We do just about everything else with our mobile devices, and they’re normally charging overnight right next to our beds. But replacing your regular alarm clock with your smartphone doesn’t come without its downfalls. For instance, what if you want to view the time in the middle of the night? Sure, there are clever features like Daydream Mode built in to some Android devices, but for many, that won’t cut it. If you find yourself in the same boat more often than not, the AA Deals Store has a great deal going on that will save you some money on the Hale Dreamer Alarm Clock.
By the looks of it, the Hale Dreamer seems to be a simple smartphone dock. But if you dig down a bit deeper, you’ll find many more features that might be worth your while. With the Hale Dreamer, you can not only have the satisfaction of a physical clock with a snooze button, but also take advantage of the awesome SmartSilence technology that helps you get the most out of your sleep. You’ll also be able to set specific callers to right and others to stay silent, not to mention program it to send an auto SMS asking the caller to reply “e” for emergency or kindly, “call back later”. Sounds awesome, right? If you’re interested, you can purchase the Hale Dreamer Alarm Clock from the Android Authority Deals Store for just $48, which is a massive 51% off the normal retail price.
The Hale Dreamer isn’t the only great promotion we have going on today, though. This next deal aims to make charging your devices much easier, especially if you aren’t near a wall outlet. The 24000mAh portable power outlet made by ChargeTech offers up a fully-functioning AC outlet so you can keep your smartphone, laptop and other devices charged up wherever you are. It also has built-in USB ports so you can charge your smartphone, tablet and laptop at the same time! For just $199 (39% off) you can pick up your very own ChargeTech 24000mAh Portable Power Outlet from the AA Deals Store.
If you’re interested in any of these promotions, head to the links below for more information.
‘Beats 1 Plays’ Live Tweets Songs Played on Beats 1 Radio [iOS Blog]
Beats 1 is a multi-genre radio station for iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC that plays a wide variety of songs from indie and popular artists alike, but there is currently no way to identify tracks that have already been played. To solve that problem, web apps developer Callum Jones has created an unofficial Twitter account that live tweets songs as they are played on Beats 1 Radio (via The Next Web).
Beats 1 does offer archived playlists of tracks aired during featured shows
The new Twitter account is aptly named “Beats 1 Plays” and makes a single tweet each time a track is played on Apple’s live 24/7 global radio station, including the name of the song and artist with a #Beats1 hashtag. Simply follow the account on Twitter and you will no longer have to worry about missing out on what is playing while you are not tuned in.
Beats 1 does offer archived playlists of songs that aired during the radio station’s featured shows anchored by DJs such as Zane Lowe, Julie Adenuga and Ebro Darden. To access those playlists, open Apple Music, tap on the Radio tab, open the Beats 1 radio station, scroll down and select a featured show and tap on the Playlists tab.
Amazon’s giving Prime members stealthy game discounts
Amazon is now offering game discounts in yet another effort to call seduce you to a $99 Prime membership. If you’re thinking “what game discounts?”, that’s because the company rolled them out with little fanfare and is offering them in a rather sneaky fashion. When searching, all titles still show the regular prices for everybody. However, if Prime members carry a purchase through to the checkout page, they’ll finally see the discount. And it’s not just nickle and dime reductions on obscure games, as Destructoid discovered. You can find significant savings like $7 off the brand new Splatoon and a similar deal for Halo 5, which hasn’t even been released yet.
The only sign that the discount even exists is a note on qualifying titles saying “Members of Amazon Prime qualify for a lower price on this item when shipped and sold by Amazon.” We’re not sure why the retail giant is being so furtive about it, but you may want to jump on anything you like before it changes its mind.
Via: Destructoid
Source: Amazon
Silk Road investigator pleads guilty to stealing bitcoins
Disgraced DEA agent Carl Force has pleaded guilty to charges of extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice. The official committed the crimes while himself investigating the online black market Silk Road, as well as the activities of its founder, Russ “Dread Pirate Roberts” Ulbricht. In a statement from the Department of Justice, Force used “Nob,” a DEA-sanctioned online persona to conduct some after hours business with Ulbricht, amongst other things.
The rap sheet reads a little like the list of things nobody in their right mind should, or would ever do when operating in such a privileged position. Initially, “Nob” offered to sell Ulbricht fake drivers licenses in exchange for bitcoin, but quickly began selling behind-the-scenes information on law enforcement officials. Subsequently, he set up a second profile, “French Maid,” specifically to sell information related to the Silk Road case. In exchange, Force received digital currency that was, at the time, worth around $200,000.
Without the knowledge or permission of his superiors, Force quietly invested the bulk of his bitcoin haul into CoinMKT, a Mt.Gox-style exchange. When this enterprise ran into trouble, Force, now acting in an “official” capacity as a DEA agent, commanded the site’s operators to transfer a further $300,000 worth of bitcoin into an account that he personally controlled. If that wasn’t bad enough, Force then signed a deal with 20th Century Fox, worth $240,000, for the rights to the story of the DEA’s investigation into Silk Road — and somehow thought that nobody would notice.
Force’s guilty plea comes shortly after it was reported that the other figure indicted over this case will also admit fault later this year. Former Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges worked with Force on the investigation, and stands accused of diverting $800,000 worth of bitcoin to his personal account. Carl Force will now await a sentencing hearing, which has been scheduled for October 19th, presumably to give an incredulous judge time to stop laughing about the whole movie-rights thing.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Department of Justice
Sky’s redesigned Now TV app hits the big screen ahead of new box
Sky might be gearing up to launch a new Now TV box next month, but that doesn’t mean it’s ready to forget about all the users of its current-generation streaming puck. Preparing for the arrival of its new Roku-inspired hardware, Sky has today released a fully redesigned Now TV app for its original Now TV boxes. If you’re a regular user of the Now TV mobile apps, you’ll recognise a host of familiar UI elements that’ve made the transition to the TV screen. And if you’ve only poked at the Now TV app from the comfort of your sofa, then you’re in for an even bigger treat.
Before, the Now TV app for Sky’s inexpensive streaming puck was built around horizontal carousels that didn’t show a great deal of content at any one time. The new, grid-based layout floating over a black background is much easier on the eye, and lets you see more content at a glance, as well as extra info like synopses in an adjacent panel. The main menu is now hidden off to the left of the screen, rather than being buried beneath content cards in a carousel of its own. Moving from a linear UI to a gridded one is the main visual change, but Sky’s slipped some new features into the updated app, too.
For starters, genre-based movie searches are said to be much improved, and if you’re after a new series to binge-watch, each show now has a complete list of seasons and episodes available through Now TV. One of the biggest new features is undoubtedly the live TV EPG. Previously, all you were able to see was a string of the Sky channels your Now TV subscription entitled you to view, and what was currently being shown on those channels. In the updated app, however, you’re faced with an EPG-style list that gives you a brief summary of what’s on now, and what’s on next. But, enough from us — your Now TV box will almost certainly have updated automatically by now, so you’re free to have a poke around the new interface and features for yourself.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Now TV blog
Prince removes his music catalog from streaming services
Unless you’re a Google Music or Tidal customer, you’ll soon notice that Prince’s catalog is absent from your go-to service. Music from the artist is gone from the likes of Spotify, Rdio and Deezer, leaving Jay Z’s streaming vault and Google Music All Access as the only two places you can still listen on demand. According to Prince’s artist page on Spotify, the musician’s “publisher has asked all streaming services to remove his catalog.” TechCrunch reports that Google didn’t receive the same request as the other companies, so the tunes may remain available there. However, that library could be missing the songs soon enough as Prince has already pulled official tracks from YouTube. In case you’re wondering, they weren’t available on Apple Music, so there’s no change there. Prince has ties to Tidal, though, as the service streamed his Rally 4 Peace concert from Baltimore back in May.
As TC also notes, services with a free tier are among the ones asked to remove the content. However, music is still available for free elsewhere as a new track, “Hardrocklover,” was posted on SoundCloud yesterday. Prince has been quite vocal about his feelings towards music streaming and artist compensation, tweeting a quote from last week’s The Daily Beast article on the matter. He noted that since labels are part owners of streaming services, it “has offered labels the ability to pay themselves twice while reducing what is owed to artists.”
[Image credit: Getty Images for NPG Records 201]
“Essentially, streaming has offered labels the ability to pay themselves twice while reducing what is owed to artists…
– Prince3EG (@Prince3EG) June 25, 2015
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Internet
Source: TechCrunch
Remy Martin thinks an NFC bottle cap is the key to authentic cognac
We hope you like your cognac “connected”. Remy Martin’s wants to give its drinkers with “rewards beyond only its dense rich flavors.” That apparently corresponds to an NFC tag built into each bottle to ensure it’s authenticity, freshness.. and that hasn’t been swapped out for some other brandy muck. A tamperproof tag in the cap will broadcast whether it’s been opened or not, but only if you’ve installed the app, you big cognac nerd.
Source: Business Wire
Pluto TV will soon get ad-supported Hulu shows
Pluto TV is a new Internet television service that offers free programing. They have just landed a deal with Hulu, another Internet streaming service that will allow them to broadcast ad-supported content from their entire library. That includes major network shows from ABC, NBC, and FOX. It also includes other TV networks and movies.
The deal is a big win for Hulu as well as it will allow them to get their ad-supported content on Pluto TV’s website and future Android app.
There is no word of when Hulu content will become available, but Pluto TV said “soon”.
[Image credit: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff/Flickr]
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