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

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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

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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

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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.

Filed under: Misc, Internet

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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]

Source: Variety
Via: Engadget

Come comment on this article: Pluto TV will soon get ad-supported Hulu shows

Vodafone UK review (2015): everything you need to know

The world’s largest network by revenue, Vodafone made the UK’s first phone call in the 1980s and sent the world’s first text on Christmas Eve in 1992. 

Related: EE Network Review (2015)

For the first few decades, Vodafone was the largest network in the UK, but recently, the company has seen its subscriber base affected by increased competition from its main rivals. The company’s already shaky position could be affected further in the biggest changes to the UK telecoms industry in nearly a decade.

Let’s take a closer look at Vodafone and what makes the elder statesman of the market tick.

Network technology

Vodafone currently uses the following frequencies:

Vodafone’s network encompasses over 99% percent of the population and its 4G LTE network is the second largest in the UK, behind chief rival EE.

4G LTE

Although Vodafone launched its 4G network nearly a year after EE, the carrier has rapidly expanded its coverage while also making promises over the quality of its LTE offering. On a recent trip to test Vodafone’s new network in the sunny seaside town of Bournemouth, we had the chance to discuss LTE with Dr Rob Matthews, the company’s resident expert. As we discovered, Dr Matthews can tell you where any mast in the country in and understands the network inside out.

When discussing the company’s stance on LTE, Dr Matthews told us that while it was initially about rolling out the coverage, the company is now focusing on making sure the network is right before switching it on. Rather than switch on the network as soon as the first cell site is ready, the carrier ensured that enough cell sites were in operation by testing both indoor and outdoor coverage throughout the popular resort town.

Vodafone signed a network sharing agreement with O2 – through the Cornerstone project – in 2009, to share their UK infrastructure. Unlike other projects however, the two networks share the structure the masts are located on but not the antennae themselves. In Bournemouth, Dr Rob also pointed out two examples of where Vodafone antennae were on the same site as O2.

The Cornerstone project is crucial to Vodafone’s LTE network in the UK as it means the carrier doesn’t have to bare the costs of deploying thousands of masts to improve its coverage. Alongside Cornerstone, Vodafone has also been repurposing its existing masts to improve 3G coverage (on the 900MHz frequency), while adding more capacity using the 800MHz (indoor coverage) and 2600MHz (long-range, high-speed outdoor coverage).

Like EE, Vodafone offers Double Speed 4G using carrier aggregation and while EE were first to offer the service, Vodafone’s double speed network offers faster real world speeds; across a series of tests on both networks, we found that Vodafone was on average, 10-15Mbps faster.

Vodafone’s double speed network however isn’t as widely available as EE’s and the rollout is likely to be a lot slower given the company’s focus on quality of network over faster rollouts.

Pay Monthly Handsets

Vodafone’s Pay Monthly (PAYM) handset plans are split across three plans, all offering 4G as standard; the standard plan is the entry level plan, while the Red plan offers unlimited minutes and texts with large allowances and the Red Value plan comes with unlimited minutes and texts, large allowances and inclusive calls to the UK from Europe with EuroTraveller Plus.

Vodafone currently offers a maximum of 25GB 4G data with its handsets and the Red Value plan also comes with a choice of inclusive allowance; depending on the tariff you choose, you get either 6 months or 24 months access to Now TV, Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile TV included free of charge.

As an example, the Galaxy S6 Edge costs £54 per month on Red Value with 4GB 4G data each month and 6 months’ inclusive allowance but upgrading to the 8GB plan costs an extra £5 per month and gives you double the data along with 24 months’ access to your chosen allowance.

Vodafone is also the only network to offer 12-month handset contracts in the UK and while these are incredibly expensive compared to their 24 month counterparts, the plans are definitely useful if you like to change your phone often. 12-month plans are available on either the Red or Red Value plans and come with either 6 months or 12 months inclusive allowance, depending on the tariff you choose.

Using the same example as above, the Galaxy S6 Edge costs £59 per month with a £279 upfront charge or £64 per month for the 8GB plan with a £229 upfront charge. Calculating the overall cost of each plan, the 24-month 4GB plan costs £1296 while the 12-month 4GB plan is significantly cheaper with a total cost of £987. The 24-month 8GB plan costs £1416 while the 8GB 12-month plan is again significantly cheaper at £997.

While some handsets are significantly cheaper with a 24-month contract, the high price of the Galaxy S6 Edge and other flagships means paying the upfront cost (and slightly more each month) can actually save you a lot of money over the life of the contract.

Pay Monthly SIM Only

While most customers buy their phones as part of a contract, a small (but growing) subset of customers are buying handsets and contracts separately, as it will often work out significantly cheaper overall than buying the handset on contract.

For these customers, Vodafone offers SIM Only (SIMO) plans with either 30-day or 12-month commitments and if you go for the latter, you can upgrade to a handset after just three months (but you’ll need to honour the whole commitment if you want to leave Vodafone).

While the network offers up to 25GB data with a handset, its SIMO plans are limited to a maximum of 6GB, which is still plenty but won’t be suitable for all users. Here’s Vodafone’s current SIMO pricing (subject to change, we’ve included the standard price and the current promotional price):

Pay as You Go Plans

Unlike some of the other networks, Vodafone offers access to 4G on some of its Pay As You Go (PAYG) plans. The company has two types of PAYG plans offering inclusive allowances for 30 days; the Big Value Bundles offer minutes, texts and up to 6GB 4G data while Freebie Minutes is designed for calling and texting without any inclusive monthly data.

Here’s Vodafone’s PAYG options:

Vodafone Perks

With the UK market becoming ever more competitive, networks are offering additional services to customers in a bid to persuade them against joining a competitor. Unlike its rivals, the perks you get with Vodafone do depend on which type of package you have with them.

Pay Monthly Perks

For Pay Monthly customers, Vodafone offers a range of perks but the main one is 3 months unlimited data when you buy a 12-month SIMO or 12/24-month PAYM handset package. This lets you fully test your smartphone without worrying about data allowances and can be incredibly useful if you’re not sure how much data you actually use.

Another key perk for Pay Monthly and SIMO customers is Vodafone’s roaming offers; for customers travelling in Europe, Vodafone EuroTraveller lets you use your UK allowance (minutes, texts and data) in the country you’re travelling to for £3 per day.

While EuroTraveller is certainly impressive, the World Traveller service lets you use your allowances in selected countries outside of Europe for £5 per day, which can be really handy if you’re going away for only a few days on business. Given that Vodafone has 4G roaming agreements in lots of countries around the world, EuroTraveller and World Traveller mean you will be able to experience superfast 4G even whilst roaming aborad.

Pay as You Go Perks

For PAYG customers, the perks are slightly different; Vodafone EuroTraveller lets you use inclusive minutes and texts along with 100MB data whilst roaming abroad for £3 per day and the limited data allowance (regardless of your UK data allowance) means EuroTraveller on PAYG is only particularly useful if you plan to call back to the UK often while on holiday.

The other perk for PAYG customers is Vodafone Rewards, letting you claim 10% of the value of your top up in Reward points every time you top up. Once you collect enough points, you can claim your reward, which varies from a selfie stick (that costs 800 points) to a 30 days Spotify Premium voucher for 1000 points, a £25 iTunes voucher for 2500 points or a new phone (starting at 3500 points). There’s a wide range of rewards to choose from so there’s likely to be something for everyone.

Quad-play

The rise in demand for mobile services has meant that mobile networks are beginning to challenge traditional fixed service providers in a bid to become the sole “Quad-play” supplier for customers. The Quad-play market is becoming ever more competitive as mobile carriers branch out to also offer traditional fixed line services such as TV, Broadband and Landline (does anyone even use a landline anymore!?) to their existing customer base.

Vodafone have been long rumoured to be entering the quad-play market and a few years ago, the company offered broadband services through a partnership with Pipex but this was cancelled after Pipex was bought by TalkTalk. Vodafone also acquired Cable and Wireless for £1 billion in 2012 but despite owning the company’s extensive broadband infrastructure, Vodafone are yet to launch their own consumer broadband offering.

For the past twelve months, rumours have abounded that Vodafone were set to enter the quad-play market and in February this year, the company announced plans to launch its own quad-play offering by the end of the year. Vodafone was also rumoured to be interested in buying BSkyB, which would give it an existing broadband and award-winning TV service but this seems less likely, with the network planning to instead launch its own cloud-based TV service.

As chief rival EE is set to be bought out by BT (which will turn the latter into a true quad-play provider), Vodafone are under immense pressure to ensure they enter the quad-play market as soon as possible otherwise they may find that their quad-play ambitions fall short.

UK Outlook: Who’s Buying Who?

The UK telecoms industry is about to undergo its biggest changes in nearly a decade and with companies buying each other, what does the shake up mean for Vodafone?

Related: EE Network Review (2015)

As the UK’s oldest mobile network, Vodafone is used to being the biggest in the market but since the merger of Orange and T-Mobile to create EE back in 2010, the network has struggled to regain its dominance. With many customers opting for EE’s 4G network (before Vodafone and others could launch 4G) or Three’s Unlimited 4G data offering, Vodafone has seen its market share steadily drop.

The shake up in the market will also hurt the network as the two key moves will mean Vodafone become the smallest network in the UK (despite the global group being the biggest in the world by revenue). BT buying EE won’t really affect Vodafone’s market share drastically (mainly because EE is currently larger than Vodafone) but Three’s acquisition of O2 will mean the two smaller networks combine to form the UK’s largest network.

There have been plenty of rumours that Vodafone would have been interested in acquiring O2 but given the buyout by Three (which is still subject to approval by the competition authorities), Vodafone finds itself on the verge of becoming the smallest network in the UK.

Final Thoughts

While the Vodafone Group has seen large growth over the past decade in its dominance of the global communications market, it has faced increasing pressure in its home market. A series of acquisitions in Europe and a €19 billion investment in the network through Project Spring has allowed the Group to offer quad-play services in several European markets but ever increasing competition has meant Vodafone’s dominance has waned considerably in the UK.

The network has improved its UK offering – in terms of both coverage quality and packages – over the past two years and managed to slowly increase its market share, but the upcoming shake up will mean Vodafone becomes the smallest network in the UK. The company has access to a large amount of capital – following the sale of its share in Verizon Wireless – and it may need to use some of this to offer competitive prices in a bid to attract customers away from the competition.

Vodafone certainly has something to offer for everyone

I have been a Vodafone customer for many years – and even worked for the company for nearly two years, giving me a special perspective into the world’s largest network – and I’ve first-hand experienced the improvements the company has undertaken. Its network is one of the best in the UK and on par with EE, while its customer services has improved dramatically in response to customer feedback.

Vodafone is by no means perfect but the network has made massive improvements over the past few years and if you’re based in the UK – or travelling to the UK and need a local SIM – Vodafone certainly has something to offer for everyone.
Are you a current or former Vodafone UK client? Let us know your opinion!

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