Out of the blue, Sky has started teasing a big TV-related event for November 18th. There’s little to discern from the company’s mysterious teaser site and video, which simply comes with the strap-line “it’s time to set your TV free.” An upgraded Sky Go experience? A new, mobile-only service and pricing model? A wildlife reserve for TVs? Who knows, but luckily there’s just under three weeks until the company spills the beans. You can be sure that we’ll be there on the day, breaking out all of the tasty news nuggets as they happen.
When the UK government began pulling subsidies for onshore wind farms, it meant that private companies dedicated to harvesting renewable energy would no longer receive financial kickbacks when they sold their electricity to energy suppliers. The decision could have affected the UK’s total wind-collecting footprint, but offshore wind farms have remained exempt, allowing companies like Dong — Denmark’s largest energy company — to commit to new, massive installations in British waters. The company announced it is to build the world’s biggest offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea, around 19 kilometres off the coast of Cumbria.
Fancy yourself a fan of playing awesome PC shooters online? Boy howdy, do I have a story for you: Developer Hi-rez Studios has released every game in its Tribes series for free on its website as part of the franchise’s 21st birthday celebration. That means everything from Starseige: Tribes to the free-to-play Tribes: Ascendis available right now, gratis. And you don’t even have to buy it a drink — the party’s on Hi-rez’s dime! As if you had any big plans for this weekend anyway.
EE split its pay-monthly plans into two tiers a couple of years ago, offering “double-speed” data and the highest allowances to anyone willing to shell out for its pricey “Extra” tariffs. Naturally, 4G contracts have become increasingly more affordable since, leaving Brewsters everywhere with pockets ablaze. Not to worry, as EE has quietly introduced new “Complete” tariffs crafted for high rollers that get through data as quickly as they get through cash. Like EE’s Extra plans, opting for a Complete package affords you unlimited calls and texts, as well as “double-speed” data. But only on a Complete tariff will you find a 50GB monthly data allowance, inclusive international and 084/087 calling minutes, picture messages and the option to upgrade your handset early, one year into the 24-month contract. As you’ve probably gathered, these plans are just a little on the expensive side.
Today on In Case You Missed It: MIT’s Tangible Media Group created clothes and shoes partially made of living bacteria that react to sweat by opening small vents in the garment. A new Kickstarter for a drone would use your phone as the camera. And anyone who has had to wait out the confined space torture of having an MRI scan done should be into this news: The first full-body PET scanner is being built. PET scans can also reveal how your body works rather than just images like a MRI, so this is great news for imaging technology in general.
Last month, HTC launched its latest mid range dual-SIM smartphone, the Desire 728G, in China, and now it looks like that the company is gearing up to launch the handset in India. Mumbai-based retailer Mahesh Telecom states that the 728G will be up for grabs for Rs. 17,990 ($275) in both White and Grey colorways.
The Desire 728G packs a 5.5-inch HD display, a 1.3GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6753 64-bit processor, a Mali-T760 GPU, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable internal storage, a 13MP rear-facing camera, a 5MP selfie shooter and a 2,800mAh non-removable battery.
If you’re based in India, like the sound of the Desire 728G and would like to find out more about the procedure of picking one up from Mahesh Telecom if and when it launches in the region– hit the source link below.
Calling abroad can be an expensive hobby, especially from a mobile phone, but UK carrier, EE, has announced some new options for its customers in the form of its new international calling packs and add-ons that will bring down the price of calling friends and loved ones living overseas down to as little as 1p a minute.
There are four options to choose from, so let’s take a look at what the various options bring to the table.
International Extra Pack:
Only available in the first 3 months of your contract
500 minutes to friends and family on landline or mobile numbers in 100 countries for £20 a month, making the calls just 4p per minute
Once enabled, the pack stays active for the length of your contract, so if you have 21 months remaining on your contract, that’s 21 x £10 monthly payments.
The 100 countries includes a good selection of countries, including South Africa, India, Pakistan, the USA, and Japan.
Can call 5 numbers per month
International Extra Add-on – is the same as the pack except for two differences:
Only 250 minutes to call landlines and mobiles, making the calls 8p per minute.
It’s a recurring add-in which can be removed or added at any time, still £20 per month.
International pack:
1,000 minutes to call friends and family overseas for just £10 a month – making the calls just 1p per minute
Call landlines and mobiles in 50 countries, including South Africa, the USA, India, and Germany
The pack stays activated for the life of your contract, so if you have 21 months remaining on your plan, that would be 21 x £10
Can call 5 numbers per month
The International Add-on offers the same as the pack, other than:
Calls being limited to 500 minutes – making the calls 2p per minute
The ability to activate or remove the add-on as you wish.
Considering the options, the International Pack would appear to offer the best value for money at £10 per month, so long as your friends and loved ones live in one of the 50 eligible countries. You can’t really argue with 1p per minute, unless there’s a free option.
EE customers who take out one of the plans before December 9 will receive a 50% bump in allowances, which means 750 minutes for the International Extra, and 1,500 minutes for the International Pack.
What do you think of EE’s offerings? Let us know which method you use to call abroad in the comments below.
Press release:
30 October 2015
New Price Packs and Add-ons give EE pay monthly mobile and SIM only customers greater convenience and value when making international calls on the UK’s biggest and fastest mobile network
International Packs and Add-ons allow EE mobile customers to make calls to the most popular international destinations from the UK, with callings charges equating to as little as 1p per minute
EE, the UK’s most advanced digital communications company, today launched new international calling Packs and Add-ons that represent market-leading value for customers making international calls on the UK’s biggest and fastest mobile network[1].
EE’s new international calling Packs and Add-ons, International and International Extra, offer greater convenience and value for customers making frequent calls to friends, family and colleagues living and working abroad.
The international calling Packs allow customers to make calls to both international mobiles and landlines (maximum of five numbers per month), rather than landlines only. International Pack customers can make international calls direct from their handset, with no need for additional apps, calling cards, or extra SIMs.
The new International and International Extra Packs provide:
International: 1,000 minutes to up to five numbers in 50 countries for £10 per month
International Extra: 500 minutes to up to five numbers in 100 countries for £20 per month
Both Packs are available to new and upgrading customers in the first three months of their plan and customers will need to keep the Packs for a minimum term, the length of which will depend on whether they are on a handset or SIM only plan.
With EE’s market-leading international calling Packs, customers will be able to call some of the most popular international calling destinations, including Australia, India, Ireland, France, China and USA, with calls equating to as little as just 1p per minute to landlines and mobiles.
In addition, to celebrate the launch any customer who takes one of the International Packs before December the 9th 2015 will benefit from an additional 50% allowance per month. International Pack customers will get 1,500 minutes per month and International Extra Pack customers will receive 750 minutes per month
International and international extra ‘Add-ons’ are also available, which can be added or removed at any time, for customers who prefer greater flexibility or are in the middle of their plan.
The new International and International Extra Add-ons provide:
International: 500 minutes to up to five numbers in 50 countries for £10 per month
International Extra: 250 minutes to up to five numbers in 100 countries for £20 per month
We always knew Nintendo‘s first foray into smartphones would be a bit weird at first, but this is definitely a bit weirder than we were expecting. Announced at a briefing for Nintendo’s investors, it was revealed that Nintendo and DeNA‘s first (of five) mobile game will be called Miitomo – yes, the “Mii” in “Miitomo” refers to the 3D caricatures that Nintendo uses as your personal avatars. There wasn’t a whole lot revealed about Miitomo, and certainly no gameplay details, but it was said that the game will be free-to-play and will feature in-app purchases – because that always goes well.
However, the biggest news about Miitomo is that it won’t be releasing in 2015 as promised – the game will be delayed till March 2016 because, in the words of Nintendo CEO Tatsumi Kimishima, they need more time to “promote and explain” the game, a process that will begin probably in the new year. Kimishima also said that the following four Nintendo/DeNA games would be more standard pay-to-play games and it’s been suggested Nintendo will use more recognizable IP for those games.
What do you think about Nintendo’s first mobile game, Miitomo? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The BlackBerry Priv, BlackBerry‘s very first Android smartphone, has been getting plenty of airtime the last couple of weeks. While we know quite a lot about the device already, we seem to learn something new about the device with each passing day – the latest learning comes in the form of a BlackBerry Priv feature overview video that BlackBerry posted on its YouTube channel earlier this week. The video walks us through much of the Priv’s primary features and actually spends very little time harping on about the device’s privacy features – take a look for yourself:
While privacy only gets a bit of a mention in the video, we do get a look at the DTEK app which appears to be always monitoring the security status of your phone and takes a look at the permissions that each app has. Other notable new features that we have really seen before include pop-up widgets which is a quick way of getting a widget up without cluttering your homescreen up – pretty neat. BlackBerry is no doubt hoping this video changes your mind about the Priv, making it worth your $699 USD – we’re still not so sure, but we have to admit it sure does look feature packed.
What do you think about the BlackBerry Priv feature overview? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
What’s the difference between a good and bad selfie? A neural network artificial intelligence, trained on a diet of over two million selfies, apparently knows. First, the important findings: good selfies involve being a woman — and one that’s tilting their head. A small forehead and longer hair are good points too. Filters help, as do borders. For men, while they didn’t rank in the AI’s top 100 (ugh, bias!), the bot advises that you show your full head and shoulders. Longer hairstyles (and ones combed upwards) don’t hurt mens’ chances either. Its creator, Andrej Karpathy, who has worked with Google Research and DeepMind, explains that it’s a convoluted neural network which does the image recognizing and, er, judging. You can judge yourself (for yourself) using the network’s Twitter bot (61.7 percent here), or read on for how it learned to do all that.
What’s the difference between a good and bad selfie? A neural network artificial intelligence, trained on a diet of over two million selfies, apparently knows. First, the important findings: good selfies involve being a woman — and one that’s tilting their head. A small forehead and longer hair are good points too. Filters help, as do borders. For men, while they didn’t rank in the AI’s top 100 (ugh, bias!), the bot advises that you show your full head and shoulders. Longer hairstyles (and ones combed upwards) don’t hurt mens’ chances either. Its creator, Andrej Karpathy, who has worked with Google Research and DeepMind, explains that it’s a convoluted neural network which does the image recognizing and, er, judging. You can judge yourself (for yourself) using the network’s Twitter bot (61.7 percent here), or read on for how it learned to do all that.
AIVAnet 