Best Samsung Galaxy S7 deals

Samsung’s Galaxy S7 will arrive on 11 March starting at £569 for the 32GB model, making it just £70 cheaper than its larger sibling – the Galaxy S7 edge.

If the standard model is the one you want, buying it outright and opting for a SIM-only plan will more than likely be your best option.

For those without a spare £500 though, here are the best deals from the UK’s networks for the 32GB Galaxy S7.

EE

The cheapest plan on EE is an upfront cost of £109.99 followed by monthly payments of £39.99. Over the two-year contract, you’ll pay a total of £1069.75 and you’ll get 1GB of data, 500 minutes and unlimited texts a month.

Reducing the upfront cost to £69.99 but upping monthly payments to £44.99 for a total payment of £1149.75 across the two years will give you 10GB of data and unlimited minutes and texts a month.

You could also pay £29.99 upfront but increase monthly payments to £49.99 for 20GB data and unlimited minutes and texts. This works out to be a total of £1229.75 across the two years. There are other deals surrounding these three, but none come with any freebies.

Click here to see the other pay monthly Samsung Galaxy S7 tariffs on EE

Vodafone

The cheapest plan on Vodafone has an upfront cost of £199 with monthly payments of £26. Over the 24-month contract, you’ll pay a total of £823 but you’ll only get 500MB of data with 500 minutes and unlimited texts for that.

Paying an upfront cost of £99 with monthly payments of £39 will give you 6GB of data with unlimited minutes and texts. This costs a total of £1035 across the two-year period and if you pre-order before 10 March, you get a free Gear VR with £79.99 with this plan too.

For even more data, you can opt for the £29 upfront cost, followed by £49 monthly payments meaning a total of £1205 for 15GB of data and unlimited minutes and texts. This plan also comes with a free Gear VR when you pre-order before 10 March.

Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 tariffs on Vodafone

O2

The cheapest plan on O2 will cost you £139.99 upfront, followed by monthly payments of £33.50. This will equate to a total of £943.99 across the two-year contract for which you will get 500MB data, 500 minutes and unlimited texts.

An upfront cost of £99.99 with £41 monthly payments will take you to a total of £1083.99 over the 24 months but you’ll get 3GB of data with unlimited minutes and texts. This plan also comes with a free Jabra headset worth £149.99.

If you want more data, there is a 20GB plan with unlimited minutes and texts, as well as the free Jabra headset. This will cost you £49.99 upfront, followed by monthly payments of £49 for a total of £1225.99 across the 24 months.

Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 tariffs on O2

Three

The cheapest plan from Three involves a £99 upfront cost with monthly payments of £35. It will cost a total of £939 over the 24-month period and it offers 1GB of data with unlimited minutes and texts.

For 4GB of data, you’ll pay an upfront cost of £29 with monthly payments of £44, meaning a total of £1085.

Three also offers all-you-can-eat data for an upfront cost of £29, followed by monthly payments of £56. This plan would cost you a total of £1373 over two years. There are no freebies offered with the Three plans.

Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 tariffs on Three

Carphone Warehouse

Carphone Warehouse offers plenty of plans for the Galaxy S7 but one of the cheapest involves an upfront cost of £300 with monthly payments of £22, costing you a total of £828. This plan is with Vodafone and it provides 500MB of data with unlimited minutes and texts.

A slightly lower upfront cost of £79.99, but higher monthly payments of £36 with O2 will provide you with 3GB of data and unlimited minutes and texts. This plan works out to be a total of £943.99 over the two-year contract.

One of the best deals with more data comes from Vodafone however, with an upfront cost of £99.99, followed by monthly payments of £37.50. You’ll get 11GB of data with unlimited minutes and texts for a total of £999.99 across the 24 months. Carphone Warehouse is offering a free Gear VR with Galaxy S7 edge pre-orders but it appears this isn’t the case for the standard Galaxy S7.

Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 tariffs on Carphone Warehouse

Tesco

Tesco doesn’t charge an upfront cost on any of its Samsung Galaxy S7 plans. The cheapest monthly payment plan is £37.50, meaning a total of £900 across the 24 months. You get 2GB of data, 2000 minutes and 5000 texts for that.

Step the monthly payment up to £46.50 a month, meaning a total of £1116 and you’ll get 6GB of data with 5000 texts and 5000 minutes.

You pay quite a bit more for more data, with monthly payments creeping up to £57 for 20GB, 5000 messages and 5000 minutes. Across the two-year contract, this plan would cost you a total of £1368. There are no freebies with any of the Tesco plans.

Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 tariffs on Tesco

Virgin Media

Virgin Media offers the same tariffs whether you have TV or broadband with the company or not. The only difference is Virgin customers will get free unlimited calls to other Virgin Mobiles.

Like Tesco, there is no upfront costs. The cheapest monthly plan is £34 for 250MB of data, 250 minutes and unlimited texts. This costs a total of £816 across the two-year contract.

For £44 a month, a total of £1056, you will get 4GB of data with unlimited minutes and texts. Jump the monthly payments up to £52 and you’ll get double the data at 8GB. This is the most amount of data available on a plan and it will cost you a total of £1248 across the two-years.

Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 tariffs on Virgin Media

Giff Gaff

Giff Gaff hasn’t revealed its pay monthly plans yet, but we have worked out how much you would pay across two years with its SIM-only deals if you bought the smartphone outright.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 starts at £569. For 1GB of data, 500 minutes and unlimited texts, it will cost you £10 a month with Giff Gaff, for a combined total of £809.

For 6GB of data, 2000 minutes and unlimited texts, it will cost you £18 a month meaning a total of £1001. Giff Gaff also offers an “always on” data plan with unlimited minutes and texts for £20 a month, which with the phone cost would be a total of £1049 over the 24-months.

Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 edge tariffs on Giff Gaff

Best Samsung Galaxy S7 deals summary

If you want to pay nothing upfront, your options fall to Carphone Warehouse, Tesco and Virgin Media.

If you’re happy to pay a bulk upfront, the cheapest monthly plan across the board that isn’t SIM-only is offered by Carphone Warehouse at £22 a month for 24 months.

The cheapest way to get a Samsung Galaxy S7 overall with the combination of the upfront costs and monthly payments is offered by Virgin Media, although the data is minimal. If you can afford to buy the device outright, a SIM-only contract should be cheaper overall.

If you want a free Gear VR when you pre-order, you’ll need to head to Vodafone. It is only offering the headset with its Red and Red Value plans so make sure you check before you order and you’ll need to do this before 10 March.

It is also worth noting that some networks offer special features, like EE and its Wi-Fi Calling, so be sure to check you will still get these if you don’t buy directly through the network for example.

Bionic finger makes amputee feel texture on his phantom hand

Someday, amputees might be able to get prosthetics that can discern shapes and feel texture, thanks to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). Its scientists have succeeded in designing a bionic fingertip (PDF) that can make amputees feel textures and even differentiate between rough and smooth surfaces. The team asked Dennis Aabo Sørensen, who lost his left hand in an accident, to test it out. He said the sensations it gave him were almost like what you’d feel with your own hand.

Sørensen has been helping the EPFL with its prosthetics research for quite some time, so he already has electrodes implanted above the stump on his left forearm. Last year, the team used them to connect a bionic hand that can recognize both shape and softness to his limb. This time, they wired the electrodes to the fingertip, which was rubbed against several pieces of plastic engraved with different patterns. Sørensen reported that he felt the textures “at the tip of the index finger of [his] phantom hand” and was able to correctly differentiate between rough and smooth plastics 96 percent of the time.

The researchers (including a group from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Italy) also had non-amputees take the test while wearing EEG caps. They tested the subjects’ brain activity while touching surfaces with their actual finger against the activity detected while they were touching the pieces of plastic with the bionic fingertip. By doing so, the scientists were able to prove that their creation can activate the same parts of the brain that real digits do. Besides leading to prosthetics that can feel, the team believes their technology could also give surgical, rescue and industrial robots the power of artificial touch.

Source: Ecole polytechnique f??©d??©rale de Lausanne

Skype’s live translator feature now supports Arabic

Skype is probably best-known as a video chat client, but Microsoft wants it to be all things chat to all people — even if they aren’t speaking the same language. Back in 2014, the app gained the ability to take your speech and translate it into selected other languages so people who didn’t speak the same language could still communicate. Today, Skype is officially rolling out support for its eighth spoken language: Arabic.

Specifically, Microsoft says it is supporting Modern Standard Arabic, a language used in the Middle East and Northern Africa; while there are many localized dialects of the language, Microsoft notes that MSA is what’s taught in schools and used by journalists. Arabic joins seven other languages that are currently supported by Skype’s live translation feature: English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese (Mandarin), Italian and Portuguese (Brazilian).

Technically, you can translate your speech between any of those languages, but Microsoft says that it works best by far between English and another language. Over time, as Skype’s machine learning techniques are exposed to more and more usage, other languages will get better, but for now your best bet is English to Arabic (or one of the other seven languages Skype supports).

To use it, you can just turn on Skype translate in the Skype for Windows desktop application by clicking the globe” icon in a conversation and turning it on. For now, the feature is only available in the Windows application; Mac users and mobile users are sadly left out. But if your language of choice isn’t currently supported by Skype’s live voice translation, it’s worth nothing that there are a total of 50 languages supported in the app’s text chat translation feature. But again, you’ll need to use the Windows desktop app.

Source: Microsoft

Seagate released employee tax data in phishing attack

Tax season is upon us (sorry for the reminder), and apparently if you want the W2-form information of thousands of Seagate employees, past and present, all you have to do is email and ask for it. A company spokesperson confirmed the phishing attempt to Krebs on Security, saying that on March 1st a Seagate employee released 2015 W2 info to someone believed to be acting in official capacity for the storage-minded outfit. Yep, it’s pretty similar to what happened with Snapchat recently.

For Seagate’s part, the company is apologizing and offering two years of identity theft monitoring and protection to those affected. It’s also “aggressively analyzing where process changes” are required and will put them in place as soon as possible. Exactly how many people are affected? Seagate won’t release that data to anyone but the feds, but says it’s “less than 10,000 by a good amount.” Maybe if you ask nicely enough and email the right person you’ll have an answer. After all, phishing has about a 45 percent success rate.

Krebs notes that identity theft protection is one thing, but it won’t cover any types of loss stemming from fraudulently-filed tax returns. Last year, the Internal Revenue Service predicted tax-return fraud would hit $21 billion by 2016 — looks like this will fall under that forecast.

Via: Tech Insider

Source: Krebs on Security

AI made quantum experimentation easier for our feeble brains

Is the cat in the box alive, dead or… alive-dead? Questions like the one posed by the Schroedinger’s Cat thought experiment have vexed mere mortals for far too long, and the scientific community knows that quantum mechanics is pretty tough to wrap our human brains around. So, a group of researchers at the University of Vienna developed an algorithm to help speed the quantum experimentation process along and make it altogether easier, according to APS Physics. It’s dubbed Melvin and it was used in a quantum optics experiment to arrange mirrors and beam splitters to make quantum-entangled photons. Photons in Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states, specifically.

To hit solutions that the team couldn’t by using brain power alone, doctoral student Mario Krenn says he defined the goal, made an algorithm and left his computer running overnight. Krenn says that he was just guessing when it came to different arrangements and surmised that a computer could do it faster.

Much to his surprise, returning to the lab the next morning he found 51 different experiments that could hit the specified criteria for quantum optics. The results were simplified as much as possible to make them easier to read and understand, and Melvin can apparently even remember which arrangements deliver on which goals and can build on them for further experimentation.

Quantum theory says that these results should work, but that doesn’t mean the researchers involved aren’t testing them out in the real world. And guess what? They perform as Melvin predicted. “I still find it quite difficult to understand intuitively what is going on,” Krenn says, but admits that’s par for the course for quantum physics.

The scientific community seems to be embracing Melvin so far, too. However, once more complex experimentation occurs because of this new advancement, the simplicity of output might not last long.

Via: CNET

Source: APS Physics (1), (2)

Google hires 4chan founder for his expertise in online communities

The creator of 4chan just became a Googler.

4chan is a message board where users can post anonymously, with the most recent posts appearing above the rest. Chris Poole founded the site in 2003, basing it off 2channel, another board just for anime and other parts of Japanese culture. Ironically, he sold 4chan to Hiroyuki Nishimura, 2channel’s founder, in 2015. Poole had no plan to retire however, as he just announced he’s already back at work.

Google has hired Poole in order to leverage his 12 years of experience in “building online communities”. In a blog post, Poole said he is drawn to former and current Googlers for their “intelligence, passion, and enthusiasm – as well as a universal desire to share it with others”, and so he is eager to contribute his own experience as well as “begin the next chapter” of his career at “such an incredible company”.

Bradley Horowitz, the Vice President of Streams, Photos, and Sharing at Google, confirmed via Twitter that he is thrilled Poole is joining “the team”, which presumably means the Streams, Photos, and Sharing team. Although neither elaborated on what Poole will do at the company, don’t be surprised to see him improving aspects of the Google+ online community in the future.

You may have seen the news (https://t.co/jwjOBocqJk) from @moot. Thrilled he’s joining the team! Welcome Chris!

— Bradley Horowitz (@elatable) March 7, 2016

Maybe he can help breathe new life into the fledging social network, which, apart from its successful Google Photos spin-off, hasn’t really developed a strong and active following outside of hardcore Google fans.

Amazon job posting reveals virtual reality team for producing VR content

Amazon wants to produce virtual reality content, according to a new job posting for its Amazon Video arm.

The posting is live on the website Glassdoor and was first spotted by Upload VR. In the posting, Amazon seeks to hire someone “responsible for building the Virtual Reality experience within Amazon Video.”

Amazon’s posting elaborated: “Entertainment is evolving rapidly. The future will not be limited to passive 2D experiences. The Virtual Reality team will explore and create the platform and interface for immersive storytelling.”

The company said its VR team will also build an ingestion and playback platform for VR experiences. The posting further indicated Amazon is looking for someone with a degree in computer science, 15 or more years of relevant engineering work, and 7 or more years as a software developer. There is no mention of applicants needing previous experience with virtual reality.

Still, it seems like Amazon wants to go beyond creating VR experiences by building an entire platform for people to watch VR. Keep in mind this is not the first hint from Amazon that it is interested in this space. A patent filing surfaced last autumn, revealing Amazon imagined a VR headset.

That patent filing also suggested Amazon would create both VR hardware and content to compete with YouTube.

Lyft now lets you hail a car from within FB Messenger, Slack, and more

Not to be outdone by Uber, Lyft has announced that Facebook Messenger users can now hail a car from them instead of Uber.

Since December, anyone has been able to hail an Uber car from within the Messenger app. We explained here how exactly that works, and we assume this new Lyft integration will work very much the same, though the update hasn’t rolled out for us to test yet.

Lyft also announced it is expanding its API program, meaning developers can use Lyft’s application program interface to include ride-hailing buttons in their apps. In addition to Facebook Messenger, Lyft has integrated with Slack, Starbucks, Shell, and Google’s Waze.

While at first you might think “whatever”, it’s actually neat stuff. For instance, say you’re using Messenger or Slack to chat with a friend who is about to get a coffee at Starbucks, and then that friend asks you to join. Assuming of course you don’t have a car, you’ll need to hail a cab in order to meet up with your friend. Well, now you can use Messenger, Slack, or Starbucks to summon a ride – all without leaving either app. Amazeballs.

Also, because Lyft’s API powers this integrated feature, there’s no need to download the Lyft app to hail a Lyft from another app.

Win Pocket-lint’s $1000 Apple Store Giveaway

Apple’s remarkable advancements have revolutionized the 21st century, commanding our cultural attention with innovative tech accessible to all walks of life.

Moving beyond desktop computers, it all started with the iPod revolution, bringing portable music access into the digital age. Then the iPhone completely changed the way we interact with our phones. Soon after, the iPad pushed the boundaries of personal computing, even beyond the brilliantly advanced Macbook.

In the process, Apple has become the single most dominant tech force in the world, a cultural mega-phenomenon that has brought us closer than ever to the hi-tech future we grew up dreaming of. But those advanced gadgets have some serious price-tags attached, which is why Pocket-lint Deals is offering a $1000 Apple Store Giveaway to one lucky winner!

Pick up a brand-new iPhone 6s, an Apple TV, whatever you like. The choice is yours, and winning is simple – Pocket-lint readers can just head to the contest page and fill out the online entry form with a valid email address, and you’re automatically entered.

Share the giveaway on Twitter, and once you get some friends to enter, you’ll receive additional entries to win. One registration per person please!

DOJ seeks to overturn ruling in New York iPhone case

The Justice Department hasn’t given up on its quest to get a court order that will force Apple to unlock a meth dealer’s iPhone in New York. On February 29th, magistrate Judge James Orenstein ruled that the FBI and the prosecution didn’t have the legal authority under the All Writs Act (AWA) to force the company to bypass the device’s passcode. Obviously, the DOJ disagrees. It has asked a higher judge (specifically, US District Judge Margo Brodie) to take a look at the case again in hopes of reversing Judge Orenstein’s ruling.

In a statement sent to Engadget, Apple said it shares Judge Orenstein’s concerns that the misuse of the AWA could threaten ordinary people’s privacy:

Judge Orenstein ruled the FBI’s request would ‘thoroughly undermine fundamental principles of the Constitution’ and we agree. We share the Judge’s concern that misuse of the All Writs Act would start us down a slippery slope that threatens everyone’s safety and privacy.

To note, the All Writs Act is an old law authorities are relying on to seek help in cracking open password-protected phones.

According to Reuters, the department cited Apple’s case in California as evidence — standing in contrast to other statements by law enforcement saying that case applies to just one particular iPhone. That’s the same case wherein authorities succeeded in getting the court to order the company to open up the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone 5c under the All Writs Act. The tech corporation is currently fighting that ruling and is willing to escalate the battle until it reaches the Supreme Court.

Besides the California case, the DOJ also argued that cracking Jun Feng’s (the meth dealer’s) phone to find his collaborators isn’t anything new for the company. Feng hasn’t been updating its software, and it’s still running iOS 7, which is nowhere as secure as the newest version. The department said Apple agreed to crack devices running the older software for several cases in the past, and this shouldn’t be any different. Whether the DOJ can sway Judge Brodie to hear the case and ultimately side with the feds remains to be seen — we’ll keep you updated as always.

Source: Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times