Cricket Wireless launches $70 unlimited plan, offers $100 bill credit to T-Mobile customers

AT&T’s no-contract subsidiary Cricket Wireless is launching a new plan on Sunday, April 17. It offers unlimited talk, text and data for one smartphone line for $70 a month.

In fact, Cricket says that plan goes down to just $65 a month with a $5 credit if customers use Auto Pay. The carrier is going after T-Mobile customers with this new offer:

T-Mobile charges at least $25 more each month for its Simple Choice Unlimited Plan for one smartphone line on a smaller 4G LTE network. Very Uncool. Plus if you join the Cricket Nation now, we’ll give you a $100 bill credit when you switch from T-Mobile.

While you do get unlimited data with this new plan, Cricket will cap your LTE download speeds at 8Mbps and your 4G speeds to 4Mbps.

Amazon films make it to Cannes’ 2016 lineup

Among all the titles that Cannes is screening at this year’s film festival, five aren’t like the rest. They’re Amazon movies, see, and Cannes is known for refusing to showcase films made for screens smaller than a cinema’s. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon will release the festival’s opener, Woody Allen’s Cafe Society, in the US. It also has rights to three films vying for Palme d’Or, namely The Neon Demon by Nicolas Winding Refn, Paterson by Jim Jarmusch and The Handmaiden by Park Chan-wook, who also directed Oldboy. The fifth title is Jarmusch’s Gimme Danger, which documents the life and music of Iggy Pop.

These moviemakers are festival regulars — Allen’s films, for instance, are typically reserved for opening night. They’re not names you’d be surprised to see in the screening lineup. As The Hollywood Reporter noted, Cannes might merely be following their lead instead of truly opening its doors to streaming-service-backed titles. That’s somehow supported by what festival director Thierry Fremaux pointed out to the publication: while it’s true that Amazon has the rights to these films, they will be shown in theaters first.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Australian carrier lets customers win prizes with unused data

Unless you roll it over, the unused mobile data you paid so dearly for is lost in time, like tears in … rain. For a limited time, however, Virgin Mobile customers in Australia can transform those dead digits into phones, drones and other swag. To be sure, the “data auction” is a publicity stunt that mostly benefits Virgin, since there’s but a single prize each day over the month-long promo. In addition, you have to bid all your remaining data, so you can only win once.

However, some of the items are pretty decent, including a Samsung Galaxy S7, DJI Phantom 3 drone and the grand prize, a $40,000 all-expenses paid trip to a private island in Fiji. If nothing else, the auction draws attention to the fact that while some subscribers do abuse unlimited data, most use a fraction of their paid allotment — to your carrier’s benefit, of course.

Via: Mashable

Source: Virgin Mobile

Sling TV is making a box to stream free local TV channels

More than any technical challenge, the big problem for streaming services like Sling TV and PlayStation Vue today is licensing local broadcast networks. Because of that, Sling TV only offers ABC as part of a special package and Fox with its new multi-stream plan, while PS Vue only has broadcast channels in certain cities. But there is one simple solution to those baffling licensing issues: free, over-the-air broadcasts of local channels, which anyone can view with an antenna. That seems to be the entire point behind Sling’s upcoming AirTV box, which will capture your local OTA TV streams and let you watch it via Sling TV apps, reports Zatz Not Funny.

While Aereo was shut down for reselling OTA TV service over the web, AirTV shouldn’t pose any problem for Sling TV. You’re relying on your own antenna, after all — the box simply streams a signal that’s legally accessible to any private consumer. It’s unclear how the OTA channels will integrate into Sling TV’s channel guide, but hopefully they won’t seem too out of place.

Sling TV previously bundled OTA antennas with its service, with the hope that customers would access local channels outside of the Sling app. The AirTV box, then, is the logical next step. Sources tell Zats Not Funny that the company is working on several new devices. It looks like the AirTV can only capture and spit TV signals over the internet, so it’s not hard to imagine another box that can also be plugged into a TV and serve as a standalone Sling TV solution.

While Sling won’t have to worry about licensing channels with AirTV, its mere existence may cause some friction with its broadcast network relationships. And of course, OTA reception varies wildly depending on where you live and the quality of your antenna. AirTV likely won’t be as easy to set up as Aereo, but it might just be what many cord cutters need.

Source: Zatz Not Funny!

‘Ghostbusters’ game coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC this July

Early trailers for the new, somewhat divisive Ghostbusters movie has sparked a wave of renewed interest in the spooky franchise. Unsurprisingly, Activision is working on a new video game to coincide with the film’s release, which will arrive on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC (Steam) on July 15th. It’s set after the events of the new movie, putting you in charge of some fresh Ghostbuster rookies as they try to capture spectres around New York City. Each character will have their own personality, strengths and play style, encouraging team-based strategies in up to four-player couch co-op. Just remember, don’t cross the streams.

Via: USA Today

Source: Ghostbusters (Activision)

Apple Begins Promoting ‘Live Tune-In’ Feature on New Apple TV Splash Screen

Apple today began promoting a new feature on the fourth-generation Apple TV called “Live Tune-In,” which lets users jump directly into the live streams of select apps using Siri. The company is specifically promoting CBS, ESPN, and Disney XD as apps that support Live Tune-In, but it hasn’t disclosed yet how soon other apps that have live channel functionality will gain the new feature as well.

To use Live Tune-In, Apple TV users can speak into the Siri Remote using commands like “Watch CBS,” or specifically ask to “Watch ESPN live.” Other features on the new splash screen of the Apple TV include updates that were released in March’s tvOS 9.2 update — including Folders and Bluetooth keyboard support — but Apple is just now beginning to promote the Live Tune-In ability as an option for those who watch live channels often on the platform.

Some live streaming apps do require separate subscriptions to be able to watch live TV in the first place, so the CBS app won’t work for those who don’t have a CBS All Access account. Other live streaming-supported apps that don’t appear to incorporate Live Tune-In yet include ABC and Food Network.

(Thanks, Eric!)

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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Best HTC 10 cases: Protect your new HTC smartphone

HTC’s latest and greatest flagship is finally here. The HTC 10 is a beautiful device offering a full metal build, chamfered edges on the front and the rear, as well as some cracking specs.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 powers the show, supported by 4GB of RAM and there is a large 3000mAh battery to keep things ticking along. When it comes to the camera, HTC has pulled out all the stops in a hope to bat off the competition, including adding optical image stabilisation to the front-facing snapper.

Chances are if you’re reading this feature though, you already know all these numbers and what you’re really after is the answer to keeping that stunning smartphone you have in your hand, or you’re hoping to have soon, looking lovely for months to come.

Well don’t worry, we are here to help. There aren’t a huge number of cases available for the HTC 10 at the moment, but we have managed to find a few. No doubt there will be plenty more coming from all the usual manufacturers in the next few weeks and months so keep checking back if none of these tickle your fancy.

For now, click here to see the best cases we have found so far for protecting your new HTC 10

This mattress warns you when someone else is having sex in your bed

In a bid to put an end to infidelity, Spanish matress company Durmet has come up with a mattress that knows when someone else is in your bed. More crucially it can detect sex, that isn’t you, and alert you to the apparent adultery.

The smart mattress, dubbed Smartress, uses 24 ultrasonic sensors that, in conjunction with an algorithm, can detect the frequency and intensity of bouncing on its surface. It can then use its battery powered brain to send a message to the owner.

It doesn’t appear to be smart enough to recognise your particular, ahem, bedroom efforts. But rather it knows you’re away and that there is something untoward going on in your bed.

This is apparently smart enough to recognise the difference between someone sitting on the bed, say, and the real deal going down. So you shouldn’t get alerts every time the kids jump on the bed or someone’s sitting in the bedroom.

The mattress has been created to deal with the apparently huge “Global Infidelity Crisis” problem of adultery in Spain. The company slogan goes: “If your partner isn’t faithful, at least your mattress is.”

Pricing is not listed on the site but if you’re interested you can apply online for more details on how to get yours.

READ: Texting in cinemas could be allowed soon: Here’s why that’s good

Edward Snowden has too much free time, starts making music

When you almost-singlehandedly expose a vast, secretive spying network, you’ve every right to a little swagger. And Edward Snowden has frequently displayed that during his slow transition from whistleblower to privacy advocate. But there comes a time in every digital activist’s life where they must choose a path: you either become a credible voice for good, or you become.. a voice. Presenting the new collaboration between electronic music legend Jean-Michel Jarre and Edward Snowden: “Exit.”

Largely a pretty interesting piece of electronica, “Exit” takes a break from proceedings to allow Snowden to eulogize the need for privacy. Here are some choice quotes:

“Technology can actually increase privacy.”

“Saying that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different to saying you don’t care about freedom of speech because you have nothing to say. It’s a deeply anti-social principle, because rights are not just individual, they’re collective.”

“What may not have value to you today, may have value to an entire population, an entire people, or an entire way of life tomorrow. And if you don’t stand up for it, then who will?”

Rock on. With this rousing call to action, Snowden feels like he’s at the point where he’ll either become another Jimmy Wales or another Julian Assange. By that I mean he’ll be another generally respected voice that puts his name to some so-so projects. Or he’ll be like Julian Assange.

The track is available now to stream and purchase digitally, and it’ll also get a vinyl release next month. In a Guardian video discussing the track (embedded below) Snowden says “music is the thing that can humanize even the most abstract moment.” We’re expecting his guide to self-actualization through meditation any day now.

Source: The Guardian, Jean-Michel Jarre (Spotify)

Play Doom’s open beta all weekend on PS4, Xbox One and Steam

As promised, Doom’s multiplayer open beta has arrived. It’s been available to download the past few days and now you can actually play the thing. Contents include two maps and two play mode (team deathmatch and warpath), while weapons range from plasma rifles, to shotguns, lightning guns and (yes) rocket launchers. The Gauss Cannon also makes an appearance as a power weapon, and you’ll even be able to play as a demon, if that’s your choice in life. It’s live starting today on PS4, Xbox One and Steam.

It’s going to be a busy month for betas: Overwatch’s own is happening right now, while both GOW4 and Mirror’s Edge will kick off next week.

Source: Doom