Tesco Mobile scraps European roaming charges, more countries than Three

Tesco Mobile has ditched roaming charges for its network customers who travel around Europe this summer. What’s more, its new Home From Home scheme covers more countries than Three’s equivalent service.

Pay monthly or pay as you go customers will be able to use their existing UK mobile tariffs to call, text and use data in Europe from 23 May until midnight 3 September, at no extra cost.

Any additional calls and texts to EU members over an allowance will be charged at 4p a minute and 1p a text.

The Home From Home service covers 31 countries in total, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

EU regulations will soon be enforced (from 30 April) demanding networks lower their roaming charges. From June 2017, all EU roaming charges across the networks will be scrapped.

Tesco, though, has decided to act early.

“We want our customers to enjoy their holiday without having to worry about the cost of using their phones. So we decided, why wait until 2017 to banish roaming? Let’s help our customers and give them a taste of what’s to come,” said Simon Groves, chief marketing officer at Tesco Mobile.

It is unknown at present what effect the UK potentially leaving the EU would have on roaming charges going forward. Some analysts suggest that European roaming charges could rise again should that be the result of the forthcoming referendum.

Avoid Game of Thrones spoilers with brilliant new Chrome extension

Spoilers are the worst. Game of Thrones spoilers are even more agonising. One developer is clearly aware of this as he’s released a Chrome extension to fight Game of Thrones spoilers specifically.

GameofSpoils will keep you safe from early reveals when browsing the web from within Chrome. This extension will block out any mention of Game of Thrones itself as well as related terms when in Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and Google News. So it’s not all encompassing but it’s better than nothing, right?

The extension isn’t a simple tool though, it makes blocking funny too. One example is the use of the word “Asoiaf” which was blocked with the line: “A potential spoiler here did not live through the Long Night, because it dared mention the phrase ‘Asoaif’”.

Should you wish to brave on through a blocked post you can do so by simply clicking on the notification. Even this won’t reveal straight away, only clearing the selection three seconds after it was clicked – to avoid any accidental clicks.

The project, from designer Stu Blair, is open source so hopefully it will expand to cover the far reaches of the internet soon. For now you can add it to your Chrome browser for free here. Then wait to watch the next episode at your leisure, without too much fear of it being ruined by spoilers.

READ: Amazon Kindle Oasis review: First class reader, first class price

Dropbox will soon show all your cloud-based files right in the desktop

If you’re one of the 500 million people who’ve used Dropbox at some point over the last few years, you know what you’re getting in to. It’s a reliable way to back up all the files on your computer, sync them across multiple devices and share them with friends, family or coworkers. It’s fast, it works and Dropbox has added a decent set of collaboration features over the years (like its strong Microsoft Office integration) — but by and large, its core “sync and share” features have remained largely the same. But today at the Dropbox Open event in London, the company is previewing an intriguing new feature called Project Infinite. In a nutshell, it looks to close the divide between our ever-increasing cloud storage vaults like Dropbox and the corresponding decrease in hard drive sizes.

Back when Dropbox first launched, plenty of computers came with 500GB (or larger) hard drives, while paid Dropbox accounts only offered 50GB of space. However, since then, things have flip-flopped a bit — $10 a month gets you 1TB of Dropbox space, while the rise of SSD means that most computers have much smaller hard drives than that. And Dropbox for Business offers essentially limitless storage space, which means you’ll have to jump back and forth between files stored on your computer and Dropbox’s web interface to see everything you might want to access.

Put simply, Project Infinite lets you see everything you have access to in Dropbox via your computer’s native interface (the Mac Finder or Windows Explorer). As before, files locally stored on your computer that are synced to Dropbox will have a green checkmark next to them, but everything else you might have access to will be visible as well. Those cloud-stored files will have a cloud icon next to them, but they’ll otherwise appear in your filesystem as if they’re stored on your hard drive. And if you want to open up those cloud files, you can just double-click. Dropbox will then download and open the file as if it was on your local storage, and any changes will be synced back to the cloud.

It certainly sounds like it’ll be useful, as users will be able to store most of their digital materials in Dropbox and see it all on their computer without having to jump into Dropbox’s web interface. But there are some questions we have that are yet to be answered. It’s not clear if Project Infinite will be available to those paying $10 a month for Dropbox Pro or if it’ll only be available for business users. The Dropbox press release made it sound fairly focused on businesses, but hopefully consumers will also have access to the feature when it’s ready.

There’s also no word on when the feature will be available. Dropbox says it’s testing Project Infinite with “a select number of sponsor customers” and says it’ll have more updates throughout the year, but there’s no word yet on when it’ll be widely available.

Tesco Mobile scraps European roaming charges, for the summer

Next year, the European Commission will finally put an end to mobile roaming charges on the continent. Before that happens, the majority of carriers are following protocol and lowering fees for calls, texts and data, while others are scrapping them altogether. Following in the footsteps of Three, Tesco Mobile announced today that it will allow customers to use their existing plans when visiting 31 European countries.

Sound great, but there is a catch. Unlike its rival’s “Feel at Home” initiative, which is available for as long as you have an eligible tariff, Tesco Mobile’s “Home from Home” service is only eligible for a limited time. Pay monthly and pay-as-you-go customers can use their UK allowances between May 23rd and September 3rd. However, it is a period when many people will embark on their summer holidays.

Tesco’s offering shouldn’t be sniffed at, though, as when it launches, Home from Home will offer more destinations than any other network (we’ve listed the eligible countries below). It’s quite a turnaround considering that less than a year ago, Tesco was looking to offload its successful mobile business in a bid to overturn a £6 billion loss.

Supported Home from Home countries include: Austria, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Ireland, Slovakia, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Spain inc. Canary Islands, Denmark, Lithuania, Sweden, Estonia, Luxembourg, Iceland, Finland, Malta, Liechtenstein, France, Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.

Source: Home from Home

Apple’s iPhone upgrade program now available online

Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program is now available online, meaning you won’t have to trek to a store if you want the latest device every year. As a reminder, the company launched the program when it released the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, letting you buy those phones starting at $32 a month on 24-month subscription. After a year, you can trade in your old iPhone for a new one, as long as you’re willing to renew the subscription for another 24 months.

When the program started, Apple wouldn’t accept any iPhones on trade if they had a broken screen. However, Apple started accepting models with “reasonable damage” earlier this year, making a physical visit to a Store perhaps less important. The program starts at around $32 for a 16GB iPhone 6s and runs up to $45 for a 128GB 6s Plus, and all subscribers be enrolled in AppleCare+ (which covers your broken screen, by the way). It’s only available online in the US for now, but we’ve reached out to see if it’s coming to the UK and elsewhere later.

Via: MacRumors

Source: Apple

HTC Vive App Lets iPhone Users Get Notifications in Virtual Reality

HTC has released its VR headset iPhone companion app on the App Store, enabling HTC Vive owners to receive real-world notifications from their phone while immersed in virtual reality.

The HTC Vive app brings some of the headset’s unique features to iPhone owners for the first time, such as the ability to receive calls, text messages, and calendar reminders within the relative isolation of immersive VR.

Notifications forwarded by the app appear momentarily in the headset’s HUD, and remain available in the HTC Vive dashboard for later perusal. Third-party app notifications are not currently supported.

In addition to downloading the free app, headset owners must install the HTC Vive client on their PC. At present, the Android app’s facility to send preset responses to calls or texts from within the virtual world is not supported in the iOS version.

HTC Vive owners can download the app for iPhone from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tag: HTC
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Logi Base Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The iPad Pro’s little Smart Connector can do more than work with keyboards.

You know those three little dots on the sides of iPad Pro models? Right now, they’ve been exclusively used for keyboard accessories like Apple’s Smart Keyboard. But this magnetic side connector could be used for more. The new Logi Base is a Smart Connector charging dock and stand, and it’s actually a cute little way to turn those new iPads into standing monitors…for a really high price.

An iPad Pro resting in the Logi Base, minus charge cable.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Yes, this is expensive: at $99.99 (equivalent to £69 UK or $AU130), the little sleek aluminum base doesn’t even come with a packed-in Lightning charge cable. Take your own and plug it in the back, then pop in either 12.9-inch or 9.7-inch iPad Pro (they use the same size smart connector, you know) and it’ll charge up. Why not just plug your Lightning cable into the side of your iPad instead? Going around the back frees up the iPad from unsightly wires jutting out the sides — so you can use that side Lightning port on your iPad Pro to jam your Pencil in, instead.

BYO Lightning.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The Logi Base isn’t completely logical: Its sticky base makes it hard to turn, and it doesn’t adjust to different angles. Plus the base really only works for landscape-mode work (you could prop it up vertically, but you’d lose the charging capability). And also can’t plug a Smart Connector keyboard in at the same time, meaning you’ll need to find a Bluetooth keyboard lying around. But this shows that the Smart Connector should be used for more than just keyboards. Maybe other accessories will come soon, too. If you’ve been craving an upright charge dock for your iPad, Logi Base could be it. But it certainly isn’t cheap.

Samsung NE58K9850WG Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Most connected ranges have apps that only allow you to control the oven, but not your burners, which seems like a much harder task to make hands-free (though it’s not impossible). Samsung’s Smart Home app, however, takes a baby step toward cooktop control by including a notification to let you know if you’ve left a burner on.

The Smart Home app works with Samsung’s latest Wi-Fi-connected ranges that have started making their way to major retailers. We got our hands on the NE58K9850WG, a black stainless steel electric slide-in range with Wi-Fi. You can use the Smart Home app to set the oven’s temperature and cook timers, along with turning the oven off and on. The app also includes an illustration of the cooktop; burners that will turn blue on the screen if one of them is on in real life. The range also has one of Samsung’s Flex Duo inserts that lets you have two oven cavities for cooking food simultaneously at different temperatures.

More connected ranges and ovens

• Whirlpool Smart Front Control Range
• Jenn-Air Connected Double Oven
• GE Profile Built-In Double Convection Wall Oven

I’m still reviewing the appliance at the CNET Smart Home, but the app is quick and responsive when it comes to detecting a burner that I’ve turned on. The app also lets you choose which oven cavity you want to use if you have the Flex Duo insert in place, so you don’t lose the flexibility of dual cooking just because you’re away. But you do have to press a “Smart Control” button before you can control the range with the app, a safety measure that is more of an inconvenience if you forget to enable the feature.

Samsung doesn’t have the lock on smart ranges and ovens; brands such as Whirlpool, GE and Jenn-Air have added Wi-Fi to ovens and ranges, and manufacturers have also tried out other types of wireless connectivity, such as LG’s ranges with NFC (near-field communications). But Samsung’s inclusion of cooktop information is an ambitious move to give you insight into your entire appliance while you’re away.

Check back next week for the full review of the Samsung NE58K9850WG.

Oppo R9 review – CNET

The Good The Oppo R9 is light and has a premium look and feel. The rear camera takes good photos and you can expand the phone’s storage via its microSD card slot.

The Bad Gaming performance is poor, especially on graphically intensive games. The front camera lacks features like HDR and its aspect ratio is too narrow.

The Bottom Line The Oppo R9 manages to ape the iPhone 6S’ look and feel, but it lacks the performance and capabilities to measure up as a must-get phone.

Visit manufacturer site for details.

Previous Oppo phones, such as the R7, have avoided blatantly ripping off Apple’s iPhone design, but the new R9, known as the F1 Plus in certain markets, leans into it. The R9 unabashedly clones the design, even down to some aspects of the user interface, but fails to fully capture the charm of Apple’s premium phones. The result is a $425-ish (£299 or AU$599) phone that, despite the aforementioned iPhone resemblance, doesn’t stand out in any meaningful way.

While the super thin bezel that gives it an almost edge-to-edge display, Oppo hasn’t included a palm-rejection feature, which became apparent every time a Web page scrolled away from me due to parts of my hand inadvertently touching the edge. Also equally irritating is the way too-aggressive light sensor; I couldn’t complete a round of racing game Asphalt 8 without the screen auto-dimming each time my hands accidentally covered the sensor while playing. Of course, if you want, you can turn off the auto-brightness in settings to avoid this issue. Generally, though, the phone’s comfortable to hold and has a bright AMOLED screen.

How blatantly the R9 rips off the iPhone becomes glaringly evident when using the camera app. The layout icons are the same, and the camera app also employs the same “slide your finger across the screen to change modes” feature just like in iOS. And like most Chinese-made phones, there’s no app drawer, so all of your apps are stored on the home screen. The ever changing lockscreen wallpapers feature was neat, but it’s a minor feature at best.

The rear 13-megapixel shooter does really well even when compared to flagship devices: details were clear, though colors can be a little over saturated. I liked the fast autofocus as well, it’s as quick as the flagship phones I’ve previously reviewed such as the Xiaomi Mi 5. On the other hand, the front 16-megapixel selfie camera is pretty poor. There’s no point to having a larger selfie image when the front camera lacks basic functions, such as HDR. For Oppo’s next phone, using a wide-angle lens for the front camera would make a lot more sense than simply increasing the size of pics though there’s a software panorama feature that acts as a “wide-angle” solution.

Adidas Climacool NFC Smart Suits for racing drivers could reveal vital information in a crash

Adidas is sewing NFC chips into Climacool racing drivers’ suits to give them smart properties.

The Adidas Climacool Smart Suit, made under licence by motorsports specialist Fyshe, contains a chip that is currently used to authenticate the race suit is genuine. More importantly though, its presence – revealed by scanning the suit with an NFC capable smartphone or device – ensures that the clothing meets strict FIA regulations.

It also stores driver identification details. In the future, it could contain the medical details of the wearer, in case of a crash.

“Not only is this a cool way of knowing your race suit is authentic, but I can see the technology opening up many other possibilities. Driver data not related directly to the clothing, such as medical details, would be a fascinating and important development,” said F1 legend Rubens Barichello.

“It could give medics vital information in an instant if a driver needed treatment at the scene of an accident, for instance.”

The suits were worn for the first time by drivers of the Dempsey-Proton Racing, Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing and KCMG teams during the first round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship. Driver Richard Leitz (pictured) was one to take part.

All race suits from Fyshe will contain an NFC tag from now on.