Best Customer Service from a Mobile Carrier

Which carrier has the best customer service in the U.S.?

Prices? Sure. Coverage? Absolutely that’s important. But how does your carrier treat you? When you call, are you answered promptly and courteously? Are your problems fixed easily? Does the person on the other end sound like they even care? What about tech support?

Here’s how you should pick if customer service is most important to you.

Best customer service: Verizon Wireless

For top-notch customer support, look to Verizon. In Tom’s Guide’s testing, which took into account online support, social media responses, and over-the-phone support, Verizon scored the highest with a 94/100 rating. In terms of coverage, The Wirecutter rates Verizon number one, so you get the best on both fronts.

Whether it’s a question about your plan, your specific device, or tech support, Verizon nails it on the phone, online, and via social media. It even has an online device simulator, which can virtually take you through tutorials on your specific phone so that you can figure out problems or simply learn how it works without having to wait on hold or heading into a Verizon store.

Runner up: T-Mobile

In Tom’s Guide’s ratings, T-Mobile didn’t fall far behind Verizon, since it has a great social media presence when it comes to support, and its over-the-phone support is quick and helpful. That being said, its online resources could be a little better. Having had to do a ton of research on T-Mobile, I fully agree with that assessment. T-Mobile’s website is quite frustrating at times, and it takes quite a bit of googling to find help pages that should probably be easier to find right on its site.

Having chatted online with some reps as well, I’ve noticed (similarly to Tom’s Guide) that T-Mo reps assume that the customer knows more than they they really do, so their instructions aren’t always explicitly clear.

Batting in the hole: AT&T

Since AT&T switched to an automated answering service, its over-the-phone support isn’t the best. That being said, its support site is quite helpful, with quick response times for email, but its responses on social media are lacking.

This rating is despite J.D. Power’s assertion that AT&T ranks the highest in overall customer satisfaction. J.D. Power’s rating only takes customers with unlocked phones into account.

Bringing up the rear: Sprint

In Tom’s Guide’s ratings, Sprint is actually in fifth place, behind Cricket Wireless (an MVNO owned by AT&T). According to Tom’s Guide, reps are friendly and quick to respond, but testers were consistently given incorrect information, even on topics reps should know well.

Top Ten Reviews’ rating is consistent with Tom’s Guide, placing it in fourth place in its guide of best carriers and giving it the lowest score of the bunch for customer help and support.

Looking at Sprint as a consumer, putting customer service reps aside, Sprint’s bring your own device policy is frustrating and a major turn off. Wanting to buy your phone from a provider is one thing, but having to is another. Sprint’s dated CDMA technology holds it back on all fronts.

Ford updates Ford Sync 3 to add Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to older vehicles

Ford has confirmed that it is rolling out an update for Ford Sync 3, to add Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to its 2016 cars.

Sync is the name of Ford’s in-car infotainment system that for a number of years (and versions) has allowed you to connect your smartphone and get easy access to some of its services. 

Now, thanks to a simple USB update (or by visiting a dealership), you can add Android and Apple’s in-car functionality, opening the door to a new interface in your car.

CarPlay and Android Auto run over the top of the in-car system, providing a familiar layer that gives you access to navigation, messaging, calling and music options from your phone. If you want Spotify music, for example, Android Auto will give you that as soon as you plug your phone in. 

This is also the first update that Ford is going to push via Wi-Fi to some of its newer cars. If you have a Wi-Fi enabled car, you have to ensure that automatic updating is enabled within Sync 3, then, when it connects to your home network, the update will be downloaded. 

Those with Ford Sync 3 in 2017 models will already have support for Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, you simply have to connect your phone via USB. 

We’ve asked Ford if this applies to the UK as well as the US and we’ll update when we know more.

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Restaurant app Zomato hack leaves 17 million users exposed

If you use Zomato to look up restaurants, you may want to check your account: someone has infiltrated its system and got away with 17 million users’ IDs, usernames, names, email addresses and hashed passwords. The service says no payment information was stolen, since credit card details are stored separately. It also doesn’t have access to your Facebook or Google account, so you don’t have to worry about anything if you simply linked your account instead of making a standalone one for Zomato. But if you did make a standalone one for Zomato, it’s best to change your password ASAP.

This is totally separate incident from the WannaCry attacks, and the hacker who infiltrated the company’s system didn’t ask for ransom. He tried to sell his loot on the dark web instead but ended up pulling it down when the company agreed to his terms. They include acknowledging the security vulnerabilities in its system, to work with the ethical hacker community to patch them up and to launch a bug bounty program.

Zomato says it will amp up its website’s security measures, especially since it found out that 6.6 million of the stolen hashed passwords can “theoretically [be] decrypted using brute force algorithms.” It also promises to reveal how exactly the hacker got in, which the infiltrator himself revealed to the company, once it’s done fixing the vulnerabilities that made it possible.

Via: VentureBeat

Source: Zomato

LastPass will store two-factor codes alongside your passwords

Keeping track of a list of secure passwords across your myriad accounts and services is a nightmare, but it’s necessary for the future we live in. LastPass, the password management app, wants to make it a little more convenient on mobile. With the latest update to its authenticator application, two-factor authentication codes will now be stored in your password locker along with everything else.

You’ll need to enable it in the settings section, but once you do everything else should sync with your account and across the devices where you’re using the app. If you’re still reusing the same password across everything you log into, this won’t help, but if you’ve already seen the light and the truth of LastPass, this is a pretty convenient addition. Just remember: LastPass isn’t infallible either.

Source: iTunes, Google Play

Pay for your next pizza without ever leaving Telegram

The latest update to messaging app Telegram has added a couple of welcome features to the platform that presents itself as a secure alternative to WhatsApp. The first enables users to record minute-long videos to send to one another instead of having to type out their feelings using boring old words. Telegram is boasting that sending these clips will be much faster than other services, since the video is compressed and transmitted while you record.

As part of Telegram’s new push into video, the company has launched a new feature, Telescope, to enable public broadcasts. If you have fans, and want to address them directly, you can record a video that anyone can see — even if they’re not on Telegram. All anyone has to do is head over to a public URL based on your public channel name to keep in touch with your latest update to your adoring public.

Telegram’s also getting into the mobile payments game with Payments for Bots, that lets you compensate bots for various services rendered. The transactions are being handled by Stripe in the US, with more providers coming online for other countries and regions in the coming days. RazorPay, for instance, will enable the service in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, while Yandex Money will do the same job in Russia. The platform also works with ApplePay, and Telegram is enabling bot developers to build commerce products quickly and without prior approval. If you’re wondering, yes, the feature has existed in other places before: Facebook implemented a very similar system on its platform late last year.

Rounding out the new feature list is Instant View, a new way of reading linked websites in a similar way to Google’s AMP and Facebook’s Instant Articles. If you share an article with someone else, they’ll be able to read a version presented in a “uniform and easily readable way,” with a clean, text-heavy layout. This works even if the source website hasn’t been optimized to work with mobile devices, and should load fast too, since a copy of the text is stored on Telegram’s servers.

Source: Telegram, (2), (3)

London airport to use ‘digital’ air traffic control tower

London City Airport will be the first in the UK to replace a traditional air traffic control tower with a “digital” one. A new, 50-metre tower will be built in the middle of the airport’s long-stay car park, overlooking the runway, with 14 cameras and two custom pan-tilt-zoom cameras. The combined 360-degree footage will then be fed to a facility in Swanwick, Hampshire, where NATS, the UK’s lead air traffic control provider, is already based. Operators will then monitor the live video on 14 HD screens, positioned in a circular formation to replicate a conventional tower.

Airport management says the digital version will give controllers better oversight of the runway. All of the cameras offer close-up views and the two pan-tilt-zoom cameras can magnify up to 30 times. Staff will also have an audio feed from the airfield and radar readings to help them manage takeoffs and landings. The screens will also overlay important information, such as weather, flight numbers and aircraft call signs, to improve operator awareness and speed up decision making. The hardware, supplied by Saab Digital Air Traffic Solution, is already being used at Örnsköldsvik and Sundsvall airports in Sweden.

Construction of the “digital” tower will begin later this year and is scheduled to be completed in 2018. A year of testing and training will follow, before a full switchover in 2019. Until then, the existing air traffic control tower will operate as normal. “With London City Airport’s plans to grow and an existing tower which is reaching the end of its operational lifespan, this cutting edge, proven technology future-proofs London City Airport’s air traffic control for the next 30 years and beyond,” Declan Collier, the airport’s chief executive said.

Via: Insider

Source: London City Airport

Medium is making audio versions of its best blog posts

Minimalist blogging platform Medium is expanding into audio. Readers who have a $5 per month subscription can now listen to stories published by fellow members, as well as those hand-picked by Medium staff. As TechCrunch notes, more than 50 stories have an audio version at launch, and more will be added over time. It’s a small number, however each one has been recorded by a professional voice artist, rather than a robotic text-to-speech service. You’ll find them at the top of articles, both on the web and in Medium’s mobile apps, with some basic playback controls.

Audio stories join exclusive articles, ad-free reading and offline access as Medium membership perks. It’s an unusual offering because you’re supporting a platform and many different writers and publishers, rather than a single entity like The New York Times. Back in January, Medium chief executive Ev Williams called ad-driven media a “broken system” that “doesn’t serve people.” The comments were made in a post confirming 50 job cuts and a move away from its own ad products. Its future now depends on subscribers, however earning them will be no simple task.

Via: TechCrunch

ICYMI: The evolution of car safety and a tiny search and rescue robot

Today on In Case You Missed It: While we’re all focused on cars becoming autonomous and electric, automakers have also been making important advancements in safety. No where is that more apparent than in a collision between a 1998 Toyota Corolla and its 2015 counterpart conducted by New Zealand’s ANCAP. The safety advisory slammed the two vehicles into each other head first. It’s impressive to see the difference between 2015 model with its mostly intact cab and the car built in 1998 which is so mangled there’s a good chance the person behind the wheel would not have survived.

Meanwhile, while you usually associate search and rescue with people in yellow vests and dogs, researchers at UC San Diego have created a tiny robot that walks by inflating and deflating the bladders in its legs. By removing mechanical parts from the appendages, researchers believe it would be good for squeezing in and out of small spaces to help find survivors of a collapsed building.

As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @strngwys.

A new ‘Life is Strange’ game is in the works

The episodic, time-bending teenage drama of Life is Strange is coming back for a second season. Developer Dontnod Entertainment confirmed the news in a brief YouTube video, but said little about the premise or when it will be released. “We’ve been working since the release of the boxed version last year on a new Life is Strange game, with the Life is Strange team, and we cannot wait to share more with you,” Luc Baghadoust, executive producer teased. The original game has now passed the 3 million mark, which no doubt helped with the decision to green-light a sequel.

The original Life is Strange revolves around Max Caulfield, a photography student living in the fictional town of Arcadia Bay. She discovers the ability to rewind time and is soon swept up in a mystery concerning her classmates and the faculty at Blackwell Academy, a school specializing in science and the arts. It’s a narrative-driven adventure game that serves up basic puzzles through a dynamic time travel mechanic. Pulling the trigger reveals a meter with dots that represent pivotal points in time — release at one of these and you’ll have the option to step in and change something.

It’s a brilliant coming-of-age story filled with interesting characters and messy, believable relationships. Admittedly, the dialogue can be a little rough, but the underlying emotions always manage to shine through. A sequel could continue Max’s story or focus on an entirely new set of characters. A different time in Arcadia Bay, perhaps, or another city altogether. Hopefully we don’t have to wait too long to find out.

Source: Life is Strange (Tumblr)

Facebook Signs Deals With ESL and MLB in Ongoing Streaming Video Push

After its first sports-related streams went live early last year, focusing on soccer and hockey, Facebook this week has made inroads into two new categories that will bring fans of eSports and baseball both live and on-demand content (via The Wall Street Journal).

Facebook already had deals with five eSports teams who published live and on-demand videos to the platform, but this week the company made a bigger deal with ESL, originally known as the Electronic Sports League, an organizer of eSports competitions. For those unfamiliar, eSports coverage follows players throughout a variety of competitive-focused video games, most popularly including titles like StarCraft II, Counter-Strike, League of Legends, and Overwatch, among others.

In a blog post announcing the deal, ESL confirmed that fans will be able to watch all IEM and ESL One events in up to six different languages, and a few national championship and online leagues, on ESL Facebook pages. The partnership is also bringing an exclusive new weekly show to Facebook that will allow viewers to comment and interact with the video stream while “highlighting up and coming players.”

In total there will be 30 hours of weekly ESEA Rank S streams, a weekly half hour show hosted by Mark “Boq” Wilson, and more coming down the line. The broadcasts will start in June with the Counter-Strike-focused Rank S matches, and eventually grow to include videos of player interviews, competition commentary, and more all streamed on Facebook.

Currently, the most popular destinations for ESL-backed matches are Twitch and YouTube. Notably, the deal with Facebook is said to not interfere with ESL posting and streaming on other platforms simultaneously. Still, Facebook is said to be looking to build an “ecosystem” of game streams that convince gamers to tune into the social network over its live streaming rivals.

Facebook Inc. is paying professional videogame teams and others in the esports industry to post videos on the social network, part of a shift in strategy to deliver more-premium programming to the company’s nearly two billion monthly users.

Under the deals signed with Facebook, esports partners must produce a minimum number of hours of video for the social network, and in most cases the partners are allowed to simultaneously publish to rival platforms such as Amazon.com Inc.’s Twitch. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

In addition, Facebook and Major League Baseball have announced a deal of their own that will bring 20 live-streamed Friday night MLB games to Facebook during the 2017 season, located on MLB’s Facebook page. The games will be free for any United States-based Facebook user, and the first game will broadcast tonight, May 19, with the Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds facing off.

Facebook has long been pushing into video content, from setting the groundwork by testing autoplay videos with sound in its mobile app, to most recently gearing up to debut original TV shows directly within the social network. Over time, Facebook’s move to more “premium” video content is said to gradually gain precedence over live and recorded video from users.

People scrolling through Facebook’s news feed are more likely to watch polished videos with audio turned on, making them potentially lucrative vehicles for ads, analysts say. Such content increasingly will appear in news feeds over off-the-cuff live videos from users, as Facebook wants to be seen as a hub for long-form video.

Streaming and on-demand video is becoming an area of interest for other social networks besides Facebook, with Snapchat recently being rumored to launch a collection of 3-5 minute TV shows within its mobile app. Twitter has been the home of sports, news, and entertainment video streams for a while now, and most recently revealed plans to launch a full, always-on network of news shows in partnership with Bloomberg.

Tag: Facebook
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