Straight Talk Buyer’s Guide: Everything you need to know!

Find out what Straight Talk has to offer!

Straight Talk is an alternative carrier, or Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), that offers prepaid wireless service through a partnership with TracFone and Wal-Mart. Straight Talk offers support for both CDMA and GSM devices, as it piggybacks on the T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon’s networks.

Straight Talk offers no-contract plans for individuals on 30-day refills that start at $30 for a basic voice and data plan, and unlimited nationwide talk, text and high-speed data starting at $45. Due to Straight Talk’s partnership with Wal-Mart, you can buy new phones and plan refills in-store or online through the Straight Talk website. It focuses mainly on selling budget devices but you can still pick out the outstanding Samsung Galaxy S8, or opt to bring your own device.

Straight Talk has a lot to offer for a price conscious consumer, so read on and find a plan that works for you!

• Best plans
• Best phones
• How to cancel Straight Talk
• How to unlock a Straight Talk phone

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Best Individual Plans

Straight Talk exclusively offers prepaid 30-day plans for individuals. There are no contract commitments required unless you decide to buy a phone on a monthly payment plan. It offers really competitive wireless plans that include unlimited talk, text, and data for as low as $45 for 30 days of service.

That plan includes 8GB of high-speed data, up to 4G LTE speeds if your phone is compatible. If you need a bit more data, you can get the $55 plan that includes 12GB of high-speed data. Just like the talk and text, data is always unlimited but you’ll notice a distinct speed drop down to 2G until you refill your account. You’re able to buy a new plan card in-store at Wal-Mart or online from [Straight Talk]. You also have the option to save a few bucks and sign up for the auto-refill option, which you can opt out of at any time with no cancellation fees incurred.

Straight Talk offers great value with its $45 30-day plan that includes unlimited nationwide talk, text, and data with 8GB of high-speed data.

Straight Talk is rather generous with its high-speed data rates, and since it borrows the Big Four Networks existing infrastructure and equipment it’s able to pass along great savings while still offering outstanding coverage from coast to coast.

Straight Talk also has a plan specifically for international calling. For only $60, you can get a 30-day plan that includes the unlimited domestic talk, text, and data along with unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling to Mexico, China, Canada, and India phone numbers, along with other great features for keeping in touch with friends and families overseas. And since you’re able to refill your account based on your needs, you can opt into the international plan only for the times you actually need it.

Looking for something a bit more long term? Straight Talk also offers pre-paid extended plans, so you can pay up front for 3, 6 or 12 months of the Unlimited Nationwide plan service at one time and then never worry about refilling your account throughout the year while saving money versus buying a new refill card each month.

Here’s what it looks like in summary:

• $30: 1500 minutes, 100MB
• $45: Unlimited nationwide calling / text, 8GB of LTE data
• $55 Unlimited nationwide calling / text, 12GB of LTE data
• $60: Unlimited international calling, 8GB of LTE data, Mobile-to-Mobile to Mexico, China, Canada, and India phone numbers, Call up to 15 unique destination numbers per service month, 400 bonus minutes to call Claro Guatemala phone numbers

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Best Phones

Straight Talk offers a fairly limited number of low-budget Android phones alongside the usual Apple devices, but you can still get the latest and greatest from Samsung, the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Both are available to be purchased outright or on a 15- or 24-month payment plan. You actually need to enter your ZIP code to see what’s offered in your area, but the Galaxy S8 should definitely be available nationwide through Straight Talk. Of course, you can also stop in at your local participating Wal-Mart and see what’s available in-store.

Best Straight Talk Wireless Phones

Beyond the Galaxy S8, you can shop at Walmart.com or in-store and find older models such as the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S6, along with a slew of budget phone options for Android. You also have the option to Bring Your Own Device. To start, you’ll want to head to the Straight Talk website and confirm whether your phone is compatible (since they offer support for both CDMA and GSM devices, you should be in luck), then it’s simply a matter of ordering a Straight Talk SIM card and a monthly plan.

Straight Talk also offers Wi-Fi Hotspots. Depending on what’s available in your area, you can buy a 4G LTE hotspot for just $49, and then buy prepaid wireless data as you need it. Perfect for summer travels where you want a reliable data connection wherever you go.

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Making sure your phone is compatible

Straight Talk is a subsidiary of Tracfone, a company unique in that it has deals with all four U.S. carriers. If you decide to buy your phone directly from Straight Talk, the representative (or website) will make sure you get the right SIM card, but if you decide to use your existing unlocked phone, things get a little tricky.

That’s because while the phone, if purchased in the U.S., is more than likely compatible with one of Straight Talk’s networks, it must have the right SIM card to align with the right parent network.

Not sure where to start?

Start here to check your phone’s compatibility

How to cancel Straight Talk

Since Straight Talk exclusively offers prepaid contracts with no contracts to sign, you’re free to stop using Straight Talk by simply not refilling your account by the end of your current term.

If you bought a phone from Smart Talk on a monthly payment plan, you will either need to return the device or pay the outstanding balance. As outlined in the fine print on its website, it’s a lease-to-own transaction, meaning you don’t technically own the phone until you’ve completed the final payment.

How to unlock a Straight Talk phone

Bought your phone through Straight Talk and want to bring it to a different carrier? You can do that but it will depend on the particular device you’re looking to unlock! All you need to do is call the Straight Talk customer service department at 1-877-430-CELL (2355) and ask for an unlock code for your device. If it’s available to be unlocked the customer service rep will give you the unlock code over the phone and away you go!

Its call center is open between 8:00 am and 11:45 pm (EST), 7 days a week.

Learn more

Finding another MVNO

If you’re not happy with Straight Talk for one reason or another, there are plenty of alternative carriers to choose from.

Learn more

Alternative carriers (MVNOS)

• What is an alternative mobile carrier?
• What are the advantages of going with an alternative carrier?
• How to make sure your phone works on a prepaid alternative carrier
• 8 Important Considerations When Switching To An MVNO
• These are the cheapest data plans you can buy in the U.S.
• Mint SIM vs. Cricket Wireless: Which is better for you?

The Morning After: Tuesday, August 1st 2017

Good Tuesday morning to you. Hackers have accessed details of forthcoming episodes of Game of Thrones, and we’ve got an early leaky look at the Galaxy Note 8. Talking of hacks and leaks, our Defcon reportage also includes a closer look at the incredible (and unofficial) badges at the hacker conference.

‘A lack of willpower, not a lack of tools.’
Technology is failing to create transparent supply chains

Do you know where the materials for your cellphone, computer or TV come from? Despite years of campaigns to improve worker conditions and environmental impact, probably not. There have been efforts using RFID and satellite imagery to collect data, but as activists explain, real change will have to come from the companies involved, not just applying more technology.

Spoiler warning.
Hackers leak HBO episodes, ‘Game of Thrones’ info online

Someone leaked Netflix’s Orange is the New Black earlier this year, and now Entertainment Weekly reports hackers are doing the same for some HBO shows. Information leaked includes episodes of Room 104 and Ballers, and allegedly text related to an upcoming Game of Thrones episode.

Back to School 2017.The best VR headsets and accessories for dorms

Need a quick escape from school or your dorm? In between bouts of socializing and study, maybe you should schedule a VR escape or two. Here’s some advice on the best hardware and accessories.

In ‘Midnight Black.’Take an early look at the Galaxy Note 8

Evleaks tweeted a picture of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8, and surprise, surprise, it looks a lot like the Galaxy S 8 — just bigger.

Military-grade VR hardware.

HP’s Z VR backpack helps creatives, new soldiers and everyone in between

This wearable computer has tight integration with the HTC Vive Business Edition, but HP says that you’re not obligated to use it — it’ll work just fine with an Oculus Rift or whatever else your company prefers. The pro parts do hike the price, though, as you’ll be spending at least $3,299 on the Z VR Backpack when it arrives in September.

His ‘Deestroying’ channel has over 90,000 subscribers.
College football player loses scholarship over his YouTube channel

The NCAA decided that UCF kicker Donald De La Haye couldn’t monetize his YouTube channel (with its 90,000+ subscribers) and maintain his athletic scholarship, so now he’s off the team.

It’s all about the #badgelife.
The exquisite art and subculture of Def Con’s (unofficial) badges

Shame the official one wasn’t so hot this year.

But wait, there’s more…

• The VR successor to ‘Second Life’ is now in public beta
• CNN: Email ‘prankster’ catfished White House personnel
• What we’re using: the Razer Blade and switching back to Windows
• AMD is unintentionally profiting from cryptocurrency miners
• What’s on TV this week: ‘Voltron,’ ‘Sharknado 5’ and ‘Wet Hot American Summer’
• Samsung’s latest LTE modem supports faster-than-fiber speeds
• HP brought a trippy tech museum to a music fest

Facebook and Twitter hold anti-extremism alliance summit

The quartet of web giants that make up the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) are holding their inaugural meeting today. Formed in June by Twitter, Facebook, Microsoft and Google, the initiative aims to leverage technology — such as the shared industry hash database and machine vision-based detection — to stamp out extremist imagery online. In attendance will be UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd and the US Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke, along with EU and UN representatives.

As calls for a crackdown on violent and hateful material grow louder, the four companies will set out their collaborative goals. These include blocking terrorists’ use of social media and the web to spread propaganda, and to exploit real-world events.

To a certain extent, it seems their long-running individual plans are already working. At the outset of the year, the European Commission confirmed that Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Microsoft had improved their efforts to review hate speech on their respective platforms. But that announcement was drowned out by the tough talk levelled at the tech titans by the UK and French governments in June.

Facing the threat of fines and legal penalties, the GIFCT is outlining more measures for the near future. Over the next few months, the forum will add five more companies to the industry hash-sharing database for violent terrorist imagery. Two out of the proposed five new members have already joined, among them Snapchat developer Snap Inc. and Justpaste.it. The forum will also work on knowledge-sharing with 50 companies as part of ICT4Peace and the UN’s Tech Against Terrorism project. Additional meetings will be held around the world later this year.

Source: Twitter (blog)

BT Sport will air Gfinity esports, just like BBC Three

Gfinity is on a roll. The British esports organiser has partnered with BT Sport to broadcast its Elite Series tournament in the UK. The company inked a near-identical deal with BBC Three last week, ensuring the high-stakes competition — which spans Street Fighter V, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Rocket League — is shown live on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. BT will be covering the action on BT Sport 3, starting at 9:30pm tonight (August 1st). The partnership runs until September 3rd, when the finals wrap up at Gfinity’s glitzy esports arena in London.

The Elite Series is unusual because it spans multiple games. Most esports competitions, like Dota’s The International, focus on a single title with a fervent following. But Gfinity has always strived to be different — it’s one of the few companies with a permanent, physical venue after all — and wants to promote UK teams and talent. The Elite series, therefore, combines established pros with amateurs who have risen up through its free, online “Challenger” tournaments. The hope is that Gfinity will find the next superstar, or at least give you an underdog to root for in the finals.

The partnership with BT Sport should raise Gfinity’s profile in the UK. Unlike BBC Three, which is online-only, BT Sport 3 is a traditional TV channel, albeit one that requires a subscription. That means there’s a better chance someone with no prior knowledge of esports will stumble across the coverage while aimlessly channel-flipping. Online, you typically have to seek out the stream unless someone shares a link on your Facebook News Feed or Twitter timeline. Of course, the bulk of esports viewership happens on Twitch, but live TV is an important and oftentimes underrated way for tournament organisers and game developers to find new fans.

Via: MCV

‘Real People’ Don’t Need Encrypted Messaging Services, Claims U.K. Home Secretary

The U.K. home secretary Amber Rudd has argued that “real people” do not want secure end-to-end encryption on messaging platforms and are more concerned with usability and features than unbreakable security (via Yahoo News).

Rudd made her case in a newspaper article, published ahead of a meeting today with technology companies in San Francisco, where she will warn tech giants that their services are being misused by terrorists. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Rudd said:

“Who uses WhatsApp because it is end-to-end encrypted, rather than because it is an incredibly user-friendly and cheap way of staying in touch with friends and family?

“So this is not about asking the companies to break encryption or create so-called ‘back doors’.

“Companies are constantly making trade-offs between security and ‘usability’, and it is here where our experts believe opportunities may lie.

“Real people often prefer ease of use and a multitude of features to perfect, unbreakable security.”

Rudd’s comments were immediately criticized by privacy campaigners, with civil liberties organization Big Brother Watch calling her viewpoint “at best naïve, at worst dangerous”.

“Suggesting that people don’t really want security from their online services is frankly insulting,” said Renate Samson, chief executive of BBW. “What of those in society who are in dangerous or vulnerable situations, let alone those of us who simply want to protect our communications from breach, hack or cybercrime.”

“Once again the government are attempting to undermine the security of all in response to the actions of a few. We are all digital citizens, we all deserve security in the digital space.”

Rudd is due to give her speech to tech companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Microsoft, in which she will urge them to do more to remove extremist content online or face new laws forcing them to do so.

Speaking to the BBC, Rudd said she wanted to work more closely with companies on encryption so that “where there is a particular need, where there is a targeted need” the government should be given access to metadata and encrypted content.

But Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, pushed back against that argument, and warned about pushing criminals into even harder to reach parts of the internet.

“If people move off those encrypted services to go to encrypted services in countries that won’t share the metadata, the government actually has less information, not more,” she said.

Tuesday’s summit is the first gathering of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, an organization set up by the major tech companies following recent terror attacks. Organization members are likely to resist any action that would result in compromised encryption, however.

In a joint statement, the companies taking part said they were co-operating to “substantially disrupt terrorists’ ability to use the internet in furthering their causes, while also respecting human rights”.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: security, United Kingdom, Encryption
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iPhones worth $600K nabbed from a moving truck in daring highway heist

Why it matters to you

Criminals will clearly go to any lengths to steal iPhones that they hope later to sell on the black market.

Robbers intent on stealing a large consignment of iPhones have often used cars to smash through Apple Store windows, or simply hid under hoodies and walked in during opening hours to snatch available handsets. More creative efforts have involved dressing up as Apple Store staff and sneaking away with the smartphones.

But in what may be the flashiest effort to date — one that’s already been compared to action scenes from Fast and Furious flicks — a team of bandits allegedly nabbed 500,000 euros worth of iPhones (about $590,000) from a truck as it sped along a Dutch highway about 80 miles south of Amsterdam.

Cops have arrested five Romanian men in connection with the incident, which took place toward the end of July.

The daring nighttime raid reportedly involved the alleged robbers driving a modified van right up to the rear of the targeted truck as it motored along the highway. One of the suspects is believed to have climbed onto the van’s hood, which may have had an anti-slip mat stuck onto it, before forcing his way into the back of the truck. It’s thought he then handed the iPhones to his accomplices via a hole cut into the van’s roof.

Ed Kraszewski, a spokesperson for Dutch police, said that his officers had been investigating a spate of thefts from moving trucks but had had their doubts that such an audacious kind of hit could really be achieved. But following Saturday’s arrest of the five suspects — as well as the seizure of the modified van with the phones inside — their suspicions have now been confirmed.

“The truck was taking its freight from A to B and did not stop,” Kraszewski said. “Even so, [the phones] were gone. So it must have happened that way. And now we finally have the evidence, with the van and the loot.”

A video released by Romanian police in 2012 shows a criminal gang attempting to break into a moving truck in a similar way. The footage shows the gang’s van driving at high speed right up against the rear of the truck as one of the criminals prepares to climb into the back.

Sony is acquiring anime distributor Funimation

Turns out the partnership Sony and Funimation forged to create the latter’s streaming service wasn’t a one-off thing. Sony Pictures is currently in the process of buying 95 percent of Funimation for $143 million, putting the anime distributor’s value at around $150 million. Funimation’s streaming website, which launched earlier this year, has over 400 titles on offer, including Dragon Ball Z, Cowboy Bebop, One Piece and Attack on Titan. While the service is new, the company itself has been selling anime DVDs and merchandise for over two decades.

Sony isn’t a newcomer in the space either — it owns the ANIMAX network, which airs anime in 23 countries around the globe, including Japan. It also owns AXN, a cable TV channel that broadcasts anime, action shows, movies and sports programs. By acquiring 95 percent of Funimation, though, it will also be in direct competition with Netflix and Hulu, which have animated offerings on top of TV shows and movies.

Sony Pictures Television President Andy Kaplan said:

“Around the world, Sony’s networks have been major players in the anime space for nearly two decades, and in more recent years we have rapidly increased our networks’ over-the-top and digital offerings to consumers. With the acquisition of Funimation, the combined IP of ANIMAX, KIDS STATION and Funimation allows us to deliver the best anime to fans across all screens and platforms.”

Source: Sony Pictures

See how NASA envisions a ‘Mars 2030’ landing in VR

Just because you can’t go with the astronauts NASA chooses for the first manned mission to Mars doesn’t mean you can’t experience the Red Planet for yourself. A NASA-approved virtual experience called Mars 2030 has just landed on the HTC Vive, the Oculus Rift and the PC through Steam. It puts you in the space shoes of an astronaut exploring 15 miles of Martian landscape, which was modeled after the planet’s real surface as captured by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE camera.

Its 8K resolution will help make all the tasks you can do within its virtual world as real as possible. You can roam the planet’s surface, collect samples and then analyze them under the virtual microscope in your habitat that’s designed after an actual NASA concept for the first Mars-bound spacefarers. Once you’re done analyzing the specimen, you can even beam your findings back to Earth like a real astronaut would. In addition, the displays for your suit and rover will show biometric data and life support gauges to add authenticity to the experience.

Mars 2030 will set you back $15 for those three platforms — it’s not out for the PlayStation VR yet, but it will be available for Sony’s PS4 console “soon.” We’d love to see its developers release a “Potato Planting” expansion, as well, but that’s probably just wishful thinking on our part.

Via: Fast Company

Source: Fusion Media Group

Sony’s turnaround strategy is working

When Sony nominated Kaz Hirai to lead the corporation, he laid out an ambitious strategy that he titled One Sony. Hirai identified three key markets where he wanted Sony to be a leader: digital imaging, gaming and mobile, with the trio pushed accordingly. Five years later, and Hirai’s managed to hit two out of three targets, with Sony’s most recent financial reports vindicating his plan.

The often-troubled conglomerate saw its sales and operating revenue increase by 15.2 percent year-on-year, mostly thanks to semiconductors and financial services. In the former category, is Sony’s lucrative digital image sensor business that provides the chips for pretty much every smartphone worth a damn. Bloomberg believes that Sony sensors are now found inside half the world’s phones, and given that many use dual lenses on the back and one up front, that’s a healthy bounty for Sony.

Then there’s gaming, which is now comfortably Sony’s biggest business by revenue, even if this quarter wasn’t the best. Operating income fell from 44 billion yen to 17.7 billion, mostly because there wasn’t a first-party game to juice sales of the four year old console. But the combination of affordable PlayStation hardware, PSVR and game sales through PlayStation Network all keep the cash rolling in through the door.

One of the biggest surprises is the company’s mobile division, which continues to eke out meager profits from smartphones. As usual, cost-cutting, less money spent on research and development as well as increased device sales helped the division remain in the black. But it is perhaps a sad sign of how far Sony has fallen that selling 3.4 million units is actually considered a cause for celebration.

But Sony isn’t just a consumer electronics company, and hasn’t been for quite some time with its various disparate divisions. Its movie arm, for instance, lost money this quarter, although less than it did the same time last year, although it expects Spider-Man: Homecoming to fix the issue quite soon. Music, meanwhile, saw its figures go up thanks to increased royalty payments from streaming services like Spotify.

All in all, Kaz Hirai can feel rightly smug that most of his gambles have paid off, and Sony’s in a much better position as a consequence.

Source: Sony (.PDF)

Capturing Videos from a Computer Screen on Windows 10 to Watch Later with Movavi Screen Capture Studio

When you’re watching a video but don’t have time to finish it, or even just find it useful or entertaining enough that you would want to watch it later – there are several methods that you could use to do so. Of course in most cases there won’t be an option to ‘save’ it, but instead you could record it directly from your screen then save it.

To pull that off on Windows 10 you’ll need a compatible screen recorder – which is precisely what Movavi Screen Capture Studio is. Not only will it facilitate the recording, but more importantly it is easy enough to use that you won’t have to jump through any hoops in the process – even if you’re new to screen recording in general.

To set up Movavi Screen Capture Studio to capture videos from your computer screen, just launch it and select ‘Record screen’ in the main window to enter the capture mode. As soon as you do, you can define the area of your screen that you intend to record – by drawing a frame using the mouse cursor, selecting a window, or choosing one of the presets in the list on the panel that will appear later.

If you want you can then adjust the audio source and sound levels using the icons on the recording panel and the sliders that are beside them. Within the capture menu and settings of Movavi Screen Capture Studio you will even find options that will let you control the frame rate, schedule the recording, or set it to capture keyboard and mouse actions.

In any case when you are satisfied you can begin to record and use either the on-screen controls or hotkeys to control the process. When you’re done and stop it, you can save the footage that you’ve recorded or open it in the built-in editor within Movavi Screen Capture Studio.

Should you opt to do the latter, you can then tweak and improve your footage in a variety of different ways. The features in Movavi Screen Capture Studio’s editor will let you cut and join video segments, enhance the video quality, apply special effects, add audio tracks, insert transitions, include captions, and much more.

In short Movavi Screen Capture Studio will act as not only a screen recorder for Windows 10, but also an editor. Due to its powerful features, you will be able to save videos in exactly the shape and form that you wish, and may even create content of your own if you so choose. Although it has such advanced features, it remains intuitive and easy to use – which is something you can experience for yourself if you give it a try.