Tag Archives: mobile

MWC 2013 = Pointless HP Tablet, Worthless Firefox OS, Biggest and Cheapest Phone Ever and LG!

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MWC 2013

Mobile World Congress 2013 is finally amongst us, and Day 0 and Day 1 have finished and we’ve pulled together the best of the day and this is what we’ve found, we’ve sorted by the most interesting to the least, so scroll to be bored!

LG Optimus G Pro

LG Optimus G Pro

LG announced a team of devices, quite literally, they announced 8 new Android phones for pretty much every flavour of consumer all running Jellybean 4.1 and supporting LGs custom skin, but we’re not LG crazy here, so we’re just gonna cover the highlight, and the highlight most certainly was the successor to the LG Optimus, this is the LG Optimus G Pro.

Now, if you’re like us, we agree, it does look very somewhat similar to a certain other manufacture of mobile devices based in Korea, I forget there name, add the fact it has its own Special pen (oo don’t know why S pen was highlighted) that adds its own functionality including note taking and more kinda makes it a direct competitor to said device (just add a Q where you expect an S i.e S-Note is Q-Note).

However the Optimus G Pro has some pretty darn beastly specs, supporting a 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 display with a 400ppi, not to mention a 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 Quad Core processor, heaps of RAM, Qi Wireless Charging support, 13 megapixel rear shooter (which admittedly sticks out slightly but not too badly) and a massive 3140mA/h battery to take all that in. Whilst, ok joking aside, it does look identical to the Samsung Galaxy Note II, it pumps the specs up a bit and is expected to have some very impressive price points, and feels a bit better built, something we’re starting to see from LG again.

Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 2013

Samsung are a cheeky bunch, not only have they been giving out sneaky invites to the Galaxy S IV announcement in March at MWC 2013, but they are going to make our pants bloated and ourselves look even more stupid with the worlds largest phone ever, the Galaxy Note 8.0

Now before the Android people start attacking us, we know this isn’t likely aimed to be a phone, altho the Note II wasn’t at first and look where that got some freaks out there, the Note 8.0 has everything a traditional phone has, working 3G/HSPA+/LTE networking option with ability to call and message on Android 4.1.2 Jellybean to boot on a pretty impressive Exynos Quad Core Processor, 2GB Ram, a rather compromised display at 1280 x 800 8 inch display with 189ppi, but doesn’t look too bad, and it wouldn’t be Samsung without the S-pen. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will also be the only Android device, for a limited time, to have the popular iOS note taking app Awesome Note.

Nokia

Nokia 103

Budget Nokia 105

Nokia announced two Lumia devices, the 520 and 720, which you can click here to find out more about the Lumia 520 and 720 in our leaked information which was all correct, but Nokia also released some Asha phones including this phone, the worlds cheapest phone! Introducing the Nokia 105 costing a quite frankly incredible £13. For £13 you get an incredible battery lasting a whole month (35 days) on a single charge, a torch at the top, Alarm function, FM Radio and a colour screen. Yes its basic and we feel like we’re in 2002 but it’s a perfect phone for the money.

Nokia also introduced the Nokia 301, a classic design candybar phone with HSPA+ support and some social network integration for an affordable price point.

Lumia 720 and 520

http://youtu.be/qU3kZQt4KOM

Everything we heard about the Nokia Lumia devices were completely spot on, the Lumia 720 does indeed have a 4.3 inch QVGA display, a 1GHz Dual Core Processor, 512MB Ram, 8GB of expandable microSD storage, HSPA+ support and a 6 megapixel shooter, and dare we say an HTC 8X design.

http://youtu.be/9SwdMx94qf0

Our favourite of the two is this, the Nokia Lumia 520. If you thought the Lumia 620 was cheap, check this out, the Lumia 520 will cost $183 and has more or less identical specs to the Lumia 720 but with a smaller display. The Lumia 520 has a 4 inch QVGA display, 8GB of expandable microSD storage, 512MB ram, 5 megapixel camera with 720p video and even Nokia Supersensitive Touch for the price too.

HP Slate 7

HPSlate72013

It would be rich to say the most disappointing announcement came from HP with this, their Slate 7 Android tablet. From a company who spent billions marketing the WebOS platform from Palm, it seems rather redundant to release such a disappointing tablet that not only offers not much to the field, a low resolution stock Android experience for the price of a Nexus 7 really makes you question where HP are really marketing this device for, has us guessing. The device has a 7 inch 1024 x 600, compared to the Nexus 7s 1280 x 800 its night and day, it only has a 1.6GHz dual-core processors where the Nexus has Quad, only 8GB storage and no NFC or GPS. Even at $169, its in Nexus 7 territory and isn’t doing a very good job at all as its worse in every way, HP appear to have lost it since WebOS’ fall.

Firefox OS

Alcatel Firefox OS device

I don’t know if it was the fact their lead promotional device was made by Alcatel, or the fact that the OS looks like a lazy stale version of Apple’s iOS platform featuring Web based HTML5 apps only. The phone is obviously realistically aimed towards the dumb phone market, if Firefox OS is going anywhere near to competing with the big guys they really need to have specs better than a 2 megapixel rear camera, 1GHz single core and 512MB Ram, that was mid-range in 2008. But time will tell where Firefox goes from here.

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We’re keeping the MWC 2013 coverage coming, keep it at RKUK Media and The Tech Show at MWC

Opera acquires the SkyFire web browser, what it means for mobile browsing!

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Opera and Skyfire

At RKUK Media we are massive fans of the SkyFire browser, which is available for iOS and Android, we loved the way it abolished the use of Flash, but allowed you to still play Flash videos, but instead of simply supporting Flash, it would play the videos over the air on SkyFire’s servers and Stream a H.264 version to your phone to be played with minimalist performance discrepancies, and we loved it.

One thing we don’t love however, Opera Mobile, has made a pretty big move today by announcing that they and SkyFire will become one. Now Opera and Skyfire at one time were popular browser alternatives at a time in which stock browsers were sorely lacking, however it’s a big hard to say that now after improvements to Sarafi on iOS, Chrome on Android and, yes, even IE on Windows Phone, meaning third-party options have to rely more on additional features rather than straight function.

So, to draw even more attention to themselves, today, two of those upstarts Opera and Skyfire have announced they’re partnering.

Specifically, Opera is purchasing Skyfire for not much, only $50 million up front, with future considerations that could total the deal at $155 million … yeah, quite a bit then. In a statement, Opera had this to say

“Opera and Skyfire are a natural fit,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “Both companies have evolved far beyond their browser roots. Skyfire adds capabilities to our portfolio around video, app optimization, smartphones and tablets, and strength in North America. With video expected to consume over two-thirds of global mobile bandwidth by 2015, and as time spent on Android and iOS apps explodes, we are excited to extend Opera’s solutions for operators.”

The companies in their press release announced their intention to release a new “set of joint products to be released over the coming year by combining their talents and know-how.” Opera’s “Web Pass” day pass service was mentioned in particular.

What the future holds for both companies is currently anyones guess, you’d think a release of Opera with SkyFire’s technology, but who knows what time will bring. One good thing about the merge for mobile browsing, is super fast internet access with the lowest bandwidth used, and a perfect alternative for the hell that is the Flash plug-in.

Everything Everywhere to deliver 4G in the UK by October

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Everything Everywhere (EE), the company partnership made in 2010 between UK networks Orange and T-Mobile, will launch superfast mobile internet, finally to the UK, in October, according to Sky sources, which would make it the first UK provider to offer such services in the UK.

Telecoms regulator Ofcom approved an application by the company that owns Orange and T-Mobile to use its existing spectrum to deliver 4G, LTE is the expected standard to be used.

But EE’s rivals, who have to wait until the end of this year to buy new licences in an auction of frequencies, say the decision gives the company an unfair advantage.

A well-placed source at EE told Sky News the next generation of mobile broadband would be available in October, when EE launches a new, 4G-specific brand. The source said the company plans to start dropping the Orange and T-Mobile brands from around March next year, with existing customers being migrated to Everything Everywhere.

The company applied for two trademarks – 4G Everything Everywhere@ and 4GEE@ – in May.

In response, an EE spokesperson said:

“Everything Everywhere confirms that we are planning to launch a new brand in the UK later this year. This new brand will sit alongside our existing brands Orange and T-Mobile. We will reveal more information on our exciting plans in due course.”

Ofcom gave EE the go-ahead to launch 4G – which is seen as crucial for video, gaming and downloading on your phone – any time after September 11 this year. It said that allowing EE to use its existing 1800 MHz spectrum in this way will “deliver significant benefits to consumers”.

“There is no material risk that those benefits will be outweighed by a distortion of competition,” an Ofcom statement said.

“Delaying doing so would therefore be to the detriment of consumers.”

But rival mobile company Vodafone said it was “frankly shocked” by the decision.

“The regulator has shown a careless disregard for the best interests of consumers, businesses and the wider economy through its refusal to properly regard the competitive distortion created by allowing one operator to run services before the ground has been laid for a fully competitive 4G market,” a company statement said.

And mobile company Three agreed that the ruling could make the market less competitive.

“Liberalisation of 2G spectrum to date has distorted the competitive landscape in the UK, which ultimately harms consumers” Three said.

“Further liberalisation without addressing competition issues could make that distortion worse.”

After the fourth generation auction at the end of this year, at least 98% of people across the UK, should atleast, have access to the faster network.

Access to 4G networks is something that the UK has definitely been delayed to receiving, the US for example has had 4G for years now, and access to improved 3G coverage ‘HSDPA+’, something US network AT&T brands “4G” when its officially not, however AT&T does offer, as does American networks Verizon and soon Sprint and T-Mobile, the LTE standard to be adopted by Everything Everywhere when the deal comes through!

Windows Phone impressing Developers over Rival Platforms

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If a survey done by VisionMobile is anything to go by, Windows Phone just keeps looking up with 57% of developers plan to adopt Windows Phone over the competition, whereas 35% and 28% voted Android and iOS respectively.

Developer Adoption

Whats impressive about these results is how Windows Phone has done in comparison to a year ago;

↑ Windows Phone: 57% from 32% last year

↔ iOS: 28% from 27% last year

↓  Chrome: 25% from 28% last year

↓ Android: 25% from 35% last year

↑ Mobile Web (technologies like HTML5 etc): 23% from 17% last year

↓ Blackberry: 19% from 24% last year

↔ Bada: 16% from 17% last year

↓ MeeGo: 15% from 27% last year

Obviously user adoption is important too, but will be interesting to see how things go.

Average app earnings

As for earnings Windows Phone fell short, but not as far you’d expect for an OS with less than 5% marketshare, below shows average app revenue on respective platforms;

Android: $2,735

Blackberry: $3,853

iOS: $3,693

Windows Phone: $1,234

Source: Techcruch

HP waves goodbye to WebOS Tablet and Phone business?

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A SAD GOODBYE TO WEBOS

According to a Bloomberg report it seems HP is set to sadly close its WebOS business for Tablets and Smartphones.

Quote:

Hewlett-Packard may announce the plans as early as today, said the people, who asked not to be identified before a statement. The Palo Alto, California-based company is scheduled to report quarterly earnings today after markets close.Chief Executive Officer Leo Apotheker has said he wants to expand in software and services that help customers deliver computing over the Internet, through the so-called cloud. Hewlett-Packard has been aiming to lessen its dependence on lower-margin PCs, where growth has stalled as consumers flock to tablet-style computers like those made by Apple Inc. (AAPL).

This hasn’t been the best year for HP when it comes to WebOS, since purchasing WebOS and the big take over of Palm, HP just haven’t had that product. The HP Pre 3 has only just started to be even thought about being available to us when it was introduced at the very start of the year, probably forgotten about it like us haven’t you! And the HP Touchpad, which on paper was an iPad killer for sure, the best competitor to do so … but suddenly there’s HP, a highly respectable company begging US retailer BestBuy to not junk the product after only selling a mere 10% of shipped devices.

But HP also suffered in sales of their highly respected PC sales, which is why they are focusing on changing their PCs to make them more appealing with a PC spinover project. We’ll all have to see I guess what that ends up being.

WebOS has just sadly been one of those risks that HP couldn’t handle and we’re definitely sad to see WebOS go.

HP do however appear to be planning a big new PC spinover, whatever that is, and there is no mention on whether WebOS will play a part in that, fingers crossed if you ask me. WebOS deserves another chance. Well, I guess we’re back to the big 3 again, Apple, Google and RIM. … Microsoft are still catching up and getting there as of yet, and we don’t believe the IDG prediction of Windows Phone getting #2 marketshare in 2015 at all, but hey, its all opinion, sad to see one horse leave the race though.

:Updates on this story:

UPDATE: HP have confirmed however that they are not giving up on WebOS, just WebOS devices such as Pre smartphones and the Touchpad. HP are still considering licensing the OS for third party companies, which means the Touchpad and Pre 3 may not be the last WebOS devices we see after all! (source)

Google+ Review, Howto and First Impressions!

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Are you fed up of FaceBook, who isn’t eh? Especially with that stupid chat they’ve just added, anyway got a bit distracted then. So, will Google Plus be your new FaceBook … maybe, but we’ve a lot to get through before we can answer that. I will mention right now that I am finding new features on Google+ all the time which I love so not all maybe included in this, that you’ll have to investigate for, this is just looking through the basics and getting around this actually pretty awesome social network.
(NOTE: You do not need a Google account to sign up for Google+, at this stage you just need an email address for when you get an Invitation, but that e-mail doesn’t have to be a GMail account, it can be any e-mail address you want. If you have aYouTube account, it would make things a lot easy for you to use the same e-mail address as that!)
What is Google+
Google+ is essentially Google’s social network and definitely their best shot by a far. If you don’t know what we mean, search up Orkut or Google Buzz. But with Google+ it seems that Google have actually thought about things this time, and in a big way. Google+ isn’t even out of beta yet and works miles better than FaceBook does at comparable services. Is it there yet, absolutely not, but it’s the fastest and most probable thing to likely do so in the market.
Getting Started with Google Plus
Whilst Google+ is an ‘invite only’ beta at the moment, it still is pretty well sorted out. You have quick access to Google+ when logged in, from any other of your Google services, even whilst searching the web in Google like we’ve been doing for years.
Circles
The main feature of Google Plus and the most promoted feature of Google Plus has to be ‘Circles’. Circles are where you put your friends, but its more than that. When someone wants to add you, they don’t just add you to their Circle, they add you to a special Circle, what do we mean, well, for example;
If a good friend adds you on Google+, you would add them to your ‘Friends’ Circle. For family you would add them to a ‘Family’ circle etc. Google give you 4 default Circles when you join, ‘Friends’, ‘Family’, ‘Acquaintances’ and ‘Following’.
So unlike FaceBook where you send a friend request, it gets accepted, they see you’re all, and you see their all, on Google+ its a million times more controlled.
When you add a status to what is known as your ‘Stream’, think of it like your FaceBook Wall, instead of simply adding your status you have many options you can optionally toggle. Here’s how each reacts;
  • Public: Anything you post with this is visible to anyone who adds you to their Circle without you adding them, as well as been visible for all in your Circle. All your statuses Public are also visible to those who haven’t added you in any Circles, just viewing your Profile will show Public content.
  • Extended Circles: This makes your content visible only to people in your Circle and everyone who have you in their Circle whether you added them or not, they only need to add you to see them.
  • Your Circles: This makes your content limited to only people you’ve added to your circles, like traditional FaceBook, think of it like everyone in your list of friends.
  • Friends/Family/Acquaintances/Following/(Your Own Circle Name): This option allows you to truly limit the content you add to only those who are in the selected Circles you choose. This is very useful as you could add a Family status and only your Family would be able to see it if you posted to just the Family Circle etc.
  • Enter Name/E-Mail Address: This allows you to go right down to basics, content you post can be limited to whoever you mention this one time. If a certain group of people come up often, you can add your own Circle and give it a name. One individual can be in many Circles. To add people you type their name followed by the ‘+’ symbol, similar to the way you tag people in statuses on FaceBook using the ‘@’ symbol.
So thats Circles, a very powerful tool. Editing Circles is also very simple to do, a simple drag and drop method is used with your list of friends who you assign to a certain Circle. This, I think, is the king of privacy on Google+, why hasn’t FaceBook ever thought of this!
Posted Statuses Options
Here’s one feature that is pretty awesome in Google+, once you’ve added a status, you might of spelt something wrong, thought of that last thing to put after clicking Go, well now you can actually edit your posted statuses, how awesome is that! You can also delete posted statuses, link to statuses and even block comments for certain statuses!!! You can also stop certain statuses from being whats known as ‘Re-shared’, which is where someone essentially “Retweets” in a way your previously posted status. This also works for comments within statuses. And, whilst its hidden, you can add Statuses from anywhere when on Google+ by clicking the “Share…” box in the top right of the window. Also when you are on other Google services you can click “+(yourname)” to the left to go straight back to Google+.
+1
This is simple, instead of liking statuses on Google+, you +1 them. Just like you can +1 all your websites, just like FaceBook Like. Still no dislike option though, we’re all hoping for a -1 or something. We need a dislike button on something! I mean come on ‘My ??? has died’ = +1 … really! … Someone likes this, thats just harsh.
Sparks
One thing you won’t find on Google+ is band pages, company profiles (although they are coming) and subjects and topics you can “LIKE”, this is where Sparks comes in. Sparks is in no way a competitor to FaceBooks “LIKE”, in fact it works completely different. Once you click Sparks, you search for something you are interested in to, for example Cars, then ‘Add Interest’, this creates a Spark which you can regularly keep looking through, sort of like bookmarking a web result. I personally think this feature is as of now pointless and needs a lot of work on, but hey, you might like it.
Hangouts
Hangouts is the Google+ Video Chat feature, but its more than that, you can interact with multiple people at the same time on video chat, which has its built in Chat room and more. But thats about it, you can invite people to a Hangout from your Circles and get Video Calling. The big feature of this is the ability to video call multiple people at the same time, one nifty feature is that whilst all video chat windows are shown in smaller thumbnail view at the bottom, the person loudest comes centre stage in the chat, you can optionally select who you want centre stage if you wish. Hangouts must be a good feature as less than 24 hours of it premiering on Google+, FaceBook added Video Calling to their Chats, hmm interesting.
Instant Upload**
Instant Upload is a great way of easily sharing your photos over the cloud, then from the cloud add them to Google+. With Instant Upload it uploads every photo you take to Google+, then from Google+ you select from the cloud where those photos get stored, which ones you want to add, in seconds, as they’ve already been uploaded to Google servers. Instant Upload is only available however on the mobile application for Google+.
Huddle*
If you try you’re very best to ignore the name, it’s actually quite an awesome and useable service, and, unlike FaceBook Chat for example, this actually works! You can Huddle with up to 6 people at the same time, think of it as a mini-Google+ BBM type thing. Completely free to use and available on all versions of the Google+ Application.
Chat
But, if you are on the Google+ website, then Huddle is not available, instead you have a simple and easy to use Chat, which also has the ability to add up to 6 people to the Chat as well as Audio and Video Call. The Chat layout and features are very basic, but they work in an understandable manor, which is more than can be said for whatever the new FaceBook Chat is all about.
Your Profile
Your profile on Google+ is pretty simple and clean to be honest. You have your profile picture on the left under the Google+ logo. Under that you have the option to allow or disallow the option to allow people to send you an e-mail with your assigned email address.
You also have a few options;
  • Posts: Shows all your posted content. Providing that user is in the appropriate circle, unless content in Public.
  • About: Shows your About Me information, which can be configured to what information can be seen and by who, even goes as far as allowing only your ‘Work Mates’ Circle know that you work at that work, hmm, nifty.
  • Photos: Shows all your uploaded Photos
  • Videos: Shows all your uploaded Videos
  • +1s: This doesn’t appear to be working yet, but this will show all the services you have publicly +1 over the internet.
  • View Profile as…: Probably the most powerful feature if you ask me, in this you can type anyones name and view your profile as them, or as Public. This is great to check if that information only for that certain Circle is only available to those in that certain Circle.
  • In (YourName) Circles / Have (YourName) In Their Circles: This essentially shows you you’re friends and assigned Circles as well as who has added you. Google+ does not display however which Circle you have been added to, likewise to users from you.
Photos and Video
Google+ also gives you the option to upload Photos and Videos to your profile. All of which have a fantastic interface that pops up whilst playing/viewing the content, with a neat comment bar on the right, whilst the content is shown to the left. Like on FaceBook you can tag people in your content, but you can also edit your photos within Google+. By clicking “Actions” whilst viewing a Photo you can rotate the Photo if you need to, look at information about the Photo, Edit information, and even Edit the actual Photo using some effects such as Black and White. These maybe basic effects but still nice to have and Google are no doubt to probably add some more.
Official App
Google+ is now also available on Google Android (go figure) and the iPhone. Whilst the service is not available for iPad, Android Tablets, Blackberry, Windows Mobile or Nokia, devices with the latest version of their software can*** access the service via a mobile optimised version of the Google+ website with limited functionality. From the applications you can do nearly all functionality of Google+ including the exclusive feature Huddle for chatting on the go with up to 6 people at the same time.
Summary
And thats that,a basic … well if you can call it an overview of Google+. I’m in love with it, everything seems to work, and its still in beta, which can only be a good thing. Good luck Google, because if they play their cards right from now on, keep making it better and filling those holes its got over FaceBook then FaceBook will be the new MySpace if you know what I mean, which come on, we all kinda want that to happen!
Ben
*Only available in the Google Plus app.
**Only available in the Google Plus app for Android. Instant Upload is not a feature of the iOS Google Plus app.
***Only for iOS running iOS3 or later. Android 1.5+, Blackberry version 6 or later. Windows Mobile 6 or later. Nokia Symbian from 2010+.

Apple iPhone 4 32GB – First Impression / Review

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Apple iPhone 4 Review

Introduction
The iPhone 4 has, lets face it, probably had the most unusual and varied beginnings of any, not only Apple but any, product of all time. Starting with massive “wow”, record breaking sales, then oh somethings not right with the antenna, then orrr, its just been too much!
Well, before I start this review, written one week after purchasing the iPhone 4, well 8 days actually, I was busy on Friday, anyway.
I purchased my iPhone 4 from an Apple Store. I wanted to make sure I could get one so I searched in Google to see if I could reserve it, found an Apple.com link, went to it, and reserved it, went to the store and they were amazed on how I’d done it, anyway, got it home and now lets get to the review itself.
I got the iPhone 4 SIM Free, or microSIM Free, so I could pick my network, I picked Vodafone as they are quote on quote “voted the best network for iPhone 4″, we’ll see about that. So, got my microSIM, got my iPhone 4, lets unbox and get to the review.

First Impressions
When you first unbox the iPhone 4, the biggest shock I had was probably, well for one thing not having a wipe, ugghhh, although I did have a SIM Ejection Tool. No, the biggest shock is how thin it is, which does mean you have to get used to holding it, ironicly. The phone feels very strong and well built, something I think the 3G and 3GS design didn’t have, the iPhone 4 definitely doesn’t feel cheap. Despite actually been lighter than previous iPhones, it does seem to feel heavier, don’t know if its the materials or the more squarer shape.
Anyway, turning the phone on, getting my existing apps, music and what not on the iPhone 4 was the boring experience it always is when you get a new iOS device, but of course worth it in the end. I was happy to finally be able to change my home screen wallpaper seen as for some reason the 3G and 2nd gen Touch didn’t deserve that, although their are loads of websites with some brilliant wallpapers that match the home screen perfectly, I found one with the shelves on which looks great.
Then I got round to using the phone itself, I must say I am yet to FaceTime, but I’ll get in to everything else.
Performance
The iPhone 4 is fast, and I’m still getting used to multitasking but am very thankful for it and it is just fast at everything, which was a bit let down to the experience I was used to before I got rid of my iPhone 3G.
The … phone bit.
As a phone, I personally think the iPhone 4 does rather well, I always said that I would not get a case for the iPhone 4 involving the antenna unless it was an issue, and I can quite honestly say it is not an issue for me. Don’t get me wrong, if I sqeeze it like I’m trying to do something to make a man excited then yes the reception goes down MAXIMUM 3 bars, but never to “searching”. Having said that, in my entire history of using mobile phones I am yet to experience a dropped call, which kinda proves how bad US networks must be. Texting is of course great on the iPhone, the best on-screen keyboard on the planet with a great interface.
Camera
The iPhone 4 has a fantastic camera, whilst 5 megapixel doesn’t sound too special, its comparable to the 8 megapixel photos taken from the NOKIA N8, and when we get to video capture then its just overkill, which is helped by the iPhones LED flash. The iPhone 4′s video capture is fantastic, with dual microphones and fantastic quality at 30fps, the iPhone 4 is definitely a replacement device to your camcorder or digital camera*.
Data
Unfortunately the iPhone 4 has launched with new data plans that remove the phrase unlimited, which is annoying, but how much data do you actually use a month. Well, I decided to investigate and after visiting multiple websites, regular Twitter & FaceBook updates, uploaded a video to YouTube (in SD), view Maps locations, I barely used 68.4MB, which if we x4 to that is only 273.6MB, which is nothing to data plans today, so based on data plans that have a minimum of 500MB in their usage, you will be more than fine with your data useage on your iPhone 4*.
Ought Else
My overall experience with the iPhone 4 has been I have to say no more than completely possitive, I’m glad I got the 32GB version, as the fantastic 720P video capture does result in using a lot of storage, as well as downloading more and more of the fantastic collections of apps in the App Store, but I’m yet to experience something wrong with the iPhone 4 even without a case.

Pros
-The camera is insane. Photos are great and videos in 720P HD are incredible.
-Feels like quality, the design is fantastic and the phone just looks great.
-The Apple A4 chip performs speedy even whilst multitasking.
-The built in Gyro allows games to be like never before seen on a phone, also improves Mapping and Compass accuracy.
Cons
-Whilst I had no issues with this, the antenna issue some have been plagued with has to be mentioned as a con.
Summary
The iPhone 4 is indeed the biggest leap since the original iPhone. Design, performance and even general features have all just gone up that extra level to keep up with the competition. With some fantastic deals available for the iPhone 4 I can’t think of many ways why you wouldn’t like an iPhone 4, unless you generally just don’t want one in which fair enough!
Price
SIM Free: £499 (16GB), £599 (32GB)
Availability
Now

Rating: – The best iPhone to date, the antenna issue is a massive over exsaduration, the phone performs great and highly recommend it.

*for casual/average users.

The Ultimate iPhone 4 Contract (UK Only)

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When it comes to the iPhone, many people think its expensive to get one, but to be honest all you need to do is to look around more, it turns out a UK Supermarket has probably the ultimate iPhone contract, check this out for value, oh and that’s not to mention you get Clubcard points as well!!!

Basis
When it comes to 18 month contracts, everyone offers minimum of £30 per month, and then for 24 month contracts you can probably get the same deal on a £25 per month, but what if we told you that you could get an iPhone 4 for £20 per month! Well, the contract exists.

Tesco Mobile’s 12 Month Contract!
iPhone 4 (16GB) : £349 upfront, then £20 per month for 12 months. End of Contract Price: £589
iPhone 4 (32GB) : £429 upfront, then same as above. End of Contract Price: £669
Contract Includes: 250minutes, ∞texts, 1GB mobile data + Unlimited BT Openzone.

Of course the above information is the cheapest you can get the iPhone 4 as Tesco Mobile is the only network to offer a 12 month contract, and nobody offers ANY contract where the resulting price is less than £700 whether on the 16GB or the 32GB iPhone. But the only true way to compare is if we compare a Tesco Mobile 18 and 24 month contract. Well, to make this comparison we’re going to include the same 12 Month Contract by Tesco Mobile and then a SIM Only deal afterwards that Tesco Mobile offer offering the same contract deals, but for an amazing £10 a month, this makes it even cheaper on Tesco!

In the tests below we are going to compare the contracts of the CHEAPEST iPhone contract for the 16GB model. Tesco Mobile’s contracts are £60 more for the 32GB model, although other networks won’t be mentioned, we are only going to compare the 16GB model’s contract deals on 18 and 24 month deals.

18 Month Deals
Unfortunately not all UK network offer 18 month contracts yet, but all do offer 24 month deals so we’ll probably have a more comparable chart their, but hey, some do offer 18 month deals if that’s important for you!

TESCO
250 minutes, Unlimited texts, 1GB mobile data + Unlimited BT Openzone
iPhone costs £349 upfront, Contract: £20 & £10/month, making the end of Contract Price: £649
Tesco’s Contract is a £20 per month 12 month contract, then a £10 per month SIM Only deal with identical contract for 6 months.
O2

100 minutes, Unlimited texts, 500MB mobile data + Unlimited BT Openzone & The Cloud
iPhone costs £209 upfront, Contract: £30/month, making the end of Contract Price: £749
O2′s Contract is a £30 per month 18 month contract.
VODAFONE

75 minutes, 250 texts, 1GB mobile data + Unlimited BT Openzone
iPhone costs £219 upfront, Contract: £30/month, making the end of Contract Price: £759
Vodafone’s Contract is nowhere near as good as O2′s based on Calls and Texts, but does double data compared to O2, but results in being the most expensive!

Summary
Tesco = £649
O2 = £749
Vodafone = £759

Orange, T-Mobile and Three also offer the iPhone 4 but not (as yet) on an 18 month deal.

24 Month Deals
When it comes to 24 month deals, this is where we will truly see a comparison, remember, like with the 18 month deal, we are not comparing certain contracts, only the cheapest contract each networks offer hopefully resulting in the best contract money can buy!

TESCO
250 minutes, Unlimited texts, 1GB mobile data + Unlimited BT Openzone
iPhone costs £349 upfront, Contract: £20 & £10/month, making the end of Contract Price: £709
Tesco’s Contract is a £20 per month 12 month contract, then a £10 per month SIM Only deal with identical contract for another 12 months.
O2

100 minutes, Unlimited texts, 500MB mobile data + Unlimited BT Openzone & The Cloud
iPhone costs £279 upfront, Contract: £25/month, making the end of Contract Price: £849
O2′s Contract is a £25 per month 24 month contract.
VODAFONE

75 minutes, 250 texts, 1GB mobile data + Unlimited BT Openzone
iPhone costs £219 upfront, Contract: £25/month, making the end of Contract Price: £819
Vodafone’s Contract is nowhere near as good as O2′s based on Calls and Texts, but does double data compared to O2, and when it comes to the 24 month contract, it’s a lot cheaper.
ORANGE

150 minutes, 250 texts, 750MB mobile data + Unlimited BT Openzone
iPhone costs £169 upfront, Contract: £30/month, making the end of Contract Price: £889
Whilst Orange is the first of the list not to have a £25 per month deal, but whilst the contract starts a bit less than the alternatives, you don’t get much for it, making Orange a rather expensive alternative, and, why 750MB and not 1GB.
T-MOBILE

100 minutes, 100 texts, 500MB mobile data + Unlimited BT Openzone
iPhone costs £279 upfront, Contract: £25/month, making the end of Contract Price: £879
T-Mobile’s deal is actually rather expensive, especially when it is equal to O2 in price, yet on O2 you go from 100 texts to Unlimited.
THREE

500 minutes, 5,000 texts, 1GB mobile data, 5,000 Three to Three minutes, 1GB mobile data + BT Openzone
iPhone costs £99 upfront, Contract £30/month, making the end of Contract Price: £819
Three definitely has the best 24 month deal when it comes to value for money, Three give you the most for you’re money, especially based on the tiny £99 upfront for the iPhone (£189 for 32GB) making Three an incredible option.

Summary
Tesco = £709
Three = £819
Vodafone = £819
O2 = £879
T-Mobile = £879
Orange = £889

Links
iPhone 4 16GB 12 Month Contract on Tesco Site
iPhone 4 32GB 12 Month Contract on Tesco Site
SIM Only Deal 1 Month on Tesco Site

Blog Monday 12th July 2010

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Well whilst nothings really happened today, quite a few things have happened recently which I might as well mention, seen as this is a blog! Anyway.

Barbecue from a Bucket!
As you know its currently the holidays, so my mind really can’t remember any dates of anything, which was the original reason for having a blog, but hey, whatcha gonna do! So err… some time in the past week, after playing the entire Gorillaz Glastonbury set, which let me just say I didn’t mind to be honest. Anyway, back to the .. thing. James knocked on the door and invited me to the entire trip of a few yards to Rob’s for a barbecue, on the way finding out Rob had rung me, missed calls give it away. As usual for Rob’s barbecues I never have anything on the menu, basically because its well, not safe, lets face it. And he calls himself a chef. Joking aside, I mean only 4 people got food poisoning, LOL. Anyway. During the night more people joined the excitement, first was the missis, Rob’s that is, Helen arrived with er… someone (proof of how good I am at remembering names). Weird. I normally remember womens names, but hey! She was gone quickly anyway, whilst Helen stayed the night, yeah just like that song from Ghosts except in no way what so ever. Anyway, whilst enjoying the company of the current company, more company arrived! Ben arrived, not me obviously, with his sister? and someone else. Just like the random person that arrived when Helen did, they soon left. (OK, next time I’m bringing a notepad and paper) And that was the crowd. Throughout the night we randomly enjoyed Rob’s tent which was out for a reason of the fact that he was going on a trip that required a tent.

Tom’s Birthday … thing.
(Now this I can remember as it was well only two days ago) Now, Saturdays are rarely entertaining if I’m been honest, in fact the entire weekend seems to be for some reason the dullest part of the week, so it was refreshing to get some fun on in the weekend. I was invited, by Caddy, to Tom’s birthday do. Tom, Tom, you remember Tom, from that … yeah that guy, yeah, yes, him with the … yeah him! So now we’ve that sorted out. I met with Caddy at Grandads (Lee), yeah been a while. After almost been murdered by his dog and exhausted by the hill in which he lives atop, we went to the meeting spot, Weatherspoons, which was naturally busy as the World Cup match was on. Don’t know why they do 3rd and 4th place if you ask me, what do you win? Anyway, after almost finishing our first pint we were kinda wondering where everyone was, but they were all eating, so we then went to the place in which they were eating at … obviously. Tom, his girlfriend Sophie and Matty were there, equalling the crew for the night. We headed to our local (if you call a mile away a local), The Punch Boal. One advantage of the World Cup is the price of alcohol, yeyy reduction. Lee was rather more interested in the Football as he had £250 on Germany winning 4 – 2, which never happened. As the night went by multiple random banter went on, including everyone getting licked by a random drunk guy, which was lets face it, not enjoyable. Also throughout the night, by 3 random young girls who were sneaking out for a reasons unknown said amongst many things that I looked like Harry Potter, which whilst seemed to be aimed as an insult, to say that Daniel Radcliff was named sexiest male in film in 2007, I’m pretty honoured. So as the night ended, a friend of Toms got extremely drunk and basically ended up half naked showing himself off to passing cars, and even them random 3 girls enjoyed the display, to add to that spraying cream out of a window on to him. You can’t write this stuff. We all then got a lift home by one of Toms mates, except Caddy who got a taxi, and Lee who … wasn’t there. Kinda felt a bit sorry for Lee as we sped past him, but hey what can you do. In all fairness their was no room left. Although in a way I kinda wanted some really bad chips that you enjoy when drunk so a side of me didn’t want a lift, but oh well!
All in all not a bad night.

RKUK Shop
I’m very happy to announce we’ve launched a shop, and its bluddy awesome and can only get better. I’m working on more designs for RKUK’s logo, and after some negotiating we can get those all-wanted Damn Crows t-shirts on their. Here’s the link to the shop.

Ought else
I’ve been watching Season 5 of Two and a Half Men and it rocks, finished watching it yesterday, bluddy hilarious especially the CSI piss-take episode, you can watch that ep on MegaVideo here if you want, worth it!

I also got D-Sides by Gorillaz, bluddy love it, I love the way Gorillaz instead of putting b-sides on singles they release albums, for their first album ‘Gorillaz’, they released ‘G-Sides’, and for ‘Demon Days’ they released ‘D-Sides’, I’m looking forward to ‘P-Sides’ when that arrives as their latest album is ‘Plastic Beach’. I’m loving the song ’68 State’, that guitar rift is just awesome!

Also T-Mobile finally released pricing for the iPhone 4, been the last network to announce deals for the phone. And, whilst the wait was incredibly exciting … it turns out T-Mobile has taken over Orange as being the most expensive network you could go on, whilst Tesco Mobile is cheapest, O2 has the cheapest 18 month contract and 3 has the cheapest 24 month contract.

Well thats all for y’all today

E-Ya Later

Ben

http://rkukmedia.ning.com

Apple iPhone 4 Contract Deals – Which is the best?

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The iPhone 4 is definitely the best smartphone out there, bar-none. But, like all good tech, it comes at a price, but actually not at a price you are probably expecting, below we’ve listed the cheapest deals from each network to give you a better idea on who to choose.
O2 was the first provider for the iPhone, and you’d expect it to still be the best, but now the iPhone is available on so much more networks I guess competition is tough. Here are the 18 and 24 month contract deals for the iPhone on O2.
Contract
16GB
18 Month Deal
£30 (£540) = (+£209 up front) Total iPhone Price: £749 < CHEAPEST 18M CONTRACT
100 Mins, Unlimited Texts, 500MB monthly Web + Cloud and BT Hotspots
24 Month Deal
£25 (£600) – (+£279 up front) Total iPhone Price: £879
100 Mins, Unlimited Texts, 500MB monthly Web + Cloud and BT Hotspots
32GB
18 Month Deal
£30 (£540) = (+£299 up front) Total iPhone Price: £839 < CHEAPEST 18M CONTRACT
100 Mins, Unlimited Texts, 500MB monthly Web + Cloud and BT Hotspots
24 Month Deal
£25 (£600) = (+£323 up front) Total iPhone Price: £923
100 Mins, Unlimited Texts, 500MB monthly Web + Cloud and BT Hotspots
Pay As You Go
Prices to be announced soon.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO NEW O2 CUSTOMERS: O2 have restricted the iPhone 4 as of now to only 6 months or later existing O2 customers.
More Info
The contract above is from the cheapest deal from O2, to view the full list of contracts from O2 click here!
Vodafone is next. Vodafone tends to normally have some quite rubbish deals in my experience, but they may surprise us with what is on offer, lets see what the cheapest Vodafone Deal is.
Contract
16GB
18 Month Deal
£30 (£540) = (+£219 up front) Total iPhone Price: £759
75 Mins, 250 Texts, 1GB monthly Web + BT Hotspots
24 Month Deal
£25 (£600) – (+£219 up front) Total iPhone Price: £819
75 Mins, 250 Texts, 1GB monthly Web + BT Hotspots
32GB
18 Month Deal
£30 (£540) = (+£309 up front) Total iPhone Price: £849
75 Mins, 250 Texts, 1GB monthly Web + BT Hotspots
24 Month Deal
£25 (£600) = (+£309 up front) Total iPhone Price: £909
75 Mins, 250 Texts, 1GB monthly Web + BT Hotspots
Pay As You Go
Prices to be confirmed soon.
More Info
The contract above is from the cheapest deal from Vodafone, to view all deals from Vodafone click here!
3 is next. 3 is one of the few networks that this year debut with the iPhone. So lets see what they’ve got, well, a problem is for one they only offer the iPhone on 24 month contracts, but the price isn’t half bad.
Contract
16GB
24 Month Deal
£30 (£720) = (+£99 up front) Total iPhone Price: £819 < CHEAPEST 24M CONTRACT
500 mins, 5,000 texts, 1GB Web (Cellular Only), 5,000 3 to 3 mins
32GB
24 Month Deal
£30 (£720) = (+£189 up front) Total iPhone Price: £909 < CHEAPEST 24M CONTRACT
500 mins, 5,000 texts, 1GB Web (Cellular Only), 5,000 3 to 3 mins
More Info
The contract above is the cheapest 24 month contract from 3. 3 have announced a £25 contract will be coming soon, until then you can view the entire list of contracts if you click here!
Orange is next. Orange was the second provider to get the iPhone in 2008. Since then Orange have changed alot when it comes to the iPhone, lets see what they’ve got to offer for the new iPhone 4.
Contract
16GB
18 Month Deal
£30 (£540) = (+£229 up front) Total iPhone Price: £749
150 mins, 250 texts, 750MB Web + BT Hotspots
24 Month Deal
£25 (£600) = (+£229 up front) Total iPhone Price: £819
75 mins, 125 texts, 750MB Web + BT Hotspots
32GB
18 Month Deal
£30 (£540) = (+£319 up front) Total iPhone Price: £859
150 mins, 250 texts, 750MB Web + BT Hotspots
24 Month Deal
£30 (£720) = (+£319 up front) Total iPhone Price: £1,039
500 mins, 5,000 texts, 1GB Web (Cellular Only), 5,000 3 to 3 mins
Pay As You Go
16GB = £480 (When bought with £10 Top-up. Includes 250MB free monthly Web + BT Hotspots)
32GB = £570 (When bought with £10 Top-up. Includes 250MB free monthly Web + BT Hotspots)
More Info
The contract above is the cheapest from Orange. Dispite this, Orange is the most expensive contract you could choose. Seriously if Orange is that important then go for it, but its not worth it. Further info here!
Lastly is Tesco Mobile. Now, we know what your thinking, Tesco Mobile? Don’t under-estimate this supermarket owned network. Tesco Mobile uses O2 for reception and service, but has Tesco prices and just look at these prices!
Contract
16GB
12 Month Deal
£20 (£240) = (+£349 up front) Total iPhone Price: £589 < CHEAPEST PRICE
250 mins, Unlimited texts, 1GB Web + BT Hotspots
24 Month Deal
£45 (£1,080) = (+£19 up front) Total iPhone Price: £1,099
Unlimited mins, Unlimited texts, 1GB Web + BT Hotspots
32GB
12 Month Deal
£20 (£240) = (+£429 up front) Total iPhone Price: £669 < CHEAPEST PRICE
250 mins, Unlimited texts, 1GB Web + BT Hotspots
24 Month Deal
£45 (£1,080) = (+£99 up front) Total iPhone Price: £1,179
Unlimited mins, Unlimited texts, 1GB Web + BT Hotspots
Pay As You Go
16GB = £479
32GB = £569
More Info
So, if you want to know the full list of contracts available from Tesco Mobile, then click here!

Summary

So there you have it, the most talked about phone is now available on more or less all of the UK’s networks. T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile are also expected to announce deals very soon as well.
The cheapest overall network to go with has to be Tesco Mobile, and if you have great O2 reception in your area you really have no excuse not to go with it, I mean you get 1,000 clubcard points just for signing up, then the price of the phone!
The cheapest 18 month contract comes from O2 themselves.
The cheapest 24 month contract if you want one of those comes from newcomer 3. 3 is boasting to having the best 3G network in the UK, so could be a great choice, still pity they only do 24 month contracts.
NOTE: This will be updated when T-Mobile and possibly Virgin announce there deals!

April 2010 – Apple Updates MacBook Pro Specs, but that’s about it.

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Apple today updated the specs on the MacBook Pro line-up, the 13, 15 and 17 inch models all got a spec update which should keep them up to date for the next few months or so. The update includes, as expected, Intel’s new mobile Core i5 and i7 chips as well as some updated NVidia graphics including the NVidia GeForce GT 330M, which, according to NVidia is the next up from the NVidia GeForce 9400M that we’ve seen in more or less all but the Mac Pro for basic graphic configuration. Like the 9400M, the 330M supports up to 256MB of shared graphics on a 2.4GHz system, but can go up to 512MB on a system supporting speeds above 2.66Ghz.

13″ MacBook Pro

If we’re all been perfectly honest, if you’ve recently bought a 13″ MacBook Pro, as in last week for example, I wouldn’t be so disappointed, not much has changed.

The 13″ MacBook Pro is the only MacBook Pro not to feature any of Intel’s new processors, as in the i5 or i7, the MacBook Pro 13″ now comes with either a 2.4GHz or a 2.66Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo.

The 13″ MacBook Pro can be upped to 2.66Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, with now up to 8GB DDR3 RAM (2 RAM slots) and if you more or less want to double the price of the MacBook Pro you can opt for a 512GB SSD, or save more than a grand and go for a 500GB HDD.

Apple are also promising now up to a 10 hour battery from the 13″ MacBook Pro, although the sacrifice of no replaceable battery.

15″ MacBook Pro

The 15″ MacBook Pro has 3 standalone options, 2 in which contain Intel’s Core i5 chip, the top standalone config has the i7. The first model has a 2.4GHz i5 chip with 4GB DDR3 RAM, which can be upped to 8GB DDR3. Like the 13″ you can also double the price by having the option of a new 512GB SSD, or 500GB HDD which unlike the 13″ MacBook Pro you have the option of 5200RPM of 7200RPM.

One rather interesting feature of the 15″ MacBook Pro is you have the option on getting the default Glossy display, but if you want to pay a bit more you can get a “High Res Glossy Widescreen Display”, we’re not quite sure what the difference is between both, but seems odd. And the price has gone up for the Anti-Glare option, now a massive £120 extra, which is actually rather annoying as the extra price is getting ridiculous.

The second option features the same specs, but with a 2.53GHz Intel i5 with the same integrated NVidia GeForce GT 330M as the 13″ MacBook Pro and the 2.4GHz 15″ model.

The last “top” option for the 15″ MacBook Pro goes all out, with a 2.66Ghz Core i7 chip and thanks to the processor spec the GeForce GT 330M will power at 512MB. We’re not sure how using the same chip for graphics is going to be based on performance but we’ll see.

And, whats this we see, the return of Intel Graphics? Intel HD graphics as they are known as are also in the 15″ MacBook Pro supporting the same graphics specs as the NVidia but shared with main memory … yeah I know, confusing.

17″ MacBook Pro

The 17″ MacBook Pro has just one base spec which includes a 2.53GHz Intel Core i5 or a Intel Core i7 at 2.66Ghz. The 17″ also features the up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, the same options for Hard Drives, up to 500GB HDD (5200RPM or 7200RPM) and up to 512GB SSD. The 17″ MacBook Pro features the NVidia GeForce 330M which supports 512MB of graphics at 2.66GHz config, and 256MB on 2.53GHz, as well as Intel HD graphics shared with the main memory at 256MB.

Overview

Definitely an interesting update especially with the NVidia 330M graphics on all models and the difference in graphics performance based on Intel graphics. We’ll have to see how these go down the lines. All models of the new MacBook Pros are available right now from Apple’s online store. But all-in-all, we still have no sign of Blu-Ray on Macs, maybe next time eh!

Has the iPhone passed its sell-buy date?

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As an iPhone user myself I can’t help wondering whats next for the device, when you think of the features the iPhone lacks, which lets face it is about 5, after that what can Apple introduce to make the iPhone appealing?
App Store
The only answer I’ve been given to that question is the App Store, now with over 100,000 apps (as of Q4 ’09) but lets face it, you won’t use them all will ya, and once you’ve played one racing game, the others look the same, same with shooters, and more, I’m just wondering whats next.
Since the first iPhone back in 2007, Apple haven’t changed the UI or the way the iPhone works once, whilst some may like that as it makes it an easy transition, I don’t know, to me the iPhone is still missing something which I can’t put my finger on it.
Here’s what I’m basing it on, like I said the App Store has now over 100K applications, but we’ve all got the same apps, everyone seems to have the ‘FaceBook’ app for example, which is more or less essential for anyone, but we can all get FaceBook on all mobiles, even that old Nokia 6233 I’ve got lying around somewhere, and YouTube is also now available for even the basic-est devices.
Touch Screen
Since the iPhone in ’07, touch screen + phone, lets face it, wasn’t really working out, then Apple did their magic and, boom, touch screen working seemlessly, but now everyone knows how to make touchscreen phone and before you know it, you’ve a whole bunch of different manufacturers interpretation of the iPhone, which is all good and all and don’t get me wrong when you first get an iPhone, or an iPod Touch for that matter, its a great experience, but I’m the type of guy who used to have a new phone every 6-10 months, and whilst I’ve not got a different iPhone than I started with, I feel that everything you can get from the iPhone is now on the iPod Touch, but is also on most mainstream phones, the App Store, Touchscreen, having a touchscreen iPod, is now just a feature that everyone can follow. Speaking of touchscreen, the iPhone was the first touchscreen phone I’ve ever purchased, but after a while you do find yourself itching to actually press a button, I was using a Samsung this week, just a standalone one, nothing special, but it felt great to actually text using actual buttons, and lets face it, you can’t send an SMS with an iPhone on a bus, its more or less impossible, you’re relying on the corrector.
What do you want from the iPhone then?
I think it would go in Apple’s favour if they made an iPhone with an actual button keyboard, sort out the annoying features the iPhone needs, “Hey, can you send us that through Bluetooth?”, “…No, actually”, I’m fed up of answering that!