Gadgets, Tech, etc. - The Bear and Badger

Mod74

Yes, but does does the chief engineer of the Enterprise use Android or iPhone? I think not.

https://twitter.com/#!/levarburton

WorKid

It's also true to say the iOS landscape is becoming increasingly fractured.

Anyway, tomorrow I collect one of these:

[Deleted User]

Its upgrade time for me.
Currently I have an iPhone4 which costs Â£36 a month on Vodafone, I can drop it down to Â£26 on sim only but it appears I have to sign up for 12 months, which is a bit rubbish.

I'm quite happy with my iPhone but wondering if there is anything amazing out there. The Samsung looks great but is more than I'm currently paying and not sure if I'm convince it will be all that much better.

MattyJ

You could just switch to a different network and keep the phone. 3 do rolling contracts, as do Orange, for iPhone sim only.

[Deleted User]

Can i do that, I assumed it was locked to Vodafone?

Mod74

It might be but they have to unlock the device if you ask them to.

Depends where you got it as well, Phones4U don't sell locked phones, only unlocked ones, which has proved very handy for me as WP7 updates come out once the carrier has finished testing them. Unlocked updates come out once MS has finished with them.

BobbyDanger

You can cancel the contract and request your PAC and that the phone be unlocked when doing so, then you can just go to any provider.

I'm planning ditching Orange as soon as I can and go onto the Â£12.50 a month Tesco contract.

http://shop.tescomobile.com/plans-tariffs

They use 02's network and when I told the guy from Orange I was planning on doing this when he phoned me about upgrading my phone just said OK bye as there is no way they can match that.

[Deleted User]

Cheers guys, sounds good.

It says I'm open to an upgrade online but will have to ring them to find out when my contract actually ends.

That Tesco deal looks really good actually, blows Vodafone's sim only out of the water, I assume you can use that on iPhone, what with the mini sim cards n all.

Triple clubcard points too waaaaaaaaaah
EDIT: Just checked, it's a bit more for iPhone at Â£15 but you get 1gb of data.

Mod74

As a minor (or possibly major) point I'd recommend checking to see what coverage you get in your areas before swapping carrier. Ideally via a friend in your house/work on the same network.

I live less two miles from a major city centre and according to O2 nestle between three towers. The reality though is I get a fucking shit signal.

BobbyDanger

Ah sorry still Â£15 will be saving over Â£20 a month and I'm down with that, although when the 5 comes out I'll probably cave and run straight out and sign up for a new contract, despite me saying the 4's fine and it does everything I want, I don't need an upgrade...

[Deleted User]

@Mod74
Good advice, I will check around but I think o2 is relatively good where I am, a lot of friends had iPhones on O2 when they had the exclusivity and had no problems.

@BobbyDanger
Yeah the 5's potentially imminent arrival was another reason I wasn't sure about picking up a different phone now. I atleast want to know all the options before locking myself into a contract for another two years.
I feel exactly the same about my 4, it does what I want it to do, but the 5 could sway me.

Â£15 sounds great, especially for a 1 month roller. 45 clubcard points a month is an exrtra 45p of vouchers towards stuff, not a great amount but I quite like Tesco's rewards voucher system.

Unlikely

BobbyDanger wrote:

You can cancel the contract and request your PAC and that the phone be unlocked when doing so, then you can just go to any provider. I'm planning ditching Orange as soon as I can and go onto the Â£12.50 a month Tesco contract. http://shop.tescomobile.com/plans-tariffs They use 02's network and when I told the guy from Orange I was planning on doing this when he phoned me about upgrading my phone just said OK bye as there is no way they can match that.

I wouldn't underestimate what providers will offer you if they think you're going to leave.Â Not sure which Tesco deal you're thinking of but two years ago I got a "free" HTC Desire with 300 texts/200 minutes/"unlimited" data for Â£15 a month over two years.Â All I did was phone up and ask for my PAC and told them that was the deal I could get elsewhere.

Unlikely

Wait, I think you mean he said okibye.Â Never mind then.

[Deleted User]

Its all good advice.
If I can make BT apologise and admit they made a mistake over the phone surely I can do anything.

BobbyDanger

Yeah sorry I wasn't too clear then, he basically said kthxbye, he didn't mention not being able to match it that was just my assumption from the way his enthusiasm totally dropped and he couldn't get off the phone quick enough.

Edit @Unlikely

Funkstain

I was amazed at the deal I was offered by 3. I'd been on a rolling SIM-only monthly contract, so not exactly a lucrative customer for them. Decided the in-building signal was too shit since their merger with T-mo and Orange resulted in them shutting off a bunch of cell towers. Was dead set on joining GiffGaff (O2's no-frills eco brand).

Called them up, and they started with an HTC One S free in a 24-mth Â£23 contract (500mins, unltd texts unltd internet). At first I thought this was OK but changed my mind. Called them back to cancel before they sent me the phone. So they offered me the HTC One X free, Â£20 contract (1000mins unltd everything else).

Given I can sell the unwanted HTC for at least Â£350 on eBay, that's a ridiculous bargain, even with shitty in-building coverage.

TL;DR: you can get amazing deals from your operator without even trying that hard.

mk64

3 are especially slutty when it comes to bending over for resubs.

WorKid

S3 is awesome Blown away

[Deleted User]

WorKid wrote:

S3 is awesome Blown away

Sounds like you were lucky to get one mate, what with the stock issues.

The new features it had concerned me a bit with accidental use and the like. For example putting the phone to your ear and it auto dialing, or it recognising eyes and unlocking (sunglasses issue).

Have you tried these out yet?

Roujin

Hello, earlier Dynamite was asking about my phone, I have a Lumia 800 and frankly it is the tits.

I love the WP7 interface, its ridiculously clean. The live tiles are great for informing of updates without having to open the app first and the way it links all your social media into one timeline is fucking boss. Oh and as a corporate whore I enjoy being able work on my office docs on the go.

Oh and the Live integration is also great. Gamerscore for Minesweeper? Yes plpx.

WorKid

Still setting it all up, it's a lot more complicated than my old phone that's for sure! Very happy with it though. Haven't actually used the phone feature yet...

Mod74

Roujin wrote:

Gamerscore for Minesweeper? Yes plpx.

Get yerself Shuffle Party and weep before the majesty of my bowling score....hang...on...

Webbins you utter shit.

Roujin

Already got it will go and check the scores, another awesome feature, Live friend leaderboards.

I also recommend Wordament, it recently got turned into a Live game and is now even more awesome.

Mod74

Unless I've read the names wrong I don't think we have each other on Friends lists then.

Mine is in the Show Networks link on the left there.

Webbins

Mod74 wrote:

Roujin wrote:

Gamerscore for Minesweeper? Yes plpx.

Get yerself Shuffle Party and weep before the majesty of my bowling score....hang...on...

Webbins you utter shit.

WorKid

You can of course turn all the motion and face rec. stuff off but so far I like it.

Camera is good, does face tagging, pretty cool. Screen is lovely. Battery life seems okay.

Only thing is, having moved over from a Blackberry, I REALLY miss having a proper physical keyboard. It literally takes me twice as long to do anything.

djchump

Sorry if old: MS launching something on Monday? Rumours of tablet / resurrection of Courier?

http://mashable.com/2012/06/14/microsoft-is-launching-an-ipad-killer-report/

Mod74

Saw that earlier, find it hard to believe such a major thing would make it this close to an announcement without a leak.

Maybe it's the Yammer confirmation?

A fully MS branded tablet would be such a huge departure from the past. Maybe they think it's OK to do as it's not a PC. AFAICR I haven't seen any Win8RT tablets from third party manufacturers, just Win8 ones. Could be wrong.

Maybe making Win8RT an MS tablet only product is the smartest thing to do.

MattyJ

IT IS INTRIGUING.

Hopefully it turns out to be something worth the fuss. Would be funny if they announced a new console a couple of weeks after E3.

djchump

Mod74 wrote:

Saw that earlier, find it hard to believe such a major thing would make it this close to an announcement without a leak. ...

Yeah, good point - if it was a full on MS tablet the chinese factories would have leaked photos / info by now.

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