Finally most of the UK networks (even some MVNOs) now provide 4G as standard on their pay monthly and PAYG plans.
To be honest, they had to; it's a premium service, but one destined to provide mobile data needs as smartphones and smart devices become ubiquitous.
Is 4G worth it, though?
The speeds can be very fast, but I've long argued whether they are worth paying a premium for.
Anyone who has tried Three's network and had a decent signal should appreciate that their 3G beats most other networks' 4G.
Having tried out Vodafone's and Three's HSDPA 3G network speeds, I'm not sold on 4G at all - it's too rare a beast to rely upon due to patchy coverage from every network.
No doubt that many people will have acquired a 4G phone recently, maybe at Christmas or as a Black Friday deal. So many (younger) people also rely upon mobile data very heavily, making access to mobile data essential- But the networks are groaning under this burden and have increased prices (along with reducing data allowances) to stem the flow of excessive data use.
Pricey contracts with minimal data mean that 4G is currently worthless.
Monday 28 December 2015
Saturday 12 December 2015
Christmas Safety Tips: Technology
It's that time of year again!
No matter how much you are/aren't looking forward to spending time with your family this Christmas, you will inevitably have to get through several weeks of Christmas shopping and Christmas parties.
One thing that is easily overlooked is the safety/vulnerability of your (often expensive) gadgets, especially at this time of the year.
I've previously mentioned my interest in cybersecurity, but this isn't where I'm heading with this blog entry. I'm talking about your personal security and how your mobile phone is your friend - and your enemy.
This time of year is an absolute bonus for thieves.
Most people are out and about, carrying cash and expensive gifts. Their minds are on all sorts of things, and they typically aren't very aware of their surroundings.
A hasty call on a mobile phone can easily lead to distraction, leaving that person vulnerable to attack, be it passively or aggressively.
Fifteen years ago, there were campaigns to stop people from standing outside the pub on a dark night with their mobile phone illuminating their face as they chatted away. Criminals then selected their target...
Nothing has changed, except that smartphones now have much brighter screens and are worth (frequently) much more money. Oh, and I bet that you use your phone a lot more, and in many more places than you did all those years ago.
Criminals can make very good money from selling stolen phones.
Most people don't register their devices, unless they have taken out insurance, so it's easy to sell on stolen goods with little traceability.
What's worse is that your mobile contains a huge amount of personal data:
The address of yourself, friends and family members.
Bank details - including access to your accounts through banking apps (passcodes are easy enough to crack, if criminals have the right experience).
Your calendar. This will include important dates (your birthdate + your address = identity theft.
Those calendar details are likely to include your holiday dates and other times when you'll be away from home. Maybe your work details are also on your phone. All of these bits of information can be simply pieced together to form a picture of who you are, what you do and where you'll be. If you don't want your house burgled, or to have someone knowing where you are likey to be, then having someone access your phone after it's been stolen is very bad news.
You can and should have some form of security on your phone. Lockscreens are ok, and best used with a code. (Patterns are easily traced from finger grease on the screen, face unlock is too insecure, and fingerprint scanning is much less secure than you would believe: It's a convenient gimmick, rather than a proper security measure.)
The best course of action is to have a remote lock and wipe function/app that you can access easily - should your phone be stolen or go missing.
Prevention is better than a cure, so in the first instance you should be aware of your surroundings and only take your phone out when it's safe to do so.
Nearly 48% of all mobile phone thefts/losses are in the pub, and at this time of year it's easy to drink too much and not pay attention to what you're doing. Certainly leaving your phone in full view on the bar is pretty stupid - You're advertising it to everyone.
You'd be even more stupid to leave it unattended if you go to the toilet, for example, but people do this all of the time.
So you're out on a night out, say, and your phone does go missing. This instantly leaves you without any personal communication, and good luck trying to remember your mate's phone number when you're sober, let alone drunk, tired, confused and possibly in unfamiliar territory.
For this reason alone, consider leaving your fancy phone at home and getting a "burner phone", or at least take sensible steps to avoid "losing" your mobile in the first place.
No matter how much you are/aren't looking forward to spending time with your family this Christmas, you will inevitably have to get through several weeks of Christmas shopping and Christmas parties.
One thing that is easily overlooked is the safety/vulnerability of your (often expensive) gadgets, especially at this time of the year.
I've previously mentioned my interest in cybersecurity, but this isn't where I'm heading with this blog entry. I'm talking about your personal security and how your mobile phone is your friend - and your enemy.
This time of year is an absolute bonus for thieves.
Most people are out and about, carrying cash and expensive gifts. Their minds are on all sorts of things, and they typically aren't very aware of their surroundings.
A hasty call on a mobile phone can easily lead to distraction, leaving that person vulnerable to attack, be it passively or aggressively.
Fifteen years ago, there were campaigns to stop people from standing outside the pub on a dark night with their mobile phone illuminating their face as they chatted away. Criminals then selected their target...
Nothing has changed, except that smartphones now have much brighter screens and are worth (frequently) much more money. Oh, and I bet that you use your phone a lot more, and in many more places than you did all those years ago.
Criminals can make very good money from selling stolen phones.
Most people don't register their devices, unless they have taken out insurance, so it's easy to sell on stolen goods with little traceability.
What's worse is that your mobile contains a huge amount of personal data:
The address of yourself, friends and family members.
Bank details - including access to your accounts through banking apps (passcodes are easy enough to crack, if criminals have the right experience).
Your calendar. This will include important dates (your birthdate + your address = identity theft.
Those calendar details are likely to include your holiday dates and other times when you'll be away from home. Maybe your work details are also on your phone. All of these bits of information can be simply pieced together to form a picture of who you are, what you do and where you'll be. If you don't want your house burgled, or to have someone knowing where you are likey to be, then having someone access your phone after it's been stolen is very bad news.
You can and should have some form of security on your phone. Lockscreens are ok, and best used with a code. (Patterns are easily traced from finger grease on the screen, face unlock is too insecure, and fingerprint scanning is much less secure than you would believe: It's a convenient gimmick, rather than a proper security measure.)
The best course of action is to have a remote lock and wipe function/app that you can access easily - should your phone be stolen or go missing.
Prevention is better than a cure, so in the first instance you should be aware of your surroundings and only take your phone out when it's safe to do so.
Nearly 48% of all mobile phone thefts/losses are in the pub, and at this time of year it's easy to drink too much and not pay attention to what you're doing. Certainly leaving your phone in full view on the bar is pretty stupid - You're advertising it to everyone.
You'd be even more stupid to leave it unattended if you go to the toilet, for example, but people do this all of the time.
So you're out on a night out, say, and your phone does go missing. This instantly leaves you without any personal communication, and good luck trying to remember your mate's phone number when you're sober, let alone drunk, tired, confused and possibly in unfamiliar territory.
For this reason alone, consider leaving your fancy phone at home and getting a "burner phone", or at least take sensible steps to avoid "losing" your mobile in the first place.
Sunday 6 December 2015
Post Office Mobile - Reduction in Value
My top pick of 30 day bundles on PAYG was shaken up back in July when Post Office Mobile entered the scene.
They offered fantastic value 30 day PAYG bundles, which were far better than any other network.
Unfortunately, this has already ended.
Their bundles have had overall allowances axed by up to 50%!
My PAYG deals website http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/payg-30-day-bundles.html
has just been updated to reflect this drastic change, and whilst the bundles are still ok, they aren't great (and the £7.50 bundle has been axed altogether.
At least Talkmobile offer free calls for a 10p connection charge these days (and are one of the very few Vodafone MVNOs).
They offered fantastic value 30 day PAYG bundles, which were far better than any other network.
Unfortunately, this has already ended.
Their bundles have had overall allowances axed by up to 50%!
My PAYG deals website http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/payg-30-day-bundles.html
has just been updated to reflect this drastic change, and whilst the bundles are still ok, they aren't great (and the £7.50 bundle has been axed altogether.
At least Talkmobile offer free calls for a 10p connection charge these days (and are one of the very few Vodafone MVNOs).
Friday 4 December 2015
Children + Electronics: How worried as a parent are you?
Given that this week has seen yet another massive hack, cybercrime and cybersecurity are (or should!) be something that every company worries about and takes seriously enough to prevent damage to their business, reputation and customers.
The hack that is foremost in my mind at the moment is the Vtech hack: 6.4 million user details have been accessed. That's huge, and even overshadows the most recent TalkTalk hack.
What makes the Vtech hack even more outrageous is the sheer number of children's accounts which have been hacked and accessed - This includes photos taken by (and of) children, as well as the audio recordings that they have made.
This should make parents very worried. From reports that I've read, paedophiles don't just want to look at despicable child pornography - simple photographs of children are sufficient enough to satisfy their perverse needs.
That fact alone should make anyone think twice about putting photos of their kids up on Facebook for all to see, but when it's innocent children's snapshots that they have taken themselves, this hack seems even more sinister.
Vtech have understandably created a FAQ page (available here) which breaks down the numbers of accounts and type of accounts affected by country, and it makes shocking reading.
Nearly 2.9 million children's accounts have been accessed in the USA, and over 727,000 child accounts in the UK have also been accessed.
In comparison, over 2.2 million parent accounts have been compromised in the USA, with 560,487 parent accounts accessed in the UK.
Just what has been accessed and/or passed on to third parties is still to be discovered, but I would be incredibly worried if my children had been using Vtech's products.
When I was a child, my parents generally didn't encourage me to go for battery operated (or electronic) toys, as they typically didn't do very much, weren't particularly educational and they ate batteries. I loved Lego, anyway.
But, with electronic devices finding their way into every aspect of our lives, children increasingly want and expect a similar life to their parents - and this includes access to smartphone and tablet style devices.
During the Black Friday sale week, I Tweeted about a recent campaign by the NSPCC which shocked me and would certainly make me think twice before buying a cheap smartphone for any child.
The video is almost too much to take in, and it left my wife and I sitting in stunned silence after we saw it - We then both agreed that we would never give our kids a smartphone!
The NSPCC video is titled "I saw your willy", and if you haven't seen it, you should. You too, will think twice before letting your kids have a smartphone or tablet.
No amount of parental controls on your ISP or home broadband will stop determined or accidental use of anything connected to the internet, so you really do need to ask yourself "Is it ok for my children to have access to modern consumer electronics in this day and age?"
It's a very unpleasant world that we live in, and we should protect ourselves online - because companies might not be doing enough to protect us.
The hack that is foremost in my mind at the moment is the Vtech hack: 6.4 million user details have been accessed. That's huge, and even overshadows the most recent TalkTalk hack.
What makes the Vtech hack even more outrageous is the sheer number of children's accounts which have been hacked and accessed - This includes photos taken by (and of) children, as well as the audio recordings that they have made.
This should make parents very worried. From reports that I've read, paedophiles don't just want to look at despicable child pornography - simple photographs of children are sufficient enough to satisfy their perverse needs.
That fact alone should make anyone think twice about putting photos of their kids up on Facebook for all to see, but when it's innocent children's snapshots that they have taken themselves, this hack seems even more sinister.
Vtech have understandably created a FAQ page (available here) which breaks down the numbers of accounts and type of accounts affected by country, and it makes shocking reading.
Nearly 2.9 million children's accounts have been accessed in the USA, and over 727,000 child accounts in the UK have also been accessed.
In comparison, over 2.2 million parent accounts have been compromised in the USA, with 560,487 parent accounts accessed in the UK.
Just what has been accessed and/or passed on to third parties is still to be discovered, but I would be incredibly worried if my children had been using Vtech's products.
When I was a child, my parents generally didn't encourage me to go for battery operated (or electronic) toys, as they typically didn't do very much, weren't particularly educational and they ate batteries. I loved Lego, anyway.
But, with electronic devices finding their way into every aspect of our lives, children increasingly want and expect a similar life to their parents - and this includes access to smartphone and tablet style devices.
During the Black Friday sale week, I Tweeted about a recent campaign by the NSPCC which shocked me and would certainly make me think twice before buying a cheap smartphone for any child.
The video is almost too much to take in, and it left my wife and I sitting in stunned silence after we saw it - We then both agreed that we would never give our kids a smartphone!
The NSPCC video is titled "I saw your willy", and if you haven't seen it, you should. You too, will think twice before letting your kids have a smartphone or tablet.
No amount of parental controls on your ISP or home broadband will stop determined or accidental use of anything connected to the internet, so you really do need to ask yourself "Is it ok for my children to have access to modern consumer electronics in this day and age?"
It's a very unpleasant world that we live in, and we should protect ourselves online - because companies might not be doing enough to protect us.
Monday 30 November 2015
Farewell to giffgaff.
I've used giffgaff on and off for about 18 months now, and used them as my main mobile network since February this year, but today I have changed network provider back to Three.
Giffgaff offer some great value 30 day bundles and I make extensive use of the free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts, but this once quirky little network is now a major player - yet the services they provide are totally substandard.
I have experienced dropped calls daily since February. The odd dropped call is to be expected as you travel around, but standing still in an area with decent coverage shouldn't mean that you get cut off less than one minute into a call. Every day.
The issue with texts not being sent is also a major problem.
I texted several of my contacts last night to inform them of my new number and 40% of the texts didn't get sent.
I'm sure that some of these texts were also sent more than once.
My current giffgaff bundle (Goodybag) had 500MB of data included - yet I've struggled to use <100MB of this data as the giffgaff network just doesn't have useable data speeds.
I couldn't load a webpage whilst sitting in my car during my lunch break today. I thought that I didn't need a data connection most of the time, but today was the final straw.
So, I'm sorry to say that as much as I've followed giffgaff from it's early beginnings in 2010, it's grown and had long enough to sort out these problems.
Add to this the frequent network outages and the giffgaff website going down regularly, and it's not a network that can be relied upon.
Heck, I've even decided to go back to using Three...
Giffgaff offer some great value 30 day bundles and I make extensive use of the free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts, but this once quirky little network is now a major player - yet the services they provide are totally substandard.
I have experienced dropped calls daily since February. The odd dropped call is to be expected as you travel around, but standing still in an area with decent coverage shouldn't mean that you get cut off less than one minute into a call. Every day.
The issue with texts not being sent is also a major problem.
I texted several of my contacts last night to inform them of my new number and 40% of the texts didn't get sent.
I'm sure that some of these texts were also sent more than once.
My current giffgaff bundle (Goodybag) had 500MB of data included - yet I've struggled to use <100MB of this data as the giffgaff network just doesn't have useable data speeds.
I couldn't load a webpage whilst sitting in my car during my lunch break today. I thought that I didn't need a data connection most of the time, but today was the final straw.
So, I'm sorry to say that as much as I've followed giffgaff from it's early beginnings in 2010, it's grown and had long enough to sort out these problems.
Add to this the frequent network outages and the giffgaff website going down regularly, and it's not a network that can be relied upon.
Heck, I've even decided to go back to using Three...
Saturday 28 November 2015
Black Friday is over, at last!
Maybe it's because I'm British. I'm not anti-capitalist and certainly I'm not against consumerism.
I love a great bargain and Black Friday should make me excited, but it doesn't.
When Amazon introduced their Black Friday lightning deals to the UK four years ago, they were rubbish, and things haven't improved since.
Last year there was way too much Black Friday hype, and this year even WalMart owned Asda decided to not participate in their own US tradition.
I'm pleased to see that UK shops generally didn't bother with Black Friday, and those that did didn't profit.
The shift to online sales merely highlights the gullibility of consumers who buy pointless tat for the sake of it being cheap.
Certainly if you hoped for a particular item to be discounted, it probably never appeared in any Black Friday deal.
I didn't bother posting any mobile deals, simply because there were none of merit.
Who wants to save £100 on a contract phone when the chances are that you're probably already tied in to a contract?
The best deal that I saw was with Three, who were selling the latest Moto G (with Moto Maker!) unlocked for £99.
The only other deal was the Blu Win Jr 4G dual sim Windows Phone for £35 from Amazon, which was worth a look if you weren't too bothered about the camera cap capabilities. £35 for a 4G dual sim Windows Phone is brilliant.
What can we expect next year?
Given that Black Friday deals from many retailers started on Monday, we'll see a shift to Black Friday Week (nobody has a clue about Cyber Monday in the UK).
I remember when there were no Boxing Day sales, and you would excitedly take your shopping vouchers that you got for Christmas off to the January sales.
Times have changed, and not for the better.
I love a great bargain and Black Friday should make me excited, but it doesn't.
When Amazon introduced their Black Friday lightning deals to the UK four years ago, they were rubbish, and things haven't improved since.
Last year there was way too much Black Friday hype, and this year even WalMart owned Asda decided to not participate in their own US tradition.
I'm pleased to see that UK shops generally didn't bother with Black Friday, and those that did didn't profit.
The shift to online sales merely highlights the gullibility of consumers who buy pointless tat for the sake of it being cheap.
Certainly if you hoped for a particular item to be discounted, it probably never appeared in any Black Friday deal.
I didn't bother posting any mobile deals, simply because there were none of merit.
Who wants to save £100 on a contract phone when the chances are that you're probably already tied in to a contract?
The best deal that I saw was with Three, who were selling the latest Moto G (with Moto Maker!) unlocked for £99.
The only other deal was the Blu Win Jr 4G dual sim Windows Phone for £35 from Amazon, which was worth a look if you weren't too bothered about the camera cap capabilities. £35 for a 4G dual sim Windows Phone is brilliant.
What can we expect next year?
Given that Black Friday deals from many retailers started on Monday, we'll see a shift to Black Friday Week (nobody has a clue about Cyber Monday in the UK).
I remember when there were no Boxing Day sales, and you would excitedly take your shopping vouchers that you got for Christmas off to the January sales.
Times have changed, and not for the better.
Saturday 14 November 2015
BlackBerry PRIV - UK Availability
It's amazing.
I never thought that I would see the day when people were genuinely clamoring for a BlackBerry handset.
The reviews have been unkind to BlackBerry's latest mobile. I can't understand why - Reviewers liked the BlackBerry Passport when that was released over a year ago, so for BlackBerry to decide to make an Android phone, you would have thought that these reviewers would be ecstatic about the prospect of a "new" Android manufacturer.
I've heard (and even mentioned it myself) that sticking Android inside of a BlackBerry mobile in 2015 is at least five years too late - BlackBerry could have done this much earlier and perhaps held on to their customers, as well as drawing in some new ones.
Ok, the BlackBerry PRIV might not be right up there with the other similarly-priced top of the range Android handsets, but give them a chance: It's what customers have wanted for years, so people shouldn't be too quick to dismiss the PRIV.
It just so happens that this isn't quite the case.
Pre-orders of the PRIV in the USA and Canada are high, and they look like they might possibly outstrip supply.
Some customers are excited about the PRIV. Maybe because it's BlackBerry's first Android mobile, and it looks like it will actually be really good, or maybe it's the slide-out hardware keyboard (I miss keys and buttons).
Either way, there is a lot of interest, and if BlackBerry decide that Android is an OS worth supporting, I'd say that we may see more Android handsets from this manufacturer.
In fact, the BlackBerry "Vienna" has already been rumoured...
But, here in the UK BlackBerry faces a different problem.
For a start, I think that us Brits are a fickle bunch. Samsung is still the current Android manufacturer of choice, even though the likes of HTC, LG and Sony have released some brilliant mobiles recently.
Breaking through this brand blindness will not be easy, though there are increasing armies of customers who have taken a chance with cheaper mobiles from the Far East after finding that most premium handsets really aren't worth >£500.
If BlackBerry can drop the price of the PRIV to below the current £559 pre-order price, it will help.
To illustrate just how brand-blind us Brits are, none of the UK carriers are willing to stock the PRIV.
They just don't believe that BlackBerry phones will sell.
So, apart from ordering a PRIV directly from BlackBerry in the UK, the only option currently available is to order one through Carphone Warehouse, who have an "exclusive" agreement to retail the PRIV.
I have to admire their sales technique.
You can get the PRIV from Carphone Warehouse on a two year contract starting from £49 per month, which is still rather high for my liking.
I hope that customers are drawn away from 5 inch plus slabs of dullness, and embrace the PRIV.
The market needs something different, and BlackBerry have finally given customers what they have been asking for for years. Their marketing is way off, but by the sounds of it there are a lot of interested (potential) customers out there.
I never thought that I would see the day when people were genuinely clamoring for a BlackBerry handset.
The reviews have been unkind to BlackBerry's latest mobile. I can't understand why - Reviewers liked the BlackBerry Passport when that was released over a year ago, so for BlackBerry to decide to make an Android phone, you would have thought that these reviewers would be ecstatic about the prospect of a "new" Android manufacturer.
I've heard (and even mentioned it myself) that sticking Android inside of a BlackBerry mobile in 2015 is at least five years too late - BlackBerry could have done this much earlier and perhaps held on to their customers, as well as drawing in some new ones.
Ok, the BlackBerry PRIV might not be right up there with the other similarly-priced top of the range Android handsets, but give them a chance: It's what customers have wanted for years, so people shouldn't be too quick to dismiss the PRIV.
It just so happens that this isn't quite the case.
Pre-orders of the PRIV in the USA and Canada are high, and they look like they might possibly outstrip supply.
Some customers are excited about the PRIV. Maybe because it's BlackBerry's first Android mobile, and it looks like it will actually be really good, or maybe it's the slide-out hardware keyboard (I miss keys and buttons).
Either way, there is a lot of interest, and if BlackBerry decide that Android is an OS worth supporting, I'd say that we may see more Android handsets from this manufacturer.
In fact, the BlackBerry "Vienna" has already been rumoured...
But, here in the UK BlackBerry faces a different problem.
For a start, I think that us Brits are a fickle bunch. Samsung is still the current Android manufacturer of choice, even though the likes of HTC, LG and Sony have released some brilliant mobiles recently.
Breaking through this brand blindness will not be easy, though there are increasing armies of customers who have taken a chance with cheaper mobiles from the Far East after finding that most premium handsets really aren't worth >£500.
If BlackBerry can drop the price of the PRIV to below the current £559 pre-order price, it will help.
To illustrate just how brand-blind us Brits are, none of the UK carriers are willing to stock the PRIV.
They just don't believe that BlackBerry phones will sell.
So, apart from ordering a PRIV directly from BlackBerry in the UK, the only option currently available is to order one through Carphone Warehouse, who have an "exclusive" agreement to retail the PRIV.
I have to admire their sales technique.
You can get the PRIV from Carphone Warehouse on a two year contract starting from £49 per month, which is still rather high for my liking.
I hope that customers are drawn away from 5 inch plus slabs of dullness, and embrace the PRIV.
The market needs something different, and BlackBerry have finally given customers what they have been asking for for years. Their marketing is way off, but by the sounds of it there are a lot of interested (potential) customers out there.
Friday 13 November 2015
Leaving Mobile by Sainsbury's
In case you haven't heard, Mobile by Sainsbury's is shutting down on the 15th of January 2016.
If you use this service, don't forget to use up your existing credit and call them to request your PAC code, if you wish to keep your mobile number!
I'm gutted that MBS is closing down. They were one of the cheapest PAYG networks around and had some great value 30 day bundles.
MBS is also one of the very few Vodafone MVNOs, and I have always been able to get a Vodafone signal everywhere that I've lived for the last fifteen years, so to see this MVNO disappear is particularly troublesome for me.
Tonight, the time has come for me to ask if I could get a refund for my PAYG credit, which through various special offers I've managed to get up to around £74!
There was no way that I'd use this up by next January, plus there is a deadline (15th of November) which is the last day that you can buy a 30 day bundle, so I thought that I'd take a chance and ask for my credit...
MBS is not the easiest network to deal with over the phone. Their call centre is fine, but they ask lots of security questions about your account (when did you last top up, when did you last call us, what was the last number that you called two days ago, that sort of thing).
Some customers may be able to reel the answers to these questions off, but for a casual PAYG customer, it's not as easy.
As before, I had to remove my SIM and jot down the number printed on it before calling them back.
I was put through to the PAC request team, and the chap who I spoke with was very helpful.
He said that I could take my credit as Nectar points, a Sainsbury's voucher or a cheque, if I was prepared to wait 28 days.
Requests for credit refunds are processed as soon as MBS receives a number porting request from another network.
All of this was very straightforward and self explanatory - And to be honest I was very surprised to be able to reimburse my PAYG credit!
I hope that MBS do, one day, manage to find a MNO to partner with, but it sounds like they were squeezed a little too hard by parent network, Vodafone.
So, I've got my PAC and am eager to obtain my credit. I had a spare Three SIM lying around, so I'm moving this number back to Three, simply because they offer cheap PAYG rates and have a decent data network.
My main number is still with giffgaff, though due to the ongoing dropped calls, unsent text messages and appalling data speeds I will be returning to the Vodafone network soon, though now that MBS are on their way out I'll have to consider Talkmobile or Vodafone themselves.
Mobile by Sainsbury's, you will be missed.
Asda Mobile were originally on the Vodafone network, and I used them for a few years, so to see MBS fold after two years leaving a Vodafone MVNO-shaped gap in the market is pretty bad news.
If you use this service, don't forget to use up your existing credit and call them to request your PAC code, if you wish to keep your mobile number!
I'm gutted that MBS is closing down. They were one of the cheapest PAYG networks around and had some great value 30 day bundles.
MBS is also one of the very few Vodafone MVNOs, and I have always been able to get a Vodafone signal everywhere that I've lived for the last fifteen years, so to see this MVNO disappear is particularly troublesome for me.
Tonight, the time has come for me to ask if I could get a refund for my PAYG credit, which through various special offers I've managed to get up to around £74!
There was no way that I'd use this up by next January, plus there is a deadline (15th of November) which is the last day that you can buy a 30 day bundle, so I thought that I'd take a chance and ask for my credit...
MBS is not the easiest network to deal with over the phone. Their call centre is fine, but they ask lots of security questions about your account (when did you last top up, when did you last call us, what was the last number that you called two days ago, that sort of thing).
Some customers may be able to reel the answers to these questions off, but for a casual PAYG customer, it's not as easy.
As before, I had to remove my SIM and jot down the number printed on it before calling them back.
I was put through to the PAC request team, and the chap who I spoke with was very helpful.
He said that I could take my credit as Nectar points, a Sainsbury's voucher or a cheque, if I was prepared to wait 28 days.
Requests for credit refunds are processed as soon as MBS receives a number porting request from another network.
All of this was very straightforward and self explanatory - And to be honest I was very surprised to be able to reimburse my PAYG credit!
I hope that MBS do, one day, manage to find a MNO to partner with, but it sounds like they were squeezed a little too hard by parent network, Vodafone.
So, I've got my PAC and am eager to obtain my credit. I had a spare Three SIM lying around, so I'm moving this number back to Three, simply because they offer cheap PAYG rates and have a decent data network.
My main number is still with giffgaff, though due to the ongoing dropped calls, unsent text messages and appalling data speeds I will be returning to the Vodafone network soon, though now that MBS are on their way out I'll have to consider Talkmobile or Vodafone themselves.
Mobile by Sainsbury's, you will be missed.
Asda Mobile were originally on the Vodafone network, and I used them for a few years, so to see MBS fold after two years leaving a Vodafone MVNO-shaped gap in the market is pretty bad news.
Thursday 12 November 2015
BlackBerry PRIV to Save BlackBerry?
Earlier today I wrote about how I have remained faithful to Windows Phones over my other OS of choice, Android.
This has made me think about the BlackBerry PRIV, the firm's first Android-running smartphone.
The PRIV is a weird bit of kit: The best review I've read so far is from Techradar, and it was a less than glowing review, citing a (surprisingly) poor physical keyboard and less than premium build quality. Maybe their reviewer firmly believes that BlackBerry is simply too late to jump on the Android bandwagon - A conceited idea, as there are countless Far Eastern manufacturers now selling Android-running handsets aplenty - none of whom are even household names yet.
However, the impressions that I'm getting from BlackBerry PRIV owners and other reviewers is that the PRIV is a great handset - It's almost as if they have forgotten that it's a BlackBerry, and many are enamored with the fact that it's an Android phone with a proper physical keyboard.
The PRIV might just be exactly what BlackBerry needed, and if it sells well, then we might possibly see more Android phones bearing physical keyboards within the next year or two - Though whether they'll be BlackBerry phones has yet to be decided.
Every credit to BlackBerry for finally taking a chance and producing a product which people might actually want.
This has made me think about the BlackBerry PRIV, the firm's first Android-running smartphone.
The PRIV is a weird bit of kit: The best review I've read so far is from Techradar, and it was a less than glowing review, citing a (surprisingly) poor physical keyboard and less than premium build quality. Maybe their reviewer firmly believes that BlackBerry is simply too late to jump on the Android bandwagon - A conceited idea, as there are countless Far Eastern manufacturers now selling Android-running handsets aplenty - none of whom are even household names yet.
However, the impressions that I'm getting from BlackBerry PRIV owners and other reviewers is that the PRIV is a great handset - It's almost as if they have forgotten that it's a BlackBerry, and many are enamored with the fact that it's an Android phone with a proper physical keyboard.
The PRIV might just be exactly what BlackBerry needed, and if it sells well, then we might possibly see more Android phones bearing physical keyboards within the next year or two - Though whether they'll be BlackBerry phones has yet to be decided.
Every credit to BlackBerry for finally taking a chance and producing a product which people might actually want.
Windows Phone = Best Budget Smartphone Experience
I've been a little hasty in my panning of Microsoft's Lumia (Windows Phone) range of handsets recently, all because of Microsoft's announcement that they are to drastically reduce OneDrive's free storage from a healthy 15GB to a cruelly tiny 5GB.
I use cloud storage a lot, and OneDrive ties in with Lumia phones and devices incredibly well, so to have my options reduced so much has irked me. Why should I pay for a service that Google provides for free?
Moreover, Google Photos is an excellent app and allows me to store every photo I've ever taken digitally for free, and they are all accessible on my other connected devices.
I have been looking at cheap Android mobile phones to replace my collection of Lumia mobiles - DOOGEE mobiles offer great value, but the cameras are not really good enough for my needs.
Even my first generation Moto G is still a good phone.
- But - Having played around with Android Lollipop has made me realise that I want a clean, easy to use, simple operating system. Android just doesn't offer this any more.
I've looked at installing launchers on my Android phones, but all they really do is turn the home screen into a "senior" mobile phone.
I like the simplicity and dark theme of Windows Phones, and they do exactly what I expect them to do.
There are no issues or tinkering required to keep the things chugging through the day (no apps need closing), and Lumia phones will happily keep going for a day or more between charges. The frugal use of data is also a respectable trait.
Any of the currently available Windows 8.1 mobiles work well - so much more so than equivalent Android mobiles at the £40-150 mark.
Windows Phone is not for everyone, though:
It's a simpler operating system with fewer options for customisation, and the minimalist Live Tiles (widgets) are not to everyone's taste.
The app selection is fine for my needs - I can do the basics, but apps such as Facebook really are still in the Dark Ages.
The look of the Lumia range of handsets is, for me, about the closest thing that you can get to a "designed" mobile phone - The brightly coloured plastic backs are distinctive, but don't cry out premium by any stretch of the imagination.
If you need Google's services, then you're out of luck (obviously things like email, calendar, etc. all work well enough on Windows Phone, but Google's search and integration simply isn't part of this smartphone experience.
I do miss Google Maps and Streetview, but the mapping options on Windows Phone work well.
For now, Windows Phones will continue to serve my needs, though I suspect that at some point in the next couple of years Microsoft will follow BlackBerry and decide to move their services to an Android handset.
Bear that in mind - And also remember that Nokia still aren't allowed to make a mobile phone for another 12 months or so, but when they do (and they probably will), it will probably be running Android.
Microsoft Lumia could be phased out in favour of Android, and I suspect that they will end up playing a game of catch up to Nokia's Android-running mobiles.
I'll enjoy continuing to use my Lumia mobiles for a good couple of years until that time.
I use cloud storage a lot, and OneDrive ties in with Lumia phones and devices incredibly well, so to have my options reduced so much has irked me. Why should I pay for a service that Google provides for free?
Moreover, Google Photos is an excellent app and allows me to store every photo I've ever taken digitally for free, and they are all accessible on my other connected devices.
I have been looking at cheap Android mobile phones to replace my collection of Lumia mobiles - DOOGEE mobiles offer great value, but the cameras are not really good enough for my needs.
Even my first generation Moto G is still a good phone.
- But - Having played around with Android Lollipop has made me realise that I want a clean, easy to use, simple operating system. Android just doesn't offer this any more.
I've looked at installing launchers on my Android phones, but all they really do is turn the home screen into a "senior" mobile phone.
I like the simplicity and dark theme of Windows Phones, and they do exactly what I expect them to do.
There are no issues or tinkering required to keep the things chugging through the day (no apps need closing), and Lumia phones will happily keep going for a day or more between charges. The frugal use of data is also a respectable trait.
Any of the currently available Windows 8.1 mobiles work well - so much more so than equivalent Android mobiles at the £40-150 mark.
Windows Phone is not for everyone, though:
It's a simpler operating system with fewer options for customisation, and the minimalist Live Tiles (widgets) are not to everyone's taste.
The app selection is fine for my needs - I can do the basics, but apps such as Facebook really are still in the Dark Ages.
The look of the Lumia range of handsets is, for me, about the closest thing that you can get to a "designed" mobile phone - The brightly coloured plastic backs are distinctive, but don't cry out premium by any stretch of the imagination.
If you need Google's services, then you're out of luck (obviously things like email, calendar, etc. all work well enough on Windows Phone, but Google's search and integration simply isn't part of this smartphone experience.
I do miss Google Maps and Streetview, but the mapping options on Windows Phone work well.
For now, Windows Phones will continue to serve my needs, though I suspect that at some point in the next couple of years Microsoft will follow BlackBerry and decide to move their services to an Android handset.
Bear that in mind - And also remember that Nokia still aren't allowed to make a mobile phone for another 12 months or so, but when they do (and they probably will), it will probably be running Android.
Microsoft Lumia could be phased out in favour of Android, and I suspect that they will end up playing a game of catch up to Nokia's Android-running mobiles.
I'll enjoy continuing to use my Lumia mobiles for a good couple of years until that time.
A FreedomPop Review (UK)
Hats off to Engadget for a really useful review of the (UK) FreedomPop network - I heard nothing from FreedomPop since I signed up, and quite frankly this free service just won't be good enough for my mobile telephony needs.
Engadget have written a decent review of FreedomPop in the UK, which I advise you to read HERE.
In my case, free doesn't mean that FreedomPop is a network that I'll be using for one main reason:
The reviewer (like many people) uses more data than anything else on his mobile. They noted that call quality on the FreedomPop network is, by the sounds of it, really bad.
Now, I know that most people prefer to email colleagues at work rather than speak to them on the phone, but I do use a lot of minutes every month, and having a less than perfect voice connection just isn't good enough.
I doubt that FreedomPop will be able to do much about this, plus of course they rely on Three's 3G network for all data/voice/text connectivity, which isn't always the most reliable service in some parts of the country.
If I was a very casual mobile user, FreedomPop would be a good choice, especially since the last "free" network to operate (Ovivo) sank without trace in 2014, leaving a gap in the freemium mobile phone market.
I have waited a good few months to see what FreedomPop were going to be offering in the UK, but unfortunately I feel that I would be disappointed having read this review and other people's opinions elsewhere.
Engadget have written a decent review of FreedomPop in the UK, which I advise you to read HERE.
In my case, free doesn't mean that FreedomPop is a network that I'll be using for one main reason:
The reviewer (like many people) uses more data than anything else on his mobile. They noted that call quality on the FreedomPop network is, by the sounds of it, really bad.
Now, I know that most people prefer to email colleagues at work rather than speak to them on the phone, but I do use a lot of minutes every month, and having a less than perfect voice connection just isn't good enough.
I doubt that FreedomPop will be able to do much about this, plus of course they rely on Three's 3G network for all data/voice/text connectivity, which isn't always the most reliable service in some parts of the country.
If I was a very casual mobile user, FreedomPop would be a good choice, especially since the last "free" network to operate (Ovivo) sank without trace in 2014, leaving a gap in the freemium mobile phone market.
I have waited a good few months to see what FreedomPop were going to be offering in the UK, but unfortunately I feel that I would be disappointed having read this review and other people's opinions elsewhere.
Thursday 5 November 2015
OneDrive Storage Limit Cull and the Impact on Windows Phone
Microsoft have announced in the OneDrive Blog that they are going to seriously limit the amount of storage offered through the OneDrive service as of early 2016.
Essentially, most OneDrive users have enjoyed free storage of up to 15GB, which is great.
However, this will be dropped to a measly 5GB of storage early in 2016.
The current $1.99/month 100GB storage plan is also going to be reduced to just 50GB.
The unlimited camera roll storage for all photos taken using a Windows Phone/Lumia will disappear altogether!
I encourage you to read the full blog here, which will help soften the blow (anyone using up to 15GB will have at least 12 months to reduce their storage or redeem a free, one year Office 365 subscription which includes 1TB of storage.
All of this smells of "freemium".
Microsoft have said for many months now that Windows 10 will be the version that a generation grows up with, and that whilst it would be free (for many users), they would introduce pay-per-use for certain elements of the entire software package.
Everyone's favourite Windows game, Solitaire, can be downloaded for Windows 10, but has horrified players by injecting advertisements into the game. Purchasing the game removes these adverts.
This move to reduce useable storage from OneDrive looks to be the first major way in which Microsoft intends to force Windows users to fork out for lots of its services.
Ok, $1.99 a month doesn't sound like a lot for 50GB of storage, but Google offers 15GB for free with their Google Drive cloud storage option, and 100GB for $1.99 a month.
Given that the world has moved away from Internet Explorer in favour of Google's Chrome browser, the world is a very different place from the one that Microsoft believe we live in.
In daily life, I use a variety of cloud storage options, but GDrive and OneDrive are my favourites.
I've invested in the Windows ecosystem after Android simply became too complicated(!) to use, and I do like Windows Phone, even with its many limitations. So, to discover that my various Lumia phones and tablets are about to lose the ability to access all of my digital content is a big blow.
The removal of the Camera Roll unlimited upload feature is a big deal.
Google Photos launched recently and has made me jealous of Android users.
Most of my photos are already backed up with Google, so to have Microsoft pull this feature means that I'm even more reliant upon my OneDrive storage limit.
I love my music. I have a huge music collection (which is mostly awful, really) and this is synced and available on my Android devices courtesy of Google Music, which offers free, unlimited storage of all of my music.
OneDrive doesn't even come close to this, as I have to manually (and painfully slowly) upload my music to the relatively new OneDrive music folder.
Microsoft, haven't you heard? The future is in cloud storage.
Most services are going cloud-based (for better or worse), and it's what customers expect these days.
Yes, I can bang a 128GB microSD card into my phone, but I can't be arsed to plug my phone into my PC to download my music to it.
If you have several phones and/or devices, you want things to sync so that they are there, ready and waiting - Nobody wants to go back to USB cables, booting up their PC once a week and downloading photos and uploading music.
Ten years ago, this was the norm. Five years ago, it was uncommon. In 2015, customers want things to work properly and sync, not manually copy and move files around their devices using cables and cards!
Microsoft, you want your next generation of customers to rely on your services. What part of massively limiting their storage makes you think that they will choose Windows over Google or IOS?
Microsoft's Lumia phones are struggling at 2% of all smartphone sales, and this figure is likely to drop as the sales of Lumia devices has dropped around 58% last quarter.
BlackBerry is trying with their PRIV Android slider, but Microsoft just don't seem to realise that flogging a few cheap and very capable handsets doesn't mean that everyone wants to ditch their 'droids and sign up for a Lumia phone with 5GB of online storage.
This reduction in free OneDrive storage, combined with the limitations of Windows Phone is enough to make me reconsider my switch from Android to Lumia.
I miss my music. It's all there waiting for me on my one remaining Android phone.
I have three Lumia phones, one of which is redundant.
I don't want to return to Android, as I find it is now very un-user friendly (double taps and swipes are needed for actions that should only need one prod).
But, Microsoft is forcing me to choose whether I want a dumbphone that syncs my contacts and calendar (Lumia), or do I return to Android and put up with a confusing and inefficient interface and woeful memory/battery management?
I guess that I have a year to decide.
Essentially, most OneDrive users have enjoyed free storage of up to 15GB, which is great.
However, this will be dropped to a measly 5GB of storage early in 2016.
The current $1.99/month 100GB storage plan is also going to be reduced to just 50GB.
The unlimited camera roll storage for all photos taken using a Windows Phone/Lumia will disappear altogether!
I encourage you to read the full blog here, which will help soften the blow (anyone using up to 15GB will have at least 12 months to reduce their storage or redeem a free, one year Office 365 subscription which includes 1TB of storage.
All of this smells of "freemium".
Microsoft have said for many months now that Windows 10 will be the version that a generation grows up with, and that whilst it would be free (for many users), they would introduce pay-per-use for certain elements of the entire software package.
Everyone's favourite Windows game, Solitaire, can be downloaded for Windows 10, but has horrified players by injecting advertisements into the game. Purchasing the game removes these adverts.
This move to reduce useable storage from OneDrive looks to be the first major way in which Microsoft intends to force Windows users to fork out for lots of its services.
Ok, $1.99 a month doesn't sound like a lot for 50GB of storage, but Google offers 15GB for free with their Google Drive cloud storage option, and 100GB for $1.99 a month.
Given that the world has moved away from Internet Explorer in favour of Google's Chrome browser, the world is a very different place from the one that Microsoft believe we live in.
In daily life, I use a variety of cloud storage options, but GDrive and OneDrive are my favourites.
I've invested in the Windows ecosystem after Android simply became too complicated(!) to use, and I do like Windows Phone, even with its many limitations. So, to discover that my various Lumia phones and tablets are about to lose the ability to access all of my digital content is a big blow.
The removal of the Camera Roll unlimited upload feature is a big deal.
Google Photos launched recently and has made me jealous of Android users.
Most of my photos are already backed up with Google, so to have Microsoft pull this feature means that I'm even more reliant upon my OneDrive storage limit.
I love my music. I have a huge music collection (which is mostly awful, really) and this is synced and available on my Android devices courtesy of Google Music, which offers free, unlimited storage of all of my music.
OneDrive doesn't even come close to this, as I have to manually (and painfully slowly) upload my music to the relatively new OneDrive music folder.
Microsoft, haven't you heard? The future is in cloud storage.
Most services are going cloud-based (for better or worse), and it's what customers expect these days.
Yes, I can bang a 128GB microSD card into my phone, but I can't be arsed to plug my phone into my PC to download my music to it.
If you have several phones and/or devices, you want things to sync so that they are there, ready and waiting - Nobody wants to go back to USB cables, booting up their PC once a week and downloading photos and uploading music.
Ten years ago, this was the norm. Five years ago, it was uncommon. In 2015, customers want things to work properly and sync, not manually copy and move files around their devices using cables and cards!
Microsoft, you want your next generation of customers to rely on your services. What part of massively limiting their storage makes you think that they will choose Windows over Google or IOS?
Microsoft's Lumia phones are struggling at 2% of all smartphone sales, and this figure is likely to drop as the sales of Lumia devices has dropped around 58% last quarter.
BlackBerry is trying with their PRIV Android slider, but Microsoft just don't seem to realise that flogging a few cheap and very capable handsets doesn't mean that everyone wants to ditch their 'droids and sign up for a Lumia phone with 5GB of online storage.
This reduction in free OneDrive storage, combined with the limitations of Windows Phone is enough to make me reconsider my switch from Android to Lumia.
I miss my music. It's all there waiting for me on my one remaining Android phone.
I have three Lumia phones, one of which is redundant.
I don't want to return to Android, as I find it is now very un-user friendly (double taps and swipes are needed for actions that should only need one prod).
But, Microsoft is forcing me to choose whether I want a dumbphone that syncs my contacts and calendar (Lumia), or do I return to Android and put up with a confusing and inefficient interface and woeful memory/battery management?
I guess that I have a year to decide.
TalkTalk Customer Service Problems - Again!
In September TalkTalk announced that they were putting their prices up, shortly after I joined.
Regular readers will know that I have been very unimpressed by TalkTalk's customer service, as they have been really ineffective at cancelling my contract.
Well, I thought that all was well following my last experience of talking to them on the phone.
Unfortunately this isn't the end of my ordeal with this cut price outfit.
Yesterday I received an email from TalkTalk saying that my next bill would be £214! This is the payment for the remainder of my contract with them - Even though I cancelled within the 30 day notice period and the customer "service" adviser that I spoke with assured me that I wouldn't be charged an extra penny for leaving TalkTalk.
After 71 minutes on the phone to TalkTalk (yes, 71 minutes), I finally spoke with a customer service manager, who, after having to explain the issues that I've had with trying to cancel my contract yet again, agreed to waive the fees.
Luckily I used the Say No app to find a TalkTalk number that wasn't a pricey 0845 number, otherwise I would have also been asking for compensation!
Seriously TalkTalk - Your data breach has been bad enough, but I can safely say from my own experience that your customer service is every bit as bad as all of the negative reviews there are of your services. I shall never use your services again, if in fact you survive the fallout from your recent hack.
I'd be amazed if anyone would be stupid enough to choose TalkTalk now.
Regular readers will know that I have been very unimpressed by TalkTalk's customer service, as they have been really ineffective at cancelling my contract.
Well, I thought that all was well following my last experience of talking to them on the phone.
Unfortunately this isn't the end of my ordeal with this cut price outfit.
Yesterday I received an email from TalkTalk saying that my next bill would be £214! This is the payment for the remainder of my contract with them - Even though I cancelled within the 30 day notice period and the customer "service" adviser that I spoke with assured me that I wouldn't be charged an extra penny for leaving TalkTalk.
After 71 minutes on the phone to TalkTalk (yes, 71 minutes), I finally spoke with a customer service manager, who, after having to explain the issues that I've had with trying to cancel my contract yet again, agreed to waive the fees.
Luckily I used the Say No app to find a TalkTalk number that wasn't a pricey 0845 number, otherwise I would have also been asking for compensation!
Seriously TalkTalk - Your data breach has been bad enough, but I can safely say from my own experience that your customer service is every bit as bad as all of the negative reviews there are of your services. I shall never use your services again, if in fact you survive the fallout from your recent hack.
I'd be amazed if anyone would be stupid enough to choose TalkTalk now.
Thursday 29 October 2015
Choosing a New Mobile Network
After another few months of trying out giffgaff as my main mobile number, I's giving up on this quirky but badly run mobile network.
Countless giffgaff customers complain about slow or unusable data speeds, and I can agree with them. However, my biggest issue is now the total lack of reliability from this network.
Giffgaff is the worst network that I've experienced from a connectivity point of view. The data speeds have been - in the main - too slow to use for even downloading emails containing images. This week has seen an increase in 4G speeds in my home village, but at work the speeds are slow, and I'm lucky to even get any data connection.
But, this is not the worse of giffgaff's connectivity problems.
I've used giffgaff as a network for about a year and a half, and throughout that time I've experienced dropped calls on a daily basis. Text messages fail to send and must be re-sent multiple times. Sometimes you never know if a text message has been sent or not, so I've resorted to phoning people rather than sending them a text - Hardly what you would expect from a mobile network.
My full giffgaff review is available here http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/mobile-network-reviews.html
So now I'm stuck with the usual dilemma of finding an alternative mobile network!
My PAYG mobile bundles website (http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/) should be my first port of call, after all there is a lot of useful information there about the best value mobile networks in the UK.
However, after fully testing and reviewing numerous mobile networks, I can safely say that the most reliable mobile network for me is Vodafone.
The other UK Mobile Network Operators just aren't up to Vodafone's standard:
Three just doesn't have good enough voice and text coverage. O2 could do better (sorry but giffgaff have tainted my view of O2 somewhat). EE just don't have any coverage anywhere that I've lived.
Normally, I'd just go for a Vodafone contract, but I enjoy saving money, so this isn't as cost effective as I'd like it to be.
The best value mobile networks are the MVNOs (Mobile Virtual network Operators), as they usually offer much greater allocations for less money, which leaves me with a problem: The only really great value MVNO operating on the Vodafone network is Mobile by Sainsbury's, but this operator is closing down in January 2016.
No other PAYG MVNO provides good value (or reliability) on the Vodafone network - so my best option is to transfer my main number back onto a contract.
Talkmobile have the best value plan for me on the Vodafone network, but it's a 12 month contract which isn't great, but it does include 1000 minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB of data for £7.50 a month, which is very good value.
Returning to a contract completely goes against the grain for me, but this 12 month contract provides exactly what I need for a great price. Maybe the networks are realising that PAYG 30 day bundles shouldn't be cheaper than SIM only contracts.
Looks like the mobile industry is changing yet again.
Countless giffgaff customers complain about slow or unusable data speeds, and I can agree with them. However, my biggest issue is now the total lack of reliability from this network.
Giffgaff is the worst network that I've experienced from a connectivity point of view. The data speeds have been - in the main - too slow to use for even downloading emails containing images. This week has seen an increase in 4G speeds in my home village, but at work the speeds are slow, and I'm lucky to even get any data connection.
But, this is not the worse of giffgaff's connectivity problems.
I've used giffgaff as a network for about a year and a half, and throughout that time I've experienced dropped calls on a daily basis. Text messages fail to send and must be re-sent multiple times. Sometimes you never know if a text message has been sent or not, so I've resorted to phoning people rather than sending them a text - Hardly what you would expect from a mobile network.
My full giffgaff review is available here http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/mobile-network-reviews.html
So now I'm stuck with the usual dilemma of finding an alternative mobile network!
My PAYG mobile bundles website (http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/) should be my first port of call, after all there is a lot of useful information there about the best value mobile networks in the UK.
However, after fully testing and reviewing numerous mobile networks, I can safely say that the most reliable mobile network for me is Vodafone.
The other UK Mobile Network Operators just aren't up to Vodafone's standard:
Three just doesn't have good enough voice and text coverage. O2 could do better (sorry but giffgaff have tainted my view of O2 somewhat). EE just don't have any coverage anywhere that I've lived.
Normally, I'd just go for a Vodafone contract, but I enjoy saving money, so this isn't as cost effective as I'd like it to be.
The best value mobile networks are the MVNOs (Mobile Virtual network Operators), as they usually offer much greater allocations for less money, which leaves me with a problem: The only really great value MVNO operating on the Vodafone network is Mobile by Sainsbury's, but this operator is closing down in January 2016.
No other PAYG MVNO provides good value (or reliability) on the Vodafone network - so my best option is to transfer my main number back onto a contract.
Talkmobile have the best value plan for me on the Vodafone network, but it's a 12 month contract which isn't great, but it does include 1000 minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB of data for £7.50 a month, which is very good value.
Returning to a contract completely goes against the grain for me, but this 12 month contract provides exactly what I need for a great price. Maybe the networks are realising that PAYG 30 day bundles shouldn't be cheaper than SIM only contracts.
Looks like the mobile industry is changing yet again.
Saturday 24 October 2015
Giffgaff: You Failed. My giffgaff Review will be Updated!
giffgaff, the "Mobile network run by you" certainly isn't how I would run a mobile network.
They have spent a huge amount of cash this year rebranding their website and logo (and made a right hash of it in the process).
In addition, giffgaff have upped their spending on TV advertising recently, which I am sure that most giffgaff customers would prefer to have been spent on buying additional data allocations from parent network, O2.
I've given giffgaff a good try. They were pretty useless last year: I ported my main phone number in to them but left after three months due to a total lack of data signal. I've also experienced awful call quality on giffgaff: I can hear the other person well enough, but they have been unable to hear me.
However, I've been making extensive use of their free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts, which has saved me a great deal of money and negated the need to buy a monthly bundle from them, or anyone else.
This free service is great, as all you need to do is top up £10 every three months to keep this free service going (most networks require a £10 monthly top up to get free same network calls).
If you are interested in getting these free calls and texts for yourself and some friends/family members, you can order a free giffgaff SIM here, which will also come with £5 of free credit upon activation.
I can put up with a few issues on this network as I'm saving money, but my main mobile number can't stay with giffgaff any longer.
I've recently started to experience (again!) texts that fail to send. Sometimes, my phone will tell me that the text failed to send, so I'll try again. In most cases I've needed to re-send the message about four times on average, which is not acceptable.
There is also the risk that your phone won't tell you if a text failed to send, so you'll never know if the recipient received the text or not.
Giffgaff charge for all of these texts, whether they get sent or not, which is unacceptable.
Another reason I've decided to pack in wiht giffgaff is the ongoing issue with dropped calls.
So many calls connect, but then drop after less than a minute, which is incredibly annoying.
For the free giffgaff to giffgaff calls, this is just about bearable, but for other calls it is pretty poor.
There have been occasions where I've been called, but have been unable to hear the other person and I/they have hung up.
The final straw came last night - I got a 4G mobile purely to use data in my home village (there's 2G, 4G but no 3G - Thanks O2!), but giffgaff's data speeds on 4G have been abysmal: 0.53mbps download speed pretty much everywhere in North Hampshire during the day, if the data connection works at all.
Last night I did a speed test on giffgaff's 4G. It was about 01:00am and I got around 7.6mbps down and upload speeds - I should be able to get these speeds all day, not just in the middle of the night!
This "traffic shaping" is due to giffgaff being at the bottom of the pile for O2's network services: Giffgaff buy a quantity of data from O2 during the year, and to ensure that the service for O2 customers isn't degraded by giffgaff, they deploy traffic shaping to stifle the connection of giffgaff customers.
This is bad enough for data, but the call and text issues are also caused by "mast congestion", where O2 and Tesco Mobile customers get priority over giffgaff customers.
For these reasons, I cannot continue to use giffgaff for my main phone number.
I have tried, tested and used many mobile networks. For my mobile network reviews, please refer to my PAYG mobile bundles website, mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/mobile-network-reviews.html
They have spent a huge amount of cash this year rebranding their website and logo (and made a right hash of it in the process).
In addition, giffgaff have upped their spending on TV advertising recently, which I am sure that most giffgaff customers would prefer to have been spent on buying additional data allocations from parent network, O2.
I've given giffgaff a good try. They were pretty useless last year: I ported my main phone number in to them but left after three months due to a total lack of data signal. I've also experienced awful call quality on giffgaff: I can hear the other person well enough, but they have been unable to hear me.
However, I've been making extensive use of their free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts, which has saved me a great deal of money and negated the need to buy a monthly bundle from them, or anyone else.
This free service is great, as all you need to do is top up £10 every three months to keep this free service going (most networks require a £10 monthly top up to get free same network calls).
If you are interested in getting these free calls and texts for yourself and some friends/family members, you can order a free giffgaff SIM here, which will also come with £5 of free credit upon activation.
I can put up with a few issues on this network as I'm saving money, but my main mobile number can't stay with giffgaff any longer.
I've recently started to experience (again!) texts that fail to send. Sometimes, my phone will tell me that the text failed to send, so I'll try again. In most cases I've needed to re-send the message about four times on average, which is not acceptable.
There is also the risk that your phone won't tell you if a text failed to send, so you'll never know if the recipient received the text or not.
Giffgaff charge for all of these texts, whether they get sent or not, which is unacceptable.
Another reason I've decided to pack in wiht giffgaff is the ongoing issue with dropped calls.
So many calls connect, but then drop after less than a minute, which is incredibly annoying.
For the free giffgaff to giffgaff calls, this is just about bearable, but for other calls it is pretty poor.
There have been occasions where I've been called, but have been unable to hear the other person and I/they have hung up.
The final straw came last night - I got a 4G mobile purely to use data in my home village (there's 2G, 4G but no 3G - Thanks O2!), but giffgaff's data speeds on 4G have been abysmal: 0.53mbps download speed pretty much everywhere in North Hampshire during the day, if the data connection works at all.
Last night I did a speed test on giffgaff's 4G. It was about 01:00am and I got around 7.6mbps down and upload speeds - I should be able to get these speeds all day, not just in the middle of the night!
This "traffic shaping" is due to giffgaff being at the bottom of the pile for O2's network services: Giffgaff buy a quantity of data from O2 during the year, and to ensure that the service for O2 customers isn't degraded by giffgaff, they deploy traffic shaping to stifle the connection of giffgaff customers.
This is bad enough for data, but the call and text issues are also caused by "mast congestion", where O2 and Tesco Mobile customers get priority over giffgaff customers.
For these reasons, I cannot continue to use giffgaff for my main phone number.
I have tried, tested and used many mobile networks. For my mobile network reviews, please refer to my PAYG mobile bundles website, mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/mobile-network-reviews.html
Talkmobile 4G Service (and a decent deal)
I've been a Talkmobile customer on and off for years.
In general, I've found them to be pretty good and useful as far as I'm concerned because they run on the Vodafone network (which is - amazingly - the most reliable network anywhere that I have spent a significant amount of time).
One thing that Talkmobile has lacked (and is becoming increasingly important) is 4G.
Earlier this year I enquired about their PAYG and SIM only plans, and one thing that stood out as an absolute con was the number of "4G ready" mobile phones that they were selling - and advertising.
I emailed Talkmobile and was informed that they do not, and did not offer a 4G service, and that these handsets were merely "future proof" - Even though you would not be able to use 4G on the Talkmobile network.
I have just been in contact with a Talkmobile customer service representative regarding their excellent value 12 month SIM only plan, which includes 1000 minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB of data for the reduced price of £7.50 a month. (This package is available here.)
During this conversation I asked if there were any plans of offer 4G, and the representative informed me that Talkmobile hopes to be offering 4G services from the end of this year, which is great news.
4G is now being regarded as being a requirement, not a premium product by customers any more, so it's about time that all networks offered 4G at no extra cost.
Admittedly, most networks have either increased their prices or reduced their allocations to pay for increases in 4G infrastructure, but we shouldn't have to keep on paying a premium to be able to use our mobiles.
In general, I've found them to be pretty good and useful as far as I'm concerned because they run on the Vodafone network (which is - amazingly - the most reliable network anywhere that I have spent a significant amount of time).
One thing that Talkmobile has lacked (and is becoming increasingly important) is 4G.
Earlier this year I enquired about their PAYG and SIM only plans, and one thing that stood out as an absolute con was the number of "4G ready" mobile phones that they were selling - and advertising.
I emailed Talkmobile and was informed that they do not, and did not offer a 4G service, and that these handsets were merely "future proof" - Even though you would not be able to use 4G on the Talkmobile network.
I have just been in contact with a Talkmobile customer service representative regarding their excellent value 12 month SIM only plan, which includes 1000 minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB of data for the reduced price of £7.50 a month. (This package is available here.)
During this conversation I asked if there were any plans of offer 4G, and the representative informed me that Talkmobile hopes to be offering 4G services from the end of this year, which is great news.
4G is now being regarded as being a requirement, not a premium product by customers any more, so it's about time that all networks offered 4G at no extra cost.
Admittedly, most networks have either increased their prices or reduced their allocations to pay for increases in 4G infrastructure, but we shouldn't have to keep on paying a premium to be able to use our mobiles.
Wednesday 14 October 2015
Mobile By Sainsbury's TO EXIT MARKET
Cut price (but pretty good) MVNO Mobile by Sainsburys is to swiftly exit the market on 15th of January 2016.
I shall update my best value PAYG deals website http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/ later today to warn customers of this announcement.
Yet another Vodafone MVNO bites the dust - Vodafone really doesn't like having MVNOs operating on its network, leaving people who rely on this network pretty screwed, unless they join Vodafone.
I shall update my best value PAYG deals website http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/ later today to warn customers of this announcement.
Yet another Vodafone MVNO bites the dust - Vodafone really doesn't like having MVNOs operating on its network, leaving people who rely on this network pretty screwed, unless they join Vodafone.
Tuesday 13 October 2015
BlackBerry PRIV: You Are Our Only Hope
BlackBerry CEO John Chen has announced in a not-too-surprising statement that he is willing to axe BlackBerry's hardware division, if things don't start looking up for the company's profits.
According to a statement that he made at Code/Mobile, and relayed originally by Engadget, he announced that he will "Never say never" to shutting down BlackBerry's hardware business.
This might not happen, but Mr Chen did say that he might be willing to axe the hardware side of the business as early as 2016.
For some die-hard BlackBerry fans, this will be a massive blow. The BlackBerry Passport is a year old, but was well-received by users, and the BlackBerry PRIV is not only hotly anticipated, but could even drive the ailing platform into a positive new era.
These two devices are still, unfortunately, not enough to make the world ditch Apple and Android.
Mr Chen had said that alongside the BlackBerry PRIV, there could be two additional BB10 devices forthcoming from the company, though these are still totally unconfirmed.
My thoughts remain the same as they did late last month: The BlackBerry PRIV is likely to be a very expensive device. Whilst Joe Public regard the PRIV to be a primarily Android device, it is not quite that - It's a BlackBerry that will run Android apps. Everything does point towards the PRIV running Android v5.1.1 (Lollipop), whether it will compare to current Droids in real world use has still to be seen.
Personally, I hope that BlackBerry don't choose to have too much of their OS planted inside this phone. The world will be happy with a high end Android slider with a decent hardware keyboard.
But, in this form, can it really be called a BlackBerry?
I'm sure that BlackBerry do produce the best hardware keyboards for mobiles, and maybe this could be sold off/farmed out, but I think that BlackBerry would have to churn out some pretty spectacular mobiles - at lower prices - to be able to make any headway in the tightly-fought Android mobile market.
The PRIV, plus two other BB10 devices isn't going to turn BlackBerry around.
To be fair, even BB10 didn't manage to turn BlackBerry around: The older BB10 devices were and are expensive for what they are, and BB10 was found to be much more data hungry - Something that long standing BlackBerry fans suddenly had to contend with after years of running a data-frugal operating system.
Much like the BlackBerry Passport, the PRIV is an interestingly designed device; maybe feature phones could pull off these radical forms, but high-end, high price devices will struggle.
BlackBerry looks like they are doing too little, too late.
According to a statement that he made at Code/Mobile, and relayed originally by Engadget, he announced that he will "Never say never" to shutting down BlackBerry's hardware business.
This might not happen, but Mr Chen did say that he might be willing to axe the hardware side of the business as early as 2016.
For some die-hard BlackBerry fans, this will be a massive blow. The BlackBerry Passport is a year old, but was well-received by users, and the BlackBerry PRIV is not only hotly anticipated, but could even drive the ailing platform into a positive new era.
These two devices are still, unfortunately, not enough to make the world ditch Apple and Android.
Mr Chen had said that alongside the BlackBerry PRIV, there could be two additional BB10 devices forthcoming from the company, though these are still totally unconfirmed.
My thoughts remain the same as they did late last month: The BlackBerry PRIV is likely to be a very expensive device. Whilst Joe Public regard the PRIV to be a primarily Android device, it is not quite that - It's a BlackBerry that will run Android apps. Everything does point towards the PRIV running Android v5.1.1 (Lollipop), whether it will compare to current Droids in real world use has still to be seen.
Personally, I hope that BlackBerry don't choose to have too much of their OS planted inside this phone. The world will be happy with a high end Android slider with a decent hardware keyboard.
But, in this form, can it really be called a BlackBerry?
I'm sure that BlackBerry do produce the best hardware keyboards for mobiles, and maybe this could be sold off/farmed out, but I think that BlackBerry would have to churn out some pretty spectacular mobiles - at lower prices - to be able to make any headway in the tightly-fought Android mobile market.
The PRIV, plus two other BB10 devices isn't going to turn BlackBerry around.
To be fair, even BB10 didn't manage to turn BlackBerry around: The older BB10 devices were and are expensive for what they are, and BB10 was found to be much more data hungry - Something that long standing BlackBerry fans suddenly had to contend with after years of running a data-frugal operating system.
Much like the BlackBerry Passport, the PRIV is an interestingly designed device; maybe feature phones could pull off these radical forms, but high-end, high price devices will struggle.
BlackBerry looks like they are doing too little, too late.
Giffgaff 4G - Call THAT 4G?!
It's been a few weeks since I got my first 4G phone and started using the online-only PAYG mobile network giffgaff.
This is just a quick entry to say that so far, I am not impressed.
I've trialled the 4G speeds at different times of the day in the few locations in North Hampshire where I can actually get a 4G signal, and it is embarrassing: 0.53mbps download, and 1-2mbps upload.
This is 4G people! I wouldn't expect this on 3G in most places!
Even Vodafone's much complained about 3G is slightly faster than this.
I'll stick with giffgaff for now. I have a large amount of payback due from them and it helps to have friends/family on giffgaff so that I can make use of the free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts, but these are seriously bad speeds.
Luckily, I don't need to use data that much when I'm out, but even then I don't want to wait two minutes for Facebook to load before I can use it on my mobile.
I can honestly say that EDGE on Vodafone was more reliable five years ago!
Still, some giffgaff customers report really fast data speeds, and can even stream movies, so your experience of giffgaff might be radically different to mine.
If you fancy trying out giffgaff, you can get a free SIM HERE with £5 of extra, free credit once you top up £10 - Giffgaff do have some good value PAYG bundles, and you can see how they compare with other mobile networks and read my giffgaff review on my PAYG bundle deals website HERE.
This is just a quick entry to say that so far, I am not impressed.
I've trialled the 4G speeds at different times of the day in the few locations in North Hampshire where I can actually get a 4G signal, and it is embarrassing: 0.53mbps download, and 1-2mbps upload.
This is 4G people! I wouldn't expect this on 3G in most places!
Even Vodafone's much complained about 3G is slightly faster than this.
I'll stick with giffgaff for now. I have a large amount of payback due from them and it helps to have friends/family on giffgaff so that I can make use of the free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts, but these are seriously bad speeds.
Luckily, I don't need to use data that much when I'm out, but even then I don't want to wait two minutes for Facebook to load before I can use it on my mobile.
I can honestly say that EDGE on Vodafone was more reliable five years ago!
Still, some giffgaff customers report really fast data speeds, and can even stream movies, so your experience of giffgaff might be radically different to mine.
If you fancy trying out giffgaff, you can get a free SIM HERE with £5 of extra, free credit once you top up £10 - Giffgaff do have some good value PAYG bundles, and you can see how they compare with other mobile networks and read my giffgaff review on my PAYG bundle deals website HERE.
Wednesday 7 October 2015
Windows 10 Event: 06/10/2015
I followed Twitter with interest today as Microsoft laid out their new Windows 10 wares.
Seeing how the long awaited Lumia flagship mobiles, the Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL were the main event, it was strange that Microsoft chose to gear up the press for their other tech announcements.
Having seen Microsoft's exciting new Surface Pro 4 and superb Surface Book, I can understand why these devices stole the show.
The tech media seem to be very pleased with these laptop/tablet devices, and the poor Lumia 950 has had to take a back seat.
I am excited about these devices, even if I'll never stump up the cash to buy one - They are likely to be costly, and let's face it, you can do as much with less, even though it isn't anywhere near as cool.
What about the new flagship phone?
I'm glad that Microsoft don't produce mobiles and then cast rumours to the wind about a smaller or larger version some months after launch: It's quite clear, the Lumia 950 comes in a standard size, or the XL size.
Mobile Fun Tweeted that the Microsoft Lumia 950 will cost £450 unlocked in the UK - which is a bloody good price for this phone.
There had been rumours a few weeks ago that Microsoft would "charge more than the iPhone 6 for the Lumia 950", which I thought was a crazy pricing strategy.
Flagship mobiles have rapidly increased in price over the past three years: Nobody should have to pay more than £500 for a mobile phone in this day and age, yet prices for the latest models frequently exceed this figure by a few hundred pounds.
Microsoft would have been silly to expect anyone to pay a huge amount of cash for a phone that runs an operating system that is found only on around 2-3% of all smartphones globally. Only BlackBerry seem to think that it's still ok for them to charge a fortune for their dated hardware (I'm still waiting to see what eye-watering price they pin on their PRIV Android/BlackBerry slider phone).
I also learned that only the AT&T network in the USA will be stocking the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, which is a big shock - Here in the UK, Vodafone, O2 and EE all Tweeted that they will be stocking the Lumia 950 (at least). We are lucky to have such networks here in the UK, with much better pricing than our US counterparts.
Are these devices enough to make the world ditch Apple and Android? No. Not a chance.
But, there is no reason why the continual push of Windows 10 can't hook customers in. After all, the increasing insecurity of Android must surely (hopefully?) be making some customers reconsider their blinkered choice of smartphone.
Within a few years, most PCs will be running Windows 10, and given that Windows 10 Mobile could make integration a lot easier for individuals and businesses, the ubiquity may be just what Microsoft has sorely needed for many years.
As for whether the Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL are the right mobiles to boost Microsoft, I don't agree that they are. They are more of a token gesture, but at least they are the pioneers of the Windows 10 movement into device integration.
Who knows, maybe since BlackBerry disappeared from the radar, businesses might consider Windows 10 devices over these dated solutions.
Seeing how the long awaited Lumia flagship mobiles, the Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL were the main event, it was strange that Microsoft chose to gear up the press for their other tech announcements.
Having seen Microsoft's exciting new Surface Pro 4 and superb Surface Book, I can understand why these devices stole the show.
The tech media seem to be very pleased with these laptop/tablet devices, and the poor Lumia 950 has had to take a back seat.
I am excited about these devices, even if I'll never stump up the cash to buy one - They are likely to be costly, and let's face it, you can do as much with less, even though it isn't anywhere near as cool.
What about the new flagship phone?
I'm glad that Microsoft don't produce mobiles and then cast rumours to the wind about a smaller or larger version some months after launch: It's quite clear, the Lumia 950 comes in a standard size, or the XL size.
Mobile Fun Tweeted that the Microsoft Lumia 950 will cost £450 unlocked in the UK - which is a bloody good price for this phone.
There had been rumours a few weeks ago that Microsoft would "charge more than the iPhone 6 for the Lumia 950", which I thought was a crazy pricing strategy.
Flagship mobiles have rapidly increased in price over the past three years: Nobody should have to pay more than £500 for a mobile phone in this day and age, yet prices for the latest models frequently exceed this figure by a few hundred pounds.
Microsoft would have been silly to expect anyone to pay a huge amount of cash for a phone that runs an operating system that is found only on around 2-3% of all smartphones globally. Only BlackBerry seem to think that it's still ok for them to charge a fortune for their dated hardware (I'm still waiting to see what eye-watering price they pin on their PRIV Android/BlackBerry slider phone).
I also learned that only the AT&T network in the USA will be stocking the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, which is a big shock - Here in the UK, Vodafone, O2 and EE all Tweeted that they will be stocking the Lumia 950 (at least). We are lucky to have such networks here in the UK, with much better pricing than our US counterparts.
Are these devices enough to make the world ditch Apple and Android? No. Not a chance.
But, there is no reason why the continual push of Windows 10 can't hook customers in. After all, the increasing insecurity of Android must surely (hopefully?) be making some customers reconsider their blinkered choice of smartphone.
Within a few years, most PCs will be running Windows 10, and given that Windows 10 Mobile could make integration a lot easier for individuals and businesses, the ubiquity may be just what Microsoft has sorely needed for many years.
As for whether the Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL are the right mobiles to boost Microsoft, I don't agree that they are. They are more of a token gesture, but at least they are the pioneers of the Windows 10 movement into device integration.
Who knows, maybe since BlackBerry disappeared from the radar, businesses might consider Windows 10 devices over these dated solutions.
Tuesday 6 October 2015
RootMetrics Review/Opinion
RootMetrics - A Valuable Resource or More Misleading than Network Coverage Checkers?
RootMetrics provide a useful resource by opposing the main networks' coverage maps, and use what they call "real world" testing to determine whether mobile networks do in fact provide good coverage for calls, texts and data across the UK (and other countries).
They do perform some useful tests, which tend to reflect real mobile network use, but are their results actually worth anything?
From my own experience using various different networks in different locations, all I can say is that RootMetrics clearly haven't done any testing anywhere near any of the places that I have lived and worked over the last 10-15 years.
The first thing that I have to get off my chest is RootMetrics praise of EE.
EE love to tell everyone that they have the "Biggest, fastest and most reliable network".
This comes across on their homepage, when you call them and in their numerous advertisements. And, if you believe RootMetric's data, you would think that this is true.
Frankly, it is not.
I have used T-Mobile, Orange, Virgin Mobile and EE, and I have yet to find a county in Southern England where there was a reliable signal for calls on this network. As for data, forget it.
I used to work in Dorset, where Vodafone was pretty much the only mobile network that covered most of this beautiful county. Our work mobiles were on Orange, but they simply didn't work. Colleagues who inadvertently got contract T-Mobile handsets quickly discovered that T-Mobile was almost as bad, and that getting a mobile signal indoors was an impossibility.
With the merger of these two big mobile networks, EE still haven't managed to increase their coverage. All they have done is to roll out 4G and hike their prices up - Yes, you can get a decent 4G signal in most very large towns and cities now, but the overall coverage and reliability is non-existent.
RootMetrics - you need to do more testing in more locations.
Is your network coverage good enough?
After poor customer service, mobile network coverage is the most frequently complained about issue.
The one thing that customers tend to be blind to is that just because they can get the SuperSmartPhone XYZ on a tempting contract, if they find that they can barely use the phone due to poor signal, the cooling off period isn't long enough to really get a handle on how the phone will perform on the given network.
Many customers will "make do", when in actual fact they are tied in to a 2 year contract that they may struggle to get any value from.
Caveat emptor springs to mind.
A colleague of mine stoically sticks with O2, even though the O2 network around his home and work is non-existent. Why? Because O2 offer him a decent handset.
He clearly doesn't use it very much away from his home WiFi network.
- So, if you are about to take the plunge and switch networks, can you trust RootMetrics information?
The answer is yes, but for the love of God do your own testing before you sign any contract, even a rolling 30 day SIM only contract.
RootMetrics offer what is the best "average" mobile testing, but it isn't exhaustive and I have even found that some network operators' coverage maps are, amazingly, better than RootMetrics' own maps.
The best way to test out any new network is to get hold of a free PAYG SIM from your chosen network(s). Pop it in a spare mobile and see what the signal is like in varying conditions.
By this, I mean look at your signal strength in every room in your home, at different locations (no point not having a signal where you sit!). Also, test the signal at different times of day, and in different weather conditions - Dry or wet atmospheres can affect signal strengths.
Look at your signal strength indicators in all of the places that you go to regularly (family homes, the pub, shopping, work, etc.).
By now, you'll realise that you need to do some quite exhaustive signal trials, and ideally once ou have decided that the signal is good enough for your use, top up the SIM and test it out with your own real-world tests: Mobile data connections can be flaky, and call quality is still a problem for many areas, so try out your new (potential) network well, before you decide to commit.
Monday 28 September 2015
Modular Mobiles: Google's Project Ara, Fairphone, Plus One from 2009...
Ok, even though I'm patiently waiting, Google's modular mobile - the Android-running "Project Ara" - is taking a very long time to reach the market.
I am incredibly excited about this entire project, as it satisfies that nagging problem with mobile phone ownership: As soon as you have the best phone for you, a newer, better model is announced.
But what if your mobile didn't become out of date (or even obsolete) six months after you got it?
Google's Project Ara modular mobile phone system goes a long way to address that issue.
Need more RAM? A better camera? Faster processor? A bigger (or smaller) screen? Project Ara will create a mobile which stock items can be purchased and swapped, by the user, to upgrade their mobile if and when required.
Even repairs to broken or faulty components could be handled by replacing individual modules.
To be honest, Project Ara is just what I've been waiting for.
But, there is a downside to this. Smartphones are incredibly dull, especially now that every manufacturer has peaked in terms of design. Yes, you can put a better camera in and a faster processor (what about a two-day battery, anyone?), but all smartphones are very much the same - slabby, with ever-increasing screen sizes; but overall very boring.
Don't misinterpret this - I like smartphones, but provided that you buy one which isn't going to be obsolete within a year, and does what it's supposed to do without feeling the urge to hurl it at a wall, smartphones are boring.
Project Ara does have the potential to be a distinctive device. It won't be filled with pseudo-high-end class like HTC's mobile phones, but is an all metal rear cover really that beautiful? Even Vertu struggle to make an Android mobile look expensive.
No modular mobile phone will ever sell in massive numbers, mainly because they strip back the smartphone to feature phone standards, but when mineral resources become limited, or then next billion people want to use Google, then I would say that the modular phone will find it's market - even if I would still love to have one myself.
I am incredibly excited about this entire project, as it satisfies that nagging problem with mobile phone ownership: As soon as you have the best phone for you, a newer, better model is announced.
But what if your mobile didn't become out of date (or even obsolete) six months after you got it?
Google's Project Ara modular mobile phone system goes a long way to address that issue.
Need more RAM? A better camera? Faster processor? A bigger (or smaller) screen? Project Ara will create a mobile which stock items can be purchased and swapped, by the user, to upgrade their mobile if and when required.
Even repairs to broken or faulty components could be handled by replacing individual modules.
To be honest, Project Ara is just what I've been waiting for.
But, there is a downside to this. Smartphones are incredibly dull, especially now that every manufacturer has peaked in terms of design. Yes, you can put a better camera in and a faster processor (what about a two-day battery, anyone?), but all smartphones are very much the same - slabby, with ever-increasing screen sizes; but overall very boring.
Don't misinterpret this - I like smartphones, but provided that you buy one which isn't going to be obsolete within a year, and does what it's supposed to do without feeling the urge to hurl it at a wall, smartphones are boring.
Project Ara does have the potential to be a distinctive device. It won't be filled with pseudo-high-end class like HTC's mobile phones, but is an all metal rear cover really that beautiful? Even Vertu struggle to make an Android mobile look expensive.
Project Ara - "Be together. Not the same."
The individual modules will make this mobile stand out, and whilst it's not stunningly beautiful, it doesn't look like any mobile that has been created before.
When Project Ara finally reaches the market, I hope that Google will continue to support it by providing ongoing software upgrades. Too many Android phones get left behind when each annual Android version is released. A two year old Android is usually pretty useless these days, as app developers drop support for older devices much more quickly these days.
Also (and more importantly), not having the most up to date version of Android is now a major security risk.
Buying that two year old former flagship because it was a good price can leave you (and your company, if you BYOD) vulnerable to cybercrime.
Please, Google; give us at least some idea when Project Ara will be available. You told us that it would be this year, but I think that we can safely say that it's not going to be out in time for Christmas.
There is a danger that these modular mobiles might not be popular with the mobile network operators: They love to tie us in to 24 month contracts, with overpriced handsets and measly allowances. I've been amazed at how many people stay on a mobile contract when the term is over.
I've always upgraded, and sold my handset on, but since the dawn of SIM only contracts, this has been less of an issue.
But, customers still keep on paying out full price for a phone contract without acknowledging that they have "paid off the phone part" of the contract - O2's Refresh system goes a long way to address this problem, and it's commendable that they are open with their customers.
However, what if you never needed to get another contract handset because your Project Ara never really wore out? I don't think that the networks would be too happy if they realised that their customers were all moving over to SIM only contracts and upgrading their mobile's modules as and when needed.
But, this modular phone concept isn't for everyone. There will never be a modular iPhone, and I'm sure that some customers see an all-metal unibody as the pinnacle of desirability.
What if you want a modular phone right now?
Well, it's no Project Ara, but the Fairphone 2 is a modular phone that is available.
Engadget reported that the ethical mobile manufacturer Fairphone have announced their Fairphone 2.
Whilst it doesn't include swappable elements that you can upgrade, if it breaks, then the phone can be easily disassembled and replacement parts easily replaced by the user.
It's an ethical mobile, which seeks to minimise reliance upon conflict minerals that are used extensively in mobile phones. Plus, the fact that you can replace parts easily means that there should be no need to bin the phone if it breaks, which saves resources.
If you want a Fairphone 2, then The Co-op is the place to go (though it's at the pre-order stage, with stock expected in December).
The idea of modular phones is nothing new, and this gives me a great opportunity to reminisce about retro mobiles:
In 2009, Israeli mobile company Modu introduced their Modu mobile phone.
Even though it really did look very odd, I liked the concept. Unfortunately, I believe that it debuted at MWC but never made it to market outside of Israel. Plus, it arrived at the zenith of the feature phone era, when there really was so much great choice, and the iPhone and Android were rapidly gaining ground...
Modu mobile phone, with main handset in the middle, and swappable "jackets" either side
- Image courtesy of Mobile Gazette.
This tiny little handset was a basic call and text mobile, with a proprietary operating system and charging system - I'm not even sure if any PC connectivity was really considered.
On it's own, the handset was very basic, but you could insert it into a jacket-like sleeve and it would become a totally different mobile phone.
Inserting the Modu into the Fashion jacket
- Image courtesy of Mobile Gazette.
There were fashion jackets, sports jackets and a cameraphone jacket. Even by feature phone standards, this mobile was too limited. But, the idea was that you would pop your Modu into a jacket for taking to work, slide it into the sports jacket for taking to the gym, and slip it into the night jacket for taking it out on the town.
For a fuller rundown of Modu, take a look at the (much-missed) Mobile Gazette website.
This modular mobile never did make it, though Modu still exist and have yet another odd (and proprietary) mobile phone listed on their website.
I'm sure that some people will be swayed by the Fairphone 2's ethical policies, but when Google's Project Ara finally reaches the global markets, I sense that it will be very warmly received.
No modular mobile phone will ever sell in massive numbers, mainly because they strip back the smartphone to feature phone standards, but when mineral resources become limited, or then next billion people want to use Google, then I would say that the modular phone will find it's market - even if I would still love to have one myself.
Friday 25 September 2015
BlackBerry Priv - My Thoughts
BlackBerry have come up with yet another marketing blunder. The long-rumoured and more recently confirmed BlackBerry "Venice" Android slider phone is officially named the BlackBerry Priv.
Lordy, the Chinese manufacturers think of some odd names, but given that BlackBerry is trying to reinvent it's bombed mobile business, you would have thought that they would have decided to give it a better name than Priv. It sounds a lot like privvy to me (which is an old name for a toilet in Britain, especially a cold outdoor toilet situated at the bottom of the garden.
The BlackBerry Passport was a good name, and they could have chosen all sorts of other names. Even the BlackBerry Slide might have been a better name, even though BlackBerry have undoubtedly slid down the ranks in global sales.
In my recent blog post (here), I speculated on how this new mobile might or might not work for BlackBerry. Now that we have a name, I think that they should have stuck with Venice.
This mobile might just be the thing that BlackBerry needs to get onto the Android bandwagon, and a rose by any other name is still a rose, but the next thing that we are likely to hear about this close to its launch is the price in selected markets...
Given that BlackBerry do like to charge an absolute premium for their mobiles, I'm convinced that the price of the BlackBerry Priv (in the UK) is going to be around the £500-600 mark, which is way too high for a first venture into Android by a company that have really struggled to sell that many handsets globally in recent years.
It's not that the specs are poor, but how many people are going to "take a chance" on the Priv, just to get a decent hardware keyboard?
This week Microsoft announced the pricing of their new Lumia flagship, the Microsoft Lumia 950 (and 950XL) - They are set to be priced above the current iPhone 6s - That takes some balls.
Given that Lumia fans have been waiting for a new flagship for many months now, it seems like Microsoft may be thinking that there is a little too much loyalty to their brand, and BlackBerry are about to do the same.
I love cheaper mobiles, that's why I run http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com which is where I give details of the best value and cheapest PAYG bundles available. I will soon have a new mobile phone site set up to cover cheap handsets, so there is the possibility that I consider anything over £300 to be too expensive for a mobile phone.
I will be interested to hear what BlackBerry think they can charge for the Venice - sorry, Priv - as it will either make me laugh, groan, or possibly both.
Either way, it's going to cost a fair bit of you hard earned cash, and I'm not sure if even BlackBerry fans really want Android: After all, most of them have already moved to this platform already.
Lordy, the Chinese manufacturers think of some odd names, but given that BlackBerry is trying to reinvent it's bombed mobile business, you would have thought that they would have decided to give it a better name than Priv. It sounds a lot like privvy to me (which is an old name for a toilet in Britain, especially a cold outdoor toilet situated at the bottom of the garden.
The BlackBerry Passport was a good name, and they could have chosen all sorts of other names. Even the BlackBerry Slide might have been a better name, even though BlackBerry have undoubtedly slid down the ranks in global sales.
In my recent blog post (here), I speculated on how this new mobile might or might not work for BlackBerry. Now that we have a name, I think that they should have stuck with Venice.
This mobile might just be the thing that BlackBerry needs to get onto the Android bandwagon, and a rose by any other name is still a rose, but the next thing that we are likely to hear about this close to its launch is the price in selected markets...
Given that BlackBerry do like to charge an absolute premium for their mobiles, I'm convinced that the price of the BlackBerry Priv (in the UK) is going to be around the £500-600 mark, which is way too high for a first venture into Android by a company that have really struggled to sell that many handsets globally in recent years.
It's not that the specs are poor, but how many people are going to "take a chance" on the Priv, just to get a decent hardware keyboard?
This week Microsoft announced the pricing of their new Lumia flagship, the Microsoft Lumia 950 (and 950XL) - They are set to be priced above the current iPhone 6s - That takes some balls.
Given that Lumia fans have been waiting for a new flagship for many months now, it seems like Microsoft may be thinking that there is a little too much loyalty to their brand, and BlackBerry are about to do the same.
I love cheaper mobiles, that's why I run http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com which is where I give details of the best value and cheapest PAYG bundles available. I will soon have a new mobile phone site set up to cover cheap handsets, so there is the possibility that I consider anything over £300 to be too expensive for a mobile phone.
I will be interested to hear what BlackBerry think they can charge for the Venice - sorry, Priv - as it will either make me laugh, groan, or possibly both.
Either way, it's going to cost a fair bit of you hard earned cash, and I'm not sure if even BlackBerry fans really want Android: After all, most of them have already moved to this platform already.
TalkTalk Don't Talk, They Tweet.
After my run-in with TalkTalk's awful call centre yesterday, I was not too unsurprised to see that they commented on my Twitter feed regarding my less-than-rosy tweets about their poor customer service.
Two of TalkTalk's representatives tweeted me, both asking how they could help. Given that I have (I hope!) already sorted out my issues with cancelling my broadband contract with them, I can't be bothered to reply to them, as I know that all they will say is "Sorry that you are having difficulties, please contact our 0870 customer support line".
It's no wonder why people complain about TalkTalk as they really aren't any good at all when it comes to customer service.
Two of TalkTalk's representatives tweeted me, both asking how they could help. Given that I have (I hope!) already sorted out my issues with cancelling my broadband contract with them, I can't be bothered to reply to them, as I know that all they will say is "Sorry that you are having difficulties, please contact our 0870 customer support line".
It's no wonder why people complain about TalkTalk as they really aren't any good at all when it comes to customer service.
Thursday 24 September 2015
TalkTalk Customer Service - I've Had Enough, and PlusNet in Rural Areas
The latest telecommunications provider to annoy the hell out of me is TalkTalk.
I haven't even been with them long enough to provide a full review of TalkTalk, but from my limited experience all I can say is that I'm glad to be leaving them!
When Plusnet put their prices up even further than before - and let's not forget that I was paying an extra £10 a month for the privilege of living in a rural idyll - I was given the option of leaving my lengthy 24 month contract with them free of charge.
So, I promptly moved to TalkTalk, as they were charging a fair bit less.
I'd heard stories about TalkTalk's poor customer service, but name a phone/broadband provider who is really that good...
So less than three months into my TalkTalk contract I receive an email to say that their prices are increasing (pushing my bill up to more than I was paying with Plusnet)! Due to this increase, I could cancel and move free of charge.
Last weekend I phoned Plusnet, who offered me a new customer package, but without the £10 additional charge that they specified that I would have to pay to receive their services in my rural village. I'm glad that they aren't charging me this, but it does make you wonder if they charge everyone routinely in out-of-town areas for their broadband.
If you pay more for your broadband because you have been told that you are located in a rural area, I would find out if you really shouldn't be charged this "additional fee".
All is going well with my Plusnet order, but today I received a sneaky letter from TalkTalk:
It went on to say thank you for using us and sorry that you're leaving, here are your great benefits that you'll lose if you leave (there aren't any, if you are wondering).
However, on the reverse of the letter there was printed an outstanding bill settlement of £166 that would be taken by Direct Debit!
I'm sure that many people would miss this, as the letter really didn't look like there would by anything printed on the reverse side.
Moving suppliers should be an automatic thing: I'm sure that OFCOM have made it simple enough for everyone, yet TalkTalk appear to make cancelling within your statutory rights a mockery.
I phoned TalkTalk after finding a non-0870 number and was on hold for about ten minutes before one of their "customer service" representatives picked up the call and quickly hung up on me!
TalkTalk - You have targets in your call centres, but when you are told to answer calls, you should not hang up to meet your "answer X number of calls an hour" - It pisses people off and leads to people such as myself ripping into your shoddy customer service in online rants.
I tried again and my call was answered about eight minutes later.
The woman that I spoke to could barely speak English, making the simple request of cancelling my service very difficult. She was also highly argumentative, saying that I was only going to be charged £1 extra a month (really) and that she would not cancel my service without a good reason.
After about five minutes of actually arguing with this sales-orientated moron, I said "Just cancel my service and don't you dare charge me a penny", which she seemed to understand.
I thought that Plusnet were bad. I can see now why people hate TalkTalk!
All being well, I'll not be charged for cancelling, but my faith, and more importantly trust in TalkTalk is near zero.
I haven't even been with them long enough to provide a full review of TalkTalk, but from my limited experience all I can say is that I'm glad to be leaving them!
When Plusnet put their prices up even further than before - and let's not forget that I was paying an extra £10 a month for the privilege of living in a rural idyll - I was given the option of leaving my lengthy 24 month contract with them free of charge.
So, I promptly moved to TalkTalk, as they were charging a fair bit less.
I'd heard stories about TalkTalk's poor customer service, but name a phone/broadband provider who is really that good...
So less than three months into my TalkTalk contract I receive an email to say that their prices are increasing (pushing my bill up to more than I was paying with Plusnet)! Due to this increase, I could cancel and move free of charge.
Last weekend I phoned Plusnet, who offered me a new customer package, but without the £10 additional charge that they specified that I would have to pay to receive their services in my rural village. I'm glad that they aren't charging me this, but it does make you wonder if they charge everyone routinely in out-of-town areas for their broadband.
If you pay more for your broadband because you have been told that you are located in a rural area, I would find out if you really shouldn't be charged this "additional fee".
All is going well with my Plusnet order, but today I received a sneaky letter from TalkTalk:
It went on to say thank you for using us and sorry that you're leaving, here are your great benefits that you'll lose if you leave (there aren't any, if you are wondering).
However, on the reverse of the letter there was printed an outstanding bill settlement of £166 that would be taken by Direct Debit!
I'm sure that many people would miss this, as the letter really didn't look like there would by anything printed on the reverse side.
Moving suppliers should be an automatic thing: I'm sure that OFCOM have made it simple enough for everyone, yet TalkTalk appear to make cancelling within your statutory rights a mockery.
I phoned TalkTalk after finding a non-0870 number and was on hold for about ten minutes before one of their "customer service" representatives picked up the call and quickly hung up on me!
TalkTalk - You have targets in your call centres, but when you are told to answer calls, you should not hang up to meet your "answer X number of calls an hour" - It pisses people off and leads to people such as myself ripping into your shoddy customer service in online rants.
I tried again and my call was answered about eight minutes later.
The woman that I spoke to could barely speak English, making the simple request of cancelling my service very difficult. She was also highly argumentative, saying that I was only going to be charged £1 extra a month (really) and that she would not cancel my service without a good reason.
After about five minutes of actually arguing with this sales-orientated moron, I said "Just cancel my service and don't you dare charge me a penny", which she seemed to understand.
I thought that Plusnet were bad. I can see now why people hate TalkTalk!
All being well, I'll not be charged for cancelling, but my faith, and more importantly trust in TalkTalk is near zero.
Wednesday 23 September 2015
FreedomPop Reaches the UK!
After several attempts to squeeze some information out of FreedomPop about when they will launch in the UK, they have quietly entered the UK market.
I don't know if people who pre-registered with them have been notified - I have had nothing, and I discovered that they were now active from Engadget.
Looking at the main reason for using them, it's hard to knock: A completely free mobile service, which gives you 200 minutes, 200 texts and 200MB of 4G data.
For many, many people, this is useless, but there are still a lot of people in the UK who will find these allowances enough for their needs.
Pay FreedomPop £9 a month, and you'll get 1000 minutes, 1000 texts and 1GB of data. £12 a month will see you get unlimited minutes and texts, and a tight 2GB of data.
To be able to use the free service, you'll pay £6.99 for delivery and activation of the SIM card.
There are some caveats:
As yet, you can't port your mobile number in to FreedomPop.
FreedomPop operates through the FreedomPop app, and doesn't make use of your mobile's call/text function, so it's a 3G only service.
Which brings me on to the network; it operates on Three.
To top things off, FreedomPop only works on Apple and Android devices - There is no Windows Phone or BlackBerry app, and non-smartphones are out, even if they are 3G.
For me, this is a great sounding service at the free level, even if the allocations are quite mean.
A FreedomPop SIM at the lowest (free) level would be great in a spare phone, but most people don't carry around spare Android and Apple mobiles because the battery life isn't good enough in most cases.
In a dual SIM mobile, this could be of use to someone for the free calls and texts, but you might as well right off the data.
The £9 a month plan isn't bad, but paying an extra £3 to get only 2GB of data isn't good value - You could do much better elsewhere, just take a look at the best value PAYG bundles on my website here: http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/payg-bundles.html
I don't know if people who pre-registered with them have been notified - I have had nothing, and I discovered that they were now active from Engadget.
Looking at the main reason for using them, it's hard to knock: A completely free mobile service, which gives you 200 minutes, 200 texts and 200MB of 4G data.
For many, many people, this is useless, but there are still a lot of people in the UK who will find these allowances enough for their needs.
Pay FreedomPop £9 a month, and you'll get 1000 minutes, 1000 texts and 1GB of data. £12 a month will see you get unlimited minutes and texts, and a tight 2GB of data.
To be able to use the free service, you'll pay £6.99 for delivery and activation of the SIM card.
There are some caveats:
As yet, you can't port your mobile number in to FreedomPop.
FreedomPop operates through the FreedomPop app, and doesn't make use of your mobile's call/text function, so it's a 3G only service.
Which brings me on to the network; it operates on Three.
To top things off, FreedomPop only works on Apple and Android devices - There is no Windows Phone or BlackBerry app, and non-smartphones are out, even if they are 3G.
For me, this is a great sounding service at the free level, even if the allocations are quite mean.
A FreedomPop SIM at the lowest (free) level would be great in a spare phone, but most people don't carry around spare Android and Apple mobiles because the battery life isn't good enough in most cases.
In a dual SIM mobile, this could be of use to someone for the free calls and texts, but you might as well right off the data.
The £9 a month plan isn't bad, but paying an extra £3 to get only 2GB of data isn't good value - You could do much better elsewhere, just take a look at the best value PAYG bundles on my website here: http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/payg-bundles.html
Tuesday 22 September 2015
Mobile Network Reviews - Update
I've been working on my PAYG mobile deals website overnight.
I have added and expanded my mobile network reviews, and added a review of Polish MVNO Kontakt Mobile (UK) to my list of recently used mobile networks.
Please do take a look at the mobile network reviews here: mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/mobile-network-reviews
I love a bargain, but I also like good customer service - or decent support when things go wrong at the very least. So, my network reviews are a useful resource, especially for anyone browsing my website looking for a great, low cost PAYG mobile tariff.
This week, I am also working on a new mobile phone PAYG website, but it's looking like it will not be ready before the weekend at this rate.
Watch this space, as it will have a slightly different "edge" to it, and for anyone looking to find a cheap PAYG mobile phone, it will be a very useful resource.
I have added and expanded my mobile network reviews, and added a review of Polish MVNO Kontakt Mobile (UK) to my list of recently used mobile networks.
Please do take a look at the mobile network reviews here: mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/mobile-network-reviews
I love a bargain, but I also like good customer service - or decent support when things go wrong at the very least. So, my network reviews are a useful resource, especially for anyone browsing my website looking for a great, low cost PAYG mobile tariff.
This week, I am also working on a new mobile phone PAYG website, but it's looking like it will not be ready before the weekend at this rate.
Watch this space, as it will have a slightly different "edge" to it, and for anyone looking to find a cheap PAYG mobile phone, it will be a very useful resource.
Friday 18 September 2015
BlackBerry Priv ("Venice") Slides into View
The long-rumoured and now all-but-confirmed BlackBerry "Venice" has leaked in yet more photos - and it might be the droid that you have been looking for...
What's the hype about? First off, it's not hype: BlackBerry have been rumoured to have been working on a new phone that could run Android apps for many months now. The company has been keen to keep things relatively quiet, but Android fans have been speculating away until the cows come home about this potentially exciting new mobile.
The more that the rumours were (almost) confirmed, the more details kept on surfacing.
What now appears to be an operational handset running what appears to be an only slightly modified version of Android has been seen in several photos recently.
The other main rumour was that this new mobile would have a physical BlackBerry keyboard - which must surely be the truth after hearing the rumours and seeing the photos!
On one hand, this is an exciting new direction for BlackBerry: Their falling sales have continued for years, and they have been unable to innovate their way out of a corner.
Even Windows Phone has overtaken BlackBerry in worldwide sales.
I was worried that this would be just another BlackBerry that would run some Android apps. Just enough to whet the appetite of some people, but not enough to make BlackBerry a viable operating system for many.
It appears that BlackBerry might have taken their best bits, and combined them with a slightly skinned version of Android - If this works, it will be a big thing.
This is a BlackBerry after all, and I am incredibly pleased to see a hardware QWERTY keyboard on this phone. Android (in fact every smartphone operating system) needs some handsets which have this essential feature. I almost ditched my Android phones earlier this year in favour of a cheap BlackBerry Curve from eBay, just so that I didn't have to put up with swiping autocorrect hell.
The specs of the BlackBerry "Venice" are still sketchy, but this does sound like it will be a high-end device.
Whilst I welcome this device openly (what can I really dislike about a keyboard-touting Android phone?), I don't know what market this phone will really target.
I'm sure that some business customers will love it. A friend at work loves his BlackBerry Passport, due to its ability to handle spreadsheets, but on asking him how many spreadsheets he actually uses, he couldn't give me a definitive answer.
I don't know how many consumers will buy the BlackBerry Venice purely for the keyboard. It's a big selling point, but is it enough to pull these customers away from Samsung? I'm not convinced.
For me, the biggest issue is the as yet unmentioned price. This is going to be an expensive mobile. Top end BlackBerrys are (even the Curve range of handsets was pricey by comparison), so BlackBerry might be poised to crash and burn with this mobile as soon as it's launched.
- I hope that this isn't the case; BlackBerry deserves to do well by launching a good product and innovating. By innovating, I actually mean that they have done something that they should have done years ago.
Is there going to be a sea-change, because of this phone? For BlackBerry, this could be the turning point. It won't save them, but if it actually works, then there is a possibility that they could move on from here.
As for the other manufacturers, maybe they will start to move away from black, slabby 5 inch plus smartphones, and maybe we will see a few physical keyboards gracing Android mobiles.
This venture into Android territory could also herald a new beginning for Nokia, when they eventually get free reign to start designing mobiles again - Whilst I love Windows Phone (and it's a damn shame that Nokia was hampered, and then killed off by Microsoft), there's no doubt that Nokia will at least play with the concept of creating an Android phone at some point in the next couple of years.
One thing that may be against the BlackBerry Venice is its sliding form factor - I know that BlackBerry are very behind the times, but sliding phones? The last time I had a sliding phone was 2008, when they were really popular!
I actually hated the sliding form factor: It killed off flip phones and made candybar mobiles bulky and awkward to use. I'm guessing that the slide out keyboard on the BlackBerry Venice will make the screen/body of the phone top heavy.
Maybe a horizontal sliding keyboard would be a better option - Mobile phone designers please take note.
BlackBerry "Venice" - These look pretty real to me!
What's the hype about? First off, it's not hype: BlackBerry have been rumoured to have been working on a new phone that could run Android apps for many months now. The company has been keen to keep things relatively quiet, but Android fans have been speculating away until the cows come home about this potentially exciting new mobile.
The more that the rumours were (almost) confirmed, the more details kept on surfacing.
What now appears to be an operational handset running what appears to be an only slightly modified version of Android has been seen in several photos recently.
The other main rumour was that this new mobile would have a physical BlackBerry keyboard - which must surely be the truth after hearing the rumours and seeing the photos!
On one hand, this is an exciting new direction for BlackBerry: Their falling sales have continued for years, and they have been unable to innovate their way out of a corner.
Even Windows Phone has overtaken BlackBerry in worldwide sales.
I was worried that this would be just another BlackBerry that would run some Android apps. Just enough to whet the appetite of some people, but not enough to make BlackBerry a viable operating system for many.
It appears that BlackBerry might have taken their best bits, and combined them with a slightly skinned version of Android - If this works, it will be a big thing.
This is a BlackBerry after all, and I am incredibly pleased to see a hardware QWERTY keyboard on this phone. Android (in fact every smartphone operating system) needs some handsets which have this essential feature. I almost ditched my Android phones earlier this year in favour of a cheap BlackBerry Curve from eBay, just so that I didn't have to put up with swiping autocorrect hell.
The specs of the BlackBerry "Venice" are still sketchy, but this does sound like it will be a high-end device.
Whilst I welcome this device openly (what can I really dislike about a keyboard-touting Android phone?), I don't know what market this phone will really target.
I'm sure that some business customers will love it. A friend at work loves his BlackBerry Passport, due to its ability to handle spreadsheets, but on asking him how many spreadsheets he actually uses, he couldn't give me a definitive answer.
I don't know how many consumers will buy the BlackBerry Venice purely for the keyboard. It's a big selling point, but is it enough to pull these customers away from Samsung? I'm not convinced.
For me, the biggest issue is the as yet unmentioned price. This is going to be an expensive mobile. Top end BlackBerrys are (even the Curve range of handsets was pricey by comparison), so BlackBerry might be poised to crash and burn with this mobile as soon as it's launched.
- I hope that this isn't the case; BlackBerry deserves to do well by launching a good product and innovating. By innovating, I actually mean that they have done something that they should have done years ago.
Is there going to be a sea-change, because of this phone? For BlackBerry, this could be the turning point. It won't save them, but if it actually works, then there is a possibility that they could move on from here.
As for the other manufacturers, maybe they will start to move away from black, slabby 5 inch plus smartphones, and maybe we will see a few physical keyboards gracing Android mobiles.
This venture into Android territory could also herald a new beginning for Nokia, when they eventually get free reign to start designing mobiles again - Whilst I love Windows Phone (and it's a damn shame that Nokia was hampered, and then killed off by Microsoft), there's no doubt that Nokia will at least play with the concept of creating an Android phone at some point in the next couple of years.
One thing that may be against the BlackBerry Venice is its sliding form factor - I know that BlackBerry are very behind the times, but sliding phones? The last time I had a sliding phone was 2008, when they were really popular!
I actually hated the sliding form factor: It killed off flip phones and made candybar mobiles bulky and awkward to use. I'm guessing that the slide out keyboard on the BlackBerry Venice will make the screen/body of the phone top heavy.
Maybe a horizontal sliding keyboard would be a better option - Mobile phone designers please take note.
Wednesday 16 September 2015
More Windows Phones Incoming - But Not from Microsoft
Microsoft have cocked up with their acquisition of Nokia. Big time.
The purchase of the former mobile phone massif has done nothing to bolster Windows Phone's position in the market globally. And they have destroyed the Nokia brand in the process.
I'm not that bitter about this debacle, even if it seems that I am.
What surprises me is that Huawei's Head of International Media Affairs, Joe Kelly, told the Seattle Times that "Nobody made any money in Windows Phone" - at a time when Huawei appeared to be aiming their sights at the lower end of the market (a position that they have now changed with their mid-to-top-end-priced Android mobiles).
This year, even Microsoft dropped the ball with their first ever Microsoft-branded Lumia phone, the Lumia 535 which is a great phone for the price, but it was plagued with touchscreen sensitivity issues when it first launched.
Microsoft didn't even learn from, or acquire, handset-building knowledge from their disastrous fling with Nokia.
Windows Phone's global market share currently stands at a mere 2.7% which is not great, and is certainly something that most handset manufacturers wouldn't be jumping into bed with.
So what is this about new Windows Phone mobiles being produced by other manufacturers?
American mobile maker BLU (not to be confused with UK e-cig maker Blu) is just entering the UK market with a range of Windows Phone mobiles. This source is from HotUKDeals, and they look like an absolute bargain: The two lower priced (£70 BLU Win JR and the £100 BLU Win HD) models are 4G enabled and dual SIM.
This reminds me of Wileyfox's new Android phones.
If I was in the market for (yet another) Windows Phone to add to my collection, BLU would be at the top of my current list.
Another Windows Phone manufacturer to enter the scene is French Android tablet company Archos.
Their Archos 50e Helium and Archos 50 Cesium Windows Phones are due to arrive in the UK this November.
Both are 5 inch phones with 4G, but somewhat mediocre specifications according to Gizmag.
Having owned (and binned) a terrible Archos Android tablet a few years ago, I'm not putting my money on either of these devices, unless the £99 price tag is a joke and they are actually going to retail in the UK at under £50. Microsoft's Lumia phones are better value than these things.
The purchase of the former mobile phone massif has done nothing to bolster Windows Phone's position in the market globally. And they have destroyed the Nokia brand in the process.
I'm not that bitter about this debacle, even if it seems that I am.
What surprises me is that Huawei's Head of International Media Affairs, Joe Kelly, told the Seattle Times that "Nobody made any money in Windows Phone" - at a time when Huawei appeared to be aiming their sights at the lower end of the market (a position that they have now changed with their mid-to-top-end-priced Android mobiles).
This year, even Microsoft dropped the ball with their first ever Microsoft-branded Lumia phone, the Lumia 535 which is a great phone for the price, but it was plagued with touchscreen sensitivity issues when it first launched.
Microsoft didn't even learn from, or acquire, handset-building knowledge from their disastrous fling with Nokia.
Windows Phone's global market share currently stands at a mere 2.7% which is not great, and is certainly something that most handset manufacturers wouldn't be jumping into bed with.
So what is this about new Windows Phone mobiles being produced by other manufacturers?
American mobile maker BLU (not to be confused with UK e-cig maker Blu) is just entering the UK market with a range of Windows Phone mobiles. This source is from HotUKDeals, and they look like an absolute bargain: The two lower priced (£70 BLU Win JR and the £100 BLU Win HD) models are 4G enabled and dual SIM.
This reminds me of Wileyfox's new Android phones.
If I was in the market for (yet another) Windows Phone to add to my collection, BLU would be at the top of my current list.
Another Windows Phone manufacturer to enter the scene is French Android tablet company Archos.
Their Archos 50e Helium and Archos 50 Cesium Windows Phones are due to arrive in the UK this November.
Both are 5 inch phones with 4G, but somewhat mediocre specifications according to Gizmag.
Having owned (and binned) a terrible Archos Android tablet a few years ago, I'm not putting my money on either of these devices, unless the £99 price tag is a joke and they are actually going to retail in the UK at under £50. Microsoft's Lumia phones are better value than these things.
Tuesday 15 September 2015
FREE £5 PAYG Credit from Giffgaff!
Yesterday, I wrote about how I have written some reviews of the mobile phone networks that I use, and have used in the recent past.
In this entry (available here), I mentioned the mobile networks that I currently use.
One of these is giffgaff, and whilst you can register an account with them from their website, you could actually earn yourself some money by registering from different sources!
Quidco will pay you £4.50 cashback if you register and activate a new giffgaff SIM through their website, but you could earn yourself a full £5 of free credit to use with giffgaff if you use my own giffgaff SIM order link HERE.
You can use my SIM order link as many times as you like (Quidco restrict you to one activation), so if you want to make use of the free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts between yourself, your family and your friends, then my SIM order link is the best way to do this.
Each free SIM will receive £5 of free credit and can be delivered by Royal Mail to any address of your choosing in the UK. I don't get any access to any of your personal details, as the transactions and registrations are handled solely by giffgaff.
Once you have your SIM(s), they can be activated by topping up with £10, which if you have friends or family on giffgaff will entitle you to free calls and texts to them for three months - and your £15 credit will remain untouched until you start to use it as PAYG credit, or buy a 30 day bundle (aka "Goodybag").
I save a fortune using by giffgaff, and you could too!
In this entry (available here), I mentioned the mobile networks that I currently use.
One of these is giffgaff, and whilst you can register an account with them from their website, you could actually earn yourself some money by registering from different sources!
Quidco will pay you £4.50 cashback if you register and activate a new giffgaff SIM through their website, but you could earn yourself a full £5 of free credit to use with giffgaff if you use my own giffgaff SIM order link HERE.
You can use my SIM order link as many times as you like (Quidco restrict you to one activation), so if you want to make use of the free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts between yourself, your family and your friends, then my SIM order link is the best way to do this.
Each free SIM will receive £5 of free credit and can be delivered by Royal Mail to any address of your choosing in the UK. I don't get any access to any of your personal details, as the transactions and registrations are handled solely by giffgaff.
Once you have your SIM(s), they can be activated by topping up with £10, which if you have friends or family on giffgaff will entitle you to free calls and texts to them for three months - and your £15 credit will remain untouched until you start to use it as PAYG credit, or buy a 30 day bundle (aka "Goodybag").
I save a fortune using by giffgaff, and you could too!
Three's 4G Super Voice VoLTE Calls Miss the Mark - Completely
Mobile phone network Three have launched their Voice Over LTE (VoLTE) system today, which they are marketing as "4G Super Voice".
Secondly, Three have mentioned how this technology will help people get a signal in rural areas, yet the rollout is currently confined to: London, Edinburgh, Exeter and Birmingham, with Cardiff, Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol expected to be able to make use of VoLTE towards the end of the year.
The concept is simple - and it's a good one:
LTE (4G) network signals can only handle data, not calls or texts, so customers have to rely on a decent 3G signal to be able to make and receive calls and texts.
Three's 4G Super Voice aims to provide VOIP-like calling and texting, much like WiFi calling and messaging.
4G signals are also better at penetrating buildings and covering wider areas than 3G signals, so this technology should be able to provide improved voice, text and data coverage inside buildings and in rural areas. These are two areas where the Three network really struggles.
Three have said that they aim to be able to provide this service so that "customers in rural areas can receive better mobile services".
All of this is great, apart from the fact that Three really have screwed up with their marketing.
Firstly, "4G Super Voice" is only available to Three customers using a Samsung Galaxy S5 or LG G4 - Not even S6 owners get an opportunity to improve their network.
Three have stated that the iPhone 6/6 Plus, the HTC One M9, plus some other (not yet specified) handsets will also be able to make use of 4G Super Voice later this year.
- Not exactly "rural" areas, Three?
It's good to see that this technology is being used, but like all networks, Three are rolling out the best bits to the most subscribers, with marginal and rural areas losing out on getting decent signals yet again.
I live within easy reach of three major towns and a three cities, yet 4G on Three is a myth, apart from in the very centre of two of these town and the cities. Rural areas in-between can just about get a 3G data connection, and calls/texts are unreliable.
Within cities and towns with 4G coverage, this service will be welcomed by some, and remain cryptic for most.
Three's "4G Super Voice" is a step in the right direction, but I believe that it will be many years before it really starts to benefit anyone in rural areas (if Three even bother to improve out of town coverage at all).
Monday 14 September 2015
Mobile Network Reviews
I have just completed the long outstanding network reviews part of my PAYG mobile deals website - Here's the link.
For years, I've been involved with finding myself the absolute best value mobile phone deals.
I've worked my way through lots of phone contracts, networks and PAYG plans.
Now, finally, I have written some brief but practical reviews of the mobile phone networks that I have used.
Admittedly, I've written a fair number of online reviews about my experiences with various mobile phone networks, but this is the first time that I've committed to hosting my own, and it is a natural progression for my PAYG mobile deals website to have some reviews so that other people may benefit from my experiences.
Which network is right for you? This question can only be truly answered by finding out which mobile network provides you with the best coverage where you spend most of your time. It's pointless choosing a deal on a network which doesn't work for you.
For example, EE is useless everywhere that I go. I can barely get a 2G signal at home, work, or anywhere in-between. This is a shame, as there are some great MVNOs operating on the EE network - Post Office Mobile is one of the best value, and you can see how it stacks up against the other networks on my website at this link: http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/bundles.html
Due to EE's inability to provide decent network coverage around Hampshire and Berkshire, I cannot test any of the EE MVNOs, so they will remain un-reviewed until such time as EE's network coverage improves, or I move house.
I have detailed the three networks that I currently use on my webpage; they are
Out of these three networks, the best for overall coverage is Mobile by Sainsburys, as they run on the Vodafone network which I have always found to be consistently reliable, if only for 2G voice and text coverage.
My main phones are on giffgaff, because the O2 coverage is acceptable for the price. I make extensive use of the free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts, and the monthly/30 day bundles provide me with exactly what I need.
Three is great: Their 321 PAYG tariff is the cheapest and most reliable 3G network, though I've found that call and text coverage is not reliable enough for my daily needs.
At this time, most of the mobile networks have plateaued again. Apart from Post Office Mobile quietly creeping onto the scene, there's not been significant change in the market for a little while. Giffgaff's 4G at no extra cost is great, and I have yet to test this out properly in my area.
I shall update my mobile network reviews page as and when this happens, and I'll let you know when I've done this on this blog, too.
For years, I've been involved with finding myself the absolute best value mobile phone deals.
I've worked my way through lots of phone contracts, networks and PAYG plans.
Now, finally, I have written some brief but practical reviews of the mobile phone networks that I have used.
Admittedly, I've written a fair number of online reviews about my experiences with various mobile phone networks, but this is the first time that I've committed to hosting my own, and it is a natural progression for my PAYG mobile deals website to have some reviews so that other people may benefit from my experiences.
Which network is right for you? This question can only be truly answered by finding out which mobile network provides you with the best coverage where you spend most of your time. It's pointless choosing a deal on a network which doesn't work for you.
For example, EE is useless everywhere that I go. I can barely get a 2G signal at home, work, or anywhere in-between. This is a shame, as there are some great MVNOs operating on the EE network - Post Office Mobile is one of the best value, and you can see how it stacks up against the other networks on my website at this link: http://mobile-networks-uk.weebly.com/bundles.html
Due to EE's inability to provide decent network coverage around Hampshire and Berkshire, I cannot test any of the EE MVNOs, so they will remain un-reviewed until such time as EE's network coverage improves, or I move house.
I have detailed the three networks that I currently use on my webpage; they are
- Three (3)
- giffgaff
- Mobile by Sainsburys
Out of these three networks, the best for overall coverage is Mobile by Sainsburys, as they run on the Vodafone network which I have always found to be consistently reliable, if only for 2G voice and text coverage.
My main phones are on giffgaff, because the O2 coverage is acceptable for the price. I make extensive use of the free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts, and the monthly/30 day bundles provide me with exactly what I need.
Three is great: Their 321 PAYG tariff is the cheapest and most reliable 3G network, though I've found that call and text coverage is not reliable enough for my daily needs.
At this time, most of the mobile networks have plateaued again. Apart from Post Office Mobile quietly creeping onto the scene, there's not been significant change in the market for a little while. Giffgaff's 4G at no extra cost is great, and I have yet to test this out properly in my area.
I shall update my mobile network reviews page as and when this happens, and I'll let you know when I've done this on this blog, too.
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