Hasta La Gadget!

If you compare mobile plans in the US to mobile plans available in the UK, it’s clear that most of the time mobile phone users in the UK are able to get much better deals. UK carrier O2 has announced a new tariff that promises to allow customers to get the latest phone whenever they want. That means there’s no more worrying that when you buy that new Android device, something better will launch six months down the road.

O2′s new tariff is called O2 Refresh and is a 24-month tariff that removes the cost of the phone from the cost of calls, text messages, and data. When you decide you want to upgrade to a new phone on this plan you don’t have to buy out your current airtime contract. All the user has to do is pay the remaining balance left on their current phone, then get a new phone, and start the process over.

Refresh allows the user to choose their own plan and airtime plan and pay for those separately from the mobile phone itself. O2 says that Refresh allows the user to pay the same price overall as they would on a standard 24 month Pay Monthly tariff. However, when the user decides to upgrade they only have to pay off the Phone Plan and the Air Time Plan ends with no termination fee.

Users will also be able to sell their current phone back to the carrier using the O2 Recycle plan and get up to £260 towards another phone. For users who choose Refresh and don’t purchase a new mobile phone frequently, once the Phone Plan balance is paid down, the monthly payments will reduce dramatically with the user only paying for the Airtime Plan.

There are several Refresh Airtime Plans ranging in price from £12 monthly for 600 min. of talk, unlimited texting, and 750 MB of data, to a £22 monthly plan offers unlimited talk, unlimited text, and 2 GB. O2 isn’t the first wireless company in the UK to try this sort of plan, Phones 4U unveiled a similar plan in February.

[via O2]

O2 Refresh allows you to get a new phone whenever you want is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Unless you’re a Virgin Media, EE or Vodafone customer, you’ve either been shelling out for subterranean internet, or bid the London Underground’s WiFi network a solemn farewell when free access ended in January. If you’re with O2, however, your free pass has now been reinstated, as the bubble-loving carrier has become the latest passenger riding on Virgin Media’s tube hotspots — O2 WiFi users will even find themselves automatically registered. Also, the underground network will shortly be meeting its 120-station target, as Virgin will be flipping switches at the final 12 locations throughout this week (the station list is available at the source link). So, should you start seeing more people in more places frantically hammering their smartphones during those 30-second pauses on the platform, you’ll know why.

Filed under: Wireless, Internet, Mobile

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Source: Virgin Media

The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is expected to be released in April and the Japanese manufacturer has now begun taking preorders for it. Revealed at the Mobile World Congress 2013, it is yet another Android powered tablet hoping to gain some footing in the tablet market largely dominated by the iPad. The Xperia Tablet Z can now be preordered online from Sony’s online store, the promise that shipping will begin between 12-15 April. This happens to be the first confirm shipping date touted for Sony’s upcoming tablet.

Xperia Tablet Z 16GB and 32GB Wi-Fi only models are priced at £399 and £449 respectively. The website also shows a 16GB LTE version but its price is not known at this point in time. The company probably plans on releasing some time after the Wi-Fi models begin shipping out in April. Prospective customers in the UK may also purchase this tablet from O2 on contract, though availability and pricing information is yet to be revealed. Recently we’ve been seeing an influx of Android powered tablets in the market from a number of manufacturers. Do you think the Xperia Tablet Z be able to carve out a name for itself in this highly competitive market?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Rumored To Be Building Smart Watch Of Their Own, Google Glass May Be Able To Control Objects Around You In The Future,

Sky already supplies fixed phone line and broadband on top of its TV services in the UK, but it’s just announced it’ll be gaining a few more customers. The company has shaken hands with Telefonica UK to purchase the latter’s broadband and phone line business provided by the consumer-facing O2 and BE brands. As you would imagine, big bucks will change hands: Sky plans to fork over £180 million (around $273 million) right off the bat, and will write a cheque for up to a further £20 million (circa $30 million) “dependent upon the successful delivery and completion of the customer migration process by Telefonica UK.” Regulators will need to give the deal the thumbs up before it’s official, but if and when that happens, Sky will become the second biggest ISP in the UK after adding over 500,000 new customers to its books. Should everything progress as planned, the buyout will be completed by the end of April, which gives Rupert Murdoch just enough time to carry out the vault extension he’ll need.

Update: If you’re worried this transaction will impact anything you’re currently signed up to, you can probably rest easy. O2 has tweeted one of our editors to report “there will be no material change to a customer’s broadband service and no fundamental contract change.”

Filed under: Misc, Internet

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Via: GigaOM

Sorry, Ms. Sinatra, but the headline parody was all too obvious to ignore. As part of its mobile device Recycle program, which allows users to trade in old handsets for cash, British telco O2 has commissioned local designer Sean Miles to give discarded featurephones a new lease on life. The end result? Four footwear designs – made from the likes of Christian Louboutins, Nike Airs, Hunter Wellingtons and a classic Brogue men’s shoe — replete with a fully functional phone embedded in the sole. We know exactly what you’re thinking: Why would anyone want to hold a shoe to their face? Whether it’s for the love of the arts, a penchant for public ridicule or a closer whiff of the ground below, we can’t say for sure. What we do know is that this truly “mobile” kit(sch) will be up for auction later in March at a planned exhibition. But that won’t be the last you’ll see of Miles’ unholy meshing of tech and apparel — the artist also plans to branch out into gloves and handbags as part of the fuller O2 Recycle Collection. You paying attention, Weird Al? This one’s for you!

Filed under: Wearables

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Via: The Sun

Source: PSFK