Hasta La Gadget!

European carrier Orange and Bayclaycard have announced a new team up today that will soon let Samsung Galaxy S III owners make Quick Tap NFC mobile payments with their phones. This new service is headed to the UK, and it will be available to “new and upgrading” Samsung Galaxy S III users on September 5. Orange and Barclaycard are touting the Orange Galaxy S III as “first Android device to feature Quick Tap contactless payment technology.”

With this new mobile payments system, Orange Galaxy S III owners will be able to link any Mastercard or Visa debit or credit card to their phone. Once that’s been done, those users can then make contactless mobile payments of up to £20. Using the service only requires that you download an app and link your card to Barclaycard, and then after that you should be good to go (provided you have a Galaxy S III with an Orange SIM card in it). Those who sign up for the service between September 5 and October 5 will get a free £50 to spend, so if you’re planning on signing up for this system, better to do it sooner rather than later.

In a statement today, Barclaycard’s head of digital payments Tom Gregory said that this service will work with all UK bank accounts. “Barclaycard is committed to making paying for things faster, safer and easier,” Gregory said. “With the launch of Quick Tap payments on the Samsung Galaxy SIII, Barclaycard is bringing a safe and secure new way to pay to customers of all UK banks. Mobile payments are safe and have a full fraud guarantee and we’ve seen ever growing numbers of people using contactless to make quick and secure payments of up to £20.”

Once this deal goes live on September 5, you’ll be able to pick up a Samsung Galaxy S III with Quick Tap from Orange stores, orange.co.uk, and Orange telesales. Overall, it doesn’t sound like too bad a service, especially when they’re giving £50 to early adopters. Be sure to have a glance at our story timeline below for more information on Orange and Barclaycard!

Samsung Galaxy S III adding support for Orange and Barclaycard mobile payments is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve been speaking to the big five UK mobile networks, finding out where British phablet fans can get their Galaxy Note II fix. So far, only ThreeUK (after the break) and O2 have confirmed they’ll be carrying the device when it arrives later in the year, while T-Mobile and Orange said they didn’t have any details for us yet. Most cryptically, Vodafone’s response was that it “isn’t involved in this,” so we figure we’ll have to sit tight for more concrete news. If anything changes. we’ll let you know.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Note II coming to ThreeUK and O2 later in the year

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

Samsung Galaxy Note II coming to ThreeUK and O2 later in the year originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 04:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Three and Everything Everywhere have completed the sale of two 15MHz blocks of the 1,800MHz spectrum, announced yesterday. It follows Ofcom’s controversial decision to let the latter network queue-jump to offer LTE services in the UK before the official auction process begins. Three won’t be able to use its new toy until its frenemy has vacated it, which could be as late as September next year, but could start preparing 4G internet shortly after. The sale was made due to merger requirements by the European Commission, but still needs approval from Ofcom, but given that it’s already handed the company an unassailable head-start, we hardly think it’ll be too concerned by the deal.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Everything Everywhere completes sale of spectrum to Three, waits for regulators approval originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has this week made a ruling that will allow the group Everything Everywhere to begin offering up 4G services ahead of a scheduled 4G spectrum auction next year, this against the wishes of several of their rivals. Everything Everywhere is the company that runs T-Mobile and Orange in the UK, and with this decision letting them start up their 4G services before a collection of competitors, their September 11th, 2012 start date may lead to a major change in the mobile market.

The “4G” spectrum that Everything Everywhere already owns runs along 1800MHz, and outside their own camp, Ofcom’s decision to give them the go-ahead has been met with some unsurprising dissent. An O2 spokesman made it clear this morning that they were amongst those groups that are not really happy about the decision.

“We are hugely disappointed with today’s announcement, which will mean the majority of consumers will be excluded from the first wave of digital services. This decision undermines the competitive environment for 4G in the UK” – O2

Similarly, the folks at Vodafone have been quite vocal about the situation.

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

The upcoming auction of 4G spectrum will be bringing on both 800MHz and 2.6GHz to the party, while each of the groups mentioned above already own at least two different kinds of spectrum in the 2G/3G/4G universe. Vodafone and O2 are the proud owners of 900MHz, 1800Mhz, and 2.1GHz spectrum while Everything Everywhere also owns the two higher spectrums 2.1GHz and 1800Mhz. It’s not entirely clear why the other two companies have not yet been granted the ability to offer up their own 1800MHz spectrum.

[via ZDnet]

Everything Everywhere gains early rights to 4G in the UK is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While Brits still languish at the back of the queue for LTE, there is at least a sliver of hope that regulator Ofcom is moving forward with plans for 4G provision. It’s announced today that carrier Everything Everywhere (the combined network of Orange and T-Mobile) will be allowed to use its 1800 MHz spectrum to push out next-generation phone services. Ofcom decided that the change to the UK network’s license would deliver “significant benefits to consumers, and that there is no material risk that those benefits will be outweighed by a distortion of competition.” Auctions for additional 800 and 2.6 GHz bands are still on track to happen later this year, aiming for a roll-out through 2013. Everything Everywhere will be allowed to use LTE and (bizarrely) WiMAX starting 11 September 2012, although this may not be the launch date for any commercial service — which could be unfortunate. The UK’s comms regulator goes into the specifics after the break.

Continue reading Ofcom approves Everything Everywhere’s early 4G plans, starting next month

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Internet

Ofcom approves Everything Everywhere’s early 4G plans, starting next month originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 02:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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