Hasta La Gadget!

Soon enough, the UK will have more than one choice for 4G data. Come August 29th, O2 will offer LTE in London, Leeds and Bradford, with expansion plans for an additional 13 cities by year’s end. Rates start a £26 per month — current provider EE’s cheapest is £21 — and you get a 30 day “Happiness Guarantee” when ordering directly from O2. If that isn’t enough of an incentive to buy direct (and pay a higher monthly price), the service provider is throwing in 12 months of free music content too. Keeping with the music theme, the telco is hosting a launch concert at its Sheperd’s Bush Empire venue, and will stream it to billboards across London. Who’s headlining the event is anyone’s guess at this point, as are full details on data package speeds, bandwidth caps and other pricing tiers.

Update: In case you were wondering, those who use O2’s network via Tesco Mobile or Giffgaff will also get the option of LTE, according to CNET, although it’s apparently too early to say when or for how much.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Wondering what West Virginia and Britain have in common? This. After hearing that a bill in WV would outlaw Google Glass for motorists in the state, a new report from Stuff suggests that the United Kingdom is considering something comparable. A Department for Transport spokesperson was quoted as saying the following:

“We are aware of the impending rollout of Google Glass and are in discussion with the Police to ensure that individuals do not use this technology while driving. It is important that drivers give their full attention to the road when they are behind the wheel and do not behave in a way that stops them from observing what is happening on the road.”

He went on to affirm that a range of penalties already exist in order to punish drivers who aren’t “paying proper attention to the road,” and while a law has yet to be passed targetting Glass specifically, it certainly sounds as if that type of modification is on the table. Silver lining? North Korea has yet to issue a similarly depressing condemnation of the headset.

Filed under: Transportation, Wearables, Google

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Via: Cult of Android

Source: Stuff

It’s been a little while since we’ve heard about the recently-announced Samsung Galaxy NX Android-powered camera, but it is indeed still here and ready to mingle. According to a couple of UK retailers, the camera has made its way to the region and is ready to start selling with a price tag that rivals the Canon 70D that’s coming later this year.

Jessops and Wex Photographic both have the new camera listed on their website. Wex Photographic has the camera in pre-order status, while Jessops actually says that they have it in stock and ready to ship. However, don’t go grab your credit card thinking this is an impulse buy. You’ll be spending a lot of cash on this camera, to the tune of £1,299 (around $2,000).

The Galaxy NX is the first-ever Android-powered interchangeable lens camera, and it comes with a 20.3-megapixel APS-C sensor and an 18-55mm kit lens to get you started, but you’ll be able to snap on other lenses to get that perfect shot you need. The camera also comes with 4G LTE, WiFi, and 16GB of internal storage.

On the inside, there’s a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM powering the operation, with a capability of shooting 8.6 frames per second, with a fast shutter speed of 1/6000. It certainly seems like a decent camera for all the hobbyists out there, but it’ll be interesting to see how it caters towards the professional crowd.

There’s no official word on a release date yet, and it could just be a simple mistake on Jessops’ part about the availability of the camera. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that a retailer has made a false start and listed something early. Now we’re just waiting to see when we’ll see the camera arrive in the States.

VIA: ePhotoZine

Samsung Galaxy NX arrives in UK for a hefty figure is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Authorities in the UK have never had quite the same level of anxiety over Huawei that we’ve witnessed in the US, and they’ve so far been happy to let the Chinese firm get involved with numerous parts of the country’s data infrastructure. As it turns out, the company’s control even extends to the “Homesafe” filter used by internet service provider TalkTalk, which David Cameron recently praised during his push for tighter controls on adult content. The BBC discovered that UK-based Huawei employees are able to decide which sites are blocked on TalkTalk’s service, and that even users who opt out of Homesafe have their internet usage data routed through Huawei’s system. Whether or not this is an issue depends entirely on how much you trust reports of close ties between Huawei and the Chinese government, versus Huawei’s claim that these concerns are based on anti-Chinese prejudice rather than evidence. From a purely practical point of view, however, if the mission is to block off huge swathes of the internet, why wouldn’t you hire an expert?

Update: A representative of Huawei has been in touch to provide the company’s side of the story. He said that Huawei doesn’t “run” the Homesafe system, but that the system is “supported by Huawei” without Huawei having control over it. He added that Huawei does not decide which sites are blocked, and that the final decision as to what filters are implemented rests with TalkTalk. Meanwhile, the BBC is apparently standing by its story, since it has issued no retraction.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: BBC News

The UK’s Channel 4 is no stranger to on-demand programming, and now it’s bringing the convenience of offline viewing to the mobile version of 4oD. In the latest update for Android and iOS, registered users can download shows that aired during the past 30 days, all for free. From there, users have seven days to view the content before it expires. There’s a subtle catch, as all programming must be downloaded over WiFi, from within the UK or the Republic of Ireland. Once downloaded, however, shows can be watched offline from anywhere. Offline viewing is currently restricted to the network’s commissioned shows, but it’s looking to add programming from other studios in the future. Consider this Channel 4’s way of keeping up with the Joneses… or in this case, the BBC.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, Software, HD, Mobile

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Via: The Digital Lifestyle

Source: Channel 4, App Store, Google Play