Showing posts with label mobile phones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mobile phones. Show all posts

14 October 2012

ee Launch 4g

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE LAUNCHES EE

A new company, a new network, a new brand


Everything Everywhere have announced the launch of EE – the UK’s most advanced digital communications company.

EE will become the new name of the Everything Everywhere business and its network.
EE will also be launched as a new superfast customer brand in the coming weeks. It is a brand born in the digital age, designed to serve both consumers and businesses, offering the UK’s only 4G mobile service and complemented by fixed-line fibre broadband.

The new EE brand will stand alongside Orange and T-Mobile. Together they will provide mobile services to 27 million people, now served by the UK’s biggest and best network.

Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE said:  “Today we launch a new company, a new network and a new brand for Britain.

“Our plans to revolutionise the UK communications market with a faster network and an exciting new brand for the digital age are built on solid investment and a simple belief that customers deserve better.

“We look forward to connecting the country with superfast mobile speeds in the coming weeks, months and years.

“And it starts today, with the announcement of our new business, our new brand and a new digital infrastructure that our company, our customers and the country can be proud of.”


EE – superfast 4G and fibre


The EE customer brand will launch with 4G services for consumers and businesses in the coming weeks.

It will be the first brand in the country to offer a mobile 4G service – the pioneering new technology that offers superfast mobile internet at speeds typically five times faster than 3G speeds today.
EE will also launch a fibre broadband service to homes and businesses with fixed-line internet speeds typically ten times faster than today’s average broadband speeds.

It means that EE’s 4G customers will be the first in the UK to enjoy superfast speeds on their mobile and at home or at work.

With superfast 4G mobile, customers will be able to:
  • Access the web on the go without waiting
  • Download high-definition movies in minutes
  • Watch live TV on the move without buffering
  • Play live multiplayer games on the go
  • Download large email attachments quicker than ever
  • Make high quality video calls on the move


Four cities – London, Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham – are switched on today for the company’s engineers to begin live testing and systems integration, in readiness for the customer launch.

EE’s 4G network will cover a third of the UK population in 2012 – over 20 million people – and customers on the EE brand will also have access to the largest 3G network in the UK outside of the 4G cities. Further towns, cities and rural areas, will follow rapidly with 2013 population coverage to reach 70%, with 98% covered by 2014.

EE’s 2012 launch schedule will see 16 areas of the country connected to 4G by Christmas – the UK’s four capitals and twelve further major cities.
The 16 cities are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, Glasgow,
Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield and Southampton.

EE will offer a range of state-of-the-art devices alongside its superfast 4G mobile network with more to be announced shortly. Today, EE confirmed it is to launch the following 4G devices:
 



  Samsung Galaxy SIII LTE – with a 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED display, you can watch videos on your mobile like never before. Innovative Smart Stay automatically recognises when you are looking at the phone, maintaining a bright display for
continued viewing pleasure.



 



Nokia Lumia 920 – flagship Nokia Windows Phone 8 smartphone. Take bright, blur-free photos and videos in any light conditions with PureView technology – Optical Image Stabilisation and Carl Zeiss lens and view on a 4.5” PureMotion HD+ capacitive display.


 


  Nokia Lumia 820 – colourful, stylish, innovative design, with a 4.3 OLED WVGA screen. Capture great photos and movies with an 8MP Auto Focus camera, with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash. Charge wirelessly without plugging in using a Wireless Charging Shell.





 

The HTC One XL – high quality entertainment and precision navigation combine in this handset, thanks to a large 4.7” HD touchscreen display. Full HD video, and front and rear facing camera let you capture crisp, vivid photos and movies in high
quality wherever you are.



 

Huawei Ascend P1 LTE – a powerhouse dual-core processor is packed in to this handset’s slim design. Take stunningly clear images or HD videos on an 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash and playback on the 4.3” high-res touchscreen.





 
Huawei E589 Mobile WiFi – hook up to five devices to the EE 4G network, making your existing phone, laptop or digital screen superfast even if they’re not 4G. Long battery life of up to 10 hours, enjoy 4G wireless broadband anytime, anywhere.




 
Huawei E392 Mobile Broadband stick – download and upload documents and files in super quick time on the go with this device. Make your laptop mobile and superfast, by hooking it up to the EE network. You’ll stay compatible with 3G too and seamlessly switch to the optimal connection.
EE’s superfast fibre broadband service will launch at the same time to complement the company’s superfast 4G mobile service. It will be available to 11 million households and businesses by the end of the year reaching two thirds of UK households and  businesses by the end of 2014.


Service, everywhere


The new EE stores – formerly Orange and T-Mobile shops – will serve customers of all three brands, giving them access to  service and sales in twice as many locations as before.
More than 10,000 EE staff have been trained, and will offer specialist advice in store, on the phone and on-line. The company as trained its Customer Team staff to become experts in mobile operating systems, meaning its customers will get a specialist service, regardless of which device they use. It is the only operator to offer dedicated expertise based around device operating systems.

The EE network




With the Orange and T-Mobile networks now combined, from today customers will begin switching over to the new seamless EE network, the largest in the UK. By the end of the year, all 27 million customers will be using the EE network.
It means that Orange and T-Mobile customers can now get faster 3G service, with speeds of up to 21Mbps, and more coverage than ever before.
EE will also launch superfast 4G mobile and fixed-line fibre broadband services in the coming weeks. It will also offer standard broadband via ADSL in non-fibre areas.

Orange and T-Mobile customers


Orange and T-Mobile customers will continue to benefit from the best 3G and 2G mobile network.
It means that from today – and over the coming months – customers using Orange and T-Mobile will begin to see their phone signal indicator change to EE, whether they are on 3G or 2G, showing that they are on the UK’s biggest and best network. This is at no extra cost and there are no changes to their existing price plans.
Orange and T-Mobile plans will continue to be offered to new and existing customers, and Orange and T-Mobile customers will also be among the first to have the opportunity to access 4G through a move to the new EE customer brand.
  • EE network switched on
  • EE’s new customer brand to launch in the coming weeks with pioneering superfast 4G LTE mobile services and fibre broadband
  • EE’s superfast 4G service to launch in 16 cities by Christmas, covering 20 million people – a third of the population. Nationwide 4G roll out to accelerate through 2013 with 98% of UK population covered in 2014
  • EE’s superfast fibre broadband service to reach more than 11 million households and businesses by end of year
  • Over 700 EE-branded stores to open – more than any other operator
  • Orange and T-Mobile customers to benefit from the UK’s biggest and best mobile network, and more stores than ever before

EE Launch 4G signal and re brand of Orange and T-Mobile Stores on the 30th of October


1 October 2012

IPhone 5 Faults Already!!!



Apple has a new iPhone, which of course means it’s time to find problems to complain about


It happens with every new iPhone. Remember Antennagate? How about the battery issues with iOS 5? This time around we’ve got nicked cases, lens flare and, of course, the disaster of Maps. But are these really problems, or are people making such a fuss because it’s, well, Apple?

A little of both, actually. There are legitimate beefs, but what company hasn’t had issues with new hardware or software? With the Samsung Galaxy S III, some owners reported battery drain issues with their new handsets in June. But this is Apple we’re talking about, and the expectation is just a little bit … higher.

I do think that users have higher expectations when it comes to Apple, i just think that there is a particular pleasure by many in finding something wrong almost to show that Apple is not perfect.
And so we’re hearing no end of complaints and criticism now that pundits and the public are using their shiny new iPhone 5′s. Some of them are complete non-issues, but there are some actual problems. Lets break it down…

Scratches and chips

Shortly after iPhone 5′s got launched we were finding that in store when you open the sealed boxes they where scratched,chipped and even had dents in them. Others found that the switch from a glass back plate to anodized aluminum made the iPhone — particularly the black model — more susceptible to unsightly scratches and blemishes.

Within a few short days of being in store we had more and more customers complaingin about this issue,

 IHS analyst Kevin Keller, explained what’s going on here.
Apple has incorporated an aluminium unibody construction for the first time in the iPhone 5 — similar to what Apple has used in MacBooks and the iPad, that is, a single piece of aluminium hollowed out with a CNC machine.
“The issue, though, is that aluminium is a fairly soft metal,” Keller said.
The aluminium is anodised, a finishing process that is essentially an etch and dye process that gives it colour, but there is no sort of protective finish on top of that. “It’s just bare aluminium. It scratches easily. You can scratch it with a key or anything.”
This isn’t a problem so much for iPads and MacBooks, but iPhones are often put in pockets along with keys. Whether or not this is actually an issue, though, is in the eye of the beholder.”
As with a plurality of iPhone owners in the past, the threat of scratches may not be a problem for long. “If users care about their phone getting scratched, they’ll put a case on it, so ultimately it’s not really an issue,” Keller said. Personally, I’ve decided to put mine in a case anytime I put it in my backpack to provide added protection while walking around or biking.

Maps

Yes, Maps is indeed a serious problem. Apple CEO Tim Cook actually issued a formal apology for the app, which was perhaps pushed out a bit prematurely.

Apple’s new Maps app is perhaps the most pervasive issue affecting iPhone 5 users. But being a feature of iOS 6, it is affecting other iDevice owners as well. Some of the problems include 3D and satellite images being buggy (like bridges looking wavy, or dropping off in the centre); navigation directions sending people to incorrect locations; and out-of-date information on local businesses. The Maps app also lacks transit directions, which Google Maps has. It’s a large enough deal that some are even holding out upgrading until a better fix is in place.


In the meantime, iOS 6 users can download one of a number of transit apps or map apps, or create a homescreen bookmark to Google Maps’ web app.

Purple Lens Flare

You point your phone up at the sky to Instagram the bright afternoon sunlight catching the clouds, but then, gasp! The resulting image has a ghastly purple pallor cast around the sun’s powerful rays.
It’s an effect known as purple fringing, and it can be attributed to anything from stray UV or IR light, image processing issues, anti-reflective lens coatings, or overexposure. It’s something that plagues many digital cameras.
In the iPhone 5′s case, some postulate that because Apple removed the IR/Cut filter in the iPhone 5, its suffering from greater lens flare issues than the 4S. The phone’s new sapphire lens could also be to blame — this is what the photography folks at PetaPixel suspect is at issue. However, the process used to turn sapphire into a lens removes the telltale colouring you typically associate with the gemstone.
In some tests, the iPhone 5 does a better job of eliminating this issue than its predecessor, the iPhone 4S. But in others, like PCMag’s investigation, they found that among several major smartphones (the iPhone 5, 4S and 4; Samsung Galaxy S III and HTC One S), the iPhone 5 was the worst offender of this type of lens flare.
Should you be concerned? No. It may happen, it may not, but there is zero reason to rush back to the Apple Store and swap out your handset if you see a purple halo in a photo.

Light Leak on White Model

“My phone has a streak of light leaking from in-between the glass panel and the structure; it is right under my lock button. Kinda makes the lock button look illuminated. Anyone else notice a problem like this?”

 Light leakage seems to be a fairly common issue for white handsets — iPhone 4S owners reported a similar thing last year. Others that noticed similar issues with light leaking on their iPhone 5′s took their handset to the Apple Store and were issued a replacement.

If you notice this defect and it bothers you, you can try swapping out your handset, or you can just learn to ignore it.

 

Screen glitching

One issue that I and others are experiencing is an odd screen glitching that usually happens when you’re putting in your Apple ID password. As you type, horizontal lines appear across the keyboard. I mostly saw this in the App Store app.

Videos documenting the issue have appeared on YouTube, if you haven’t noticed it yourself. But despite headlines like “BIG iPhone 5 Screen Issue,” the glitch is just a minor software problem that should be fixed in an upcoming iOS update. It doesn’t affect overall performance, and it’s not something you need to drag yourself to the Genius Bar about.

Even with early reviews pointing out some of these issues, it hasn’t affected iPhone sales momentum. Apple reportedly sold 5 million units during the iPhone 5′s opening weekend alone.

If you have bought the IPhone 5 from any network provider and are experiencing problems like this then the best advice i can offer is go to Apple directly as network shops are experiencing problems getting stock in and exchanging them, so book an appointment with the Apple or contact them directly on 08000480408.


They are the manufactures so therefore they hold the warranties not the network providers.

2 September 2012

Samsung vs Apple Verdict



Samsung Lose the battle to Apple costing $1 billion dollars


Apple has recently obtained a major victory against Samsung in the first U.S. trial between the two, but that’s not the only legal conflict in the region for the two parties. Riding the wave of its freshly won $1 billion verdict, Apple added various Samsung-made Android devices to its 2013 lawsuit that will also take place in San Jose, California and will be presided by the same Lucy Koh, the Judge of the first trial.
 

Apple’s filing mentions “at least 21 new smartphones, media players, and tablets that Samsung has released beginning in August 2011 and continuing through August 2012.”
Unsurprisingly, the list includes several new Samsung devices such as the Galaxy S3, the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Note 10.1 but also the Galaxy Nexus, Google’s third Nexus-branded device, and the second one made by Samsung. Here’s a full list of Samsung Android devices included in the trial:

 
Specific devices named in this filing are the the Galaxy S III, Galaxy S III carried by Verizon, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II carried by T-Mobile, Galaxy S II – AT&T, Galaxy Nexus, Illusion, Captivate Glide, Exhibit II 4G, Stratosphere, Transform Ultra, Admire, Conquer 4G, and Dart smartphones, the Galaxy Player 4.0 and Galaxy Player 5.0 media players; and the Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, and Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablets.





The brand new Galaxy Note 2 is not yet part of the trial, but Apple apparently left room for other Samsung devices that the iPhone maker might deem as infringing on its patents.






Apple claims that these devices infringe on various patents that were not part of the first U.S. trial against Samsung including the ‘647 “data detectors” patent, the ‘604 “universal search” – that was used successfully by Apple in injunctions against the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Tab 10.1, and which Samsung and Google have already started addressing by dumbing down the search features on certain handsets, Galaxy S3 included – the ‘172 “word completion patent and the ‘721 “slide to unlock” patent.

Samsung already avoided an injunction against the Galaxy S3 in the U.S. ahead the launch of the device in the region a couple of months ago. On the other hand, Apple has decided not to include the new flagship smartphone in the recently finished U.S. trial as such a move would have meant postponing the trial date (July 30, 2012). Instead, the company wanted to go forward with its the case it has just won and therefore it decided to leave the Galaxy S3 for a later fight.

To find out more about the amended Apple vs Samsung complaint for patent infringement then click here and it will take you directly to the patent

29 July 2012

Store Manager Of The Year 2012



Why Store Manager of the Year?


We know Store Manager of the Year is one of the best ways for anyone to boost there career in the mobile industry, but don't just take my word for it. Here are some of the UK's top mobile bosses explaining why people should enter Store Manager of the Year.


Power 50 Profile: Jacqueline Kelleher, director of retail sales, Three  
Jacqueline Kelleher, director of retail sales, Three
‘Retail is one of the most demanding parts of the industry so the hard work, flair and commitment of store managers deserves recognition. Store Manager of the Year highlights the quality, drive, character and leadership skills of the people that are both the engine of sales and the face of the brand.
‘Our store managers aspire to be the best on the high street and work day in and day out to deliver a great experience. Good luck to everyone that gets involved.’


 

 


Andrew Coull, VP of retail, Everything Everywhere
‘We want to give our customers the best service possible, and competitions like this feed our passion to do that. We encourage our store managers to step up and be recognised for the great work they do in bringing the Orange and T-Mobile brands to life.’









Srini Gopalan, consumer director, Vodafone 

Srini Gopalan, consumer director, Vodafone UK
‘Giving our customers the best service in the market is absolutely central to what we do at Vodafone UK, so a well-respected competition like Store Manager of the Year is a great opportunity to highlight some of the stars we have in our retail universe. The competition has always been popular with Vodafone staff and I would expect it to be so again this year.’



Power 50 Profile: Richard Baylis, general manager, O2 RetailRichard Baylis, general manager for retail, O2 
‘Store Manager of the Year is a brilliant way to showcase the talented leaders in our stores, and an opportunity to recognise their leadership qualities and great management skills. Year on year the competitiveness between our regions gets stronger and when people take part it creates a lot more energy and excitement in our teams.

‘We’ve got some truly outstanding leaders so I’m hoping someone from O2 will be crowned Store Manager of the Year!’




 

Nick Fisher, COO, Phones 4u
‘Mobile’s Store Manager of the Year competition is a great opportunity for store managers to demonstrate their quality and skills. In the past this has been a fantastic opportunity for Phones 4u to showcase the talent, knowledge and passion shown by our team members, and to celebrate great people doing great work.’






Power 50 Profile: Matt Stringer, UK MD, Carphone WarehouseMatt Stringer, UK MD, Carphone Warehouse
‘The Store Manager of the Year award is always eagerly anticipated at Carphone Warehouse as it gives us the opportunity to highlight the exceptional skills of our store colleagues and the important work they do for our customers.

We have enjoyed great success in the competition – winning the last three Store Manager of the Year awards – and have complete confidence in our representatives once again this year. We are proud of all of our participating colleagues and wish them the best of luck in the competition.’

To Find out More about Store Manager Of The Year click here

25 April 2012

Phones 4u SPLIT with Three


Three and Phones 4u are terminating their trading relationship
Phones 4u will no longer offer Three contracts in its stores.The split is attributed by Phones 4u to Three’s strategy of upgrading customers directly.

A Phones 4u Assistant Manager said: ‘Three has a direct strategy with its customers, including Three performing all of its customer upgrades through its own channels.

'Phones 4u’s strategy is to build a strong relationship with its customers throughout their lives. We value long-term relationships with our network operator partners where we can add value to their mobile journeys.

'In light of our diverging strategies, Phones 4u and Three have decided to no longer maintain our relationship. Given the minimal level of connections in the last few years this will not impact either the Phones 4u or Three business.’

Three confirmed the split. A spokesman said: ‘We are not looking to trade with Phones 4u going forward.’