T-Mobile sweetens ‘Bring your Pixel’ deal by extending it to Simple Choice Unlimited users

Your guess is as good as ours regarding the veracity of those awesome purported T-Mobile Black Friday deals, but in the meantime, you can definitely reap the benefits of arguably the coolest Google Pixel promotion around.

No, Magenta still doesn’t directly sell the Pixel or Pixel XL phones, and it will probably never do so, but if you choose to “free” either of them and bring it to the nation’s leading “UnCarrier” after purchasing it from the Google Store, Verizon, Best Buy or anywhere else, you get huge long-term savings on your bill.

Specifically, $13.55 every month for two years, adding up to a grand total of $325, or half of the smaller Pixel’s recommended price tag. The lone downside was you needed to activate the “Google-made” handheld on T-Mobile’s ONE… and only plan (or not a plan, whatever), but now that restriction has been officially lifted.

You’re still required to be on an unlimited data wireless arrangement to qualify for the free $325 credit, but if you haven’t yet migrated from a Simple Choice Unlimited plan to controversial ONE or ONE Plus service, you can keep your old option active, and bring the Pixel over to Verizon’s greatest troll. It’s really that simple.

The post T-Mobile sweetens ‘Bring your Pixel’ deal by extending it to Simple Choice Unlimited users appeared first on Pocketnow.

from Pocketnow http://pocketnow.com/2016/11/01/t-mobile-bring-your-pixel-simple-choice

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge gets a Blue Coral makeover

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 itself wasn’t the only casualty of its overheating issues, with a new ‘Blue Coral’ color also dying with the phone. But fans of the shiny shade are in luck, as it’s being resurrected as a new color for the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.

The Blue Coral color combines a shimmery, metallic blue on the front and back with a gold colored frame, and stands out not just by being a slightly unusual shade but due to its two-tone design.

Starting from today, the Blue Color shade will be rolling out to select markets around the globe, and according to CNET it will be released by major US wireless carriers before the end of the year. There’s no word on when the UK or Australia will get the new shade, but we’d expect it will filter through before too long.

The best made bluer

The new color should freshen up what’s still the best phone on the planet – combining a QHD curved screen with a premium design, a brilliant camera and loads of power.

Of course, if you haven’t already grabbed the Galaxy S7 Edge you might be better off waiting for next year’s Samsung Galaxy S8 Edge, which could be arriving as soon as late February.

• Via TmoNews

from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s7-edge-gets-a-blue-coral-makeover

The best Moto X Style deals in November 2016

The best Moto X Play deals in November 2016

It's not all about the brand new mobile phone deals in November and Black Friday. There are some serious discounts to be had on some of the older phones too.

Motorola released two great handsets in late 2015 in the form of the Moto X Style and Moto X Play. The latter turned out to be the real highlight with its cheaper price, 20MP camera and fun but durable design. We loved it in our review and if you're looking for high end spec without a massive bill, this is probably the Android phone for you. It's one of the best cheaper phones you can buy right now.

The Moto X Play is no longer available on contract, but you can buy the handset via the deals below then grab one of our cheap 30-day or 12-month SIM only deals.

More options: iPhone 6S deals | Moto X Style deals | Sony Xperia Z5 deals | LG G4 deals

Techradar's Moto X Play review highlights:

We liked

The Moto X Play comes with a nice design and feel, and the option to customise the look of your phone is always welcome. It feels like a solid device, it's substantial in the hand without being too fat.

The metal rim around the edge makes the phone look a little more premium than, say, the Moto G, and I quite like the look of the back of the handset.

The display is very good too, although it would have been nice to see an upgrade to 2K resolution.

The battery is the standout feature, and it's nice to see a company dedicating itself to maximising battery life, and to getting you up and running again quickly after you've run out of juice. Not having the TurboPower feature on other phones will be a big loss for me in the coming weeks – I've all but forgotten how slow some phones can be to charge.

Compared to other manufacturers, Motorola has nailed the software experience by keeping things as simple as possible, and if it stays on the ball when it comes to keeping the phone updated then the Moto X Play will be the perfect Android playground.

We disliked

Customisation on the Moto X Play isn't all it could be, and not having alternative material options is a major letdown. I wasn't expecting a leather option on an 'active lifestyle' phone, but it would have been nice to have different options for the back, even if they're just different versions of the plastic.

I really feel that the Moto X Play should be a fully waterproof device. If water resistance is going to be a major selling point then there seems to be little point in not making it entirely waterproof.

It also bugs me that Motorola uses the TurboPower charging feature to help sell the Moto X Play, but doesn't include the required charger in the box.

The lack of wireless charging may also be an issue for some in the months to come – it's not all that widely available right now, but it's set to become a much bigger deal fairly quickly.

It's also a shame that Motorola hasn't included a fingerprint sensor on the phone. I'd expected a fingerprint sensor to enable the Moto X Play to support Android Pay – but the company may have something else up its sleeve to ensure that payments can be authenticated.

Final verdict

The Moto X Play is clearly an experiment for Motorola – and I'm not sure if it's succeeded in the areas the company was targeting when they were originally looking at the drawing board.

It straddles a strange middle ground between Motorola's successful budget Moto G and the impressive Moto X range we've seen before. The Moto X Style takes the high-spec and, well, stylish concept and runs with it, while the Moto X Play takes some elements and lags behind a little.

The idea is obviously to offer a slightly cheaper price point for the phone, but I'm not sure the slight drop in price is worthwhile when you can go out and spend a little bit more on a vastly better phone.

There's a lot going for the Moto X Play, but not quite enough when you compare it to its more impressive stablemate. It's still a very good smartphone, and it's pretty good value given the spec list, but it feels a bit like a phone that doesn't know quite what it wants to be.

Motorola should have gone the whole hog with this phone, and made it a durable masterpiece that offered high-end specs, plus a durable yet customisable design. And it should be waterproof, not 'water resistant' – and ideally blood, sweat and tear-proof too.

from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/moto-x-play-deals-1310677

Samsung Galaxy S8 now rumored to be 90 percent screen, fully borderless phones coming in a few years

A tech giant of Samsung’s stature obviously has more than one way to rebound after its worst mobile quarter in nearly eight years, but even if it were to secure all of Apple’s orders for 2017 iPhone OLED screen deliveries, the Galaxy S8 is still its highest stakes bet in the short term.

There’s clearly a lot riding on the “next big thing”, and not just because it’ll follow an unprecedented quality control fiasco. You also have to consider the enduring popularity and excellence of the GS7 and S7 Edge, with Samsung needing to tread carefully in seeking to strike the right balance between legacy honoring and an eye-catching major redesign.

Said redesign could see the Galaxy S8 almost entirely give up screen bezels, although according to a Samsung Display researcher and engineer, phones with over 99 percent display area ratio remain a few years away.

Park Won-sang claims “Samsung Display would roll out a full-screen display whose display area ratio reaches more than 90 percent next year”, avoiding however to confirm whether the S8 will indeed go after the Xiaomi Mi MIX on a much larger scale in the spring, or if “almost all sensors, such as the fingerprint sensor” shall only be built “under the screen” of the Galaxy Note 8 next fall.

Another great breakthrough tipped by a different Samsung Display employee would apparently yield a bendable VR device with a flexible OLED panel that “can be bent to cover a user’s eyes completely.” Sounds very tricky to mass-manufacture anytime soon, but VR hardware competition is rapidly heating up, so R&D acceleration might feel imperative.

The post Samsung Galaxy S8 now rumored to be 90 percent screen, fully borderless phones coming in a few years appeared first on Pocketnow.

from Pocketnow http://pocketnow.com/2016/11/01/samsung-galaxy-s8-90-percent-screen-rumors

The iPhone 8 may have wireless charging

Rumors for the iPhone 8 have already begun, suggesting your next iOS phone may come with the ability to charge your phone without plugging it in.

Wireless charging is rumored for the iPhone 8 as Foxconn – the company that produces the iPhone for Apple – is currently experimenting with the tech, according to an industry source speaking with Nikkei.

The source conceded that, "whether the feature can eventually make it into Apple's updated devices will depend on whether Foxconn can boost the yield rate to a satisfactory level later on.”

Like an Apple Watch

Apple has veered away from wireless charging in the past as other Android manufacturers have embraced the tech. 

The Apple Watch does use wireless charging though, so Apple is no stranger to the tech.

Wireless charging pads are appearing more and more in public places and if Apple decides to include the tech in its next iPhone we may see a surge of even more simple to use and well located wireless charging pads.

Previous patents have shown Apple is working on inductive charging for the iPhone – that's where the phone has two coils to transfer power via magnetic fields – which is also used on the Samsung Galaxy S7. 

• Why it's still worth investing in wireless charging for your phone

from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/the-iphone-8-may-have-wireless-charging

The best Samsung Galaxy Note 4 deals in November 2016

With the Note 7 being taken off the market already due to it setting on fire a bit too much, we imagine you may be in the market for a different type of hot deal. Well, it's November and Black Friday is just around the corner, so now's a great time to grab a discounted Galaxy Note 4.

With no UK release for the Note 5 and the aforementioned fire-starting Note 7 being pulled from shelves, the Galaxy Note 4 is a very tempting deal indeed.

It's hard not to love Samsung's amazing Note 4. This is, after all, a device that no-one thought would ever work but now four generations in the phone is selling brilliantly and it has invented a new category of mobile phones. We'd hoped the Galaxy Note 5 would come to the UK, but the specs on this phone are just as good and it proves quite a bit cheaper than Samsung's newer Galaxy S6 Edge+ phablet.

Contract options have been phased out now, but you can buy the handset on its own then grab one of our cheap 30-day or 12-month SIM only deals.

More options: Samsung  Galaxy S7 Edge deals | Samsung  Galaxy S7 deals |  Samsung Galaxy S6 deals | Samsung Galaxy S5 deals | Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge deals

The Galaxy Note 4 adds bundles of amazing features that makes this handset a legitimate flagship. There's a removable battery and a microSD card, both of which have now vanished from the Galaxy S range.

Even more important though is the stunning camera on the Note 4. If you're using your phone for photography then you won't be disappointed by what you get out of the Note. The S-Pen enables you to write notes and translate them from handwriting to text and while it's a niche feature, it can be very handy.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review highlights

We liked

The screen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is fantastic. The QHD resolution ensures absolutely everything is pin sharp and the Super AMOLED tech makes colours really pop.

Your eyes alone will thank you for picking up the Galaxy Note 4, and those of you who love gaming and watching movies on your phone it's perfect.

We must also mention the camera, as the Galaxy Note 4 is capable of taking some really excellent snaps.

There's plenty of power packed in too, giving you a slick, fluid interface and the improved design with the metal frame makes the Galaxy Note 4 feel like the premium phone its price tag suggests.

It isn't as stunning to look at or hold as the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple still wins the style war, but at least the Note 4 has a decent level of grip.

We disliked

Get over the size and the price (which has reduced now) of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and there's little to dislike about this dominating phablet.

There will be a large number of people who won't be able to get past the size and price of the Galaxy Note 4 - it is big, and it is expensive (although it has dropped slightly in price) - but that's not a huge issue for this handset.

It knows its market, and Samsung provides devices in a number of tiers to satisfy almost anyone.

Want the metal design in a smaller package? Get the Galaxy Alpha. Want the latest tech Samsung has to offer? Then there's the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge.

The S Pen has come on leaps and bounds since its introduction with the original Galaxy Note, and while the precision has increased substantially on the Galaxy Note 4 it still feels a little, well, pointless.

We found ourselves using it very rarely. Unless you like sketching on your smartphone, or for some reason think it's quicker to hand write notes than tap them out (it's not, btw), then it provides little attraction.

Samsung still has a way to go with its fingerprint scanner as it's nowhere near as good as Apple's Touch ID or even Huawei's offering, and you'll likely find yourself turning it off after a while.

Verdict

Samsung has packed in more power, an even better display and a great camera making the Galaxy Note 4 an excellent smartphone. It may no longer be the best phablet around, but if your budget won't stretch to the Note 5 then this won't let you down.

If you're already rocking the Galaxy Note 3 there's not a huge point in upgrading, unless you really want the screen and chassis bump, but if you're rocking an older phablet or considering picking one up the Galaxy Note 4 should on your list.

It'll be too big for some, while the true usefulness of the S Pen is still questionable, but overlook these things and you'll be more than happy with the now-cheaper Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

First reviewed: October 2014

from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/note-4-deals-1297457