Apple iPhone X reviews roundup: Grab yours now at Vodafone UK!

Apple iPhone X reviews roundup: Grab yours now at Vodafone UK!

Apple iPhone X reviews roundup: Grab yours now at Vodafone UK!

Today’s the day, Apple fans. iPhone X, the device heralded as the shape of the smartphone’s future and arguably the most beautiful mobile device Apple’s ever created, is now on sale at Vodafone UK.

That means you can grab yourself one of the world’s most incredible slices of tech on our best ever network, with a load of awesome extras like entertainment from the likes of a NOW TV Entertainment Pass or Spotify Premium, included when you get one of our Red Entertainment plans, or endless streaming with a brand new Vodafone Pass.

But enough about us: why should you pick up Apple’s forward thinking flagship? With day one reviews now hitting tech sites the web over, we’ve been through and whipped up a selection of hot takes from those in the know. Here’s your one-stop Apple iPhone X reviews roundup…

iPhone X: review roundup

The Verge
“The iPhone X is clearly the best iPhone ever made. It’s thin, it’s powerful, it has ambitious ideas about what cameras on phones can be used for, and it pushes the design language of phones into a strange new place. It is a huge step forward in terms of phone hardware, and it has the notch to show for it.”

 

T3
“We’re left very impressed by the iPhone X. It’s the refresh the iPhone needed, and Apple has succeeded in creating an incredibly desirable package.”

TechCrunch
“It’s a big change from a physical home button to a completely swipe-based interface. But it’s fast, fluid and a lot of fun once you get used to it. Before you know it, you’ll forget you ever had to whack a home button to get things done…It really is like using the future of smartphones, today.”

Wired
“Way back when, the very first iPhone was a status symbol. I’d approach anyone I knew who used one, and ask them what they thought about it. Now everyone, everywhere, carries the same phone around. The iPhone X is the first iPhone since that one that feels genuinely new and different.”

Apple iPhone X reviews roundup: Grab yours now at Vodafone UK!

Engadget
“So far, what’s been most notable about the iPhone X isn’t how different it is from the models that came before it, but how soon all of the changes start to feel totally normal. Tim Cook has made clear that the X is the future of Apple’s smartphones, but the future doesn’t feel foreign at all — it feels surprisingly natural, surprisingly quickly.”

The Telegraph
“Face ID, Animoji and Portrait selfies are all nice touches, but it is the truly excellent screen that clinches it. Apple has made us wait for the modern smartphone it needed, but the end result is its best effort in years.”

Ready to get yours? You can grab 10GB of extra monthly data on selected plans, alongside bags of included entertainment. Click here to get started.

Where to next?

Show me everything new in iOS 11

Show me what iPhone X means for the future

 

10GB Extra Data: Available on iPhone 8, 8 plus & X on selected Red Extra and Red Entertainment Pay monthly consumer plans only (16GB and above), when purchased between 15.09.17. and 20.12.17. Extra data is applied within 5 days of handset despatch date or completion of network transfer, and then monthly up to a maximum

The post Apple iPhone X reviews roundup: Grab yours now at Vodafone UK! appeared first on Vodafone Social.

Source: Official Vodafone Blog






Preparing Yourself for Xbox One X

The Xbox One X is launching next week, ushering in a brand-new era of 4K console gaming. In the video above, Major Nelson shares several great new features that you can take advantage of right now to help you get up and running as quickly as possible with the games, content, and settings you want on Xbox One X. We’re here to break each of those features down.

Pre-downloading 4K assets

You can pre-download 4K assets for many Xbox One X Enhanced games ahead of launch. After-all, on November 7 you’re going to want to soak in the Xbox One X Enhanced glory with zero delay.

Simply go to Settings, then System, and finally choose Backup and transfer.

You’ll see an option for Download 4K game content right here. Simply tap A to check the box. You can also go to Settings, System, then Updates and check the box for Keep my games and apps up to date. That way the 4K content will download on its own as it becomes available.

Backing Up Your Settings

Head back up to the Backup and Transfer settings. Here you’ll see Back Up My Settings. This will allow you to transfer your account and key system settings, such as notification preferences, over to your new Xbox One X. If you enable this feature, your settings will be copied to a hard drive. Simply have that hard drive connected when you fire up your Xbox One X for the first time and you’ll be able to import your settings.

Transferring Using Network Transfer

Also under Backup and transfer is the network transfer option. This feature allows you to copy games and apps from your current console to your new console using your home network. You’ll just need to be sure both consoles are connected to the network. And don’t worry, because the feature uses your local area network, it won’t use any of your internet bandwidth.

Transferring with an External Hard Drive

If you have a supported external hard drive, though, we recommend that you use that to transfer games over to your Xbox One X. After all, if they’re on a hard drive, you can just plug it in and away you go to far off lands of Xbox One X Enhanced splendor—no waiting required.

Luckily, the team has enabled bulk transfer across storage devices. Simply go to Settings, System, and then choose Storage. From here, you can choose which drive you want to manage. In this case, we’ll choose the Internal drive. From here, you can manually select what you want to move or copy, or even better, you can choose Select all.

Once you’ve selected the games and apps you want to manage, you can choose to Copy or Move them to the supported external drive of your choice.

By using these great features, you can help ensure the quickest possible path to enjoying Xbox One X with the games, apps, and settings you want.

Finding Your Xbox One X Enhanced Games

Once you’re up and running, you’re going to want to know which games are already Xbox One X Enhanced! You can always go to xbox.com/enhanced for an official look at which games have shipped their Xbox One X Enhanced update.

On your console, you can use the Xbox One X Enhanced filter under My Games & Apps to see which games have an update. Again, be sure to enable automatic updates in Settings, System, and then Updates. That way you don’t have to manually download updates when they’re available.

If prefer not to use automatic updates, you can always check the Updates section of My Games & Apps to see which games have an update available.

Of course, you can always check that your game is running the latest version by simply launching it. If it launches, you have the latest version—it’s as simple as that!

See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

Related:
Disneyland Adventures Q&A
Score Big with New NFL Customization Options for Xbox Design Lab
Playful Fun Abounds in the Super Lucky’s Tale Launch Trailer

Source: Xbox Blog






Warframe Breaks Through with New Expansion Plains of Eidolon

Warframe Breaks Through with New Expansion Plains of Eidolon

If you asked me four and half years ago whether Warframe would become a free roaming, open space landscape, I might have looked at you with puzzlement, head cocked. “Pardon me, an open space Warframe?”

Whether we’re considering the 34 playable Warframes, two significant cinematic quests, Earth remastered, or the new landscape, Plains of Eidolon, it’s safe to say Warframe has grown immensely since its humble launch in 2013. In fact, Plains of Eidolon is the biggest, most ambitious, and successful Warframe update we have ever launched. And we can’t wait to show it to you on Xbox One.

Warframe Plains of Eidolon Screenshot

It’s big in a lot of ways, and I say this as a modest Canadian!  Our new expansion shifts in design from mostly in-door, procedurally-generated tile sets to a massive open-space geography, the largest environment Warframe has ever seen. The dev team rewrote the rendering engine to handle larger draw distances for an open space that’s always full of activity, day or night. The landscape is now nearly 3X3 square kilometers in size. And we created a monstrous 10-story tall behemoth boss that’s one of the most difficult bosses to beat in the game.

Tenno (your name in-game) can attack the environment in any way you choose. You can jump straight into viscerally intense combat with new Grineer enemies, taking over basecamps or pouncing on roaming squads. Or you can wait until the sun sets to fight the massive, lurching Eidolon boss. If chilling out with friends seems like a better bet, you can just casually explore and mine caves, finding just the right lure to catch extraordinary looking underwater creatures (ok – they’re fish), or cruising across the verdant rolling hills.

Warframe Plains of Eidolon Screenshot

The day/night cycle feels completely different than anything previously in Warframe. Watching the sunset and seeing the sky light up with yellow, orange, and red hues, followed by the eventual darkness of night, creates an ominous effect that slowly issues a feeling of danger — and even a little dread! Best of all, Cetus and the Plains of Eidolon are easy and fast to get to. They are based on Earth, one of the first planets players visit.

So, come mid-November, if you’re looking for a great big cooperative action game that leans, just a little, toward the colossal, please come see what all the fuss is about. We’ll see you there!

See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire

Related:
Disneyland Adventures Q&A
Score Big with New NFL Customization Options for Xbox Design Lab
Playful Fun Abounds in the Super Lucky’s Tale Launch Trailer

Source: Xbox Blog






EE UNVEILS GREAT RANGE OF CHRISTMAS BUNDLES DESIGNED TO OFFER CUSTOMERS THE BEST TECH FOR THEIR CHOSEN SMARTPHONE

EE UNVEILS GREAT RANGE OF CHRISTMAS BUNDLES DESIGNED TO OFFER CUSTOMERS THE BEST TECH FOR THEIR CHOSEN SMARTPHONE

  • EE launches its Christmas campaign offering a range of great Christmas deals in EE retail stores, on the phone and at www.ee.co.uk/christmas
  • Move coincides with latest Kevin Bacon brand campaign ‘Go All Out,’ to promote iPhone X on EE’s award winning 4G network
  • Early Christmas shoppers can choose from a range of pay monthly smartphone plans and receive a free device or accessory – perfect for gifting
     
  • The giveaways include: Sony PlayStation 4, Google Home, Beats headphones and The Samsung VR Collection
     
  • EE’s Christmas offers also include big discounts across a wide range of tablets, mobile broadband devices and accessories, as well as pay as you go and SIM only plans

3 November 2017 – EE today announced it is giving away up to £15 million worth of tech with select pay monthly smartphones as part of its Christmas campaign. EE has also unveiled great offers on pay as you go and SIM only plans across EE retail stores, ee.co.uk and EE telesales. The offers are perfect for those looking to get a head start on their Christmas shopping and coincide with the latest Kevin Bacon brand campaign ‘Go All Out,’ to promote iPhone X on EE’s award winning 4G network.

Pay monthly deals

This Christmas, EE customers can choose a great phone for themselves and receive an amazing free piece of tech that’s perfect for gifting. From today, customers can choose from a range of Sony phones, including the Sony XZ1 Compact (£42.99 per month and no upfront cost, with 5GB data on a 24 month 4GEE plan) and Sony XZ1 (£47.99 per month and no upfront cost, with 5GB of data on a 24 month 4GEE plan), and receive a free PlayStation 4, plus a copy of Gran Turismo Sport.

EE customers can also get their Christmas mitts on a 64GB Google Pixel 2 phone (£62.99 per month and £9.99 upfront, with 40GB of data on a 24-month Max Plan) and receive a Google Home worth £129 for free.

Samsung fans can offer a friend or family member the gift of virtual reality this Christmas, with the Samsung VR Collection including Gear VR, a Gear 360 camera and 64GB Memory Card (worth £299.99) available for free with a selection of Samsung smartphones. Eligible devices include the new Samsung Galaxy S8 for £62.99 per month and £9.99 up front, with 40GB of data on a 24-month Max Plan.

EE customers can also benefit from the ultimate Apple bundle this Christmas. Customers can get the incredible iPhone X, Apple’s most advanced smartphone, on 40GB 4GEE Max Plans and above (including customers who take out the special introductory offer of 100GB for 25GB with EE’s Annual Upgrade) and enjoy BeatsX headphones, courtesy of EE. Beats headphones are also available on select plans with a range of other iPhones from EE, including iPhone 6, iPhone SE and iPhone 7.

Pay monthly and SIM only EE customers with an iPhone SE or later have the exclusive opportunity to pair their device with the Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + 4G), allowing them to stay connected using the same number so they can still make calls, receive messages and even stream Apple Music when they are away from their iPhone.

EE is also the only UK network with the capability to offer cellular functionality on the Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + 4G) and it’s available from £25 per month including unlimited data.

When paired with EE’s six months free Apple Music streaming offer – which can be used with both iPhone and Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + 4G), EE customers can really benefit from the ultimate Apple experience to listen to music when at home or out and about for a run.

Pay As You Go and SIM Only deals

EE is also offering pay as you go customers a range of great value handsets, including the Alcatel U5 (£59.99 with a £10 top-up) and LG K4 2017 (£79.99 with a £10 top up), with the option of Beats EP headphones for just £50. That’s a saving of £39.95.

Alternatively, if customers simply want to hand their current phone to a friend or family member, they can take out a 4GEE SIM and get a huge 18GB of mobile data on the UK’s biggest and fastest network for just £21 per month, on a 12-month plan.

Tablets and Mobile Broadband deals

Big discounts on tablets and mobile broadband devices could make them the ideal gift for a loved one this Christmas. The Apple iPad 9.7 32GB is available for £34 per month and just £49.99 up front, with 10GB of data, which is a £100 saving on the usual up-front cost.

4GEE WiFi Mini and the Buzzard 2 in-car WiFi products connect several mobile devices to EE’s superfast network simultaneously – ideal for keeping kids entertained in the back seat or keeping all your devices connected when out and about. For a limited time, EE is offering these free with a huge 50GB per month for just £30.50 per month, on an 18-month Max Plan – 50% off the usual price.

Add to Plan deals

Finally, with Add to Plan, EE customers can spread the cost of accessories across 11 of their monthly EE bills interest-free, so they will never pay more than the RRP. Add to Plan is available to all new and upgrading customers who take out a 24-month EE handset plan, and includes some amazing deals this Christmas:

  • BeatsX Headphones – £10 per month, £110 total, £19.95 saving on our standalone price
  • Samsung VR Collection* (Gear VR, 360 camera and 64GB Memory Card) – £14 per month, £154 total, £145.99 saving on standalone price
  • Google Home – £10 per month, £110 total, £19 saving on standalone price
  • Sony PlayStation 4 plus a copy of Gran Turismo Sport* – £20 per month, £220 total, £29.99 saving on our standalone price

Max Taylor, MD of Marketing, EE, said: “Christmas is all about giving, so we’re pleased to be unveiling our best Christmas deals yet. With loads of great smartphone bundles offering amazing tech, customers will be able to get a great new phone for them, and a great gift for a friend or loved one.”

For more details on EE’s Christmas deals, including eligible plans and full offer terms and conditions, please visit www.ee.co.uk/christmas

– ENDS –

Notes to Editors:

EE’s Christmas campaign finishes on 21st December 2017

*Samsung VR and the PS4 offer available from 8th November

For more information, please contact:

[email protected]

0845 373 7070

About EE

EE, part of BT Group, is the largest and most advanced mobile communications company in the UK, delivering mobile and fixed communications services to consumers.

EE runs the UK’s biggest and fastest mobile network, having pioneered the UK’s first superfast 4G mobile service in October 2012 and was the first European operator to surpass 14 million 4G customers in December 2015. EE has more than 550 shops across the UK. EE’s 4G coverage extends to more than 85% of the UK’s landmass (equal to more than 99% of the UK population) and EE has an ambition to extend 4G to 95% UK geographic coverage by 2020.

EE has received extensive independent recognition, including being ranked the UK’s best overall network by RootMetrics®; Best Network for five years in a row at the Mobile Choice Awards; Best Network at the 2015, 2016 and 2017 Mobile News Awards; Best Consumer Network at the 2015, 2016 and 2017 Mobile Industry Awards; as well as Fastest Network and Best Network Coverage at the 2017 uSwitch Mobile Awards.

 Follow us on…

Source: EE Newsroom






'Mario Party: The Top 100' Official Game Trailer - Nintendo 3DS

‘Mario Party: The Top 100’ Official Game Trailer – Nintendo 3DS

'Mario Party: The Top 100' Official Game Trailer - Nintendo 3DS

Play the top 100 minigames from Mario Party series in a variety of game modes. ‘Mario Party: The Top 100’ arrives on Nintendo 3DS family of systems on November 10th!

Learn more about Mario Party: The Top 100!!: https://goo.gl/TGUpr5

#Nintndo3DS #MarioParty #MarioPartyTheTop100

Subscribe for more Nintendo fun! https://goo.gl/09xFdP

Visit Nintendo.com for all the latest! https://www.nintendo.com/

Like Nintendo on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nintendo
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica
Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/Nintendo
Follow us on Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/Nintendo
Follow us on Google+: https://google.com/+Nintendo

Source: Nintendo YouTube






Future, Ready: How we’re supercharging your Vodafone customer experience

Future, Ready: How we’re supercharging your Vodafone customer experience

Future, Ready: How we’re supercharging your Vodafone customer experience

Back in June we brought you news of how we planned to revolutionise the world of customer service. While in days gone by you’d have to pick up the phone to get in touch with a service provider, we know that’s not good enough in a world of smartphones, smart homes and social media.

That’s why we’ve been working round the clock to make sure ‘getting in touch’ can mean whatever you want it to mean, and at a time, pace and place to suit you. Now that it’s been a few months since we launched a range of new customer experience contact methods, we thought it was time for an update – to let you know where we’re at, how things are changing, and what’s coming next…

TOBi: High scores and new tricks

Back in the summer, TOBi – the Vodafone UK chatbot – was focussed primarily on answering your questions. Since his debut, we’ve had him learning how to do much more, to the point where he’s now working on SIM only sales too! That means he can guide you through the process of choosing and selecting the right SIM only plan for you.

Better still, within the next few weeks he’ll also be able to support you end-to-end on your journey. That means he’ll be able to help you find a product, choose a product, and then help you through the process of checking out. And we know customers find this really useful.

We constantly check in to see how TOBi is doing, using a score based on how easy it is to complete a transaction. In recent tests, TOBi scored a whopping 89/100! And, as there aren’t many other companies doing this kind of thing with chatbots yet we like to think of TOBi as something of a digital pioneer.

So what’s coming next for TOBi? Well, he’s only going to get smarter. For instance, because we know that 70% of all of our customers go to vodafone.co.uk from a mobile device, we’re going to let TOBi check your phone’s location and let you know if the store nearest you has the device you want in stock. You can also input whatever format you like for things like dates and he’ll understand what you mean, which is the kind of thing that takes away some of the hassle when it comes to filling in forms.

Future, Ready: How we’re supercharging your Vodafone customer experience

Also on the cards is a load of new places to chat to TOBi. He’s currently available on the Vodafone UK website and in the My Vodafone app, but he’s got Facebook Messenger in his sights too, so stay tuned.

Home assistants: Alexa skills and smarter questions

Earlier in the year we made it super easy to get answers about your Vodafone account by simply asking Alexa on Amazon Echo devices around the house.

We’ve had about 3,000 customers (and counting) use this feature so far, with people using it around three times each week to get info on billing, charges, allowances, and a whole range of other FAQs. We’ve taken the top 50% of all questions asked on vodafone.co.uk and made them available through Alexa.

The feedback we’ve had is great too, with the Vodafone UK Alexa Skill getting four out of five stars in the store. But this is just the beginning. For example, we’ve just added a new skill which lets you ask Alexa when you’re due for an upgrade.

And next up? Google Home devices. We’re working to get Google integration out soon, which will benefit people with Google Home devices as well as anyone with the Google Assistant on their phones. And a great thing about Google Home is that the technology can distinguish from a number of different voices in the house, which means we can start allowing transactions like upgrades and top-ups to take place via voice.

IVR: Making your voice more powerful

IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response, which is a system that lets you use your voice to tell us why you’re calling. It’s really smart too, and able to tell what you mean without you having to use any specific phrases.

When you give us a buzz, it’ll ask you for a few words about why you’re calling. If you then say something like ‘I’d like to pay my bill’, the system will give you a confirmation prompt, and if you say ‘yes’, we’ll send you through to the right place.

“This has been speeding things up for customers when they call, and helping more get to the right place first time.”

This has been speeding things up for customers when they call, and helping more get to the right place first time. We measure its success based on transfer rates between our teams – where each transfer suggests you didn’t get to the right person straight away – and we’ve seen a big reduction in their number.

That’s great, but it’s one of those things that’ll never stand still. We do ‘tuning’ cycles for IVR all the time where we capture all the new reasons people have called us, put them through the machine and make adjustments.

Message Us: Customer service done at your pace

Message Us is a system built into the My Vodafone App, made for when you need help at a pace to suit you, rather than right away. It means you start a conversation with us via a messaging window in the My Vodafone App on your phone, and then dip in and out as and when you can. The thinking here is that if you’re not in a rush, it’s sometimes easier to fire off a message and wait for a response.

Message Us launched as a pilot in May with 200,000 customers and very quickly ramped up to 2.75 million by September. The aim of the pilot is to make sure everything’s spot on before rolling it to all of our customers, and we’re now up to 64 advisors who are ready and willing to chat via Message Us – we’re seeing around 2,000 conversations per day as a result.

Sometimes there’ll be a short wait, and sometimes we’ll get back to you straight away, but in either case, feedback from people using Message Us has been really positive, with people calling the service: “Extremely fast and helpful”; “Easy to use through app without having to ring up,” and that many issues are “sorted out immediately.”

Message Us is evolving all the time, though, so what’s coming up? Well, we’ll soon be introducing the ability to display media content in the messaging window. That’ll be really handy for things like showing price comparison tables between different plans, as well as device pictures and even how-to videos.

Overall, our changes to how you can get in touch and interact with your account are all about making our services available to you, how, where and when you want them. The principle here is to have all of our services in the apps and environments where you spend your time, and on your terms – and that’s something we’re only going to improve over time. Watch this space!

Where to next?

Show me info on Vodafone Passes

Show me some cool Smart Home tips

The post Future, Ready: How we’re supercharging your Vodafone customer experience appeared first on Vodafone Social.

Source: Official Vodafone Blog






The Journey of an Android Software Rollout

The Journey of an Android Software Rollout

Besides new smartphone announcements, the most-read articles here on our blog are those that include info on all things Android. We’re Xperia users ourselves (obviously) and know how exciting it is to have a shiny new version of Android breathe new life into your device.

Whilst we’ve made positive strides over the past couple of years in developing and bringing upgrades and firmware to market in a timely fashion, we also read the comments and Tweets and understand that the wait between Google announcing a new version and actually getting the notification can sometimes take a while – particularly given the number of devices, partners and countries often in play. To help explain the process, we’ve rustled up the below infographic showing how Android software moves from Google, to Sony Mobile, to Xperia users out in the real world.

And in case you missed it, we recently announced that Android 8.0 Oreo is now rolling out to XZ Premium and Android 7.1.1 is hitting Xperia Touch. Hurrah!

 

The Journey of an Android Software Rollout

The post The Journey of an Android Software Rollout appeared first on Sony Xperia Blog.

Source: Sony Mobile Blog