Author Archive: James Richardson

Three open up EU data roaming!

At last: From today, Three pay monthly phone customers will be able to enjoy the benefits of the internet on their smartphones whilst holidaying in the EU without the fear of running up a massive bill.

For just a fiver a day, customers can tweet, tag, browse, book, update, upload, search, send, and Google as much as they want without worrying about how much they’re spending.

So, if you’re trying to find that perfect pizzeria, you can just Google it and track it down on a map. If you can’t remember the word for donkey in Spanish, download a translation app. Or, if you really can’t resist finding out what’s going on at work, you can pick up your emails whenever you like and wherever you are. But best of all, you can make everyone back home insanely jealous with loads of gloaty “look where I am right now” type status updates and photos.

Thomas Malleschitz, marketing director at Three said, “We love the mobile internet at Three and we want our customers to enjoy it on holiday as much as they do at home. The Euro Internet Pass gives our customers the freedom to use the internet in the EU without having to think about how many megabytes or gigabytes they are using or where the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot is.

"We’ve been campaigning for lower data roaming rates and welcome the new regulation from Europe. These changes promote competition and allow us to offer our customers a better deal so they no longer have to worry about running up a massive bill when using the internet”.

Fantastic news for Three customers. Happy holidays.

Posted by: James

CoPilot Live reveals free update for v8 customers, free GPS app and Olympic features

Leading sat-nav app CoPilot Live has announced that its CoPilot Live v8 iPhone, iPad & Android customers in Europe can now upgrade to the latest generation CoPilot features for free.

Existing CoPilot Live v8 customers you can unlock turn-by-turn, voice-guided navigation features by downloading the recently launched CoPilot GPS app at no cost. By upgrading, you will continue to enjoy unlimited CoPilot Live navigation as before, only better – and with regular app updates in the future. Plus all your existing CoPilot Live Favourites, Recents and Subscriptions will be restored from v8. CoPilot GPS provides latest and greatest navigation features, including alternate routes, drag and drop route editing, and a sleek new user interface designed for the latest smartphones and tablets. For full details on how to upgrade please visit – http://blog.copilotlive.com/uk/?p=4459

· CoPilot GPS is also available for free to new users, providing a  route planning and mapping app for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. It is currently #1 free nav app in iTunes UK, and #54 of all free apps on iTunes. Key benefits include on-board map browsing and route calculation, along with advanced itinerary optimisation features usually reserved for premium paid navigation apps.

· CoPilot Live GPS is not a replacement for CoPilot Live Premium. CoPilot Live Premium  customers do not need to install the GPS app – they already have our latest CoPilot navigation features including 12 Months free ActiveTraffic and Text to Speech voice guidance as standard. Users of CoPilot GPS can upgrade to the Premium version within the app from £24.99 to get full access to all features.

· CoPilot Live has also announced new features that will help drivers avoid anticipated congestion in central London caused by the Olympics this summer. With these features, CoPilot Live will alert drivers if their route involves restricted roads, including those within the Olympic Route Network (ORN), and offer an alternative route if available. Drivers can also choose to completely avoid affected roads altogether.

Posted by: James

Storage Options announce the Scroll Elite and Scroll Engage – Android 4.0 Tablets

Storage Options, the UK-based technology brand, has announced two new additions to its 2012 tablet line up and new generation of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) devices.

The Scroll Elite and Engage have joined the popular and award-winning Scroll tablet portfolio providing a greater variety of features and sizes from which to choose.

As Storage Options’ latest tablets to run on the new Android 4.0 platform, the Scroll Engage and Scroll Elite offer a wide array of new and improved Android OS features. Users of the lightweight and slender aluminium devices will benefit from faster performance and response times across multiple applications.

The Scroll Elite, which is the same size as the hugely popular Scroll Extreme (one of the first Android 4.0 devices available on the UK and Ireland market), boasts a 9.7″ capacitive screen and 16GB of inbuilt memory, expandable to 32GB through a micro SD card. It also boasts the latest IPS (in-plane switching) LCD screen technology which enables the user to enjoy vivid and natural images.

The smaller Scroll Engage has been packed with features and offers a much more portable solution with its 8″ capacitive XGA screen and Cortex A8 1.2GHz, Mali-400 dual core graphics processor. This highly intuitive device supports rich, flash-based content, all major video and eBook formats and even 3D gaming.

O2 and Vodafone team up to share cell sites

First Orange and T-Mobile got together under the rebranding of Everything Everywhere and now it looks like Vodafone and O2 are teaming up to share cell sites – Yay!

• Companies to pool basic network infrastructure to create one national grid of 18,500 sites. Both companies will be running independent spectrum and competing services
• Both companies pledge to close the digital divide between rural and urban areas targeting 98% indoor population coverage across 2G and 3G by 2015
• Agreement will lay the foundations for two competing 4G networks to deliver the capability for a nationwide 4G service faster than could be achieved independently

Full press release below:

Mix it up on your mobile as Bacardi comes to Shop Scan Save

Shop Scan Save®, the new app that saves money on your shopping, has partnered with Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands to bring exclusive savings on their range in one easy scan of a phone. With the free app on your smartphone, Shop Scan Save users can save money on hundreds of branded products including BACARDI Superior rum, Jack Daniel’s, Bombay Sapphire, Breezer and Southern Comfort.

Shop Scan Save is the first smartphone-based savings scheme providing users with unique offers in more than 22,000 convenience stores across the length and breadth of Britain. Once the free app is downloaded to a smartphone, users aged over 18 can get personalised money-off promotions including Bacardi’s famous drinks.

Matthew Critchlow, Director of Sale (Convenience) at Bacardi, said: “Shop Scan Save is a simple and convenient way to reward customers and support the convenience sector in driving their spirits sales.  Shop Scan Save is a new way for shoppers to interact with our brands and give us feedback on what they like”

Claes Kockum, Commercial Director of Mobilize Systems, the company that created Shop Scan Save said: “Shop Scan Save means you have access to a range of great money saving offers on your mobile including top quality branded products, such as BACARDI rum.  Consumers have access to the best money saving deals to hand, wherever they are.”

The app includes a store finder, which shows the location of the nearest Pay Point supporting stores which include Spar, Co-op, Costcutter, Londis, Nisa and thousands of independent retailers.

The Shop Scan Save app is free to download now from Google Play and the Apple App Store.

Posted by: James