Best contract for upgrading iPhone each year

On October 11, 2011 in Apple, Business, iPhone, Tutorials.
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Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last week, you’ll know a couple of things;

One. Steve Jobs has sadly passed away.
Two. It’s getting really cold after a lovely warm start to October.
Three. Apple have just released their newest iPhone in the range, the iPhone 4s.

Now, I’m a bit of a sucker for Apple tech… They’ve got me each and every year since the original iPhone was announced back in 2007. Anyway, to cut a long story short, it’s 2011, and I’m preparing for (yet another) upgrade from my iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4s. Now, I’m not going to debate whether its a viable upgrade for one main reason: My 18 month upgrade has come to an end (3 months early as I’m a gold priority O2 member), so it’s time to get a new phone!

I decided to take a look at a couple of options, and found that there is a more cost effective way of buying an iPhone than the typical 12/18/24 month iPhone contracts that O2 provide (Yes, I’m on O2, so I’ll be focusing on that.. Although similar tariffs will undoubtedly be available on Orange et al!).

Want to see contract comparison details? Read More »

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“Film To Go” Application by Orange working on O2 iPhone

On August 25, 2011 in iPhone, New Technology, Tutorials.
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Some of you may have read my article on the “Orange Wednesday App Working on O2 iPhone“. Well, this is the second in the series.

I’ll start by reiterating; This isn’t a hack. It’s a simple work-around! No coding knowledge is required..

The “Film to Go” app gives users a promotional code which can be redeemed on iTunes (once per week, on a Thursday!) to download a specific film (chosen by Orange).

Orange Film To GoTo get the App, simply download it from the Apple App Store. Next, you’ll need to get an Orange phone number from a friend or family member (Preferably one without an iPhone, so they can’t take advantage of the offer anyway. In my case, my Mom!).

Enter the phone number into the app (More -> Settings -> Mobile Number). A few seconds later your friend/family memeber should receive a four character/digit code. Simply enter that into your app and you’re ready to go.

If you do this on a Thursday you’ll get a promo code right away, and you can go download/watch your film – May I suggest you invite your Orange-phone-number-mate round to watch it with you, you probably owe them one!

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Free 3G Internet Tethering on O2

On May 18, 2011 in Internet.
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WiFi Connection via 3GUsing your mobile device’s 3G connection on other devices (‘Tethering’ the device) is something that can be very useful, especially if you (like me!) didn’t want to pay ANOTHER monthly contract for a 3G connection on an iPad2! However, without jail-breaking your iPhone it’s pretty much impossible, unless your willing to pay £7.50 for 500Mb of ‘tether-able’ data. Until now!

I rang up O2 this morning (2302 from an iPhone) to discuss the tethering options. A very friendly lady (Ruth!) pointed out that they have a new set of iPhone tariffs released. These tariffs are slightly better priced, however don’t include ANY cellular data (internet / 3G). For £6 a month, a data bolt-on can be added to the tariff. The best bit? The entire 500Mb are able to be used when tethering! Whoo!

So, let’s put this in context. I pay(ed) £40 per month for 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500Mb of iPhone only data. With this new tariff set-up, I pay £42 per month (£2 more – I’ll come to that!) for the same number of minutes, texts and data. The difference is that the data can be used as I like! Also thrown into the package is 20 picture messages per month, free of charge as well as the ability to connect to cloud and BT OpenZone hot spots!

Ok, so it’s not quite free, but it’s less (and a much better deal) than paying an extra £7.50 per month! Ok, paying £7.50 would get you an additional 500Mb, rather than the ability to use the same 500Mb, but there is a second bolt-on (£10 per month) which gives you 1Gb of data. So, £36 + £10, still better than the £40 + £7.50 I could have paid. It’s also a better deal than paying up to £15 per month for data directly to your iPad.

Take a look for yourself here. O2 (and Mobile companies in general) have a tendency to release new tariffs and not tell existing customers about them! They may suit your needs better, they may not. Let me know!

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iPhone 4 launch day in UK success

On June 24, 2010 in Apple, iPhone.
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So, it’s Thursday 24th June, 2010. That date will be in many happy Apple fanboys (and girls) heads as being the day the new iPhone 4 came out. Here’s my story on how I got my hands on one!

It started the night before, with an early night sleep followed by an early (5.00am) start. After a quick shower I jumped in the car and drove into my local town to stand outside the O2 shop in anticipation. I went prepared, with headphones and the complete ‘Inbetweeners’ box set downloaded from the night before. I got there at about 5.25am, to be greeted by a group of 7 people (6 male, 1 female) who had been there from as early as 4.00am!

As we stood and chatted for a while about the new phone, Apple/O2 marketing tactics and other things I felt part of a specialist (if not a little geeky) community – The elite and dedicated! A queue soon started to form, and by 6.00am there were about two dozen people behind me (I was 8th in line). Here’s a breakdown of the stats for my particular O2 shop;

people @4.00am – 1 (first arrival)
people @5.30am – 8
people @6.00am – 30ish
people @7.00am – 100ish
people @8.02am – 182 (official figure)

So, after making my way past the private security and into the O2 shop I looked at the handset for a few minutes and was then seated to go through the process. I soon got away and exited the O2 shop to be applauded by the ever-growing line of people (a lot of which I guess would be disappointed). One of the O2 guru’s said they had approximately 50 handsets in stock, which was a lot more than the anticipated 5 x 32GB and 10 x 16GB which they expected. Never the less over 2/3 of the line would go away empty handed.

I guess that’s it; pretty simple really. Yes, it was a major geeky thing to do, but I now get to enjoy another brilliant product from Apple as one of only a select few in my area and indeed the UK – now just got to find someone to try ‘FaceTime’ out with.

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get a cheaper iPhone tariff for free

On April 17, 2010 in Apple, iPhone.
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iPhone’s are notorious for being expensive. If the handset wasn’t enough itself, you have the added cost of the tariff, extra charges, insurance and app downloads.

Depending on when you bought your iPhone will depend on the tariff that you will be paying. I was previously on the £35 per month contract, which gave me 600 minutes and 500 texts, and then used to pay an additional £7 per month for an extra 500 texts. This came to a total of £52 per month after the addition of insurance.

So, here is the punch line. I’m paying £2 less per month, with the same amount of minutes, data (edge / 3G) and unlimited texts! This is because O2 have brought out a new set of iPhone pay monthly tariffs for new customers. You can see how they stack up here. All I did was ring and tell O2 that I wanted to switch tariffs. There are no hidden charges, no contract renewals and the same billing date as previously.

A word of warning though, I had to go into settings > general > reset > reset network settings as I was getting sporadic data connections, but it’s all fine now! It’s a better deal all around, and you pay less than the old tariffs.

O2 said that they conveniently don’t have enough resources to call there iPhone customers and tell them of the new cheaper tariff changes. So, if you want to give this a go, or talk to an O2 iPhone customer support person just call 402 from your iPhone handset!

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iPhone on Orange – Fair Use Policy!

On November 6, 2009 in Internet, iPhone.
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Orange has the largest coverage of 3G networks in the UK.

It’s a big point that Orange are making over why it has better tariffs than O2. However, according to LLC UK (largest independent wireless company in the world) it is Vodaphone who in fact have the strongest 3G services. O2 cover over 90% of the UK and it seems, when compared in more detail (Speed, Connection time, Connection stability etc), that there isn’t that much to separate O2 from Orange.

There is also a sneaky little card up Orange’s sleeve in the Terms and Conditions; they have stated that their fair use policy limits users to 750MB worth of data per month. As large as this figure may seem at first glance, heavy iTunes users who download significant amounts of audio and video may realise that 750MB isn’t actually that much, especially when you couple this with the use of Apps, Google maps and latitude readings, internet browsing and Email/Attachment downloads.

Having the iPhone constantly connected to the Internet is the selling point of the phone. It seems sneaky of Orange to throw this into their contracts, especially after all the stick internet providers (including Orange Broadband) got last year from various reviews regarding the elimination of this ‘fair use’ policy all together.

Finally, there is still ‘The Cloud’. Although this is essentially the same as picking up a local Wi-Fi (greater speeds and reliability) ‘The Cloud’ is recognised as hosting “Europe’s leading wireless broadband technology” with a “unparalleled reach and diversity across the UK“. It also means that many other European countries such as Germany and France have countless ‘Cloud’ access points, providing a partial solution to those nasty data roaming charges. Fear not though Orange iPhone users, I’ll be sure to send you a digital postcard from Brandenburg Gate.

On a serious final thought, Orange do have some advantages over O2 such as ‘Orange Wednesdays’, but most can be met by O2’s responces (O2 Priority). Let’s hope that the addition of Vodaphone brings even more perks for all us iPhone users, and possibly even call an end to the relentless price fixing!

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Orange Wednesday app working on O2 iPhone

On November 5, 2009 in #60SecondShout, iPhone, Tutorials.
2

As you may have read in my previous post there are a number of factors Orange are using to influence customers.

An application entitled ‘Orange Wednesdays’ has recently been released, allowing Orange users to get there discount code via the app. Now, I’m on O2, so don’t have this option… Or do I?

Yesterday I started testing the application to see if a work-around could be found, with success. By typing in an Orange number into the ‘Phone-number’ field, it sends a validation email containing a 4 digit PIN to that phone. If you then type that PIN into the confirmation field you can request and successfully receive Orange Wednesday discount codes on your O2 iPhone, while the Orange mobile receives a text confirming the code too.

I know this is no more advanced than getting someone with an Orange phone to forward on the message, but it’s much, much easier and less hassle too!

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Best and worst things about iPhone on orange

On November 1, 2009 in iPhone.
0

Orange has the largest coverage of 3G networks in the UK.

It’s a big point that Orange are making over why it has better tariffs than O2. However, according to LLC UK (largest independent wireless company in the world) it is Vodaphone who in fact have the strongest 3G services. O2 cover over 90% of the UK and it seems, when compared in more detail (Speed, Connection time, Connection stability etc), that there isn’t that much to separate O2 from Orange.

There is also a sneaky little card up Orange’s sleeve in the Terms and Conditions; they have stated that their fair use policy limits users to 750MB worth of data per month. As large as this figure may seem at first glance, heavy iTunes users who download significant amounts of audio and video may realise that 750MB isn’t actually that much, especially when you couple this with the use of Apps, Google maps and latitude readings, internet browsing and Email/Attachment downloads.

Having the iPhone constantly connected to the Internet is the selling point of the phone. It seems sneaky of Orange to throw this into their contracts, especially after all the stick internet providers (including Orange Broadband) got last year from various reviews regarding the elimination of this ‘fair use’ policy all together.

Finally, there is still ‘The Cloud’. Although this is essentially the same as picking up a local Wi-Fi (greater speeds and reliability) ‘The Cloud’ is recognised as hosting “Europe’s leading wireless broadband technology” with a “unparalleled reach and diversity across the UK“. It also means that many other European countries such as Germany and France have countless ‘Cloud’ access points, providing a partial solution to those nasty data roaming charges. Fear not though Orange iPhone users, I’ll be sure to send you a digital postcard from Brandenburg Gate.

For a serious final thought, Orange to have some advantages over O2 such as ‘Orange Wednesdays’, but most can be met by O2’s responses (O2 Priority). Let’s hope that the addition of Vodaphone brings even more perks for all us iPhone users, and possibly even call an end to the relentless price fixing!

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