Mobile Network Comparison

O₂ have just launched a new app for smartphones and tablets that makes getting connected to public Wi-Fi a whole lot easier. The O₂ WiFi app allows you to take advantage of free Internet access when in a Wi-Fi location without the need for pesky usernames and passwords. The idea is to make getting connected when out and about simpler and quicker.

All you need to do is download the app and register with your mobile phone number. Then, the first time you enter an O₂ Wi-Fi hotspot you can select the app in your device settings. From then on your phone or tablet will automatically connect whenever you are in range of a hotspot.

The app is able to connect to free Wi-Fi hotspots in many public places including O₂ stores, McDonalds, Harvester, Debenhams, Costa and Café Rouge. So if you’re in town you should be to find plenty of places to get free Internet access.

This is particularly useful as it means that you don’t have to use up your mobile data allowance or pay expensive rates per megabyte. So this app can actually save you a lot of money if you use your phone for Internet access when out of the house. Even better, these hotspots usually have much faster broadband connections that are available over 3G on your mobile phone.

The app is available to phones and tablets running Android or Apple iOS. And we really have to commend O₂ for making it available to all users regardless of what mobile network they are on. This means you don’t even need to be on O₂ or to have a contract with anyone to make use of this great new feature.

Have you tried the new O₂ Wi-Fi app yet? Have you found it useful or do you not think it is necessary? And what you think of the decision to allow customers of all networks to use it?

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EE has announced the next 17 areas to get 4G super-fast mobile broadband. The network hopes to get them all live by March next year. 4G is the successor to 3G and, at the moment, is running about five times faster. This means that users can stream high def video without the need to wait for buffering and video calls can also be made at a much better resolution.

EE is the UK’s first 4G mobile network after the Ofcom auction was delayed. This meant that they would be the only network permitted to offer a 4G service until the other 4G frequencies would be released to the other networks.

EE is a 4G-only network made up of T-Mobile and Orange and they launched the 4G service originally on 30 October 2012. The initial cities to get the service were Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Sheffield and Southampton. Now EE plan to expand to Belfast, Hull, Maidenhead and Slough by the end of the year.

However, today is the first time we heard about EE’s rollout plans after that. They have confirmed the regions that will get 4G next. Of course, to take advantage of it, your phone must be 4G-ready. The 17 new towns and cities are as follows:

Bradford, Chelmsford, Coventry, Doncaster, Dudley, Leicester, Luton, Newport (Wales), Reading, Rotherham, St Albans, Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield, Walsall, Watford, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton.

By adding these new regions, EE claims that an addition 4 million people will be able to access the super-fast mobile broadband. It will also bring the total number of towns and cities with that capability up to 35.

EE’s plan is for 98% of the UK population to have access to 4G at home by the end of 2014 which is still some way off. However, EE is also saying that it’s upgrading the speed of its 3G network in other regions in the mean time. This might be good news for customers put off by the very high costs and low bandwidth allowances offered on 4G by EE. The network is desperate to cement a strong foothold in the market before the other rival networks are allowed to offer their own 4G services.

Have you used 4G yet? Do you often need your connection to be so fast? Do you think it’s worth the high costs? And if you haven’t got it yet, are you excited about the next stage of the roll out?

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At last! Apple have finally approved the Google Maps app for iOS 6. After what seems like a very long wait, iPhone users can ditch the buggy and dangerous Maps app that Apple forced customers to use. The overwhelming reaction seems to be: about time too.

Although it may feel like ages, it was just three months ago that iOS came out and iPhone users were left seething by the mistakes in Apple’s Maps offering. It may have looked stunning and had some cool and interesting features, but there were several major errors in the mapping data. In fact, people even set up blogs to mock some of the worst examples. They also strangely made it so that you need Siri to get voice directions.

It’s not such a big deal to have an imperfect launch of a new piece of software. However, what made things so much worse is that Apple made it so that their flawed app replaced the existing Google Maps app. In fact, thanks to their restrictive “walled garden” philosophy on software, iPhone users were completely prevented from reinstalling the Google Maps app that they used previously. Apple simply did not allow it – they gave no choice.

Despite this, the quality of the Apple app was so bad that Tim Cook was forced to issue a public apology and fire many lead developers. Since then, Google has obviously been hard at work on a new version their groundbreaking Maps app. And it just got approval to appear on the Apple App Store.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEz1sSKCpIc

So what’s the new app like? Arguably, it’s far superior to Apple’s version. Initial reviews are very positive and it seems a large number of users are permanently moving back to it. We found it to operate incredibly smoothly and the public transport directions are incredibly useful. The free voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation feature is also great although it’s not quite up to the quality of paid-for competitors like Sygic and TomTom.

Overall, it’s the same very-polish Maps app we remember from Google but made much cleaner and clearer visually and with an improved user experience. The maps are all vector-based and there’s a great tilted semi-3D perspective. And, of course, the indispensable Street View. It’s free (of course) and you can download the app here.

Did you have to use the Apple Maps app? Did you experience any issues with it? And if you’re already downloaded the new Google Maps app for iPhone, we’d love to know what you think of it? Will you switch back or stick with Google’s offering?

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