Mobile Network Comparison

When the iPhone 4S came out earlier this year, most people’s first reaction was disappointment and asking whether anyone knew the new iPhone 5 release date. However, once Siri had been demonstrated, people were less bothered that it was called the iPhone 4S rather than the iPhone 5.

Siri is automated voice-controlled personal assistant software. In the words of Apple, Siri lets you use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more. When you talk, it understands what you say, knows what you mean, and even talks back. However, because it runs in the cloud on Apple’s servers, Siri raises some interesting questions. We recently came across a thought-provoking article about the privacy implications of letting Apple know everything you say to Siri.

While it is not clear how much of the Siri solution is powered by the cloud and how much resides natively on the device, everything that I have read and heard suggests that there is a good deal of processing taking place in the cloud. In other words, Apple’s cloud services are in some way processing your appointments, text messages, location, commands etc. This theoretically means that Apple “knows” as much about you as your personal assistant. Scared yet?

Because Siri is learning software and because it adapts to the way you use it, Apple is tracking more and more information about the way you are and the things you do. Furthermore, if they ever release an API, third party developers might gain access to this information. While hopefully all data sent up to Apple’s servers is anonymised, there are still pertinent privacy questions to be answered.

On the subject of Siri, questions about its usefulness are emerging now people are no longer wowed by the initial thrill of a phone talking back to them and are, instead, seeing whether it has a place in their daily lives. Over on Gizmodo, they are branding Siri “a lie, and worse, a broken promise“.

…For me, once the novelty wore off, what I found was that Siri is not so intelligent after all—it’s simply another voice program that will obey very specific commands. If it knows those commands. If it can understand you. And if it has a network connection. Were this Google, or Microsoft, I’d shrug. But it’s not, it’s Apple. And Apple is the company that sells perfection. It’s a company that usually keeps its promises, and in its Siri ads, it promises far more than what it actually delivers.

What about you – what do you think about Siri? Do you trust Apple with your private data or do you think it’s a good idea not to tell them every aspect of your life? Do you think that it’s a dumb gimmick that is no use in the real world or is Siri the start of the revolution?

Even though we have found some fantastic iPhone 4S deals, we think the risk of the following is enough to put us off it 🙂

Travelling around London on the Underground last week, a new advert from Vodafone really caught our eye. It offered unlimited data for the first three months of your contract to let you judge your normal usage before choosing which data tariff you want to go for.

You can see a similar in-store advert for yourself thanks to Mobile Industry Review. We love to see clever but simple thinking like this – it’s such a graceful and obvious solution to a common problem but so many of the major networks don’t want to make the effort to help their customers like this. Or, as Vodafone put it:

“Vodafone’s Data Test Drive is designed to give customers the confidence to experiment with their new phone on the UK’s best network, get to grips with its features and explore all the apps that are available for it”

The deal is currently not available on PAYG, just on new Vodafone contracts. For example you can buy the brand new Nokia Lumia 800 for just £36/month and this comes with 900 minutes, unlimited texts, 750MB data and, if you order fast, Vodafone will give you a £10 voucher each month for 6 month. But best of all, you get to qualify for the Data Test Drive for the first 3 months giving you unlimited data to measure your usage.

You have to have a smartphone to be able to try the Data Test Drive. However, it’s a great way of being better informed so you don’t waste money on a data allowance you don’t need or on expensive overage charges. On Vodafone going over by just 300MB a month can cost you an extra £120 a year so it’s great to be able to test things out before committing to a lengthy contract.

Of course, there are alternatives. Firstly, we’d urge you to look at Giffgaff instead. Not only do they offer by far the cheapest unlimited data offer at just £10/month, they also are a PAYG network so you’re not tied in for up to 24 months. You can change whenever you want and even their 20p/day data without a goodybag is fantastic value.

3 are another network with a great unlimited data offer on The One Plan. This comes with a massive 5000 3-to-3 minuts, 2000 any network minutes and 5000 texts – an allowance so huge you’re almost certain not to need to pay more than your £25/month fee. And, best of all, these offers from Giffgaff and 3 provide truly unlimited data unlike Vodafone who, like most networks, have hidden fair use restrictions. What’s more, they offer unlimited data for as long as you want, not just the first three months, negating the need to even test out your usage as you won’t ever have a limit.

Still, the 3 and Giffgaff plans aren’t for everyone and, if you’re planning on taking out a new Vodafone contract, the Test Drive offer might be exactly what you need to save money on your new tariff.

Earlier this month, Giffgaff announced the details of their long awaited BlackBerry support. Finally, UK mobile phone users will be able to take advantage of push email, free BBM and BlackBerry internet services on the best value mobile network and completely free from the constraints of lengthy contracts. The service is due to launch on 8th December 2011. (edit: This was later delayed until 1st February 2012 for further testing).

Giffgaff’s intention to bring BlackBerry support to the network had been announced months and months ago but with the furious work to push out other projects such as data-only Gigabags, the amazing Hokey Cokey goodybag and data roaming it got left behind. Even worse than that, bringing BlackBerrys to Giffgaff actually got quietly delayed to 2012 at one point and it seemed nobody could be sure that it would actually ever happen. Thankfully for those of you constantly glued to your “CrackBerry” on other networks, they got past all the technical hitches and are currently in the final stages of user testing.

BlackBerry support will be offered through Giffgaff’s increasingly-maligned “Goodybag” architecture. It will be a monthly add-on (the name hasn’t been confirmed yet) and, at present, it must be bought with another goodybag. Giffgaff haven’t confirmed why this is yet but it may well be due to the technical restrictions of the Goodybag system.

Here’s the lowdown on all aspects of the new BlackBerry add-on:

How much will BlackBerry support cost?

In what must be the cheapest offer available anywhere in the country, BlackBerry support costs only £3 per month.

Do you have to buy another goodybag as well?

Yes, BlackBerry support only works with another goodybag.

Can you buy it while another goodybag is active?

Unfortunately no – the BlackBerry add-on must be bought at the same time as the goodybag.

Can you buy the BlackBerry add-on from your credit balance?

You can buy the BlackBerry add-on from either your credit balance or via a debit/credit card or even with an e-top-up voucher. You just have to make sure that you buy both the BlackBeryy add-on and the Giffgaff goodybag from the same payment source.

Is it possible to queue BlackBerry goodybags?

Yes, just like normal goodybags you can queue BlackBerry add-ons in advance so they activate automatically once your old one runs out.

What about roaming data?

Like all their other services, roaming data with BlackBerry on Giffgaff is a bargain. Even though they get charged for the data, Giffgaff is giving everyone 10MB for free every day!

Does it work with the Hokey Cokey goodybag?

Yes, you can activate a BlackBerry add-on with any goodybag. Hokey Cokey might not be ready for launch but will definitely be coming soon.

What are the data charges?

On any of the goodybags costing £10 or more, all data is included in your goodybag rate. However, the £5 Hokey Cokey and unlimited texts goodybags don’t include any data. These will have internet access charged at the standard PAYG data rates of 20p/day for a maximum of 20MB but all BBM and push email data will be completely free.

So what are you waiting for? If you’re paying over the odds on another network for your BlackBerry phone, now could be the perfect time to switch and start saving cash! Please let us know how you get on with BlackBerry on Giffgaff and if you have any questions we haven’t answered, let us know in the comments.