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UK government will get early access to OpenAI and Google's AI models for safety purposes
During London Tech Week 2023, the UK government has announced that it will receive priority access to certain AI models for safety purposes.
Artifical intelligence applications are all the rage these days with big tech firms investing millions of dollars in the space. We recently learned that the PaLM 2-powered Google Bard is getting better at solving coding and mathematical questions, while both Bing Chat and ChatGPT continue to showcase stellar performance across a variety of use-cases. However, with the increasing prevalence of AI systems, it's important to be cautious about their applications too. The UK government is now looking to take steps in this direction with early access to some popular AI models.
Here's how much more you'll pay for your phone bill in the UK this year: Vodafone, O2, Virgin Media, and EE explained
Your phone bill will likely be going up this year if you live in the UK, and we have the numbers to show you just by how much.
Mobile network operators Vodafone, O2, Tesco, Three, and EE in the UK are set to ramp up their phone bill prices by as much as 10% in April. Vodafone, EE, and Three have all announced the reintroduction of roaming charges in the EU as well, whereas Virgin Mobile and O2 will not be re-introducing them.
Apple and Google criticized as a "duopoly" with a "vice-like grip" by U.K. competition authority
Apple and Google have been criticized as a "duopoly" with a "vice-like grip" over the mobile market by the U.K. competition authority.
A probe conducted earlier this year by the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has concerned the CMA that Apple and Google represent a duopoly. The CMA says that Apple and Google have "too much control" over operating systems, app stores, and web browsers that together form their ecosystems. This comes following both Apple and Google being fined by the Italian competition authority for "aggressive practices" in data usage.
Three UK is offering 100GB of free Google One storage for three months
Three UK is offering 100GB of free Google One storage for three months, giving you a ton of storage for Google Photos, Drive, and more.
Three UK has announced that all consumer customers on the network will be given three free months of Google One storage at no extra cost. The three free months of Google One subscription can be redeemed from today, giving extra storage across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos. Google One storage, in particular, is useful for Google Photos as there is no longer unlimited free storage on the service, meaning that you can only upload up to 15GB of free storage before using up your entire allowance.
British right to repair law goes into effect today but doesn't cover smartphones or computers
A British right to repair law has gone into effect from today... but it doesn't cover smartphones or computers. Read more here.
A British right to repair law has gone into effect from today, although it doesn't cover smartphones or computers. The law requires manufacturers to make spare parts available to both consumers and third-party repair companies, and it applies to any product bought starting today. Companies have a grace period of up to two years to make spare parts available whenever a new product is launched.
EE is introducing roaming charges following Brexit
Mobile network operator EE will be reintroducing roaming charges following Brexit, despite having previously pledged not to.
Following Brexit, UK mobile operator EE will be charging customers extra to use their mobile plans in Europe starting from January 2022. It's the first mobile operator in the UK to introduce normal roaming charges following Brexit, having previously said that it was not going to reintroduce roaming charges in Europe. Vodafone previously introduced European roaming for "heavy" users, referring to those users as customers who use their phone in an EU country for more than 60 days in a four-month period.
UK approves £31B merger between Virgin Media and mobile network O2
The UK CMA has approved a £31 billion merger between Virgin Media and mobile network O2, after an in-depth investigation.
Following a lengthy and in-depth investigation by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) starting in May of 2020, the merger between Virgin Media and O2 has been approved. Virgin Media CEO Lutz Schüler will take the role of CEO at Virgin Media O2, while O2's CFO, Patricia Cobian, will also take on the role of CFO. The two companies combined will have 47 million subscribers across broadband, mobile, TV, and home phone.
UK regulator Ofcom bans sale of network-locked handsets from December 2021
UK media regulator Ofcom has announced a ban on the sale of mobile devices locked to a single network in an attempt to make switching easier.
Carriers in the UK will be banned from selling handsets locked to their network from next year. Media regulator Ofcom announced the rule change, citing the need to encourage network switching (via the BBC). At present, although UK networks can still apply a network lock to devices sold through their retail operations many have switched to selling unlocked generic versions already, including O2, Three, Sky Mobile, and Virgin Mobile. The remaining major networks - EE/BT, Vodafone, and Tesco Mobile sell a combination of locked and unlocked handsets.
OPPO Reno 2 Series launches in Europe on October 18th
The OPPO Reno 2 series has launched in Europe, as unveiled at an event in the UK. Check out pricing details and availability here!
While not necessarily a successor to the original, the OPPO Reno 2 series has been announced for sale in Europe starting from the 18th of October. The company revealed at the English National Ballet in London that the OPPO Reno 2 and the OPPO Reno 2Z will both be sold across the continent. The Reno series appears to be more of a camera-centric line of smartphones, with the OPPO Reno 10X Zoom and the Reno Standard editions, launching earlier this year. The OPPO Reno 2 series launched in India at the end of August.
HTC stops selling phones in the UK due to patent dispute
HTC has stopped selling its smartphones in the UK due to a patent dispute, as the company was found to be in violation of an agreement made in 2012.
Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC isn't dead, although it may as well be in the UK. Due to a patent dispute with Munich-based research and development company Ipcom, the company has pulled its smartphones from the UK market. The patent specifically pertains to car phones, which HTC agreed in 2012 to sell their phones in the UK with a workaround. However, Ipcom confirmed via testing that HTC did not implement the workaround, and instead continued to violate the patent. Ipcom said HTC had failed to "play by the rules" and had displayed "disregard for the law by contravening a UK court ruling".
The OPPO Reno series launches in the UK next month
Today, OPPO has annoounced that the OPPO Reno, OPPO Reno 10x Zoom, and OPPO Reno 5G will be launching in the UK next month.
The OPPO Reno series has been an interesting series in 2019. Back in April, the OPPO Reno series launched in China with the Snapdragon 855 SoC, 10x zoom, and a unique shark fin-like pop-up camera. There are three different models in the OPPO Reno family: the "standard" model, the Reno 10x Zoom, and the Reno 5G. The company has announced that these devices will be launching in the UK next month.
Xiaomi's UK launch has been sullied by growing pains, but the company is still looking forward
Xiaomi recently launched the Mi 8 Pro and is preparing to launch the Mi Mix 3 in the United Kingdom. The company's success has been nothing short of varied.
Despite being the fourth largest smartphone vendor in the world (according to IDC), Xiaomi as a brand is relatively unknown outside of Asia and some parts of Europe. Walking around the streets of London or Dublin, for example, you'd be hard-pressed to find a Xiaomi device in someone's hand. However, with Xiaomi's expansion into Europe, and the UK in particular, their phones are becoming more and more commonplace.
Huawei launches the P Smart 2019 in the UK
Huawei has launched the Huawei P Smart 2019 in the UK at a starting price of £149. It features a Kirin 710 system-on-chip and 3GB of RAM.
Huawei is one of the top smartphone manufacturers in the world, and they're going into 2019 fully ready to take the throne. We initially learned from our sources that the Huawei P Smart 2019 was coming to Europe as a successor to the mid-range P Smart that launched at the start of last year, but there was no information as to when. Shortly after, we learned that the device had launched in Ukraine at a starting price of around €205. Finally, the company has now announced its launch in the UK, and it will be available for purchase from most retailers on January 10th at a starting price of £149.
Google is expanding Pixel 3 eSIM support to more carriers around the world
Google is expanding the Pixel 3's eSIM support to more carriers around the world, including in India, the UK, and Germany.
eSIM is the latest and greatest iteration of the SIM card, in that it doesn't even have a physical form. Rather than putting a SIM card in your phone or watch, you can effectively store the SIM data on the device itself. Gone are the days of fumbling about with a tiny piece of plastic and trying to put it in your phone, when instead you can simply scan a SIM card onto your device. Google first tried it out on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, allowing Google Fi users to try it out, and brought it to the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL this year. Now it's not just on Google Fi, as you can get it all around the world—but only on the Pixel 3 series.
YouTube Music and YouTube Premium now available in Canada & 11 European countries
YouTube Music and YouTube Premium are now available in Canada and 11 new European countries. Current subscribers of Google Play Music have good news too.
YouTube Music and YouTube Premium were announced early last month. YouTube Music is a merger of YouTube Music and Google Play Music, while YouTube Premium is replacing YouTube Red. YouTube Music and YouTube Premium are now available in 17 new countries as of today. Both services are now available for everyone in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and South Korea. Not only that, but 12 new countries have been added with its launch, including Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. If you're confused about what benefits you get from subscribing to each of the individual services, you can check out the table we've made below.