The end is nigh for Australian mobile provider 3, as Vodafone has finally announced its shut down date for the network. The 3 brand in Australia will officially be farewelled on the 30th of August, meaning any existing 3 customers will need to abandon ship before the network is switched off.
Australian mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Vaya has acquired 100-percent of competitor Live Connected for an undisclosed sum, with plans to continue running both mobile businesses as separate entities. The move adds Live Connected's 25,000 subscribers to Vaya's books, with the combined subscriber base for both MVNO businesses in excess of 70,000.
The Commonwealth Bank has expanded the functionality of its Kaching! payment app for iPhone with the addition of a QR code reader to be used in conjunction with with new codes on BPAY compatible bills. The new feature is available now from the Apple App Store, and the QR code payment option will be on Australian Power & Gas and Sydney Water bills shortly. IT's easy to imagine more codes popping up quickly given how cheap and easy they are to create.
The Nokia Lumia 520 is a super-affordable smartphone from Nokia. Running on Windows Phone 8, it offers the smartphone experience to folks who are either unable or unwilling to spend large amounts of money on a new device, but who are still after a reliable smartphone experience.
In 2013, smartphones are all about the features. HTC has Boomsound, Blinkfeed and the Zoe camera, while Samsung has a plethora of S-branded apps, including a health monitor and universal TV remote. Meanwhile, we've seen mostly incremental changes in hardware, with slightly faster processors, bumps in RAM and larger screens.
Optus held a network event today in which it announced its recent 3GPlus accomplishments and outlined plans for 4G expansion in the near future. The overall focus of the last few months’ worth of data was to do with 3GPlus coverage and consolidation across most of Australia, with particular attention paid towards increasing indoor coverage.
With bill shock from international roaming still affecting thousands of Australians each year, consumers have been frustrated with the lack of solutions offered by mobile providers. Now, Telstra has announced it will be taking action to minimise bill shock experienced by customers using their phone overseas.
So we’ve had the BlackBerry Z10 for a little a while now and we’ve got a much better idea of the device as a whole. If you’re unfamiliar with the Z10, it’s BlackBerry’s flagship device for the new BB10 operating system. The iconic smartphone manufacturer has ditched its aged, yet popular, mobile OS and started again from the ground up.
Vodafone (VHA) may be running a little behind schedule with its 4G LTE network that it originally hoped, but never promised, to have up and running by February of this year. A short while back Australia’s largest 3G-only carrier went and added the Samsung Galaxy S3 4G to its lineup, meaning that an announcement was likely not too far off.
The HTC Windows Phone 8X is HTC’s current Windows Phone 8 flagship device that, while doing nothing to slow HTC’s growing reputation for questionable names, has seen its fair share of popularity in the WP market. Sporting thoroughly modern hardware, the elegant WP8 UI and stylish case design make for a blending of power and visual appeal that’s rarely seen in the handset market. But looks and specs aren’t everything, so we grabbed one ourselves to check it out in our own Windows Phone 8X review.