According to Roometrics’ latest data for the second half of 2014, if you are a customer of AT&T (NYSE: T), T-Mobile (NYSE: TMUS) or Verizon (NYSE: VZ) you are going to get about exactly the same experience. However, if you go with Sprint (NYSE: S), you will suffer some performance or coverage issues. That means, when you compare AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile you can do so knowing that your experience will essentially be around the same in San Diego and that you can buy based on value rather than ‘marketing’ from the carriers.

Traditionally, Verizon and AT&T are the most expensive, with T-Mobile coming in much cheaper, so if you are considering a new phone, you should probably look at T-Mobile before renewing your contract with AT&T and Verizon. Especially if you consider the fact that T-Mobile’s phone selection is just as good as or better than both Verizon and AT&T, even though AT&T does have a lot of exclusives. AT&T’s exclusives, however, can easily be purchased outright and get an unlock code and then you can activate it on T-Mobile. And if you’re happy with your phone and your contract is up on AT&T, you can very likely switch to T-Mobile without any issues and probably save $20-$30 a month, minimum and regain unlimited data, which AT&T doesn’t have.

Unfortunately for Sprint, they seriously lagged in reliability and data performance, which are the two major factors of why their score is so much lower than the rest of the carriers. Even though, if you looked at the scores of all four San Diego carriers you would realize that there really isn’t that much of a difference, even if you add Sprint. But, if you look at the observed data speeds from some of the carriers, there are some significant differences. Perhaps Rootmetrics’ Rootscore needs to re-weight certain factors like download speed more heavily over call quality, etc.

Rootmetrics measures their ‘coverage’ as a factor of reliability and speed, with Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile tying for reliability and Verizon and AT&T coming in as tied for speed, even though the difference between the three scores is 0.4 out of 100, or less than 1%. It makes you wonder why this wouldn’t be considered a three-way tie. Especially when you look at the differences in speeds.

According to Rootmetrics’ testing AT&T’s median download speed increased from 12.1 to 14.3 Mbps since the march testing. Sprint’s median download speed decreased from 7.5 Mbps to 5.2 Mbps and their upload suffered a drop from 3.2 to 1.1 Mbps, a very poor showing. T-Mobile’s median download speed also decreased from 17.3 Mbps to 15.3 Mbps, but still came in higher than AT&T’s. Curiously enough, Rootmetrics had Verizon win the Data RootScore award for the second consecutive time with the fastest median download speed of 18.4 Mbps while T-Mobile recorded the fastest median upload speed of 15.1 Mbps. This is where it gets interesting. If T-Mobile has the fastest upload speeds and the second fastest download speeds, why would they be ranked below AT&T in the Rootmetrics Speed Index? We will reach out to Rootmetrics to understand exactly what this means for San Diego carriers because it simply doesn’t make sense at AT&T would have a higher score than T-Mobile if T-Mobile actually has faster speeds for both upload and download.

Here are some of their scores, including data performance which varies from their ‘speed index’ every so slightly and somehow puts AT&T above T-Mobile even though T-Mobile has faster speeds according to their own tests. Either way, call performance is essentially the same and so is text performance even though T-Mobile and Verizon slightly edge out AT&T and Sprint.

What we can conclude from all of this, even with a few slight irregularities is that T-Mobile is still the best value in San Diego and Sprint is still the slowest in almost every measurement.

The post San Diego Carriers Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile Tied in Performance appeared first on VR World.

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) is trying to get on the softer side of consumers. You could either consider this the more emotional side, or the software side, either would be applicable here. Verizon is deeming the day before Thanksgiving, November 26th, one of the busiest travel days of the year Connection Day. Connection Day is Verizon’s way of saying thanks to their customers and anyone that might need some help while they’re traveling home for the holiday.

The first thing they’re doing is that they’re giving existing Verizon More Everything plan customers a free, one-time gift of 1GB of data and another 1GB of data for the next billing cycle. In addition to Verizon’s own customers anyone and everyone can get in on Verizon’s Connection Day ‘gifts’ or ‘free offers’ by simply heading over to the Connection Day page.

Verizon FIOS is offering free mobile access to their popular movies and TV Shows on November 26th via their FIOS Preview mobile app.

Verizon has partnered with Amazon to offer a selection of 10 free/discounted apps, plus two free Audible.com book downloads (for new members) or $10 in Audible credit (current members). You will also get 10 free songs from Amazon Music and 10 curated playlists with Amazon Prime Music.

Apple has also joined the Connection Day gifting craze by offering a ‘special offer’ which will be revealed on November 26th, Connection Day.

Verizon also partnered with Condé Nast to offer free digital edition downloads of all 17 of the company’s publications which include Wired, Vanity Fair and GQ.

Verizon has also partnered with Boingo and GoGo to offer half an hour of free internet service in airports and planes on November 26th, Connection Day. And if you’re flying on Jet Blue, there will be free in-flight Wi-Fi for all flights between November 26th and December 31st.

Last but not least, Verizon partnered with Pandora to offer a free seven-day trial of Pandora One (Pandora’s premium subscription music service).

The post Verizon Deems Day November 26th Connection Day appeared first on VR World.

Although the growth of the high-end segment has declined of late, there have been some truly remarkable devices launched over the course of the year. Here are the five best smartphones of 2014:

New Moto X

The new Moto X is larger, wider and more feature-filled when compared to last year’s version. While the first-generation Moto X was highly regarded for its in-hand feel and comfort, this year’s models eschews ergonomics for a larger screen, a trend that is becoming more and more common among high-end devices of late. That doesn’t mean that the new Moto X is too unwieldy to use one-handed; far from it. The thin bezels and curved edges mean that the device fits in your hand better than others that also feature large screens. Also, the aluminium frame around the device adds to its premium nature and highlights the overall design.

While offering a near-stock UI, Motorola has baked in enough custom features that serves to differentiate the Moto X from devices running vanilla Android. The Active Display feature is so intuitive that it should be offered as standard across all devices. With this feature, the device lights up whenever a notification arrives, allowing you to quickly look at it without having to unlock the screen. Active Display combined with an always-on listening mode – which sees a dedicated digital signal processor actively listening for the hotword – are the two best features to be included in a device of late. While the first-gen Moto X had this feature through a middle-man service, Android 5.0 natively allows this functionality, which gives quicker access to voice-enabled actions.

The Moto X from 2013 did not feature the latest hardware available at the time, but this time around Motorola has included the latest available specs with the new Moto X. Under the hood, there’s a 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 SoC, 2 GB RAM, 13 MP camera, 2 MP front shooter and Wi-Fi ac connectivity along with a 2,300 mAh battery. The battery life was a major concern in last year’s handset, and while the 2014 Moto X does not fare much better in this segment, at least there is the ability to charge the device quickly due to Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 technology, which is leveraged through a unique charger.

The 16GB version of the smartphone is available for $499, and can be customized heavily through Moto Maker. Should you wish to do so, you can get a leather or wooden back variant for $25 more. The sheer number of customization options combined with the exclusive features like Active Display make the new Moto X one of the best devices available today.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4

The Galaxy Note 4 is unlike any Samsung (KRX:005935) flagship smartphone thus far in that it actually looks like a premium handset. Samsung has finally decided to use metal in the construction of their devices, and in the case of the Galaxy Note 4, this is in the form of a metal frame that runs around the sides of the device, adding rigidity to the structure as whole while providing aesthetic value.

Another first is the 16MP camera sensor, which now comes with OIS, a feature that has been long-requested by loyal fans. The imaging sensor is from Sony (NYSE:SNE), and comes with Samsung’s customizations on the software side of things. The 5.7-inch QuadHD AMOLED screen is outstanding, and is one of the best displays on a Samsung handset yet.

TouchWiz, long criticized as one of the worst manufacturer skins, has also received a facelift. However, Samsung has not cut down on the gimmicky features, and in fact found new “health-oriented” utilities that will allow you to track your daily activities better. The result is that a device with a quad-core 2.7 GHz Snapdragon 805 SoC (octa-core Exynos 5422 in some markets) stutters during the loading animations. Turning off animations entirely makes things better, but if there is a single drawback to the Galaxy Note 4, it is the software. Samsung needs to re-evaluate its stance of software design and focus on things that matter to users instead of just bundling every single utility it has made over the course of the last five years into its devices.

That being said, there are a few features that stand out, and serve to distinguish the Galaxy Note series from other phablets out there. The most useful is Multi Window mode, which as the name suggests allows you to run two utilities side by side simultaneously. There’s also a similar mode for video as well that allows you to run two videos side by side, but that once again falls into the realm of gimmicks. The stylus has also been tweaked to offer better sensitivity, and comes a lot of features that boost its functionality. For instance, Photo Note is a utility that scans images and lets you make changes to them using the stylus.

Overall, the Galaxy Note 4 is a move in the right direction for Samsung. The device is easily the best-looking Samsung flagship we’ve seen, and the stellar hardware means that you will not be encountering any lag (barring those caused by TouchWiz, of course). With carrier subsidies in effect, the device comes down to $199, although the off-contract pricing of $800 is not astronomical considering the features you’ll be getting. There’s also the Galaxy Gifts promotion, through which you stand to get over $300 worth of digital services for free from Samsung.

OnePlus One

If there is one device that can be categorized as the best of 2014, it would be the OnePlus One. Nothing comes close to the device in the sheer number of features it offers for the price. Sure, novel utilities like double tap to wake, ambient display and camera software tweaks are missing, but when it comes to the basics, the OnePlus One smartphone gets everything right. Though the device features a 5.5-inch 1080p display, non-existent bezels and a clever design – which sees the display slightly raised from the rest of the device – lends to a form factor that allows you to use the device one-handed.

The OnePlus One has hardware that is often found in devices twice as costly: there’s that 5.5-inch full-HD display, 3GB RAM, 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 SoC, 13 MP camera at the back with a Sony MIX214 sensor (the same that’s used in devices like the LG G3), 5 MP front shooter, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac connectivity and a 3,100 mAh battery.

The device features a custom CyanogenMod skin, and the differences from stock Android are immediately noticeable. The theme engine, which allows you to modify all facets of the UI, is a great feature to have for users looking to customize the handset to their liking, and the settings feature the most comprehensive list of options we’ve seen on an Android device. Another point of differentiation is the quick rollout of updates, with the OnePlus community constantly listening to consumer feedback and providing quick fixes for commonly found issues.

Talking about issues, the only major drawback with the device is availability, although getting hold of an invite has gotten relatively easier over the last few months. Retailing at $349 for the 64GB Sandstone back version, and just $299 for the 16GB variant, there are few devices that match up to their billing. The OnePlus One is one of the few devices that manages to do so successfully.

iPhone 6 Plus

After years of making snide comments about phablets, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has decided to join the game with the iPhone 6 Plus. The device is not being called a phablet, but a handset that allows you to do more. The more is in reference to the screen size, which at 5.5 inches is larger than most Android flagship devices out there today. The resolution has been increased to 1080p, and the hardware has also gotten a boost.

Powering the iPhone 6 Plus is the Apple A8 SoC, which has a dual-core version of a Cyclone architecture CPU clocked at 1.4 GHz along with a PowerVR GX6450 GPU. Other specs do not matter much, connectivity as the software is tuned to run on whatever hardware is current-gen. With the iPhone, it has always been about the experience, and this time around it is no different. The iPhone 6 Plus comes with a new design that is being heralded as the best ever, is thinner and has a more premium look to it, and runs iOS 8 out of the box. That is one of the things it is meant to do well: get going out of the box without having to fiddle around with a bunch of settings (or as Android users like to call it, customization).

Of note is the 8 MP camera at the back that now comes with OIS, which is in fact one of the reasons to go with the iPhone 6 Plus instead of its smaller sibling, the iPhone 6. The device is available in memory variations of 16, 64 and 128GB, with each increment costing $100 (on-contract) more. The cost of the device varies based on the territory, but the entry-level handset is in the vicinity of $800.

One of the major talking points during the launch of the iPhone 6 Plus smartphone was the introduction of NFC, which allows customers to pay for services using their mobile devices using a digital payment system called Apple Pay. Currently available in the US but facing backlash from a variety of retailers including CVS and Walmart (who are in the process of introducing their own digital payments service called CurrentC), Apple is looking to launch the service in additional countries. If you’re looking to go with iOS, the iPhone 6 Plus is the handset to get.

Lumia 930

The Lumia 930 is the last flagship device to bear the iconic Nokia (NYSE:NOK) name, at least for this decade. Now that the Finnish manufacturer’s acquisition to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is finalized, the Redmond giant’s logo will be used on future Lumia models, like the Lumia 535 that was announced last week. For now, Microsoft seems to be content targeting the entry-level and mid-tier segments with its latest device launches, as evidenced by the announcement of the Lumia 730, Lumia 830 and now the Lumia 535.

What this means is that for this year, the Lumia 930 smartphone is your only real choice if you’re looking to get a Windows Phone in the high-end segment. There is the 6-inch Lumia 1520 that was announced last November, but considering we’re already more than 12 months into the life cycle of the device, it is not being recommended. Also, the form factor of the Lumia 1520 does not make it a comfortable device to use on a day-to-day basis.

Ever since the Lumia 1520 was announced, fans of Windows Phone have been clamoring for a device with similar hardware in a 5-inch form factor, and the answer is the Lumia 930. The device comes in color variations of white, black, green and orange, and carriers on Nokia’s ethos that is clearly visible in all Lumia handsets. The build quality is excellent, there is a camera shutter key on the right side, and the camera itself, a 20 MP PureView sensor, is one of the best imaging sensors you can get in a handset.

Furthermore, Nokia’s exclusive utilities like HERE navigation services (which Microsoft is now licensing for the Lumia series) are a standout in this category thanks to features like offline turn-by-turn routing. Then there are the host of camera-centric utilities, as well as the music and video services. But the best feature of all has to be Cortana. It may not be as accurate as Google Now, but it is the most fun to use among all voice-based assistants available today.

The list of features that can be handled by Cortana is increasing on a weekly basis, and the assistant excels at getting the basics right, which can be said of the platform itself as a whole. With Windows Phone, you may not get Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) services, but Microsoft is starting to add enough functionality that you don’t have to.

The post Five Best Smartphones of 2014 appeared first on VR World.

In a video titled, The Art of the Sizzle w/ David Bruce, HTC (TPE: 2498) satirically mocks the entire concept of the sizzle video that is designed to make you excited and intrigued by a simple video of a smartphone. There’s no doubt that HTC has participated in some of these sizzle videos, but the reality is that their competitors, namely Samsung, Nokia (now Microsoft), and Apple have really gotten the smartphone sizzle video down.

In fact, if you watch most smartphone introductions nowadays, you are almost guaranteed to watch some sort of a sizzle video in advance. Some companies like to focus on abstract angles and unique system features, while others simply try to make the phone look exciting by doing interesting motions and graphics alongside. A good example of this is Apple’s own iPhone 6 sizzle video. If that doesn’t give you a good idea of what’s in a smartphone sizzle video, then you can watch Samsung’s own Galaxy S5 introduction video.

The truth is that its actually quite hard to get a bunch of press and operators excited about a phone, especially since most phones nowadays are essentially the same phone with incremental upgrades and very little real innovation from one model to another. After all, it isn’t very profitable to be making major technological improvements from generation to generation. So, you need to focus on the exciting parts of the phone and accentuate them with the sizzle reel that gets people excited about your phone and gets their attention in preparation for the actual launch or actual unveiling in person or when people see them in stores.

Apple are the masters of these videos and I suspect that HTC is mostly mocking them with this video, however Samsung likes to do a lot of the same things that Apple does so it isn’t much of a stretch to consider Samsung part of this fad.

The post HTC Brilliantly Mocks the Smartphone Sizzle Video appeared first on VR World.

ecoATM, a division of Outerwall who is also the parent company of Redbox and Coinstar (Nasdaq: OUTR), has a nationwide network of 1,510 automated electronics recycling kiosks located in shopping malls and stores. The kiosk will take your old phones, tablets, and MP3 players and turn them into cash on the spot.

Last week at Pepcom-SF, BSN* spoke with Juli Spaventa who demoed a unit for us. The kiosk requires only a few steps to recycle your device.

ecoATM kiosk at Pepcom-SF

You simply follow the on-screen prompts and insert a valid government-issued ID. ecoATM uses a state-of-the-art ID scanner and AssureTec Reader validation software that not only photographs the ID but validates its authenticity by examining the ID for holograms, watermarks, or other specific authentication methods used in all 50 states. Spaventa said they have 29 patents on their one-of-a-kind kiosk. Fake ID’s may get you into the nightclub, but they won’t get you cash for a stolen phone.

After your ID is validated, an ecoATM’s security person checks to see you match the ID by watching you from the web cameras in the kiosk. All this only takes a couple of minutes. If the technician cannot confirm you are the person in the ID you presented, then game over – the transaction is canceled.

Assuming your face matches your ID, the kiosk dispenses a tracking decal to put on your device. After affixing the decal, you put your device into the kiosk and it scans your device’s condition and compares it with a database to make an offer based on the market value and current condition. At that time, you can accept ecoATM’s offer or it will return your device out of the kiosk. If you accept the offer, you must use the thumb print reader which keeps the thumb scan as part of your security information. Then your cash is available just like a bank ATM.

We decided to check out a kiosk at a local mall. While there, we noticed another benefit – no-cost charging station on one side of the kiosk. A man was just starting the process of recycling his older iPhone for cash. We asked him if we could follow along.

Alan inserts his valid California ID

Alan applies decal to his old iPhone

When the man, who simply identified himself as Alan, was finished and had his cash, he said: “This is way better than having it lay around in a drawer”.

Some law enforcement agencies have been quoted in past articles about ecoATM saying it is too easy for a crook to get cash for a stolen phone. So we contacted ecoATM’s HQ about that. They called back and responded to our query. Their spokesperson confirmed that the transaction we watched followed their standard security verification processes. The spokesperson said that less than 1 percent of the phones recycled by ecoATM are proven to be stolen. Many of the stolen recycled phones end up being returned and the crook caught like this story from San Francisco. She also explained another aspect of their kiosk for customers who might be wary of presenting personal information. We were told that only law enforcement can get a print out of any specific transaction with the person’s information and the information about the device that was recycled.

A few law enforcement agencies have acted like they want the kiosks removed because of the potential for fraud. They didn’t react that way to Target, Home Depot, or Walmart when millions of their credit card numbers were compromised. Could it be because ecoATM is a new company, law enforcement is trying to hold them to a double standard when compared to big box stores?

ecoATM can prove there is a second life for 75 percent of all devices collected. For the remaining 25 percent, ecoATM partners with R2 certified e-waste reclamation facilities to ensure that those materials are responsibly reused and recycled. ecoATM holds Responsible Recycling (R2) and ISO14001 certifications, confirming the company’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of electronics recycling, as well as ISO27001 certification for information and personal data security. ecoATM’s tracking system is much better than using Craigslist or a questionable phone reseller to recycle your devices.

The ecoATM spokesperson told BSN* that a Forrester Research study said 57 percent of American device owners have an idle phone laying around their home, yet only 22 percent of those owners say they have previously recycled cellphones they no longer use. The company has already collected more than three million devices. The collection of all those devices enabled the recovery or reuse of 879,000 pounds of recyclable materials that’s nearly enough plastics, metals and potentially toxic materials to equal the weight of two Boeing 747-400 series airplanes.

ecoATM does recommend that everybody write down the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) or Mobile Equipment Identifier (MEID) number of their device. MEID is a form of ESN (Electronic Serial Number). Normally they are hidden below or under your device’s battery. This location will help you find those numbers.

The post ecoATM Recycles Your Tech for Instant Cash appeared first on VR World.

A recently passed law in Russia now requires that if a company wishes to sell a device in Russia that it must keep the cloud data of its users within Russia. This would mean that companies like Google, Apple, Xiaomi, Lenovo and others must keep the cloud data of their customers on servers inside of Russia and that the data must not leave the borders of Russia. This is an obvious move by Russia to stifle competition and to force companies to invest in Russian infrastructure and personnel if they wish to compete in the Russia market.

This is also part of Russia not wanting to have Russian cloud data being transmitted through the US where it can be easily intercepted by the NSA. And at the same time, since the server would be located in Russia, it will give Russian intelligence agencies like the FSB and SVR access to the data of Russians and very likely foreigners visiting Russia as well. There were fears of such activities going on during the Russian Winter Olympics in Sochi, but many of those fears were mostly based on fear mongering and conjecture with little evidence.

The website in Russia reporting on this news does mention that Apple is one of the companies that could be hit by this. There’s also a possibility that Google, Samsung or Xiaomi could be hit by this, but some of those companies may have already anticipated this law’s passage and have already taken steps towards compliance. After all, most Android devices utilize Google’s cloud in one way or another and those manufacturers don’t necessarily have power over how Google stores and utilizes the data in the cloud.

The post Russia to Ban Sale of Devices with Foreign Cloud appeared first on VR World.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has decided to throw its hat into the wearables arena with their own smartwatch/fitness band called the Microsoft Band — no it isn’t a new music group made of Microsoft executives. Microsoft doesn’t specifically call the Microsoft Band a fitness band, but the repeated focus on fitness and health across this product’s features makes it clear that’s Microsoft’s focus and that productivity comes second.  This is most evident in Microsoft’s launching of Microsoft Health, which is a platform to help users of the Microsoft Band to track their fitness and health all in one app, which also happens to work on Android, iOS and Windows Phone.

The company has also already gotten themselves partnered up with Runkeeper, Gold’s Gym and MyFitnessPal in order to give you the best guided fitness experience possible.

In terms of hardware, the Microsoft Band appears to be right up there with their competitors featuring a 1.4″ LCD with a 320 x 106 resolution and 48 hours of battery life, without GPS enabled. It also comes jam packed with more sensors than virtually any other device out there. It features an optical heart rate sensor, a 3-axis accelerometer and gyro, a gyrometer, a GPS sensor, an ambient light sensor, a skin temperature sensor, a UV sensor, a capacitive sensor (display), a galvanic skin response sensor and a microphone. It also features Bluetooth 4.0 (LE) which is what allows for the 2-day battery life. This is all powered by dual 100 mAh batteries, which is why the band cannot be adjusted too much in terms of size. As a result, the watch will come in three sizes and you need to figure out which one fits the thickness of your wrist best.

The Microsoft Band also has a ton of other features which include the 24-hour heart rate monitor, run tracker, step tracker, calorie tracker and sleep tracker. It also has guided workouts and goal setting for the fitness conscious person that takes working out seriously.

There are also tons of alerts and notifications that are also available on the Microsoft Band, which include text messaging, calls, calendar, email and smart notifications for certain apps. There is also — shockingly — a watch mode where you can actually use it as a watch.

The Microsoft Band unsurprisingly also has Facebook and Twitter integration, allowing you to stay up to date on all your social media without needing to take out your phone. There’s also Cortana integration for Windows Phone 8.1 users, allowing you to take notes and set reminders using the Microsoft Band.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, the Microsoft Band also has weather, finance, and a timer/stopwatch functionality, which is admittedly expected of almost any wearable nowadays. The interesting tie-up that Microsoft did make, however, was with Starbucks to allow you to integrate your Starbucks card into the Microsoft Band, adding their own Seattle touch to this device and possibly pleasing a lot of caffeine addicted users.

The $199 Microsoft Band can already be purchased online via Microsoft Store or in person at any Microsoft Store. Be aware that there are three different sizes and that you should get yourself sized before buying one.

The post Say Hello to The Microsoft Band, a Fitness Band for All appeared first on VR World.

While it isn’t entirely clear why Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)  made this announcement today, it is clear that Microsoft’s OneDrive just became an even better deal along with Office 365.

If you subscribe to Office 365 or have an annual subscription, you can get unlimited OneDrive storage for nothing extra. This may actually be Microsoft’s response to BitCasa screwing all of their customers by getting rid of their ‘infinite storage’ business model and forcing people to pay 10x more for capped storage.

Unfortunately, you cannot upload files larger than 10GB to Microsoft’s OneDrive, but realistically there are almost no files in most people’s library that are anywhere near that size unless they’re Blu-Ray or 4K video files. If you don’t already have OneDrive installed, you can install it on your desktop and laptop and use OneDrive to backup all of your data now that its unlimited. Microsoft is being very clever here with their OneDrive promotion because its essentially marketing. The reality of the situation is that 99% of consumers will never use anywhere near 1TB in the cloud and for those that do, Microsoft won’t really have to worry about them because they will barely affect the average. Even if you upload 300TB, if Microsoft has millions of people using OneDrive, you barely affect the average.

Additiontally, having OneDrive go unlimited welcomes people to use the cloud more and more specifically Microsoft’s cloud more so that they can use OneDrive to connect the data between their Xbox, Windows Phone and Windows desktop or laptop. Now that OneDrive is unlimited for Windows365 users, Microsoft has made using Office365 a no brainer for anyone looking to be productive AND anyone looking to store anything significant in the cloud.

The post OneDrive Offers Unlimited Storage with Office 365 appeared first on VR World.

Remember when we reported that T-Mobile was reportedly fined by the FTC for ‘Cramming’? Cramming is/was an industry practice that revolves around trying to charge customers for services that either don’t exist or services that they simply never authorized. They sneakily will put these charges in people’s bills and most people never notice the increased charges or understand what they’re for.

Well, today, AT&T has settled with the FTC and FCC for doing the exact same thing, to the tune of $105 million, $80 million of which will have to go back to consumers in the forms of refunds. $20 million will be paid out to 50 states and $5 million will be paid to the FCC in the form of fines for violating FCC rules. The FTC will be handling the refunds for AT&T customers that were ‘crammed’ and when you consider that AT&T has 100 million customers, $80 million doesn’t actually sound like that much anymore. In fact, if you were to assume they’ve crammed on average every customer at least once, that’s less than $1 per customer in terms of refund and we all know that AT&T doesn’t cram people for a single dollar.

If you were a customer of AT&T any time between now and January 1st, 2009 (which probably was negotiated by AT&T as a start date) then you might be eligible for a refund from AT&T’s fund for this cramming behavior. AT&T claims that they ended such behavior in December of 2013, very likely after the FTC or FCC sent them a very nice letter informing them that they’d been found out and that consumers had complained. Cramming is a dirty practice and should have been punished more heavily than a $105 million fine. We still don’t know the outcome of T-Mobile’s cramming case, but John Legere lashed out at the FCC and FTC and claimed that these were the big carriers going after T-Mobile, which kind of makes his whole argument invalid since AT&T is one of the two ‘big carriers’.

To claim your refund, just head over to the FTC AT&T Refund page and file your claim by May 1st, 2015.

The post AT&T Might Owe You a Refund for Cramming appeared first on VR World.

How many devices do you have that need power or to be charged by USB?  Likely there are a handful of devices, and plugged into a separate USB power adapter for each one.  Anker aims to help cut down your power adapter clutter with its 40W (8A) 5-port family sized USB charger with PowerIQ™.

The 5-port charger is a powerful one with up to 40 watts and 8 amps able to be spread over the ports.  Anker employs its PowerIQ technology, which is a smart circuit that will adjust the amperage to the device’s needs instead of being a set output.  This will allow you to charge your devices that can draw 2.1 amps to charge their batteries faster than a mismatched charger would allow.  This gives the benefit of not having to check the charger you are using each time to make sure you are going to charge as fast as you can.

Specs:

• Input: AC 100-240V
• USB Output: 5V / 8A (total)
• Size: 91 x 58 x 26mm / 3.6 x 2.3 x 1.0in
• Weight: 130g / 4.6oz

*For optimal use

• Use your device’s original cable or a third-party certified one (such as MFi). •
• Compatible with all Apple and Android smartphones, tablets (including the Nexus 7) and other USB-charged devices. The iPod nano, iPod Classic, HP TouchPad, LG G2, Asus tablets and some GPS and Bluetooth devices are not supported.

The power cord is also included and has a hook and loop cord wrap to help keep your clutter to a minimum.

The design is very simple, a non grounded power cord plugs into the power brick that has five USB ports to the front.  There are no power indicators like an led, since your device should indicate to you that it is charging.

Performance

Using a USB voltmeter the voltage and amperage were checked when charging devices.  The 5v output was nice and stable, ranging from 5.05v to 5.07v while charging a HTC One M7.  In comparison the output voltage from a USB 3.0 port on my MSI GT60 notebook came in slightly lower than 5v at 4.91v to 4.94v when charging the same HTC One M7.  The M7 was drawing the same amperage from both devices, which was 0.46a.  The M7 is able to draw more than this with a custom kernel that has fast charging enabled, but I currently don’t have that in my ROM.  Devices that will be able to draw higher amperage will charge much faster like the Samsung Galaxy S5, iPad, iPhones, and the HTC One M8.  The M7 charged at the same speed or faster than it usually had when using the wall wart charger that was originally included with the phone, performing as expected.

Anker’s chart shows how much time savings is possible when charging with PowerIQ enabled chargers.

Value

This is a good deal since you may pay up to $20 on a single usb port charger at your local electronics store.  Having a charger that can handle up to five devices and charge all of them with the proper amperage is much better than having five separate wall warts on a power strip.

The customer support Anker provides is hands down some of the best I have experienced.  Initially I was using one of these with only one device plugged in, when I attempted to plug something else in I learned that only two of the ports were active.  I went to Anker’s website and filled out an RMA form, I was contacted the next business day via e-mail requesting that I provide them the serial number of the charger so they can track these issues.  They confirmed my address and shipped out another unit which I received two and a half days later.  They requested that I recycle the original charger appropriately.  It was pleasantly surprising that I didn’t have to ship anything and only had to make minimal contact to get fast service.

Is it worth it?

When the purchase will have a company that has good customer service and will stand behind its products I find that a big reason to pick something from that company.  It can take the place of five separate wall wart chargers, and being able to be placed where you want it with the detachable cable makes it that much better.  I personally have routed this into my nightstand’s drawer next to my bed, allowing me to charge items out of the way.  Seeing this is priced at an affordable $25.99 I think it would make a wise purchase for your all of your devices.

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Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) today announced that it would be adding a Buy Now button to Twitter, specifically on mobile.

This is yet another move by Twitter to increase their profitability through finding more revenue making opportunities, this follows its partnering with Amazon to tag purchases on Twitter back in May for adding to an Amazon cart. If anything, this Buy Now button is an evolution of that idea, making Twitter the direct point of sale instead of trying to send you somewhere else to buy the item. Twitter has hundreds of millions of users and if it makes this work right, it may actually have figured out eCommerce through social media before another social media company, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB).

What this also does is give Twitter easier access to consumers’ credit cards, which could in turn allow Twitter to effectively become their own marketplace where bands, brands and other companies looking to sell something could sell direct through Twitter and use it as a marketplace in addition to a social media marketing platform. By incorporating Buy Now into Twitter as a whole, the company could effectively start to compete with the likes of Amazon and other etailers that generally have to wait until a consumer is referred to their site through Google or some other form of social media like Pinterest or Facebook. What will be interesting to see is whether or not Facebook and Pinterest will follow Twitter’s lead with this move and add similar Buy Now features to their websites as well. Even though, Pinterest technically already does this with many of its links, it is not directly selling the products, it’s merely a referral platform.

Twitter Buy Now

Twitter’s shares are currently up over 2.5% on this news, clearly indicating that investors are happy with the direction that Twitter is moving, and its really hard to argue with because it makes sense and doesn’t appear to be very intrusive at all. I suspect that consumers will welcome this feature and won’t have much backlash at all. Obviously, this Buy Now button isn’t some sort of wild innovation, but it is a way for social media to become more serious and Twitter to become more profitable.

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We caught wind of a pretty sweet backup battery deal on woot.com, a daily deal website now owned by Amazon. This is for the Gorilla Gadgets CHR-150 Uhuru! 16,800 mAh External Portable Battery Pack Charger with LED Screen. Why is this a great deal? Because Amazon is selling it right now for $70, but Woot.com is selling it for $40 and the suggested retail price is $140. But what makes this thing awesome? Well, other than the fact that it comes with three different charging connectors (microUSB, lightning and Apple 30-pin), it can also fully charge an iPad and an iPhone and probably still have some charge left (depending on whether the devices are on).

While Gorilla Gadgets may not necessarily have a very well recognized name, the online reviews appear to indicate that they make a pretty solid product. And while we haven’t reviewed one of these yet, we’ve reviewed similar products before from a multitude of other companies. These guys appear to make a pretty solid product and at $40 its really hard to beat that big of a battery. Unfortunately, even though it does have two USB ports, only one port is a 2A fast-charger port while the other is a 1A trickle-charger port. It would be nice if they had a 2.5A charger like some of the ones we’ve seen from Patriot, but at $40 its really hard to complain. With a 16,800 mAh battery you could theoretically charge something like 10 iPhones before you run out of juice.

So, with that in mind, we recommend you head on over to Woot.com and check out this charger because its a pretty good one and you’re not going to find a battery pack anywhere near that big for that price. And if you do, you probably should worry about whether or not its going to explode in your hand because that’s ridiculously cheap. Don’t forget, once Woot is out, they’re out and you probably won’t see this price ever again so make sure you buy one if you really need one.

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As Microsoft’s Satya Nadella takes the reigns of the company, it appears as though he’s pushing for some serious blood letting from within the company that currently employs 125,000 people. This enormous 18,000 person layoff figure is mostly thanks to their acquisition of Nokia’s handset and mobile division, which brought on 25,000 people. Out of the 18,000 figure, nearly 12,500 will come from the former Nokia division that they had acquired, which is somewhat to be expected but also incredibly infuriating. Sure, there are going to be a decent amount of redundancies between Nokia and Microsoft, but this amounts to a 50% cut of all Nokia’s workforce. Now, anyone that had left during the Nokia to Microsoft transition looks very smart right about now. And it doesn’t just have to do with the fact that they just dodged the Microsoft bullet.

Microsoft stated that they will do the first round of layoffs with 13,000 people at which point they will then lay off the next 5,000 afterwards, making people constantly fearful of being laid off and working longer hours and doing more work just to keep their jobs. This is the kind of layoff that makes companies look bad and overall will leave quite a distaste for the company with current and former employees. The sad truth is that what Microsoft is doing is really hard to watch when you think about it. Even if Nokia was struggling, they could have easily released Android phones and not ended up having to lay off 50% of their workforce like Microsoft is effectively doing to them now. If you think about it, Stephen Elop just cost half of Nokia their jobs because he decided to run Nokia into the ground. There will always be differing opinions on what Stephen Elop did, but the ultimate result is that Microsoft got a quality smartphone manufacturer for cheap and ruined their business in the process of doing so.

It doesn’t stop there, In addition to the 18,000 layoffs, Satya Nadella also said that Microsoft will cease to produce Nokia Android phones, which means that all future Nokia phones will have to be Windows Phone. Nokia did some experimental stuff with the Nokia X lines of phones prior to the Microsoft acquisition, but since then it appears quite clear that this does not fly with Microsoft. And truthfully, If Nokia had launched a Lumia 1020 with Android (whatever the latest was at the time) it probably would have been one of the best selling phones in the world, ever. Much like Nokia’s N9X line of phones, it brought a world class camera with a world class OS, which Windows Phone simply could not deliver at the time. Sure, Windows Phone is much better than it was, say a year or two ago, but it doesn’t change the fact that Windows Phone’s majority of sales are still in the mid to low end, and not in the high end at all.

There’s no denying that Microsoft needs to refocus their efforts in certain parts of the company and reduce their headcount, but in the end, this all just looks very bad for the company. They’ve already got a lot of things right with their strategy on Office and Windows Phone and they’re clearly improving in a lot of places, even if they did screw up the Xbox golden goose. Ultimately, Microsoft needs a restructuring to figure out exactly where they want to focus and how, but the timing is just very unfortunate and will leave a lot of people very bitter about the Microsoft/Nokia acquisition.

The post Microsoft to Lay Off 18,000, Most Ever in Company History appeared first on VR World.

So, on Friday the Nokia devices and handset division was officially absorbed into Microsoft’s corporate structure and folded into Microsoft’s Devices Group. This officially marks the end of Nokia as an independent handset maker and completes the acquisition that Microsoft had made when they bought the handset division from Nokia (now NSN). It seems as though many of Nokia’s employees will be joining Microsoft today as Microsoft employees, however, the company will only be taking on approximately 25,000 employees from Nokia as they are still going to be leaving a few factories with Nokia due to legal limitations. Elop participated in a Q&A today as the new EVP of Microsoft’s Devices Group and answered a lot of users’ questions about past Nokia devices and decisions, even though some believe he was placed inside Nokia to make the company an affordable acquisition target for Microsoft.

Elop started Friday with an open letter about his new position inside Microsoft and the momentum of Nokia and the brand as a whole, while saying very little to nothing about the future. Nokia also explains that they will continue to maintain the Nokia websites as both a company and as a brand moving forward so that it appears that Microsoft will continue to allow the Nokia brand name to continue to live on for now (thank god). Even though as a phone company Nokia is effectively no longer a company but a brand of Microsoft’s Devices Group. Stephen Elop even said himself during the Q&A that:

Microsoft Mobile Oy is a legal construct that was created to facilitate the merger. It is not a brand that will be seen by consumers.

The Nokia brand is available to Microsoft to use for its mobile phones products for a period of time, but Nokia as a brand will not be used for long going forward for smartphones. Work is underway to select the go forward smartphone brand.

Microsoft also launched a new commercial with the latest Nokia devices showing how colorful they are (as if we didn’t already know?) and how they bring color into our lives and wrapping up the ad with a Microsoft logo rather than a Nokia one. Nokia’s branding was incredibly weak in this commercial, but they make it quite clear that Microsoft is the one that’s in charge now.

In fact, Elop and Satya Nadella (Microsoft’s new CEO) spent some quality time together with their Lumia devices and talking about the new division and leadership. In a fairly detailed posting, Microsoft explained exactly what changes would be coming to Nokia and Microsoft as a result of the acquisition. This is where we learned about the 25,000 employee roll over as well as the continued operation of some of the factories by Nokia while Microsoft takes over the others. After all, as some of you may not know, Nokia manufactures most of their own devices unlike most handset makers that use 3rd party manufacturers/assemblers like Foxconn or Flextronics.

Satya Nadella and Stephen Elop

Also, as part of the agreement, Microsoft will honor all of Nokia’s warranties and policies meaning that no customers have to worry about a loss of coverage as a result of the acquisition. In fact, if you bought a Nokia Lumia phone from Microsoft’s Store like we did, then your warranty situation just got a little more simple if you bought an accidental policy. Even though realistically nothing changes since you are still dealing directly with Microsoft. It will be interesting, however, to see if Microsoft changes how they treat Nokia devices in their stores than they have in the past, even though Nokia’s devices have been pretty prominent in the front of most stores. Perhaps Microsoft will start pushing more of their customers towards Windows Phones now that they actually make a lot more money off the devices than they did in the past…

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For those of you that missed Microsoft’s announcement of the Windows Phone 8.1 update, they said that the update would be rolling out over the course of the next few months across the world. However, the developer preview (basically accessible to anyone that’s interested) is available today. That includes a whole host of small improvements across the OS as well as the addition of Cortana. Windows Phone Central actually has a quick guide of what you actually need to do in order to get your hands on Windows Phone 8.1. The one important thing to note, however, is that only users with Windows Phone 8 and up devices will be able to upgrade to 8.1 and anyone with a Windows Phone 7.x version will not be able to upgrade and gain the new features of 8.1. Some of those features include the Cortana personal voice assistant, VPN connectivity, notification center, more user customization of the interface and an overall better-class OS.

Like we’ve written before, Microsoft certainly has gotten their act together and they appear to be working very hard to make sure that users are getting what they want from their smartphone while at the same time enticing users to switch to Windows Phone from Android or iOS. Currently, Microsoft is still struggling to bring over users that are already part of the Android and iOS ecosystem as most of their users are coming from their low-end devices which are usually people coming to Windows Phone from a ‘dumb phone’.

Microsoft is expanding their hardware partners and they’ve already shown that they’re spending lots of money on their software partners. Now, for them, it will merely be a matter of time until Windows 9 brings all of their platforms together under a single UI and ultimately allow for amazing cross-platform functionalities that utilize their OS’ strength and cloud platforms. Until then, it will be a game of catch up from Microsoft, a game that they’re currently working very hard to push for and honestly they’re making more progress in a much shorter period of time than Apple or Google did with their operating systems. I guess it is easier to make progress once your competitors have paved the way for you, but quality change isn’t easy no matter what what stage.

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If you haven’t been following Microsoft lately, then you’re missing out on what could be one of the most significant changes of strategy I’ve seen in a long time. They have slowly been making baby steps towards reorganizing and reconsidering how they address mobile. I have been following Microsoft’s attitudes towards mobile since Windows Mobile 5.0 and even owned a fair amount of Windows-based devices over the course of that time. However, Microsoft made a lot of mistakes along the way and is finally making major changes to remedy them. And with the smartphone market being a virtual duopoly between Android and iOS it comes as no surprise that people are looking for something different.

At the same time, Microsoft is struggling to retain users in Windows while people start to move towards Android, iOS and ChromeOS-based devices. With their release of Windows 8, Microsoft actually alienated a lot of users because they ruined a fairly well received operating system in Windows 7 and tried to modernize it for touch, but made an insane amount of mistakes. Since then, Microsoft has released Windows 8.1 which has made some significant improvements and is continuing to do so by bringing back the start menu in the Windows 8.1 update which will also bring a bunch of other tweaks that will make Windows 8 more usable for users without touch. One of Microsoft’s biggest mistakes with Windows 8 was to assume that everyone would have touch and that application developers would immediately switch to the ‘Modern’ Metro UI that Windows 8 employs with tiles, many of these tweaks fix those mistakes. Some of those fixes include allowing boot to desktop, a start menu, Metro apps on the desktop taskbar, a persistent taskbar, mouse friendly menus, reduced system requirements and much more. Sure, its a bit late when you consider that Windows 9 is likely due next year, but that’s an entirely different conversation. Right now they need to focus on keeping people happy in the now and preparing for the future, which is exactly what they appear to be doing.

Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia also signifies Microsoft’s renewed focus on hardware as did their announcement about their expansion of hardware partners for Windows Phone, which was necessary to show that they wanted to enable more than just Nokia. Clearly Microsoft can sell their own branded devices as Google does successfully with Nexus and Android. One way that Microsoft followed up on their hardware commitments was by announcing that they would be making Windows free on any device that is 9″ or less, which means we could actually see a lot of 8.9″ Windows tablets relatively soon. But what this enables is Microsoft’s operating system to become a considered option for OEMs when building tablets and smartphones.

Microsoft’s new strategy is to monetize on their cloud software like Office, One Drive and One Note and to utilize their strengths in cloud computing to make their operating systems more attractive. If they continue on this trajectory, they could have a fully unified operating system across all platforms. Eventually, with Windows 9 we can expect to see essentially the same OS plus or minus a few features (based on platform) on Desktop, Tablet and Smartphone. Which is reinforced by Microsoft’s move to make app purchases in their store universally applicable across Windows Phone, Windows 8 and Xbox. This will not only encourage people to use Microsoft’s platform for the flexibility and cross-platform nature, but it will also encourage application developers to make applications that think in a cross-platform manner. That is in combination with their announcement of Cortana, which I would expect to see intelligently integrated into all of Microsoft’s operating systems and eventually into Windows 9. Cortana is going to be Microsoft’s next weapon to fight against Google and Apple to help create differentiation.

I really feel like Microsoft really has it together more than they ever have in their history since Bill Gates left his position as CEO. And to be honest, considering that Bill Gates left Microsoft as CEO when I was 10, it seems pretty fair to say that this is the best I’ve seen them since he stepped down as CEO. They finally understand what they need to do in order to be successful in competing with Google and Apple, and their strategies are solid. Only time will tell how quickly they will start to erode Apple and Google, especially when you consider they’ve successfully helped erode Blackberry’s share.

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