We have talked about 4G LTE on our previous post so this is a continuation of 4G LTE, you can follow the full story of the previous post here.

For people who like to share photos and videos on their mobile phone, 4G offers a significant improvement, according to Ofcom

4G speeds 'seven times faster' than 3G

Uploading content, such as photos or videos, is more than seven times faster on 4G than on 3G, according to new research published by Ofcom today.

Internet service providers usually advertise their services based on their download speeds, as this is what matters if you are consuming web content by browsing informative and upto date websites or streaming video, for example jonesarena.

However, the mobile internet experience tends to be more interactive, with many people using their phones and tablet to share photos and videos on the fly, so upload speeds are becoming more important especially for web developers and publishers.

The communications regulator Ofcom has today published its first research into consumers’ experience of mobile broadband in the UK, based on 210,000 tests of 4G and 3G services.

The research reveals that the average upload speed over 4G is 12.4Mbps compared to 1.6Mbps for 3G.

EE’s (14.7Mbps) and O2’s (13.0Mbps) 4G upload speeds are above average, followed by Vodafone and Three with 11.4Mbps and 11.1Mbps respectively. Three offers the fastest average upload speed over 3G (1.7Mbps).

Meanwhile, the average mobile broadband download speed on 4G (15.1Mbps) is more than twice as fast as on 3G (6.1Mbps) across all the networks.

EE and O2 offer faster than average 4G download speeds at 18.4 Mbps and 15.6Mbps respectively. Vodafone delivers an average 4G download speed of 14.3Mbps, and Three 10.7Mbps.

Stable Internet For Consumers and Businesses

Having fast, reliable broadband on the move is vital for many consumers and businesses across the Globe," said Ofcom chief executive, Ed Richards.

Today’s research shows 4G is providing a significantly enhanced mobile broadband experience to customers, which we expect to be available to 98% of the UK population by 2017 at the latest."

The research also reveals differences in performance between the five cities analysed – Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Manchester.

Manchester has the highest average 4G upload speed (13.2Mbps), while Glasgow and London has the lowest (11.8Mbps and 12.0Mbps respectively). The highest average 3G upload speeds were recorded in Edinburgh and Glasgow (both 1.7Mbps), while the lowest were found in London (1.4Mbps).

When it comes to download speeds, the highest average speeds for 4G and 3G were recorded in Edinburgh (16.8Mbps and 7.8Mbps respectively). London has the lowest average 4G (13.1Mbps) and 3G (4.1Mps) download speeds.

Ofcom said that its report is designed to incentivise mobile providers to offer a higher quality of service, while helping consumers choose a mobile package that best suits their needs.

However, Paul Carter, CEO of engineering company GWS, has slammed the report, claiming that Ofcom’s research does not realistically represent consumers’ mobile experiences.

"Consumers who only use their devices while standing stock still in select city centre locations might experience average download speeds of 15.1Mbps on 4G – unfortunately this rules out every real person with a mobile," he said.

"This report doesn’t tell us anything about network reliability, coverage, connectivity on the move – it’s the network benchmarking equivalent of a beauty pageant."

Xbox One and 360 in one package

A hardware modder, Ed Zerick who has gone ahead and made a “combo” laptop, containing both the Xbox One and Xbox 360 systems in one very convenient package!  named the “Xbook Duo,” this combo laptop allows users to switch between Xbox One and Xbox 360 with the flip of a switch.

It can be describe as the first dual game system laptop. The XBOOK DUO has both a XBOX 360 and a XBOX ONE installed on the inside. This allows you to have a XBOOK that can play any XBOX game! Both 360 and ONE! Finally a Backwards compatible XBOOK!

It has the same features of his Xbook and Playbook, keeping the same 22″ screen, as well as having ethernet in and HDMI out. The full youtube video showing off the Xbook Duo can be watched with this video link.

Sadly, the Xbook Duo is not available for sale, as Zarick built it simply to see if he could. So, if you’re looking to get your hands on one, you’re out of luck. But, who knows! Maybe he will decide to sell these someday.

So, what do you guys think of this? Leave your thoughts below.

What is 4G LTE? Part2

It has been around for some time now, but 4G is still a phenomenon that few understand. LTE, or "long term evolution" to give it its full title, is not as prevalent as many would like. But as its coverage increases, and new devices hit the market which are capable of taking advantage of it, more people are taking an interest. For those who are still in the dark, here is our guide to 4G LTE.

What is 4G?

Just like 3G before it, 4G is the carrier/network data plan that your smartphone uses in the absence of Wi-Fi to send and receive digital information. Traditionally, the data speeds carried by 3G (the mobile data transfer technology which has been being used for the past decade) are much slower than those offered by Wi-Fi, but 4G bridges that gap to some extent. 4G is roughly 5 times faster than 3G, though it can be much more, and can easily rival some home Wi-Fi speeds. However, this is restricted to areas which support a 4G enabled device.

What is LTE?

LTE is the fastest, most stable, version of 4G. As you might have guessed, 4G does come in other, less impressive variants (like WiMax and HSPA+), but thankfully LTE is becoming the most widespread service.

How do I get 4G LTE?

First, you will need a 4G LTE enabled handset. If researching a new handsets, look at the "connectivity" section to see if "LTE" is listed in there. You can also see it in your Mobile Network Settings menu on compatible devices (usually it will be under your preferred network).

Next, you will need to be in an area which has 4G LTE coverage. The number of regions where this is supported is growing all the time, and it's most commonly available in bigger cities, but this is dependent on your carrier. If you’re in a suitable area, your smartphone should automatically connect to an LTE network, provided you have it selected as your preferred network mode in your settings.

Ghana telecom company launches first 4G ...

How much does 4G LTE cost?

This will depend on your carrier and your device, but usually you don't pay a premium for the use of LTE, you just pay for a larger monthly data capacity. The caveat here is that because LTE is faster than 3G, the amount of data consumed when using it is invariably more.

What is the future of 4G LTE?

By 2017 it looks like most countries in the world including west Africa, US and UK are going to have 4G support, but don't hold your breath for 5G anytime soon: some experts say it won't be here until 2020 at the earliest. 

Is your device/ internet provider LTE enabled?

What is 4G LTE? Part2

The Facebook takeover of WhatsApp was only finalized recently, but already we can see Mark Zuckerberg's ubiquitous social network having an influence over the popular messaging app: WhatsApp now shows when messages have been read, courtesy of the magical WhatsApp blue tick!

In an over-the-air update which is already available to everyone, WhatsApp received additional functionality to display when sent messages have been read, making its differences between Facebook Messenger ever smaller. When a message has been read, the two ticks seen in your WhatsApp conversation window will now turn blue. In group chats, checks will only turn blue when ALL recipients have read the message. 

INSTALL Whatsapp                

Blackberry is trying to reinvent itself to stay relevant in the smartphone markets across the world. An important part of Blackberry ecosystem is the software it makes. The ever popular Blackberry Messenger application now offers self destructing messages (a la Snapchat) and also offers message retraction. The updated version of BBM has been made available across all the platforms. Blackberry OS, Android and iOS. 
The feature, called 'Timed Messages' allow you to send self destructing messages. It allows the sender to define how long will the receiver will have access to the pictures or text you've sent via BBM. As soon as the set time for the message expires, the message is deleted from the recipient's application. If the receiver takes a screenshot of the message, the sender is alerted about the same as well. Blackberry believes that this feature will give the users of blackberry more control over their own privacy.

The second addition to the latest BBM, called Retractable Messages will allow the sender to retract the message before it's read by the receiver. The receiver will not know about the message that has been retracted. Both the features are being offered as 'premium features' but will be free for the first three months.

The latest update also lets the users send and receive full versions of the pictures (without any compression). You should be able to get access to all these new features over the next few days/weeks via an update.

Microsoft to Cut Xbox One Prices for Holidays

Microsoft has announced that it will offer a $50 price reduction to its entire family of a Xbox One next-generation gaming consoles.  Microsoft newest price points have a little something for most gamers as their Xbox One model that comes with the Kinect motion camera will retail for $449 – a $50 reduction from its list price of $499.  The standalone Xbox One without the Kinect camera will sell for $349 (down from $399).  This $50 price drop will also be seen in various Xbox gaming bundles as well.  This reduction is clearly a shot at Sony’s PlayStation 4 that has outsold the Xbox One this year.

Google's awesome new email experiment, Inbox by Gmail, started out as an exclusive invite-only affair. But a few days after it was released to the few, it was released to many more, with a lot of invite requests being sent out to those that were quickest to request them. Then, a few days after that, three golden tickets appeared for the early birds to gift to their friends. Update: While the golden tickets evaporated within minutes of appearing, now they have been replenished, making those with Inbox by Gmail invitations to share suddenly popular again. We've shared how to get an Inbox by Gmail invite below.

It's still unclear if Google is replenishing golden tickets on a regular basis (with new invites appearing every Monday), periodically depending on when you gave away the last of your invites, or just randomnly, but myself and a few others at jonesarena found our stock of three invites magically renewed this morning as we settled in at our desks. For us that's been a week since we first had golden tickets to share.

If you haven't yet requested an invitation to Inbox by Gmail and don't have any friends with spare invites, you can still send an email to inbox@google.com to request one. A few days after you get invited you should have three golden tickets to share with friends, and a week after that it looks like your stocks will be refreshed. So you'll be popular at least once a week for the foreseeable future!

How to get an invitation for Inbox by Gmail

If your firiend has Inbox by Gmail, the golden tickets are located above the compose button (the little red floating bubble). Just tap the golden ticket and enter a personal Gmail address (corporate accounts don't work yet). You only get three invites to start with, so choose wisely. Just don't go trying to sell an Inbox by Gmail invite to anyone.

If you receive the invitation email and don't want it, you can forward it on to a friend who will then be able to use Inbox as long as that invitation email is in their Gmail inbox. There's some ''pay it forward'' type threads on Reddit for getting and giving Inbox invites too.

Update: If you sign into your device (assuming you have Inbox) with a friend's Google account, switch to their name in the app and then get them to launch the app on their phone, they should have access to the service, even if you delete their account from your phone afterwards. Enjoy the Inbox by Gmail.

INSTALL

NFC stands for near-field-communication, essentially, a way for your phone to interact with something in close proximity. It operates within a radius of about 4 cm and provides a wireless connection between your device and another. This allows for two-way communication, with both devices involved being able to send and receive information. This NFC connection does not rely on Wi-Fi, 3G, LTE, or otherwise, and it does not cost to use.

NFC is something you may often hear about in regards to new smartphones, but something which few people have an understanding of, or even use. Yes, it’s an acronym, but not all acronyms have to be scary! Not only is NFC easy to understand (at least in principle), it can also be incredibly useful.

Just like Bluetooth

It is like Bluetooth! Both Bluetooth and NFC offer wireless 2-way transmission between devices and usually come as standard on modern smartphones.

However, they do differ in some areas. Bluetooth has a larger operational range (up to 30 feet, in some instances), but it usually consumes more battery (though this is quickly changing thanks to the latest Bluetooth low energy, or BLE, developments). Also, Bluetooth takes a little longer to set up and, because of its wide range, can be a little more difficult to navigate in crowded situations.

NFC vs Bluetooth

Because NFC needs to be in close proximity, it is easier to set up and pair with another device than Bluetooth. The connection is made within a fraction of a second, but the data transfer speed is slower. The NFC’s ease of use is its biggest strength and it can also be used in conjunction with Bluetooth for even better performance. Ultimately, both technologies have their benefits, NFC for simplicity and Bluetooth for larger range and more demanding file transfers.

What can we use NFC for?

One of the typical uses of NFC technology is listening to music through wireless speakers. In this case, the NFC relies on the data transfer via Bluetooth, but it’s the NFC which is responsible for the initial connection of smartphone to your speakers. This optimizes the connection without having to resort to the fiddly Bluetooth pairing of speaker and smartphones, as I discussed above.

Connecting NFC tags

The NFC tags are small physical “tags” or “stickers” containing NFC chips can be programmed to provide any kind of information to your smartphone. Typically, an NFC tag contains links to a web address, but it can also be set to perform certain actions with your smartphone, like turn on the Wi-Fi, or turn down the ringer.

In the future these tags could be embedded into just about anything. For example, an NFC tag could be used in a restaurant menu to make the most up-to-date version of it available immediately on your phone. All you would need to do is bring your smartphone into proximity of the physical menu, and you could potentially browse more detailed information of certain menu items, like nutritional value or ingredients. Where NFC presents an advantage over current QR technology is that there is no need for a “scanner app”, the information is available instantaneously.

Making payments with NFC

What will possibly become the biggest use for NFC in the near (field) future is Tap and Pay option it provides. NFC payments are already available in many stores across the US, and the UK for purchases of £15 or less, using an app like Softcard or Google Wallet: all it involves is tapping your phone against an enabled terminal. Now that Apple has included an NFC antenna in the iPhone 6 to work in conjuction with its new Apple Pay feature (and will include similar functionality in the Apple Watch), these type of cardless, wireless payments are going to become more and more prevalent.

Using NFC to transfer file on android

Through NFC connectivity you can also send certain files between devices using Android Beam. First you need to enable NFC and Android Beam on both devices, then all you need to do is go to the file you wish to send, say, a photo, and tap the devices together! That’s right, you don’t even need to select any “send via” options, just put the devices back to back, and when it asks to confirm the transfer hit "touch to beam".

Does your phone has NFC?

It will depend on your handset, but generally you can go to  "settings" > "wireless and networks" to see if NFC is listed. Most modern smartphones now come with NFC as standard.

There you have it. NFC provides the quickest way to set up connections between electronic devices and provides the fastest solution for file transfer between handsets in close proximity.