Windows Phone 8 release date: when can I get my new phone?

Shut up and take my money!

With the announcement of the Windows Phone 8 prices, you'll be pleased to know you won't need to wait long to get your hands on one.

But with a plethora of phones on offer, and a number of networks promising to thrust them into your hands, how much will you need to fork out and how many days will your have to count down?

The HTC Windows Phone 8X UK release date has been set for 2 November, but the rest of the phones will be available on multiple networks and retailers later in the month it seems.

HTC Windows Phone 8X

The first Windows Phone 8 handset we've subjected to our intensive testing (see the HTC 8X review to get an idea what's going on) but is a slightly more expensive option thanks to the Beats Audio power and improved design.

If you want to get your hands on the phone, pre-orders are now open for the HTC 8X, with a release date of 2 November being touted from the likes of Phones 4U, Three and Carphone Warehouse.

Some networks are charging for the phone up front, but here's our guide to how much you'll need to pay and the cost each month:

• Phones 4U: (No cost up front) £31 per month

• Carphone Warehouse: No price as yet

• EE: (£29) £36 per month

• O2: (£29) £36

• Vodafone: No price as yet

• Three: (£30) £29

HTC Windows Phone 8S

The little brother to the flagship Windows Phone 8 handset is proving a hit with the networks, with most choosing to range the new device.

With it's amp-less innards and lower spec, it's certainly one of the cheaper choices on offer – but just how much will it cost you?

Read our hands on: HTC 8S review

• Phones 4U: (No cost up front) £20.50 per month

• Carphone Warehouse: No price as yet

• EE: (No cost) £20.50

• O2: (No cost) £21.50

• Vodafone: No price as yet

• Three: No price as yet

Nokia Lumia 920

This is the phone that most people are excited about – and for good reason, given the huge plethora of technology on offer inside. Be it wireless charging, the ability to text with gloves on or the Puremotion HD+ screen, it's got a lot going for it.

However, here's the rub: it will be an exclusive to EE (thanks to being the only 4G Windows Phone 8 handset) and will therefore cost a boatload to own. Sad times.

Read our hands on: Nokia Lumia 920 review

• Phones 4U: (£19.99 cost up front) £46 per month

• EE: (£49) £36 per month

Nokia Lumia 820

The little brother to the Finns' big hitter, the Lumia 820 offers some similar features but skimps on a few specs to keep the cost down.

You'll be able to chuck on a range of cases (including the ability to wirelessly charge) and a more-than-half-decent camera to boot – great for those on a budget, although it's not the cheapest on offer by far.

Read our hands on: Nokia Lumia 820 review

• Phones 4U: (No cost up front) £31 per month

• Carphone Warehouse: No price as yet

• EE: (No cost) £36 per month

• O2: (No cost) £36 per month

• Vodafone: No price as yet

Samsung Ativ S

The 'under the radar' member of the Windows Phone 8 clan (thanks to only just being shown off in any kind of shape to the prying eyes of us journalists) it's been dubbed the Windows Phone 8 Galaxy S3… and that's a pretty good mantle to have.

It's thin, light and comes with a whopping Super AMOLED screen… this could be the underground hit for Microsoft if ever there was one, despite the fact not many networks are stocking it (read: O2).

Read our hands on: Samsung Ativ S review

• Phones 4U: (No cost up front) £36 per month

• O2: (No cost) £36 per month

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/windows-phone-8-release-date-when-can-i-get-my-new-phone-1108436

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EE 4G tariffs unveiled - £56 each month for 8GB of data

How much for how much?

EE has finally lifted the lid on its impending 4G prices, revealing some pretty eye-watering costs.

The new service will be launched on 30 October, and will feature other treats such as free films weekly and fixed line fibre optic broadband.

The pricing for the new 4G service is the subject most people want to know about, and while it's not going to cause you to need a new mortgage to get involved, it's not exactly cheap either.

For just 500MB of data you'll need to fork out £36 per month, with 1GB costing £41 for the same term. 3GB will come in at £46, 5GB £51 and the top end tariff offering 8GB for 56 pound coins each payday.

Handset Prices

As if the monthly costs weren't already enough, you may need to brace yourself when you cast your eye over the handset costs.

The cheapest, by a country mile, is the Huawei Ascend P1 LTE, which will set you back just £19.99 on the £36 per month contract, while you'll be able to get it for free on anything higher.

That's about it for the good news though, as the next cheapest handsets at the £36 per month level are the HTC One XL and Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE, both of which require you to shell out £149.99, with the most expensive being the iPhone 5 64GB, which costs £379.99.

Other than the Ascend P1, none of the other handsets can be picked up for free, even on the highest, £56 per month contract. The full details can be found in the table below.

12 month contracts

If you don't like the idea of being tied down for a whole two years, you can opt for a 12 month contract, which will see you pay slightly more each month, but the handset prices stay the same as shown in the table above.

Each tariff level on a 12 month contract will be £10 dearer than its 24 month equivalent, so the cheapest option with 500MB of data will set you back £46 per month, while the most expensive is £66 per month, giving you 8GB of data.

Freebies

It's worth noting that all these tariffs come with unlimited phone calls and texts, but when you consider you get unlimited data with T-Mobile's Full Monty plan for the same cost as 500MB on 4G, you have to wonder where the extra cash comes in.

Of course, with greater speed comes larger downloads, so unlimited data on 4G isn't something that would make a lot of sense at this stage, and of course this new billion pound equipment has to be paid for somehow.

But there will be a lot of consumers wondering why their data costs so much more for a faster connection – at least EE is going to give a free film to download or stream each week, without affecting their data allowance, and other films will start at 79p, rising to £3.99 for the most expensive.

Users will have the choice of 700 films at launch, with 200 new releases, however it's worth noting that all films will only be available in standard definition, slightly disappointing as the 4G handsets sport full HD displays.

SIM-only plans

On top of the 24 month contract, EE will also be offering 12 month SIM-only plans from November 9, starting at £21 per month all SIM-only deals include unlimited calls and texts.

Prises for the SIM-only plans will rise depending on how much data you want coupled with your tariff, more details on this will become available in due course.

If you're concerned about blazing through your new found 4G data allowance in a matter of days, EE has your back, as the network will send you a text once you've ploughed through 80% of your monthly allowance.

You'll receive another alert once you've used all your data, and it will offer you various data add-ons to see you til the end of the month - or you can opt out and stay data free until your balance resets.

Turbo homes

Fibre optic broadband will also be on offer, with speeds up to 10 times faster than currently available in homes and offices.

The 4G service will also support tethering and VoIP telephony, although we can see most consumers veering away from these services if they don't want to impact their data allowance each month.

If you fancy taking EE's home broadband package and a 4G phone plan together you will be offered a discount of up to £120 on your phone plan.

All those that have taken out an Orange or T-Mobile contract in the last six months can jump onto the new network, with the option to upgrade to a 4G phone.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/ee-4g-tariffs-unveiled-56-each-month-for-8gb-of-data-1106178

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WeHostels takes on the space between CouchSurfing and Airbnb

Travel app WeHostels has all the app finesse of Airbnb without the high prices. The startup officially launches to target the last-minute backpacking crowd.

Today WeHostels is announcing its public launch, pivoting from its beginnings as Inbed.me. The currently mobile-only app is targeting the space between CouchSurfing and Airbnb — the world of cheap hotel and hostel bookings. The startup is still riding its $1.2 million raised this past spring, and silently added 30,000 downloads in the past three weeks.

Before the WeHostels mobile app, the service existed as Web client Inbed.me – but surprise, we users all have our minds in the gutter and interpreted the name in the most inappropriate way possible. Though there’s been a name change, the concept more or less remains the same: Connect to Facebook and find last-minute affordable last-minute accommodations on-the-go. It’s not all utility, however, and the social link gives you options to connect with other guests so you can, as WeHostels puts it, make friends en route before you even get to your destination.

Of course, the other big switch-up would be that fact that WeHostels is entirely ditching the desktop in favor of a mobile-approach. According to the team, it was a pure logistics decision when they saw traffic from smartphones growing 10 times faster than their Web app.

“We decided to focus only in mobile because it’s a fascinating new arena that requires a very unique set of skills in terms of product design and distribution,” says co-founder Diego Saez-Gil. “By focusing only in mobile, we’re forcing ourselves to become experts on it, and therefore we can outperform any team in any big company working on it.”

Despite that focus, WeHostels sees beyond the smartphone. “In the future we plan to develop solutions for all devices and platforms – we will need to be ubiquitous,” Saez-Gil tells me. “But we prefer to start on the one platform where the new ways of interacting with the Web are happening.”

The fast and quiet growth that WeHostels experiencd over the last few weeks saw the userbase grow largely in the United States, with Europe coming in second, and from there travelers in South America and Australia getting on board with the network. The current version of WeHostels has 80 cities available, but new partnerships with Hostelworld and Expedia will hugely increase those options worldwide.

“We will keep growing in terms of cities and accommodations, and we will develop for other devices,” says Saez-Gil, who mentions that iPad and Android are up next. “In the longer future we consider expanding to other verticals in the travel space and becoming the one-stop-shop where young travelers plan and book their trips from mobile devices.” 

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/wehostels-takes-on-the-space-between-couchsurfing-and-airbnb/

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