Mobile Phones

[Tripps]

That's terrible. I noticed today the special holiday price, which I payed at Christmas time, has returned for my Wileyfox. The novelty has worn off now, and I'm not expert, but I'd think it can do all that an iphone can. Perhaps they want standardisation, and the iphone provides it. If the students are from Cambridge, they'll probably be well off, and more than likely Chinese.
Worth them asking for the reason why. Could save a lot of money.

[Pluggy]

Maybe they think they can't do much damage when their iPhones are permanently tethered to a charging lead like my daughters iPhone is. (either that or its not tethered and its batteries are flat). I feel hard done by when "the Brick" needs charging more than an hour a week.........

Luddite ? me ? nahhh......

[Stanley]

Then again it could be that Iphone is a generic term for any mobile in the US. I have mailed M&R and given them a link to this topic and told them to trust you all!

[PanBiker]

I think the generic form in the states is cellphone whereas we use mobile, both terms equally descriptive really. Brand assimilation though is global and may have some bearing. If they are locked into the platform it will more likely be down to IOS over Android or Windows.

[Tizer]

For anyone reading this who is not familiar with the terms, IOS is the Apple computer operating system (OS) and Windows is the Microsoft OS. Both are proprietary whereas the Linux OS is available free of charge worldwide and can be modified at will. The various Linux modifications are often known as `flavours'. Ubuntu is a favourite for use on personal computers and Android for use on smartphones. A large number of `open source' software applications are available for Linux PCs free of charge.

Many companies, institutions and other organisations have recognised the advantages of using Linux rather than proprietary software and have made the switch from proprietary platforms. A list of major Linux adopters is available on this Wikipedia web page: Linux adopters

Note that in that list, regarding educational institutions, Germany has announced that 560,000 students in 33 universities will migrate to Linux. Brazil has 35 million students in over 50,000 schools using 523,400 computer stations all running Linux. 22,000 students in the US state of Indiana had access to Linux Workstations at their high schools in 2006. The Chinese government is buying 1.5 million Linux Loongson PCs as part of its plans to support its domestic industry. In addition the province of Jiangsu will install as many as 150,000 Linux PCs, using Loongson processors, in rural schools starting in 2009. The Indian government's tablet computer initiative for student use employs Linux as the operating system as part of its drive to produce a tablet PC for under 1,500 rupees. And in the UK...only two schools are listed as switching to Linux. Many large commercial organisations have made, or are making, the change.

[Stanley]

I've advised Martha to read this topic and to register and ask questions.....
My experience is that the further you can get away from the two behemoths, Microsoft and Apple, the more freedom you have and it's cheaper.....

[Stanley]

The affair of the Apple encryption is fascinating me. The FBI have now dropped the case against Apple because they say they have cracked the encryption with unspecified 'outside help'. Handy because the FBI were in deep trouble over this after the Snowden revelations and the furore over how much information government departments could gather. Apple will of course find the back door and close it and so will we have another episode like this?

[Tizer]

Ian, we're still having puzzling problems with the smartphone. When we got it I was concerned about making sure we didn't download via the mobile network, only by wi-fi. You said to switch off data roaming which we did. LINK When we were at the home of Stanley' friends on Thursday, 28th April, Mrs Tiz switched on her smartphone and took photos. We noticed it did a lot of buzzing at the time. When we got home she looked and found that all her 10MB allowance had disappeared and it seems to have been due to Google Playstore downloading stuff. Data roaming was off and is still off. We don't understand how this could have happened. I've put a photo below of the messages that came down at the time from EE. They are in chrono order, earliest at the top. It shows that she had used up all her previous data and it has provided a further 10MB but then almost immediately the next message arrived saying she had used that up to. Now I'm not accusing Stanley's friends of having stolen our megabytes ( ) but I wonder how this happened? Have you any suggestions?

[PanBiker]

Check in settings then Data Usage that mobile data is off with the toggle switch, then come back to settings and select ...More. Go to Mobile Networks and check there that Data Roaming is toggled off there as well.

Your £1 Talk & Text will renew on a Sunday regardless of what allowances you have used. If both of the above are set to off it should not be using your allowance like that. I had it happen to me once and wondered if it was an App that had switched it back on.

[Tizer]

Thanks very much, Ian, that solves the problem of the mobile activity. Mobile Data was switched on in Data Usage. She had assumed that it needed to be on in order to provide information on data usage and didn't realise that it switched the mobile network data on/off. We'd both assumed that it was switched off because Data Roaming was off.

The disappearance of almost all the 10MB allowance in one go, just by a PlayStore download was a surprise! I suppose this is updating apps regardless of whether we want them or not.

[PanBiker]

Yes, did it once to me to. I was in Sainsbury's at the time when I got an update notification. I looked at it quickly and just hit OK. I was on the £10.00 per month tariff at the time so had 500Mb to go at. It did something like 23 or 25 updates and ate the lot.

The 10Mb data allowance on the £1 pack is no good to man nor beast really, but I suppose you will be like me you don't need it anyway. I got a bonus the other week of a 500Mb data upgrade for regular updating of my tariff pack, I didn't use any of it. It just came and then was overwritten by the normal 10Mb weekly update at the end of the week didn't even notice it was there.

It must be a nightmare for the mums and dads paying for data feeds on their kids mobiles!

If you keep the roaming off it will do all required updates whenever it has access to WiFi. I leave that on all the time, it learns and retains the information for any hotspots that you attach it to. My phone knows my WiFi and my sons and daughters hubs in their houses as well as various free open ones in motorway service stations, museums and a few restaurants and the like. Internet access of course via all of these when in range. You have to manually delete WiFi feeds in your list if you no longer want them.

[Stanley]

Sounds like a Cunning Wheeze to me.....

[Tizer]

Yes, smartphones are one almighty big Cunning Wheeze, Stanley, but then so is much of what we have to deal with these days. If you want some of the functionality that a smartphone offers - and I'll agree with Ian that there are some very useful aspects - then you have to put up with everything that comes with it and sort out what you can switch off. Play them at their own game! At bit like credit cards, which you and I have had for decades and if you learn the tricks the banks and card companies play then you work out how to get free use of the card and never have to pay any fees or interest. If you're lazy, gullible or can't be bothered then they'll empty your pockets for you. It's a bit like a night out in the town centre, you've got to have your wits about you. The ones I feel sad for are those who through no fault of their own get taken for a ride - the less able and those who are hit by misfortune and not able to pay attention. It's a jungle out there!

Ian, Mrs Tiz doesn't want most of those things in the Playstore - is there a way to delete them or are they a fixed item?

[PanBiker]

Cunning wheezes apart my mobile cost me £1 per week. I can make all the calls and send all the texts I want for that with no further charge. The extra functionality of the device provided by the various apps I have make it even more useful. I'm not on any contract so cannot be held to paying for anything I don't want. I think it is extremely good value for the convenience and multiple uses I get from it.

[Big Kev]

eMrs Tiz doesn't want most of those things in the Playstore - is there a way to delete them or are they a fixed item?

As Google own the Android OS unfortunately their apps are part of a standard build. There are ways around this but it's not a straightforward job.

[PanBiker]

It will be much the same on the Apple platform, in fact any computer based platform, Ubuntu does not seem a lot different to Windows with regard to the constant upgrade department.

From the Android mobile point of view just ensure you have Mobile Data switched off and just let it get on with it's updates whenever it's attached to a WiFi feed. Costs nothing and it will just do it in the background once initialised. I'm happy that the built in mapping apps are probably more up to date than those on paid for dedicated GPS devices. I am constantly amazed that my Geocaching app on the phone is accurate to within inches.

[Pluggy]

The bottom line is that in 2016, 10MB of data is next to nothing. Most people can use 100 times that (1 GB) for fun these days. I get 150 MB thrown in when I top up my smart phone. which doesn't last long if I use the phone for anything bigger than trivia. The dumb "brick" I bought a while back has taken over as my main mobile phone now and Data becomes irrelevant. Use the Wifi and live with it.

[Stanley]

If I ever buy a phone I'll talk to you Pluggy! That looks like my sort of machine!

[PanBiker]

I got a bonus the other week of a 500Mb data upgrade for regular updating of my tariff pack, I didn't use any of it.

It was even better than that, I have just received a text to tell me that my free 1GB data allowance has now ended, back to my 10MB which I wont use either.

[Tripps]

Glad you still use the 'brick Plugs. I keep mine in the car for spare, and try to remember to use it every few weeks to keep the credit active.

The Wileyfox just gets better and better. I bought a Roberts Internet radio (83i) on Gumtree last week, and now I can control it from an app on the mobile phone. We're in Dan Dare territory here.

The sound quality is good, and I can get ABC Alice Springs as easily as the BBC. The Aussie accents seem stronger at home than over here. Button number one is of course Dublyah Dee Vee Ex daaaart caaarm from Knoxville Tennessee. (WDVX)

[Stanley]

"Paying for stuff via a mobile phone is a bridge too far." Too right Pluggy!
Why has my new smart phone racked up £8 in charges since Pluggy set it up when I have made no calls and it's never left the kitchen?

[Big Kev]

"Paying for stuff via a mobile phone is a bridge too far." Too right Pluggy!
Why has my new smart phone racked up £8 in charges since Pluggy set it up when I have made no calls and it's never left the kitchen?

Is the 'data' connection switched off? It shouldn't be using credit if it's only using wifi...

[Stanley]

I can't find settings Kev. I think I need a tutorial......

[plaques]

Mrs P's smart phone is giving similar trouble, I know nothing about phones so I'm not allowed to touch it but a Vodafone computer support 'Chat' session gave the impression that they would sort it all out. Something to do with 'Data' and the internet connection giving us weather reports, horoscopes and Data purchases. Money is still draining away at roughly £2 a day. Another Chat will be made later this morning. The bottom line is if they don't sort it out this phone will go in the bin along with their reputation for customer relations. Any suggestions how to get rid of these charges will be welcome.

[Stanley]

I second that P.....!!!