If the new Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro from Google appeal. And you happen to be an avid gamer. Look no further than this amazing offer from Vodafone.
Not only will you get Googles latest smartphone offering. But you’ll also be able to nab yourself a Stadia Premiere Edition bundle. Have a look at the starting deals below.
Pixel 6;
– 100GB Data – Unlimited Calls – Unlimited SMS – 5G Plan – Stadia Premiere Edition*
£34pm with £9 upfront. 36 month phone plan with a 24 month 100GB airtime plan.
This can be customised to better suit your needs with Vodafone’s ‘Build your Phone Plan’ button.
Pixel 6 Pro;
– 100GB Data – Unlimited Calls – Unlimited SMS – 5G Plan – Stadia Premiere Edition*
£41pm with £19 upfront. 36 month phone plan with a 24 month 100GB airtime plan.
Again, this can be customised with the ‘Build you Phone Plan’ button.
The offer to claim the Stadia Premiere Edition bundle ends on 6 December 2021. And comes with the following terms.
*Claim a Google Stadia Premiere Edition
Buy a Google Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro (subject to availability), between 28/10/2021 at 00:01 am to 06/12/2021 at 23:59pm and claim Google Stadia Premiere Edition for free. Eligible customer accounts will be contacted within 3 working days of order completion with instructions to redeem. Participants must be 18 or older with a delivery address in the UK. Redemption window closes 16/12/2021 at 23:59pm.
To see the Pixel 6 offers on Vodafone, follow the link below.
Whether you’re after a PAYG smartphone, Sim Only, Pay Monthly smarthphone, a GPS tracker or Giga Fast Pro Broadband. Vodafone has some great deals to choose from.
These are just some of the deals currently available on Vodafone;
Xiaomi Redmi 9AT: NOW: £79 (when bought with a Big Value Bundle) Offer valid until 25 November 2021.
Samsung A12: NOW: £169 (when bought with a Big Value Bundle) Offer valid until 25 November 2021.
Motorola Edge 20 Lite: NOW: £229 (when bought with a Big Value Bundle) Offer valid until 25 November 2021.
Nokia G10: NOW: £99 (when bought with a Big Value Bundle) Offer valid until 25 November 2021.
Alcatel 3080: NOW: £20 (when bought with a Big Value Bundle) Offer valid until 25 November 2021.
Nokia G50: NOW: £169 (when bought with a Big Value Bundle) Offer valid until 25 November 2021.
TCL 10L: NOW: £125 (when bought with a Big Value Bundle) Offer valid until 25 November 2021.
Superfast 2 Basic – Superfast Fibre Broadband with67Mbps average speeds – £20 per month. Offer valid until 29 November 2021.
Gigafast 900 Pro – Gigafast Pro Broadband with Alexa Built-In at no extra cost – with 910Mbps average speeds – £30 per month*. Offer of Alexa Built-In at no extra cost valid until 29 November 2021. 50% off CityFibre 910 Mbps in select locations.
£10 Big Value Bundle. NOW: 25GB data, unlimited minutes and unlimited texts. Offer valid until 31 January 2022.
£15 Big Value Bundle. NOW: 50GB data, unlimited minutes and unlimited texts. Offer valid until 31 January 2022.
Curve Bike: 25% off. NOW: £59 (25% off) plus £4 per month service fee on a 12 month contract or £3 per month service fee on a 24 month contract.
You have an electric car (EV), and you’re driving to your destination and you spot that your battery is getting low. We live in 2021 and with the world turning to renewal energy sources, green and clean ways to mass produce, and electric cars to reduce emissions. You’d think that finding a charger would be as easy as filling up at a petrol station, right?
WRONG! And the reason I say this, there’s just simply not enough EV chargers around the UK. At least to cater for the demand and growth of the EV car industry.
I live in a village / town in West Sussex, and to say I have no chargers is an understatement. I have to travel to my local supermarket (4.1miles away) to charge my car at 7kw. If I want a faster charge (22kw), then I have to travel even further (14miles). And you may think. That’s not that far to travel, and I do agree with that.
4 miles is relatively close, as is 14miles. But if I needed charge desperately. It’s the difference between making it to a charger or effectively having zero percent left in my car and breaking down.
There’s plenty of chargers don’t me wrong. But they’re few and far between. And even travelling to a place like Brighton, where it does have quite a few around. They’re not really in the main part of Brighton. And when you do find one, they’re quite pricey when combined with the parking costs that you also have to pay.
The other issue is downtime and being out of order. The amount of times I’ve driven to a charger, to find it’s not working. Meaning I then have to travel even further and use more of the depleting battery to get some charge. It’s quite frankly frustrating and ridiculous.
So the option you have is to get a charger installed at your home. But even with the governments reduced cost to get one installed. It’s still a big chunk of money to put down and then have to pay energy costs on top – and with energy prices souring right now, I’d be worried to even consider charging at home.
Not everyone can afford the luxury of a home charger. And the amount you generally save on petrol, tax and other costs. Why then waste all that money on high energy costs and home chargers? You may as well stick with petrol and never have to worry.
I love driving fully electric – It’s such a great feeling, knowing I’m not contributing to more shitty emissions in the air we breathe. But something really has to give.
We need more public chargers now more than ever. I see people curiously standing and reading signs while I charge publicly. And curiosity eventually converts to sales. So why aren’t we a country that invests more in the infrastructure? We need more public chargers, and we needed them last year.
I hear companies like Shell are investing in more public chargers and this is very welcome. But it’s going to take time to get out there. And even then, my town and even your town may not be on the rollout list. As I’d imagine, they’ll be installed where the most people buy electric cars.
We need more publicly available chargers in almost every town, and we need competitive pricing, so that those that want to convert to an EV, have the option to charge while on the go, and not just on a motorway.
When will we get to a point, where we can say we have more than enough chargers around? Time is ticking and the boom has already happened.
Virgin Media O2 has unveiled the first electric vehicle (EV) in its new fleet, as it announces plans to install EV charging points at all its fleet drivers’ homes
The company has ordered 280 electric vans as a first step towards moving its 4,300-strong fleet to EVs by 2030
Through its ‘dig once’ approach with Liberty Charge (deploying charging points at the same time as fixed and mobile networks) the company is working to supercharge the rollout of electric vehicle infrastructure across the UK
London, 10th November 2021: To coincide with Transport day at COP26 in Glasgow, Virgin Media O2 is today unveiling the first of its new electric vehicles (EVs), as it works to transition its entire fleet to EVs by 2030. Alongside the new zero-emission vehicles, the business is also committed to supporting the rollout of EV charging infrastructure nationwide, offering free charging points to its fleet drivers and continuing to deploy charging points alongside its fixed and mobile network rollout across the UK.
This first step towards Virgin Media O2’s 2030 EV fleet goal has seen the business order 280 new Vauxhall e-Vivaros to carry out service and install visits at customers’ homes nationwide. It will continuously review its fleet and look to transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as quickly as possible to support a greener economy.
Drivers of Virgin Media O2’s 4,300-vehicle fleet will also be offered charging points in their own homes as part of the move. This will enable them to charge their new electric vans overnight and contribute to a cleaner future for UK transport. Virgin Media O2 already offers EV charging for employees at its Slough, Reading and Hammersmith office sites.
Building better EV charging infrastructure
Since 2020, Virgin Media has been working with Liberty Charge (a joint venture between Virgin Media O2 joint owner Liberty Global & Zouk Capital) to install EV charging points alongside its existing infrastructure and ongoing network build programme, and support the transition to EVs. Liberty Charge and Virgin Media O2 are continuing to work together to assess where they can follow a ‘dig once’ strategy – deploying fixed and mobile solutions at the same time as EV charging infrastructure. As well as streamlining the installation process and making it more convenient for all, this helps create the foundations for the smart-city networks of the future.
Tracey Herald, Head of Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability at Virgin Media O2 said: “With a fleet of 4,300 vehicles visiting millions of homes and businesses every year, we have a responsibility to swap to cleaner, more sustainable alternatives as soon as possible. I’m proud that we’re introducing the first EVs to our fleet, and giving our valued field engineers access to the charge points they need to keep moving.
“The only way to encourage businesses and the public to make the switch to EVs in time for the UK’s 2050 net zero target is by making vehicle charging points widely available and accessible to all. We’re eagerly anticipating the Government’s EV strategy and plans for wider infrastructure rollout, and together with Liberty Charge, we’re committed to using our expanding national network and street furniture to help put charging points where they need to be – and drive the UK towards net zero.”
Neil Isaacson, CEO of Liberty Charge adds: “At Liberty Charge, our goal is to tackle the chronic under-supply of easily-accessible on-street charging in the UK and help councils meet the very clear public need of the millions of households who need reliable, cost effective EV charge points close to their home. As our delivery partner, Virgin Media O2 is instrumental to this goal – deploying the infrastructure required and working with local authorities to overcome any delivery obstacles faced. And it doesn’t stop there: by the end of the year, our Charging Network will be operational in 6 local authorities, with more than 500 sockets open to the public and with many, many more to come in 2022.”
Supporting cleaner transport for the future
Virgin Media O2 is committed to using its digital capabilities to help reduce transport emissions and contribute to the UK’s net zero future. Working with the Smart Mobility Living Lab, it is supporting the development of 5G Connected & Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) which use connected sensors and stream information from one vehicle to another via the 5G Network in real-time.
5G-connected vehicles cut carbon by allowing for reduced idling, as well as route planning to avoid the most polluted and congested areas. They also enable smarter driving patterns such as lower acceleration rates and platooning (where two vehicles follow each other closely to reduce aerodynamic drag).
As part of its trials, O2 has converted two Renault TWIZY electric cars into CAVs and fitted them with LIDAR sensors, to allow autonomous driving as well as remote control at slow speeds. One of these test vehicles is on display at COP26 – with a simulator experience to give users the opportunity to see, hear and feel what it is like to become a passenger in a 5G-powered CAV.
ITV and Virgin Media O2 have today signed a new long term multi-year agreement that delivers deeper integration of ITV programming, support for IPTV, enhanced advertising capabilities and continued access to ITV’s vast range of channels and on-demand services for Virgin TV customers.
The new agreement, which lasts over five years and signals a new commercial relationship between the two companies, includes full integration of the ITV Hub platform onto Virgin TV set-top boxes. This enables viewers to seamlessly search for and watch all of ITV’s ever-growing selection of available programmes, including more full series than ever, on-demand directly from within the ITV Hub – which currently has 34.8 million registered users. A range of new features including programme start over and cloud recording will also be introduced for some Virgin TV customers in future.
This full integration of the ITV Hub platform also brings increased benefits to advertisers through Planet V, ITV’s innovative programmatic addressable advertising platform. Planet V allows both advertisers and agencies control over the planning, purchasing and reporting of their campaigns on ITV Hub, building audiences with first party data and augmenting those audiences with advertisers’ own data.
Looking ahead, ITV’s live channels and the ITV Hub will also be available through Virgin TV’s upcoming IPTV service when it fully launches in early 2022 – the service will offer a seamless app and streaming-based experience powered by the company’s leading ultrafast and gigabit connectivity. Building further upon the benefits to advertisers under this agreement, ITV will also be able to offer linear addressable advertising via IP delivery through the Planet V platform.
ITV’s wide range of much-loved programmes and content across various genres will receive enhanced prominence across all Virgin TV interfaces, and bespoke curations of content will be made available within the catch-up sections of the provider’s platform. This will help viewers easily discover, access and watch the latest and greatest ITV shows all in one place.
Carolyn McCall, CEO of ITV, said:
“This extended and enhanced commercial agreement brings benefits to both ITV’s viewers and advertisers and the work that Virgin Media O2 is doing to develop its IP proposition advantages both those groups.
As Planet V continues to grow at scale, we’re able to deliver addressable advertising via the fully integrated ITV Hub on the great platform that Virgin Media O2 continues to evolve via both on-demand and linear viewing. Plus our viewers are able to access ITV’s fantastic range of programming more easily than ever before with an enhanced viewing experience.”
Lutz Schüler, CEO of Virgin Media O2, said:
“We have been a longstanding partner of ITV for many years and this new agreement further cements our relationship. It paves the way for future product innovation and delivers more for our customers and our business, as well as enhancing the toolkit available to advertisers.
“Our focus in TV is all about providing incredible entertainment to our customers in a seamless way underpinned by the very best connectivity. As we continue to invest and innovate, having ITV’s vast selection of must-watch programming fully integrated and easily accessible plays a huge part in giving our customers a fantastic experience both now and in the future.”
Jurassic World Evolution 2 and Hot Wheels Unleashed have added NVIDIA DLSS to both games, which gives gamers on GeForce RTX GPU’s a big performance increase.
DLSS Boosts Performance inJurassic World Evolution 2 by up to 60%
Jurassic World Evolution 2 launches today with NVIDIA DLSS boosting performance by up to 60% for GeForce RTX gamers.
Hot Wheels Unleashed Gets Turbocharged with DLSS
Last week GeForce Gamers playing Hot Wheels Unleashed saw their frame rates hit overdrive, when they got a DLSS upgrade that improved performance by up to 50% at 4K.
With this added performance upgrade, every GeForce RTX GPU now speeds past 60FPS at 4K, with every in-game option turned up to max.
To read more about GeForce Now, follow the link below.
If you’re unfamiliar with Backbone, or the Backbone One Controller. I can tell you now that you’re missing out on one of the best ways to play whilst on the go.
Hooking up your iPhone (Android users, keep reading) to the contoller opens up Backbone’s brilliant, clear and very usable UI, via it’s app on the Apple App Store.
You can scroll through all the different platorms it supports, including Apple Arcade, Google Stadia, Xbox Remote Play, Xbox Cloud Gaming, GeForce NOW, and PlayStation Remote Play – I’m sure there’s more that it supports. But those are the top platforms.
So out of this seemingly simple controller add-on, you get quite a vast amount of gaming platforms to choose from, and all powered from your iPhone, the heart of the controller.
Once you hook it up, its orange button lights up and comes alive, giving you endless ways to play, and from anywhere. There’s built in social features, capture & share, streaming, and many more.
The company has even just announced their new Backbone+ subscription plan, and great news, you’ve got the lifetime Backbone+ plan for free if you purchased the Backbone One before todays date (Thurs November 5th 2021).
Anyone getting a Backbone One controller from today will get one year for free as part of the launch. But what’s included I hear you ask?
Backbone+
Check out the new features for Backbone+.
Backbone+ gives players access to:
Exclusive perks, like free months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, other service free trials, in-game items, and many more perks to come.
Access to the revamped Backbone app, including the trove of new features above as well as future ones.
As a gift to all of our current players, we’ll be automatically giving users who created a Backbone account before today free lifetime Backbone+membership. No action needed. To further commemorate our current players, we will also be offering them early access to the exclusive and limited edition Almighty Shield of Backbone NFT drop made available through the Backbone app.
All new users will also automatically receive 1 year free of Backbone+ membership with their purchase of Backbone One. It renews after 1 year at $4.17/mo billed annually (about the cost of a latte).
Backbone+ is optional. You can still play games with Backbone One without it, but the software experience requires Backbone+ membership.
If you don’t redeem your 1 free year, or decide not to subscribe, the app will still automatically install new software updates to the device to help maintain compatibility with future versions of iOS as well give you access to device info.
Play On Any Screen
As part of the new update, users can now use their Backbone with other devices like iPad, Mac, and PC to play services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and Google Stadia.
Users simply need to access the Controller menu from the Backbone App (With the iPhone connected), and then choose the product you’ll be using a cable with (This allows you to only use one), so for example, if iPad was going to be the main way to play outside of my iPhone. Then it would automatically recognice iPad with the cable plugged in.
Should you want to change it to a MacBook or PC, then you have to go back into the app with your iPhone connected, and change the controller type.
This really does change the game for gaming on the go, and with more devices now supported. You’ll have more way to play and from One controller.
Next-Level Game Recording
Backbone’s game recording, editing, and sharing tools now support 1080p 60 FPS game recording across the entire litany of iOS 15.0 devices (iPhone 6s or later). We’re also supporting HEVC encoding for 60 FPS (enabled by default), meaning your files will be approximately half the size as H.264 encoded videos with roughly the same quality.
Backbone’s ML-powered Activity feature for efficient editing.
With 60 FPS enabled, Backbone supports up to a 30mbps bitrate on select high-end devices. It’s also enabled by default on the latest app update. The game recording quality on your Backbone is now on par with the default on your PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Last 15 Seconds Recording
You can now enable a mode inside of the Backbone app called Smart Record. While in this mode, the Backbone Button will glow yellow, and you can hold down the Capture Button to save the last 15 seconds of gameplay.
The Smart Record mode enables you to capture the last 15 seconds of gameplay.
Twitch Streaming
Streaming to Twitch often requires an expensive and complicated setup.
In the Backbone app, you can now go live on Twitch instantly and share the link with your friends. We’ve refined the entire process to take less than 10 seconds.
Twitch live streams will also automatically populate inside of the app so other Backbone users can see them on the home screen. This will help boost your viewer count (we got you).
Bonus: The Backbone Button glows purple while you’re streaming to Twitch.
Check out more from the official blog post, linked below. And for new updated, go follow @Backbone on twitter.
The team at Stadia have added a new feature, that allows players to join select games without the need for an invite.
This means that should you be playing Far Cry 6 (One of the supported games) for example, you’re friend will be able to jump in with you, just by joining via your Stadia profile page.
It’s a nice feature to add, and will make joining friends in-game, much simpler.
It’s worth noting that this feature is said to be off by default. Although @TomWarren From the @Verge points out that this was on by defult for one of their Stadia accounts.
You can read more regarding the process for enabling / disabling below:
Let players join your multiplayer game without an invite
Multiplayer games like Far Cry 6 let other players join your game directly from your profile without an invite from you. This feature, available only in select games, is off by default.
To enable it, go into your privacy settings under “Your activity” and “Current game” , then turn on Join your current game. To change who can join games from your profile, choose All players or Friends. Only players in the group you select will be able to join your game.
Stop players from joining
If you don’t want other players to join your game without an invite, go into your privacy settings under “Your activity”,
“Current game” then turn off Join your current game. You can also select Only you or Private in the dropdown menu.
New Facility Further Strengthens the Brand’s Ability to Produce Premium Products
[SHENZHEN, China–November 4, 2021] – HONOR, a leading global provider of smart devices, today debuted its HONOR Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Park, the brand’s first self-funded factory. The Park will handle certification of new product quality control, production of flagship devices, new craftsmanship and technology incubations, and building HONOR’s artificial intelligence manufacturing capacities. Through its industry-leading innovations, quality control capabilities and global supply chain partners, HONOR is confident this new facility will support its goal to provide premium products and best-in-class user experiences to global consumers.
“As a premium technology product provider, being able to ensure our standards of reliability and quality will be paramount as we continue our journey to become a leading global technology brand,” said George Zhao, CEO of HONOR Device Co. Ltd. “We are proud to announce the opening of our new manufacturing facility which will be integral to assuring our wider range of premium products are of the highest quality.”
Managing End-to-End Quality Control with the Power of Automation and Intelligence Automation reduces the variation and defects caused by human errors resulting in greater consistency in quality. HONOR’s Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Park is equipped with industry-leading high precision automatic manufacturing technology, including an automatic precision assembly machine (for installing the 89° Super Curved Display used in HONOR smartphones) that can achieve assembly precision of up to 75 microns (about a hair’s diameter). The automatic battery assembly equipment adopts high-precision optical detection which can detect foreign bodies (as small as up to 40 microns) and monitor real-time pressure, ensuring safety of batteries produced and reducing safety risks caused by manual work. Seventy-five percent of the production line is completed using automation, of which more than 40 percent was developed by HONOR’s own Research & Development team. HONOR’s automated production line enables one smartphone to leave the line every 28.5 seconds (cycle time).
Quality control is ensured from the manufacturing to testing phase through the close monitoring of every step of the assembly line. When an anomaly is detected, an alert is triggered followed by timely correction of the issue. While the common industry practice is to separate assembly and burn-in testing (offline aging process), HONOR uses an online aging process where assembly and burn-in testing are done in one process. HONOR’s process consists of over 150 prediction tests that quickly detect quality issues and shortens the turnover and testing period.
HONOR has adopted the “manufacturing supermarket” concept to build a lean and intelligent material distribution system. The real-time demand of the production line is linked to the intelligent selection of off shelf components. As a result, colleagues can manage a rapid error-free process of material selection that are then automatically delivered to the production station by Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) across floors and inventory areas. After product packaging is completed, the AGV’s intelligent scheduling system automatically picks up the products.
Creating Premium Products that Go Beyond Industry Standards After a thorough review of industry standards, certification standards and operator requirements, HONOR created its own quality standards to meet the range of international policies around the world. The company has over 600 quality standards, covering design, development, materials, manufacturing and user experience.
The HONOR Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Park has industry-leading laboratories, including a reliability laboratory, regulatory laboratory and environmental protection laboratory. This combination of laboratories covers both material and product controls. The Park conducts nearly 200 stringent tests on all incoming materials prior to production and dozens of product tests post production. The inspection scope and frequency go beyond the usual industry practices to ensure HONOR’s products meet the stringent standards it has set for itself.
Promoting a Culture that Values Constant Improvement and Craftsmanship Ensuring high quality requires constant and continuous improvements, and the commitment of all employees. HONOR provides comprehensive employee training and promotes a culture that values continuous improvements. HONOR also adopts a “quality first, experience wins” strategy in all areas and fields.
HONOR has established a quality inspector system where inspectors representing customers perform unboxing inspections to check if there are any product anomalies. In addition, instead of the random selection inspection that is commonly used in the industry, HONOR adapts a precise sampling system where products with potential flaws are locked down and thoroughly inspected by its quality inspectors. HONOR’s quality inspectors have very strict, zero-defect standards to ensure customers do not receive flawed products.
The Park will serve as an incubator for HONOR’s next generation of manufacturing capabilities, showcasing the company’s abilities to deliver products of the highest level of quality and craftsmanship. Through all these efforts, HONOR hopes to contribute to the advancement of the entire industry, and create consistent, high-quality products and ultimate experiences for consumers.
Starting today, the first wave of GeForce Now RTX 3080 pre-orders have been activated as memberships.
Gamers In NA who pre-ordered RTX 3080 memberships are having their accounts enabled, and the rollout will continue for all other pre-orders.
With GeForce NOW RTX 3080, you’ll be greeted with higher resolutions, faster frame rates, lower latency and the longest game sessions and most control over in-game settings.
You can still pre-order six-month RTX 3080 memberships, and will continue to be available until further notice. Those that reside in Europe can expect to have their 3080 memberships enabled in December.
As well as the news above, 17 new games are being added to the GeForce NOW library throughout November, with 4 games coming this week alone, including Recipe For Disaster and Let’s Build a Zoo.
The complete list of games being added to the GeForce NOW library are as follows;
