Hats off to the UK for smartphone unlocking laws, and more tech news today

Your Tech News Digest via the DGiT Daily Tech Newsletter for Tuesday, October 27, 2020

1. UK bans locked phones, hooray!

The UK has announced a ban on the sale of locked phones, finally ending one of the vices operators use to try to keep you loyal to them.

• The BBC reported that unlocking a locked smartphone typically costs around £ 10. However, studies have shown that this is not the whole story. Half of all people who try this have difficulty:
• “This [difficulities] This can include waiting a long time to receive the code necessary to trigger the process, as well as noting that the code is not working. “
• “We know that a lot of people can be prevented from switching because their handset is locked. That’s why we’re banning cell phone companies from selling locked phones, which saves people time, money and effort – and helps them unlock better deals, ”Ofcom Connectivity Director Selina Chadha said on the regulator’s website.

In the end:

• This is a welcome change. Most of the reactions eventually say that this is long overdue and so on.
• While some airlines in the UK already had phones unlocked, giants like Vodafone and BT weren’t and will now have to do so by December 2021. It’s not really early enough, but at least it is being implemented.
• The entire practice has been a great program for carriers, but it doesn’t really make sense in any other business model in the world where consumers pay for devices they can only use if they pay for a specific company. Telecommunications is unique and carriers will always wield power if they can get away with it.

Elsewhere?

• In Europe this is usually already the case, and in Singapore, for example, locked phones are banned.
• In Australia, phones are also generally unlocked, except in some cases with prepaid phones where phones are often affordable but locks make them cheaper.
• In South Africa, major airline Vodacom only started adding locks a year ago to undo previously unlocked phones.
• And of course there is the US where locked phones are much more common. Some devices may only be compatible with certain networks. For example, some phones like the OnePlus 7T require a specific Verizon variant because the standard unlocked model won’t work on Verizon. Which one is strange!
• Verizon, for example, holds a lock for 60 days after purchase before it is unlocked. Unlocking a phone is completely legal on Verizon’s prepaid devices, which is why guides like “How to Unlock a Verizon Phone” are popular.
• Otherwise, to unlock an AT&T locked phone under a contract, you may need to have already paid off a 24 month plan and jump through different frames.
• Such laudable actions by the UK regulator may put pressure on other countries as well.

2. The OnePlus Nord N10 and N100 were announced yesterday with the leaks directly at the money. These are cheaper or cheaper phones with headphone jacks and, for the first time, with microSD card slots for OnePlus phones. We don’t know the prices yet, but it will be a battle with the Google Pixel 4a and iPhone SE for the N10 (Android Authority). And wait, shouldn’t every OnePlus phone have a high refresh rate screen? (Android Authority).

3. Samsung Galaxy S30 Ultra Specifications Leak: An S20 Ultra with a New Coat? Oh, and don’t expect a charger or headphones in the Galaxy S30 (Android Authority) box.

4. Fairphone 3 Plus Rating: Sustainability Comes With Compromise (The Verge).

5. Facebook is the latest version for mobile cloud games. I checked it out, the games on offer are … extremely Facebook. It also explains Apple’s (Android Authority) iOS guidelines.

6. Microsoft is expanding Office apps on the iPad (Engadget) to include mouse and trackpad support.

7. The iPhone 12 drop test confirms that the new screen improves durability to some extent (Engadget).

8. Roku Ultra 2020 Review: If It Ain’t Broken, Don’t Fix It. This makes it difficult to sell the Roku Streaming Stick Plus, which is half the cost (CNET).

9. AMD agrees to buy Xilinx in stock for $ 35 billion, which could open up 5G and automotive electronics when Xilinx invented the FGPA (NY Times).

10. “Sometimes I think of how Cakes are a miracle. ”(Twitter)

11. The moon holds more water in more places than ever thought – but don’t overdo it. “To be clear, these are not puddles of water,” emphasized lead researcher Casey Honniball (AP).

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