Orange launches phone recycling campaign – earn money for your old phones

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Orange, the UK mobile and phone/broadband service provider, has launched it’s “Recycle and Reward” campaign.

The new campaign allows members of the public to hand in their old mobile phones and get paid a cheque as a reward. It is an effort to cut down the amount of defunct mobile phones we all have in our houses – yes we all have them; all those old contract phones stashed away in the bottom drawer of your office cabinet.

Anyway, Orange has said they will tell you how much your phone is worth when you hand it in store, and if you agree to it, they will send you a cheque within 7 days. Pretty cool, eh?

Well I know I’ve got plenty of phones stashed away that could go to better use as notes in my pocket.

This could prove handy. If the prices are competitive to other phone recycling providers, this service could be a huge success.

Windows 7 SP1 Beta and Release Candidate rumours

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Just randomly browsing through various news sites, it has come to my attention that there seem to be a lot of rumours regarding the upcoming SP1 betas for Windows 7.

Yes, believe it or not, it would appear Microsoft are already working on Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 not 2 weeks after launch. Well come to think of it, they’ve probably been working on it ever since RTM (release to manufacturers) several months back.

Well there’s no confirmed information yet, but rumours are spreading that there could be a public beta by January 2010, and private testers could be seeing a beta of SP1 next month if the rumors are true. Well frankly there’s no rush for me as I’m quite happy with the current package. If there’s any decent features or fixes I’ll try out the beta but to be honest it bugs me being on test versions.

Private tests could be seeing a beta of SP1 next month if the rumors are true.

Anyway, it’s nice to get the heads up. Lets see how Microsoft responds to the rumours…

“Terminate the rate” campaign passed onto Ofcom

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The petition held by the “Terminate the Rate” group, supported by mobile network 3, has today been handed on to telecommunications controller Ofcom.

The petition was signed by a total of 114,259 people (according to BBC News) and was used to help knock down the cost of the MTR (mobile termination rate).

Ofcom has been complained at many times in the past as many believe MTRs cost much more than they need to. Ofcom has said it will lower the cost of the rate in time, but many believe (myself included) that they are still ridiculously high.

With any luck, the new campaign will force Ofcom to do something about this exaggerated cost and will result in lower call costs to other mobile networks. It’s about time!!

iPhone 3GS will be available on Orange from November 10th

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If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the iPhone 3GS on Orange, you’ll be pleased to know that Orange will be launching the iPhone on the 10th of November.

Still not sure on what it will cost, but hopefully a little price competition will begin soon. In addition, the CEO of 3 has expressed interest in bringing the iPhone onto its network, so prices may begin to fall, but very very slowly.

Can’t wait for O2’s exclusivity to end!

Windows 7 Final: The Review – What an improvement!

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OK so despite my word that I wouldn’t be upgrading to Windows 7 in the near future – I gave in. I had to have it to try to see what Microsoft had done to fix all the problems in Vista.

I have to say I am extremely impressed with what Microsoft has done. There are several handy new features that do make using the computer a lot easier and more productive. For example, the new taskbar is a massive improvement. I really love the previews of Windows and the fact they actually show up on screen. I also love the expanding Start menu that now shows your most frequent uses of applications.

In addition, there are more personal adjustments that can be made. The new “themes” idea has been made much more universal in Windows 7 and it makes it much easier to customize the look and feel of your computer.

There are also small changes that make a big difference. I find it brilliant that the wi-fi icon on the taskbar now shows the signal strength by default – really handy if you are in a public place. In addition, adding networks in general is now very simple with no fiddly menus to go through.

The updated Windows Media Center is definitely better too. The TV feature (which I most commonly use) has been brushed up and sorted out. It now also supports interactive services on DVB-T channels which is cool and something I’ve always wanted.

Boot up and shut down has also dramatically improved. It is much faster and much more efficient. Even when you have a lot of startup applications, you can get to work very quickly. I have to say I really like the new bootscreen too!

All in all, I definitely agree that Windows 7 is what Windows Vista should have been. I’m really glad Microsoft will now have a chance to redeem themselves. I personally didn’t have too much of a problem with Vista, but it is now nothing compared to Windows 7. Hopefully Microsoft will be able to remind people how good their operating systems are. Since Windows XP’s launch in 2001 they haven’t really had much to say for themselves, but now they do.

If you have XP or Vista, I strongly recommend you go ahead and upgrade. It’s totally worth the money. Do a clean install and start your computer again. If you liked the idea of Vista but hated the reality, you’ll love Windows 7.