Looks like someone at Vodafone's head office, or at Twitter and Facebook, or all three took notice of social media users being unhappy and reinstated messages via SMS. Photo / AP
Looks like someone at Vodafone's head office, or at Twitter and Facebook, or all three took notice of social media users being unhappy and reinstated messages via SMS. Photo / AP
Looks like someone at Vodafone's head office, or at Twitter and Facebook, or all three took notice of social media users being unhappy and did something.
I wrote last week that people were being locked out of their Twitter accounts because authentication messages sent as texts stopped arriving, with no warning.
That same week, the messages started to arrive and people could log in again. Again, no notification as to why but it's good the two-factor authentication texts are back.
Texts arrive from a different shortcode - 4195 - now but for how long? I can't tell you, as Vodafone is not responding to queries on this. Nor is Twitter for that matter.
The company hasn't said anything at all about the feature going for months on end - ironic, given that Twitter started out as an SMS-based social network.
Maybe nobody at Twitter cared enough to make a statement about its text messages being dumped on one of the world's largest telcos?
It's only 2FA authentication texts that make it through. Direct messages are not sent as texts via Vodafone as with other telcos.
The fact that neither Vodafone nor Twitter will comment, and that the text message feature is only partially restored makes me think the spat is not resolved. A further case in point there is that Vodafone is not relisted on the Twitter supported carriers so we'll see if the 2FA messages will continue to arrive.
If you use 2FA for added security on Twitter, bear this in mind.
Chorus discovers people really want UFB
Chorus has provided an update on the Ultra Fast Broadband update, no doubt to coincide with the government pushing through the increased Telecommuncations Development Levy (TDL) and the Rural Broadband Initiative Extension.
The Chorus update reads like the company is surprised that people really really want fast broadband connections, and an apology for being slow to install UFB which providers have been complaining about for a while.
Well, Chorus doesn't say "sorry" as such, but chief exec Mark Ratcliffe promises the company is taking responsibility for its part in being slow.
Some of the slowness is due to inefficient processes and seeking property owners' permission especially for flats and offices which take a median of 130 days for installs and houses down a right of way where the wait is 110 calendar days. Surely those hindrances could've been spotted earlier and not several years into the UFB rollout?
There's a $50 million new ordering portal, and Chorus has been talking to Spark, Vodafone and CallPlus to "agree consistent criteria for the end user experience" as well.
We'll see where it ends up, but Chorus still needs to step up the UFB rollout a few notches to keep Kiwis happy. Again, that's nothing new, with the situation being the same when ADSL copper broadband arrived many years ago so Chorus should've been prepared for UFB demand exceeding forecast.
Gear: Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge
The number one Android smartphone maker, Samsung, is not giving up and have put together a fine pair of devices with the new S6 and S6 Edge.
If you're considering one of the new Sammies, and wondering which one to go for, I'd pick the Edge. I mean, why not? The rounded screen is a technological tour de force that sets the Edge apart from anything in the market.
OK, compared to the standard S6, the Edge isn't as comfortable in your hand (both devices are moderately sized). Truth to be told, the wrapped display doesn't add all the much in terms of functionality and isn't really worth the $200 premium over the standard S6. It does look cool though.
Glorious screens, compact sizes: The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6
Speaking of the screens, they are very hi-res and pretty amazing on both devices, being sharp, bright, contrasty and with great colour.
Samsung loaded both phones with new technology, including a fingerprint sensor that actually works unlike the Korean company's earlier effort, nearfield communications with tap and go mobile payments, wireless charging and an Exynos processor with no fewer than eight cores. Four of them run at 2.1GHz, and four at 1.5GHz, and there's 3GB of memory and 32GB of storage (28GB was free after system files).
Oh yes, there's a heart rate monitor, barometer and an altimeter too, plus the usual collection of movement sensors. Phew.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
Both phones are very nicely designed but be careful not to drop them - lots of glass in the case could make for an expensive fumble. The Galaxy S6 can be had for $1,100 and the S6 Edge for $1,300 outright; they are premium devices.
As with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the camera lens juts out. Samsung put the camera in middle top part of the S6s, and the lens poking out makes the phone wobble when you tap on it on a desk. Annoying, but a third party case will fix that.
The cameras, both the front 5 megapixel and especially the rear 16Mp unit are excellent for both stills and video, with sharp images and lots of control over the photography.
Shooting at 4K (30 frames per second max) and 1080p 60fps are both possible, but you lose image stabilisation, high dynamic range, tracking autofocus and colour effects. Those features only work at 1080p 30fps. There's also a 120fps slow-motion mode which is fun.
Imaging geeks DXOMark tested the S6 camera, and found that it edged out Apple's iPhone 6 unit even, which is high praise.
Some things had to give in this iteration of Samsung's flagship devices to make space inside the case and to work with the new design.
I wouldn't miss not having a memory card slot, or being able to swap batteries, but this could be a deal breaker for others along with losing water resistance and dust proofing.
All the processing power inside the S6 devices take its toll on battery life. Both devices drain their batteries faster than I'd like, and never lasted a whole day for me.
What's more, they can get uncomfortably hot. This seems to mainly happen when the 802.11ac or Cat 6 LTE 4G that maxes out at 300Mbps downloads are active, and not while watching video. Using the camera made them both heat up as well.
This might be fixed with software updates that should improve battery life too, but the heat is very noticeable and it's surprising Samsung shipped the rather expensive S6 and Edge without first fixing that issue.
Samsung put the latest Google Android 5.0 on the S6 and Edge. This is good, as both devices should be up to date with security patches, and you get the ability to split the phone in work and personal partitions either with Google at Work or Samsung's easy to use Knox tools.
The company's TouchWiz user interface layer on top of stock Android has been dialled down, but it can still be a jarring experience with buzzing and beeping and applications launching unexpectedly. Samsung needs to tone it down even more.
I've never been a fan of having two app stores to deal with - there's the usual Google Play and Samsung Apps, and you have to sign in to both. Just one will do, thanks, Samsung.
Niggling flaws aside, Samsung's new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are arguably some of the best Android handsets on the market for now, at a premium price.
