Struggling to decide whether Netflix or Lovefilm Instant is a more comprehensive streaming service? A new number-crunching study suggests you need to splash out for both, as almost every film or TV show available for streaming in the UK is exclusive to one or the other, but not both. Statistics from Oric, a site we’ve previously …

Hot on the heels of Jessops and HMV, it looks like another mainstay of the UK high street is at risk of disappearing, as rumours swirl that Blockbuster UK is poised to enter administration. Sky News reports that the DVD rental chain, which has over 500 shops across the country, has called in Deloitte — the same firm that is …

eBay’s payment division PayPal will soon add deeper integration with retailers into its digital wallet that will result in a richer shopping experiences from consumers’ phones thanks in part to a new partnership with point of sale company NCR. PayPal’s iPhone app. PayPal The companies are teaming up to bring PayPal’s digital wallet app into stores that are already using …

Struggling to lay your mitts on a Google Nexus 4? Fortunately another network has added the Nexus 4 to its line-up: Virgin Media. Virgin is offering a range of two-year contracts, many of which offer the phone for free. The Nexus 4 is so cheap to buy on its own we suggest you think twice about getting it on a …

HTC’s mid-range One SV LTE smart phone has surfaced on the UK’s only 4G network, but at a price that’s eye-wincingly high for the tech it contains. The phone is a slightly less powerful version of the HTC One S that was released in the first half of last year, offering a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and a bog-standard 4.3-inch, 480×800-pixel display. …

Do you still use your smartphone behind the wheel? At least a third of people polled do. Among two thousand drivers surveyed by McKinsey & Company, 35 percent revealed that they do use their smartphones while driving. And it’s likely more people do but just didn’t admit it. Out of the drivers who fessed up, 89 percent said they use …

commentary Facebook ended yet another press conference without mentioning a smartphone or mobile operating system bearing its branding. Should we be surprised? No. Are we? Sadly, yes. Months of rumors fueled expectations that Facebook would move into mobile in a bigger way, including unveiling — with a handset partner — a phone of its own. Such talk heated up in …

Smartphones are hitting the mainstream market. And that means old and young want a piece of the action. But at more than $1,000 per year for service, a smartphone may not be the best choice for every consumer. In this edition of Ask Maggie, I help a reader decide if he should get his parents smartphones or if he should …

The Samsung Galaxy S3 may be six months old — which in smart phone terms means we’re fitting a stairlift in its house while the broadsheets write their obituaries — but it’s still earning Samsung big piles of cash, having hit the impressive 40 million sales mark. Samsung’s lofty sales figures represent channel sales — the number of units flogged …

Vodafone will retire googly-eyed brand Crazy John’s from 20 February, closing some stores and rebranding others. (Credit: Crazy John’s/VHA) Last year, the news broke that Vodafone was closing some of the Crazy John’s stores around the country. Now, Ausdroid is reporting that Vodafone will close the brand in its entirety from 20 February. The plan seems to be to move …