LIFESTYLE 02
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SPENDING LESS MONEY ON YOUR MOBILE
KEEP AN EYE ON DATA
It may have become your pocket office and your dearest travel companion, but are you paying too high a price? Here’s how to keep phone costs down, no matter where you are. NC
If you have an iPhone, you can monitor your data by going into ‘settings’, ‘general’ and then ‘usage’. Check it from time to time to see how much data you actually use. There are also a great deal of excellent apps available for all smartphones that give you a detailed breakdown of the data you use, thus preventing you going overboard (MyDataManager, DataMan and Data Usage to name but a few).
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Top tip
GET A LOCAL SIM CARD
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NOVEMBER 2012
It’s the roaming that hurts. This is when you connect to an overseas network and calls are routed via that network provider instead of your home network--at a sometimes shockingly increased cost. “Whether you stay for an extended period in another country or come to Luxembourg for a few weeks, the best solution is without any doubt to get a local prepaid SIM card,” says Alexis Pisano, marketing manager at Orange. To make things even better, once you’ve installed your local prepaid card, download the TreePhone app before calling home--it allows you to
make international calls at a pretty good rate. Many cross-border commuters choose to get two phones so they don’t have the hassle of changing numbers all the time and can opt for plans suited for their different needs. If you travel a lot to many different countries, you might want to get an international SIM card. A Google search will get you a good listing of the offers available. Otherwise you can try out the Swiss-based firm XXsim (xxsim.com) whose travel SIM card offers free incoming calls in addition to keeping other costs down.
Use a cloud-based mobile browser which works by shrinking the webpages you visit before they land on your phone. Your phone will then have fewer megabytes to load--saving you both time and money. An example is the Opera mini browser (opera.com/ mobile). BlackBerrys also allow you to crunch down web pages, if you have the right licence. If you’re on iPhone, steer clear of Safari and use something like iCab instead. 04
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USE A MOBILE BROWSER
TURN OFF AUTOMATIC APP UPDATES Most apps and programs--as well as your phone’s operating system--like to check routinely for available updates and don’t mind downloading them automatically. Downloads equal data consumption, so be sure to turn these automatic updates off when you’re abroad.