T-Mobile U.S. Has The Cheapest iPhone 5 Plan to Date

Now that the iPhone 5 is finally available on T-Mobile, it's time to figure out where you can get it the cheapest. We've compared prices in the chart below to help you figure out which carrier is right for you. Note that the prices listed here are for the iPhone 5, but should apply to just about any smartphone on each of these carriers.

It turns out that, even though T-Mobile is charging you for the full price of your phone, you're still paying the least amount of money in the long run (the amount you see in the chart includes your monthly $20 phone payment). Additionally, now that T-Mobile is contract-free, you're able to leave at any point you please. You'll either need to give up your phone or pay for the remainder, but you're not tethered to the carrier in any other way. Of course, you can still get out of your contract on AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon, but it's going to cost you. 

You're also paying less upfront on T-Mobile—an iPhone 5 will cost $99.99. But you need to pay an additional $20 per month for 24 months, until you've paid off the full cost of the phone, which you don't need to do on any of the other carriers. AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon will all give you an iPhone 5 for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement.

Verizon has the highest price by a hair, but then again, you're getting unlimited talk time, which you're not getting on Sprint or AT&T. Additionally, Verizon took home top honors last year in our testing for the Fastest Mobile Networks. So if you go with Verizon you're going to get the most LTE coverage and some of the fastest speeds available.

Sprint costs a bit less than AT&T or Verizon, and gets you unlimited data. Sprint's 3G network didn't fare well in our testing, but the carrier's burgeoning LTE network looks a lot faster. It's rolling out slowly, though, so you may not see coverage in the near future.

And while T-Mobile gets you unlimited talk, text, and data for the least amount of money each month, the carrier only turned on its LTE network in seven markets for the first time just yesterday. Its HSPA+ 42 network is a very fast alternative to fall back on, and the carrier plans to cover 200 million Americans with LTE by the end of the year, but coverage is always something to keep in mind. [Source]

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Tutorial on How to Create a Media Centre With as Little as £25

We’ve looked at how you can use almost any gadget to make your TV into a smart TV, but today we’re looking at how you can use the very cheapest one to get top notch online video playing right back on the big screen in your living room: the humble £25 Raspberry Pi. And it couldn’t be easier – read on to find out how it’s done.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been running a series of gadget tutorials, showing you how to pull off useful tech tricks like adding voice control to your car, or hooking up your game controller to your smartphone. Now, we’re bringing you smart TV skills on the smallest budget possible. Here’s how it’s done.

Get a Raspberry Pi

First thing’s first, you’ll need one of these clever little computers made in the UK. You can order them from here – it’s the £25.92 Model B version you want, as the cheaper Model A lacks an internet connection. If you’re feeling flush, you can even order a case for it – some of the £5.99 numbers over at ModMyPi are excellent. When you’re done, it’s time to get to work.

Prep the Pi and the software

To make the Raspberry Pi into a media centre, we’re going to use XBMC, the free, superb suite for almost every device under the sun – including the Pi. Head over to the Raspbmc website, and you can download a special version built specifically for it. When it’s done, plug in an 8GB or higher SD card to your Mac or PC, and run the installer – it’ll do the rest.

Now, it’s time to set up your Pi. Before turning it on, plug it into your router with an Ethernet cable, and when it’s ready put the SD card in. Then give the Pi power by plugging in a micro USB charger (like you use for your phone). It’ll start installing Raspbmc, so just leave it to do its thing.

Finetune everything

Now you’re ready to start tweaking XBMC to your heart’s content – which is what XBMC is all about, really. When it’s booted up, just plug in a USB keyboard and mouse (One of these remotes, such as the Xbox DVD remote, will also work nicely) and dive in. If you don’t like the skin, you can change it. Regardless, you should hit up Settings>>System>>Video Output and switch to 720p resolution so everything plays nice (though your TV is probably full HD, the Raspberry Pi can only muster 720p visuals, which is still pretty sharp).

Open up your media

Now it’s time to start playing. If you like, you can plonk videos, pictures and music files onto a USB stick and start playing them on your TV, or you can stream them from your computer. Just go to Videos, Picture or Music, then File>>Add File and pick a connected computer with a shared folder to get them from. XBMC does its best to pull down cover art and meta-data for everything, so it’ll look like one well-stocked, easy to use library.

Take it further

The beauty of XBMC is in its add-ons. Hit the list and you can find plug-ins to connect up all sorts of internet video repositories, like YouTube and Vimeo. They’re not in the main list, but dig a little deeper, and you can even add all the major UK catch-up services to your Raspberry Pi – just follow the steps here and you’ll soon be in on-demand heaven.

Unfortunately, the one thing you won’t be able to add so easily is Netflix due to DRM restrictions on Linux (The software the Raspberry Pi runs – the cheapest and best Netflix option remains the £49.99 Roku LT). But hey, you’ve just saved anything from £25 to several hundred, and added internet video to your TV. Not bad, eh?

Got any other tips for making a super cheap media centre? Share them in the comments below! [Source]

You can follow me on Twitter, add me to your circles on Google+ or Subscribe to me on facebook or YouTube. You can also check my website and blog to keep yourself updated with what is happening in the ever changing world of technology