Web User - UK (2019-05-29)

Need to Know

FIRST LOOK

10 29 May - 11 June 2019

Lenovo ThinkPad X

FoldableTablet

bit.ly/lenovo

It was perhaps inevitable that once

hardwaremanufa cturers deemed

folding smartphones possible, they

would begin foldingeverything else.

FoldingTVs, anyone? Don’t bet

againstit. For example, Royole, the

Chinese company that released its

own (admittedly, not very good)

folding smartphonejust before

Samsung, is now rumoured to be

working on foldingwearab les.

It’s in this spirit th at Lenovo has

unveiled the latest version of it s

popu lar Thin kPad X1 laptop – the

Thin kPad X1 table t. It’s still in its

protot ype stage, but although it has

its faults, it gives a tantalising glim pse

of where the technology is head ing.

less responsive than we’d like, taking a

second or two to register that we had

rotated the table t into a new position.

Niggle s aside, we’re excited to see

how Lenovo develops the technology

over the comingyears. The Lenovo

Thin kPad X1 is due for release in 2020.

There’s no pr ice information yet, but

you can expect it to put a serious dent

in your ba nk balance.

What happened?

Ofcom has finally ruled that

broadband, mobile phone and

pay-TV suppliers must tell

custom ers when their contracts

are about to end.

According to the

communications watchdog, this

could bene fit more than 20 million

custom ers who unwittingly

maintain subscriptions beyond the

initial ‘lock-in period’ – typically,

12 or 24 months.

Ofcom’s latest ru ling should

changethat, forcing providers to

notify custom ers by email, post or

text between 10 and 14 days

before th eir contract ends. These

communications must st ate when

the contract ends, how much a

custom er is paying and any

change s to the terms of service, as

well as the notice period required

for termin ating any contract. They must

also highlight any differen ces in prices

for new and existing custom ers.

What’s more, if you decide to stick

with your current supplier, it must send

an annual reminder of th e best deals

available to yo u.

Lindsey Fussell, Consumer Group

Director at Ofcom, said: “We’re making

sure custom ers are treated fairly, by

making companies give them the

information they need , when they need

Broadband users to get end-of-contract alerts

it. This will put power in the handsof

millions of people who are paying more

than necessary when they’r e no longer

tied to a contract” (bit.ly/ofcom476).

How will it affectyou?

The biggestwinner will be your ba nk

balance. With so many contracts out

there, it’s all too easy to continue

paying for subscriptions you’re no

longer legally lock ed into – or, worse,

paying too much for them when better

deals are available.

Ofcom reckons that a

stag gering one in se ven

consumers don’t know whether

they’r e still tied to an existing

contract. And one in eigh t “believe

they are ‘in contract’, but don’t

know when this period ends.”

Don’t expect to receive any

communications yet, though.

Companies affe cted by the ruling

have nine months to comply, so

you should start receiving

end- of-contract notifications from

15 February 2020.

What dowethink?

This is excellent news for

consumers. We’re also pleas ed

that custom ers will see the best

deals available, which should help

us save money without having to

scour websites, calcula tor in hand.

These days, setting up, then

forg etting about, a Direct Debit is easily

done, whil e that money drains from your

bank ac count each month. If you bund le

your broadband andlandline contracts,

it’s estimated that you’ll pay up to 20%

more after your contract ends. Addpay

TV and that rises to 26%. We hope

Ofcom’s measur e limits this outrage.

It’s a welcome change, but we’d

be keen to see alerts for monthly

subscriptions and rolling contracts, such

as Netf lix and Amazon Prime, too.

The Thin kPad X1 table t feat ur

an impressive OLED screen wit

resolution, which measures9.6i

folded ‘l aptop-like’ position, or

13.3in when unfolded. As it’s a

protot ype, we don’t know much

about what ’s really behind that

plas tic-coated display, which su

occasional glare. All Lenovo wil

that it runs Windows 10 on an In

proc essor. Expect two USB-C p

Bluetooth connectivity for hook g p

a physical keyboar d (the on-screen

keyboard offers no haptic feedback).

Sadly, the design leaves a little to be

desired. At a ti me when edge-to-edge

smartphonescreens are commonplace,

this table t opts for thick bezels that give

it an unappe alingl y chunky look. What’s

more, the screen has an old-style 4:

ratio, li ke an old cathode ray tube (CRT)

TV. The main issu e, however, is that it’s

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