Google Pixel and Pixel XL deals

Google's latest flagship phones are the Google Pixel and the Google Pixel XL. The Google Pixel replaces last year's Nexus 5X, and is the smaller offering that comes with 32GB or 128GB storage, a 5-inch 1080p display, 4GB of RAM, 12 megapixel camera and a whole lot more. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel XL takes the place of the Nexus 6P as the larger, more premium, smartphone from Google. It comes with a 5.5-inch 2K resolution screen, 4GB of RAM and the same cameras as the smaller Pixel, all housed in a stunning metal body. We're listing the best Google Pixel deals right here so you can always find cheapest prices!

More options: iPhone 7 deals | iPhone 7 Plus deals | Samsung Galaxy Note 7 deals | SIM-only deals

The UK's best Google Pixel deals:

At the top of our guide you'll see what we've chosen as this month's best value Google Pixel deals. Underneath that you'll see what we think are the best Google Pixel XL deals. These are all chosen purely on the basis of value - unlike some other sites we don't manipulate the order of these deals for commercial gain! Underneath the top deals section you'll see what we've chosen to be the best Google Pixel deals for each of the four major networks, those being EE, O2, Three and Vodafone.

Google Pixel 32GB | £130 £85 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 12GB data | £42pm
This is a spectacular Google Pixel deal that's exclusive to our readers. You get the brand new Google Pixel handset with the upfront cost slashed from £130 to just £85 by using the code PIXEL45 at the checkout. You also get unlimited calls and texts, as well as a whopping 12GB of data, making this deal a great choice for Netflix and Spotify addicts. Total cost over 24 months is £1093

View this deal: Silver | Black
Voucher code: PIXEL45

Google Pixel 32GB | £99 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 1GB data | £33pm
If you want the Google Pixel for the lowest monthly cost on O2, then this deal is for you. You need to pay £99 upfront, but then the monthly payments drop to £33, which is nice and manageable. Unlimited minutes and texts, and 1GB of 4G data, complete this offer. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £891

Get this deal: from Mobiles.co.uk

Google Pixel 32GB | £150 £75 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 5GB data | £40.99pm
This is another TechRadar exclusive Google Pixel deal. You get the brand new Google Pixel handset with the upfront cost slashed from £150 to just £75 by using the code PIXEL75 at the checkout. You also get unlimited calls and texts, as well as a healthy 5GB of 4G data each month. Total cost over 24 months is £1058.76

View this deal: Silver | Black
Voucher code: PIXEL75

Google Pixel 32GB | £150 £75 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 5GB data | £40.99pm
This is another TechRadar exclusive Google Pixel deal. You get the brand new Google Pixel handset with the upfront cost slashed from £150 to just £75 by using the code PIXEL75 at the checkout. You also get unlimited calls and texts, as well as a healthy 5GB of 4G data each month. Total cost over 24 months is £1058.76

View this deal: Silver | Black
Voucher code: PIXEL75

Google Pixel 32GB | £99.99 phone | 600 mins | 5000 texts | 1GB data | £37.50pm
ID isn't offering any Google Pixel deals without an upfront cost (and no Google Pixel XL deals at all), and sadly its cap on minutes and texts remains, whereas its competitors mainly offer unlimited talk time and as many texts as your thumb can handle. Still, this isn't a terrible deal, as the monthly payments aren't too high at £37.50. The 600 minutes of talk time may be enough for those of you who don't like chatting on the phone too long. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £999.99

Get this deal: ID Mobile

The UK's best Google Pixel XL deals:

You've reached the bit where we round up all of this month's best Google Pixel XL deals. This is the slightly better/bigger version of the Pixel. These are all chosen purely on the basis of value - unlike some other sites we don't manipulate the order of these deals for commercial gain! Underneath the top deals section you'll see what we've chosen to be the best Google Pixel deals for each of the four major networks, those being EE, O2, Three and Vodafone.

Google Pixel XL 32GB | £50 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 1GB data | £47pm
If the deal above is too expensive, and you don't want the large amount of data each month, then this is a much better Google Pixel XL deal for you, though you do need to pay upfront for the handset. Thankfully, at £50 the upfront cost is not that high, especially considering how new this handset it. You get unlimited minutes and texts, and the 1GB of data will let you do some basic browsing. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1178

Get this deal: from Mobiles.co.uk

Google Pixel XL 32GB | £80 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 1GB data | £43pm
There are no Google Pixel XL deals this month on O2 that give you the phone for no upfront cost, but at least with this deal you only part with £80, and the monthly price is a reasonable £43. For this, you get unlimited minutes and texts and 1GB of data a month. You also get a £50 Google Play Store voucher with this deal. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1112

Get this deal: from Carphone Warehouse

Google Pixel XL 32GB | £99.99 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 5GB data | £50.99pm
If you're after a Google Pixel XL deal from EE, then you're going to have to pay upfront, as there are no offers that give you the handset free. You're also going to get lots of 4G data each month, which is good news for those of you who love streaming movies and music to your handsets. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1323.75

Get this deal: from EE Mobile

Now let's break down the best Google Pixel and Pixel XL deals by network...

Best Google Pixel and Pixel XL deals on Vodafone

Offers extras like Spotify and Sky Sports

Google Pixel 32GB | Free phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 1GB data | £47pm
This Google Pixel deal is a great choice for those of you who want the latest handset without any upfront cost, as well as plenty of talk time and texts. You get 1GB of data with this deal, which will be fine for anyone who only occasionally browses the internet or checks Facebook from their phone. To sweeten this deal further, you also get a £50 Google Play Store Gift Voucher to spend on movies, music, apps or games. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1128

Get this deal: from Carphone Warehouse

Google Pixel 32GB | £130 £85 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 12GB data | £42pm
This is a spectacular Google Pixel deal that's exclusive to our readers. You get the brand new Google Pixel handset with the upfront cost slashed from £130 to just £85 by using the code PIXEL45 at the checkout. You also get unlimited calls and texts, as well as a whopping 12GB of data, making this deal a great choice for Netflix and Spotify addicts. Total cost over 24 months is £1093

View this deal: Silver | Black
Voucher code: PIXEL45

Google Pixel XL 32GB | Free phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 6GB data | £57pm
The first Pixel XL deal from Vodafone this month gives you the brand new Google Phablet for no upfront cost, unlimited minutes and unlimited texts, and a hefty 6GB of 4G data each month. This will be plenty of mobile internet for most people, though if you'd rather not have that much data each month, check out the deal below. At least the £50 Google Play Store voucher will take the sting out of the high monthly cost. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1368

Get this deal: from Carphone Warehouse

Google Pixel XL 32GB | £50 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 1GB data | £47pm
If the deal above is too expensive, and you don't want the large amount of data each month, then this is a much better Google Pixel XL deal for you, though you do need to pay upfront for the handset. Thankfully, at £50 the upfront cost is not that high, especially considering how new this handset it. You get unlimited minutes and texts, and the 1GB of data will let you do some basic browsing. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1178

Get this deal: from Mobiles.co.uk

Best Google Pixel and Pixel XL deals on O2

The network with extras like O2 Priority

Google Pixel 32GB | Free phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 1GB data | £43pm
This is a fantastic Google Pixel deal, and one of the cheapest ways to get your hands on Google's new smartphone thanks to no upfront cost and low monthly payments of £43. You get unlimited calls and texts, though the 1GB of data a month may be too little if you listen to a lot of Spotify. As with other Carphone Warehouse deals this month, you also get a £50 Google Play Store voucher. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1032

Get this deal: from Carphone Warehouse

Google Pixel 32GB | £99 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 1GB data | £33pm
If you want the Google Pixel for the lowest monthly cost on O2, then this deal is for you. You need to pay £99 upfront, but then the monthly payments drop to £33, which is nice and manageable. Unlimited minutes and texts, and 1GB of 4G data, complete this offer. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £891

Get this deal: from Mobiles.co.uk

Google Pixel XL 32GB | £80 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 1GB data | £43pm
There are no Google Pixel XL deals this month on O2 that give you the phone for no upfront cost, but at least with this deal you only part with £80, and the monthly price is a reasonable £43. For this, you get unlimited minutes and texts and 1GB of data a month. You also get a £50 Google Play Store voucher with this deal. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1112

Get this deal: from Carphone Warehouse

Google Pixel XL 32GB | £79.99 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 5GB data | £48pm
If you're after more 4G data each month, then this Google Pixel XL deal will be for you. Again, you need to pay upfront, but the asking price of £79.99 is not too high. The £48 a month cost nets you unlimited calls and minutes and a generous 5GB of data, so you can browse the web without worry. You also get a £50 Google Play Store voucher with this deal. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1231.99

Get this deal: from Carphone Warehouse

Best Google Pixel and Pixel XL deals on EE

The place to go if you want high-speed 4G

Google Pixel 32GB | Free phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 10GB data | £50.99pm
Desperate for a Google Pixel deal on EE that gives you the handset for free as well as oodles of 4G internet and unlimited minutes and calls? Then look no further, as this is a great deal if you rely on using your smartphone to access the internet when out and about. The monthly payments are high, but at least you also get a £50 Google Play Store Gift Voucher to spend on movies, music, apps or games. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1223.76

Get this deal: from Carphone Warehouse

Google Pixel 32GB | £150 £75 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 5GB data | £40.99pm
This is another TechRadar exclusive Google Pixel deal. You get the brand new Google Pixel handset with the upfront cost slashed from £150 to just £75 by using the code PIXEL75 at the checkout. You also get unlimited calls and texts, as well as a healthy 5GB of 4G data each month. Total cost over 24 months is £1058.76

View this deal: Silver | Black
Voucher code: PIXEL75

Google Pixel XL 32GB | £99.99 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 5GB data | £50.99pm
If you're after a Google Pixel XL deal from EE, then you're going to have to pay upfront, as there are no offers that give you the handset free. You're also going to get lots of 4G data each month, which is good news for those of you who love streaming movies and music to your handsets, as the lowest 4G amount you can get this month is 5GB. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1323.75

Get this deal: from EE Mobile

Google Pixel XL 32GB | £9.99 phone | Unlimited mins | Unlimited texts | 10GB data | £55.99pm
This is a good Google Pixel XL deal if you want bags of data without a big upfront cost. You only need to pay £9.99 upfront, but you then have the rather high monthly cost of £55.99. This gets you unlimited minutes and texts and a huge 10GB of data each month as well. A £50 Google Play Store voucher is thrown in as well for you to spend. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1353.75

Get this deal: Carphone Warehouse

Best Google Pixel deals from iD

The in-house network from Carphone Warehouse

Google Pixel 32GB | £99.99 phone | 600 mins | 5000 texts | 1GB data | £37.50pm
ID isn't offering any Google Pixel deals without an upfront cost (and no Google Pixel XL deals at all), and sadly its cap on minutes and texts remains, whereas its competitors mainly offer unlimited talk time and as many texts as your thumb can handle. Still, this isn't a terrible deal, as the monthly payments aren't too high at £37.50. The 600 minutes of talk time may be enough for those of you who don't like chatting on the phone too long. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £999.99

Get this deal: ID Mobile

Google Pixel 32GB | £99.99 phone | 2000 mins | 5000 texts | 2GB data | £41.50pm
This Google Pixel deal is a bit more generous with its allowances, giving you 2000 minutes of talk time and 2GB of data each month. This is a better deal for people who like to have a natter and check out what's happening on Facebook without spending too much each month. The upfront cost remains, but at £99.99, it's not too bad considering how new the handset is. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £1095.99

Get this deal: ID Mobile

Summit, a small city in New Jersey, is going to begin subsidizing Uber rides for residents travelling to and from the local train station in an effort to reduce the demand for parking spaces.

Only a 45 minute train ride from the city of New York, Summit is a popular suburb for those working in the city, with 22,000 residents packed into a relatively small area. As a result parking around the station is in high-demand and despite paying the money for a parking permit, many commuters are unable to rely on finding a space in the morning.

According to Buzzfeed, the city's administrator, Michael Rogers, found himself inundated with demands for more parking to be made available. Unfortunately, building parking facilities is an expensive business and finding the land to do it in highly populated areas isn't easy.

Freeing up space

As a result, Rogers contacted Uber's New Jersey general manager, Ana Mahony, and suggested the Virtual Garage scheme.

The scheme involves 100 Summit residents whose Uber rides to and from the station will be subsidized by the council. The rides won't be free, of course - rather they'll cost the residents $2 each way, making the cost for a return journey equal to the $4 fee for a day of parking. Being a fairly small city, the rides wouldn't have cost too much more than this anyway, but the city will directly reimburse the Uber drivers the difference in price for each journey.

The hope is that by freeing up even just 100 parking spaces, the strain on the existing parking lot will be significantly reduced. The scheme will only be running for 6 months, but it's estimated its annual cost will be $167,000. Considering the price of new parking facilities would be around $10 million, never mind the difficulty of finding enough land, the scheme certainly does appear to be a more cost-effective and much faster solution.

This isn't just a move that benefits Summit; taking part in the scheme gives Uber a good way to expand its service outside of the large cities where it gets the majority of its business.

What makes this scheme even more promising for Summit is that the city has already successfully partnered with Uber – in December of last year the city paid for a $5 flat rate for local journeys to reduce congestions and drunk driving incidents over the holiday period.

Schemes such as this are certainly an interesting approach for local authorities with limited budgets; not only do they provide a faster solution to the parking space problem, they encourage residents to continue to use public transport and there's a chance it could even reduce the number of cars on the road altogether in these areas.

• Uber wants to start flying you to your destination

Facebook has announced the launch of Messenger Lite, a "slimmed down" and stripped back version of its Messenger app for Android handsets.

In a blog post on its site, Facebook says Messenger Lite has been created "to empower people all over the world to stay connected."

The streamlined app offers all of the core functions of the main Messenger app, allowing users to send messages, photos, links, and stickers to anyone else using Messenger.

Messages for all

It's not clear just yet what features Messenger Lite users will be missing out on, but by stripping back Messenger to these basic functions Facebook is able to keep the app under 10MB. Keeping the app small makes it "fast to install and quick to start up" as well as less prone to excessive data consumption.

Much like the Facebook Lite app which was released last year, the idea behind this is that it's ideal for users in emerging markets where there's a prevalence of more basic Android handsets and slower internet connections.

Tom Mulcahy, Engineering Manager for Messenger Lite, said that thanks to Messenger Lite "more people can stay in contact, regardless of network conditions or storage limitations on their Android devices," adding that "Messenger Lite was built to give people a great Messenger experience, no matter what technology they use or have access to."

Earlier this year, Facebook announced that Messenger has more than 1 billion active users worldwide. Clearly, though, the social network is determined to continue its push to get developing countries online, and more specifically on to Facebook.

At the moment, Messenger Lite is only rolling out to users in Kenya, Tunisia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Venezuela, but it will expand into other countries in the coming months.

• 20 Essential Facebook tips and tricks

UK communications regulator Ofcom has launched a crowdsourced research project for the 20 million UK Android users in the hopes of creating better mobile networks.

Taking part in the project doesn't actually require much effort on your part as the app Ofcom has created for the initiative gathers most of the information it needs in the background. Outside of downloading the Ofcom Mobile Research app and providing some basic personal information such as age, occupation, and home broadband availability there are no particularly strenuous tasks.

The app is seeking to get information on mobile coverage, reliability of voice calls, mobile broadband performance and the experiences and habits of Android users.

Minimal effort required

As far as measuring the performance of mobile and Wi-Fi networks, users don't need to manually run any tests as the app will do all of this itself, displaying the highlights of its findings on the app home screen. What users will have to do is briefly rate how well they think their service is performing from time to time.

The app will also log when other apps are opened, which is used to help Ofcom understand usage trends across volunteers. Don't worry about privacy, though – although the app will be able to tell when you've opened another app, it won't be able to record what it was used for or what actions were performed on it.

With the results of its research, Ofcom is aiming to build an independent benchmark for consumers and the mobile industry. By creating this benchmark it hopes it will be able to help mobile customers make more informed decisions when it comes to choosing a mobile network as well as enhance its own mobile coverage maps.

Ofcom promises that it takes protecting the data of its volunteers "very seriously" and says that the data collected by the app will be anonymised completely and "collated to build a nationally-representative dataset."

When it's been collated the data will be used across a variety of Ofcom research projects that will include a new study in spring 2017 which will compare the quality of service offered by telecoms operators.

For anyone interested in volunteering for the project, the research app can be downloaded from the Google Play store.

• Three CEO: 'UK robbed of Europe's best mobile network'

After its first attempt at establishing a free roaming plan received a significant amount of consumer criticism, the European Commission has returned with a second proposal.

In its new plan, the EC addresses some of the biggest complaints levied at the original – namely dropping the fairly restrictive time limits which would have capped free roaming at 90 days.

The EC is now suggesting that no time or volume limits should be imposed on consumers. However, to safeguard against potential abuses, operators will be able check your roaming usage patterns and compare them to your usage patterns at home.

Roam free, as free as the wind blows

The things most likely to arouse the suspicion of your operator according to the EC are consuming significantly more data than you do at home, using multiple SIM cards, or having a SIM card that only ever seems to be active when you're abroad.

Before any action can be taken, the EC says that operators will have to alert their customers that they're being monitored. If it becomes clear that a customer is abusing their free roaming access, their operator is able to apply small surcharges.

At the moment the maximum charges proposed are €0.04 a minute per call, €0.01 for each SMS and €0.85 per MB of data.

If you think your carrier made a bad call in applying these surcharges, there would be procedures created by the carrier for you to dispute them. And if no agreement is reached you'd then be able to take your complaint to the national regulatory authority who would settle the matter once and for all.

Operators will also be able to apply these surcharges even if no abuses are committed on your part should a change in their domestic market lead to price hikes or other "negative effects" for their home customers.

If this proposal goes down better than the last one, we could see roaming charges as we know them come to an end by June 15, 2017.

Free roaming would be fantastic for those who find themselves having to frequently travel through the EU.

However, though it's great that this new proposal gets rid of the annoyingly restrictive limits of the last one, the "non-exhaustive" list of criteria for abuse is still slightly unclear. What would be helpful is more clarity around just how much more data consumption would be considered an abuse.

• This SIM card gives you all-you-can-eat WhatsApp absolutely free

UPDATE: Samsung Electronics America has announced today that around half of all the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 units sold in the US have now been exchanged through its voluntary recall program. Of those customers, 90 percent have opted to receive replacement Note 7 units, while the rest presumably asked for a refund.

Samsung has announced that 500,000 replacement Galaxy Note 7 handsets have been shipped to US stores to be made available from September 21.

The company hasn't had the easiest time recently, having voluntarily issued a recall for its US Note 7 devices after reports of a major battery flaw on September 2.

Following this recall, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued its own official recall for all Note 7 phones sold before September 15.

Safety first

Around one million devices have been recalled in the US and this first major shipment of new handsets will replace half of them.

The new phones will come with a software update which will feature a green battery icon in the top right corner of the screen to indicate that it is, indeed, a new and safe version of the handset.

Not all of the risk-posing Note 7 phones have been returned, however, so Samsung will also push out another software update to recalled devices to encourage their owners to exchange them.

When the update is installed, users will be presented with a recall notice prompting them to shut down their device and exchange it. The notice will appear every time the user turns on or charges their phone so it'll be pretty hard to claim that you missed it.

For anyone thinking about getting a new phone and holding out for a Note 7 that doesn't pose a fire risk, it's looking likely that US sales will restart on October 21. While those in the UK will have to wait longer with Samsung suggesting November.

Samsung's chief marketing officer in Europe, David Lowes, told Reuters, "We fully expect (new Note7s) to be available everywhere by the end of November ... well before the end of the fourth quarter."

• Not sure how to replace your Note 7? Read our guide

You think that Jet Black finish comes cheaply? It turns out the iPhone 7 isn't just breaking the bank for smartphone buyers - it's costing Apple a pretty penny too.

A teardown by IHS Market estimates the overall component cost of the iPhone 7 to be $224.80, a price that also includes basic manufacturing costs. That's $36.89 more than IHS Market listed the iPhone 6S at, which goes someway to explaining the iPhone 7's $649 (£599, AU$1,079) price tag.

Where that money goes

The jump to 32GB of storage as standard has obviously hit Apple's pocket, jumping up from the previous 16GB entry level.

"Despite significant cost erosion in NAND flash over the last year, this increase in the overall memory cost definitely puts pressure on the bill of materials costs -- and therefore margins -- from Apple's perspective," Andrew Rassweiler, senior director of cost benchmarking services for IHS Markit, said.

Even the Jet Black finish itself is costly for the company.

"This is a new feature that produces a whole new look for the iPhone," said Wayne Lam, principal analyst of smartphone electronics, IHS Markit. "It is a lower yielding, time-intensive manufacturing step that adds cost, as well as considerable value, pushing the retail price higher for those requesting this option."

However, Apple's materials cost is said to be "in line" with that spent by Samsung on its rival flagships like the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy Note 7 (recall not withstanding). And Apple "still makes more margin from hardware than Samsung," according to Rassweiler.

IHS has yet to do a cost estimate on the iPhone 7 Plus, but given its dual-camera array and larger screen size, it'll be interesting to see how Apple's margins line up on the top-of-the-line handset.

• iPhone 7 review

We all raised our eyebrows when Apple removed the headphone jack from the iPhone 7, but we'd probably all be glad to see the back of charging cables.

The good news is that indeed seems to be the plan at Apple. Documents uncovered by VentureBeat show that Apple has in fact been in talks with wireless charging startup Energous for some time now.

Energous is developing WattUp, a transmitter that can send out proprietary waveforms to receivers that are able to isolate a radio frequency into a "pocket", travelling 15 feet and charging as many as 12 devices at once.

As a smaller company putting out a public offering of stock shares, it puts out prospective information to investors giving details on what its business consists of. Part of this includes generic industry certifications, such as FCC approval. But also sitting clearly is mention of "Apple compliance testing".

Bye-bye plugs

It's a very specific reference to make, nestled between notes for industry-wide approval processes, suggesting that Apple is at least thinking about WattUp designs for inclusion in future products.

What's particularly interesting is that the mentions of Apple date back as far as March 2014 in Apple materials. So it's a feature that's been bubbling up in the labs of Cupertino for a while now too.

Energous itself had teased that it was working with "one of the top five consumer electronics companies."

But Energous is now downplaying the relationship. In response to the VentureBeat article, reps for Energous stated that "the SEC filing statement from 2014 blankets any future anticipated testing and is not indicative of specific partners."

That won't stop people speculating about wireless charging in the iPhone 8, however.

• For the time being, check out our new iPhone 7 review

Beating Kogan Mobile's $16.95 1XL plan by just under a dollar, mobile carrier Vaya has unveiled what is now Australia's cheapest unlimited talk and text plan at just $16 a month.

Working off the Optus 4G Plus Network, Vaya's Unlimited S plan is even cheaper if you pay upfront for the entire year ($174, or $14.50 per month) and also includes 1GB of mobile data.

By comparison, Telstra's cheapest month-to-month plan costs $35 a month, lacks unlimited calls and only comes with 500MB of data.

If more data is what you're after, you can get 2GB at $22 per month ($240 for the year upfront) on the Unlimited M plan, 3GB for $26 per month ($288 for the year upfront) on the Unlimited L plan and 7GB at $36 per month ($396 for the year upfront) on the Unlimited XL plan.

The new unlimited talk and text mobile plans are available from today on the Vaya website.

• Not looking for a SIM-only plan? These are the best Australian Samsung Galaxy Note 7 plans

Project Fi, Google's very own take on being a wireless carrier, sure is picking up steam. U.S. Cellular's blanket of coverage has now been added to the service, making it the third network to join behind T-Mobile and Sprint.

For those who aren't aware, Project Fi is a more straightforward (and sometimes more affordable) alternative to signing up with any of the major US carriers. You only pay for what you use. Nothing more, nothing less.

Although it's only currently available for Nexus 6, Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X owners, the service's stand-out feature is that it can intelligently jump between the signals of its partner carriers, which today also includes that of U.S. Cellular.

As the service continues to bag partners, the overall coverage will continue to grow and Fi will become an even more formidable disruption in the mobile carrier scene. Who knows, maybe Google's next partnership will be one of the two remaining hold-outs: AT&T and Verizon.

That Project Fi is currently limited to Google's batch of Nexus devices is another issue entirely. Maybe, as coverage around the continent continues to expand, so too will the family of supported smartphones.

• Here's everything we know about Project Fi

There's not much worse than a black spot when it comes to mobile phone coverage (except, maybe, a complete network failure).

So Vodafone's announcement today that it is rolling out the first stage of its mobile black spot program is good news.

The program will begin with 70 locations that are notorious black spots for the network, across New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.

All 70 sites are due for completion by the end of 2017, which should help dramatically improve overall coverage for the network.

Speaking of coverage, Vodafone was also keen to express its success with 4G coverage, claiming that its LTE network now reaches almost 23 million Australians around the country.

To achieve this feat, the network's entire 850MHz spectrum has been upgraded to 4G, which couples nicely with the 1800MHz spectrum in cities for coverage both indoors and outdoors.

This has also allowed the telco to begin rolling out Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology in major metropolitan areas for users of compatible handsets.

• Who's got the best 4G network?

The last time Telstra's network fell over, the telco gave its customers a free day of data, and those customers gobbled up 1,841 terabytes of data.

Following a second major outage last month, Telstra had its second free data day yesterday, and customers took their consumption to another level. According to Telstra, 2,686 terabytes of data was consumed during the second free data day, a 46% increase.

Admittedly, there was an extra hour in there for the eastern states that had daylight savings end, but according to Telstra's statement the previous record was passed at 4pm on Sunday, making it by far the busiest day on the Telstra network.

Despite the heavier download demand, the Telstra network largely survived the day, although this time around there were significantly more noticeable congestion hotspots.

Still, having the equivalent of 3.4 million HD movies downloaded in one day is a pretty impressive feat, even if the reason for it happening was originally a network fault...

Kogan has a history of bringing not quite cutting edge, but still solid tech to a budget pricepoint in its smartphones. It's a solid business plan that has worked well for the Aussie company for years, so it's no surprise that the new Agora 6 continues the trend.

At $179, the Agora 6 is a fraction of the price of devices like the Galaxy S7 or the iPhone SE. But somehow you still manage to get a 5-inch IPS LCD screen, a 1.3GHz octo-core processor, 2GB RAM, 4G LTE connectivity and a dual SIM card slot.

There's an 8MP camera in the back and a 5MP camera on the front, and Kogan promises the device is powered by the latest version of Android.

There are a few sacrifices made to hit that price though. First is storage - on board storage is stuck at 16GB. There's a MicroSD card slot, but it will only take up to 32GB, which doesn't give you a huge amount of total space.

The second is battery life. The Agora 6 packs in a 2050mAh battery, which isn't bad, but compared to the 3,000mAh battery in the Galaxy S7, it's nothing to write home about.

But then again, this phone isn't targeting the same market as the latest Samsung flagship. It's purely targeted at the value for money crowd, and from a pure specs to price perspective, it looks like the Kogan Agora 6 might just deliver.

Google wants to make comparing and choosing the best way to get around, whether its via car, public transport, walking, cycling or even Uber options as easy as possible through its Maps app.

As part of this mission, the search giant today announced in a blog post that you'll be able to easily book an Uber through Google Maps "with one tap."

Google integrated Uber with Maps back in 2014, but an app update starting this week will add a whole new tab for Uber and other ride-sharing options.

It will show you the different Uber options, whether it be an UberX, UberXL or UberBlack, that are available for your travel route, as well as the different pricing and time estimates, "you can easily compare your options to find the fastest way there, without having to open multiple apps," Google explained.

Once you've chosen the option you want, you're taken to the Uber app, unfortunately, but it sounds as if you'll only need to confirm the booking.

"Select a service, and we'll take you directly to their app for you to book your ride with one tap," the search giant said.

The new ride-sharing tab update for Google Maps begins rolling out to Android in the coming days, and to iOS "very soon," so we'll get to see just how well it works then.

Google Maps is also partnering with regular cab companies around the world as part of the update, too.

Companies include 99Taxis in Brazil, Ola Cabs in India, Hailo in the UK and Spain, mytaxi in Germany and Spain, and Gett in the UK, and will appear within the ride sharing tab in Google Maps in the countries and regions where they are available.

Meanwhile Uber options will be available globally where it is available. However, there is currently no word whether Google will be adding cab companies in the US and other countries yet, unfortunately.

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Uber is finally rolling out its food delivery app, UberEats, out of Canada and into the US, starting with Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

While UberEats has been available in some cities already, the app was only available in Toronto. But as it now expands outside of Canada, it is finally available on both iOS and Android, competing with services like Seamless and Grubhub and allowing for quick deliveries straight from your smartphone.

The company is putting an emphasis on speed, however, giving users an Instant Delivery option for certain items that can be delivered in less than 10 minutes, depending on your location.

And to really kick off the launch of the app State-side, LA-based DJ Kaskade, who is known to send fans pizzas, has been delivering pizzas himself via UberEats' Instant Delivery option today. For the lucky few who managed to order the UberEats + Kaskade option, he's been turning up at LA-homes with pizza in hand and two tickets to his May 7 show, which is sold out.

If pizza isn't on your menu today, however, you'll have access to menus from local restaurants partnering with Uber's food delivery service.

And for everyone else, Uber is planning on rolling out the app in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, New York, Seattle and Washington in the US, as well as Melbourne, Australia and Paris, France in the near future. More cities are likely to join after as well.

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Via Billboard