Samsung Galaxy S10: Get it at the right price!
/in Gadgets / Tech/by billywrightFirst of all, as gadget lovers we all want the latest and greatest phone that’s out every year. While that may be the Samsung Galaxy S10 or the Apple phone out later on this year. The phone’s available on offer are getting dearer and dearer though. www.CompareMyMobile.com, have listed ways in which give us, the punters the best way to save some cash when buying new phones. Looking at the best contract or the best solution when trading in phones. Furthermore they’ll look at the best deals in buying and selling phones and sim only options.
Rob Baillie’s Tips
If you want the new Samsung Galaxy S10 or are waiting for the Galaxt Fold, CompareMyMobile.com will have the best solution for you. While, phones are getting dearer and they want to help.
“This was an interesting gamble for Samsung. The rush to seize the spotlight ahead of the biggest mobile event of the year meant they risked splitting the interest – deflecting buyers away from a very impressive S10 flagship handset, and towards the technically flashy, futuristic Fold device, that is at a price point which it can’t really back up yet in terms of proving value, that said sales are looking strong suggesting their new model does enough to get people upgrading.
The good news is that recycling prices have held steady in the aftermath of the launch, despite older phones typically declining in value when a new model is launched. In the four days leading up to the launch the average Samsung device trade in value was £70.66, and the four days after it was £70.78 with the average S9 losing less than £1 off the best price in the period before” Rob Baillie, mobile expert at www.comparemymobile.com
Not so Smart
Rob even gave some advice for those not looking to have all the latest gizmo’s:
“If you’re not yet ready to make that kind of investment, there are some fantastic phones on the market at the moment that won’t cost you thousands but also a lot of competing messages. The average consumer is likely to be lost in jargon-heavy white noise – do they need 5G? Do they need a bigger screen? Do they need a smaller screen? – when what they really want is a stable phone with a good performance and battery life. The market is about to be flooded with options and the risk is it will simply leave consumers with analysis paralysis, choosing to make no choice at the risk of making the wrong one. This is why we have rounded up the best options on the market.” Rob Baillie, mobile expert at www.comparemymobile.com
Trade In’s
To save some cash you can unlock your mobile at no additional cost to you once you are out of contract. So, all you have to do is phone your provider. Consequently, you can sell it to a much wider market this way. Furthermore you can get an additional 10% on what you would’ve received if you want to trade it in! Also, see below for a look at what you can be entitled to:
Device | Working |
Samsung Galaxy S6 32GB | £ 73.00 |
Samsung Galaxy S8 64GB | £ 220.10 |
Samsung Galaxy S7 32GB | £ 121.00 |
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge 32GB | £ 123.10 |
Samsung Galaxy S9 64GB | £ 300.26 |
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge 32GB | £ 95.00 |
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus 64GB | £ 248.20 |
Samsung Galaxy S8 64GB | £ 203.00 |
Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus 64GB | £ 280.20 |
Samsung Galaxy S5 16GB | £ 36.00 |
Samsung Galaxy S9 64GB | £ 300 |
Apple iPhone 6 16GB | £ 85.00 |
Apple iPhone 7 32GB | £ 178.10 |
Apple iPhone 8 64GB | £ 321.10 |
Apple iPhone X 64GB | £ 476.10 |
Apple iPhone XS 64GB | £ 645.00 |
Rob Baillie’s Picks
SO YOU’RE LOOKING TO SAVE MONEY:
BUY: A Samsung Galaxy s10e 128GB on O2 via e2save , with £190 upfront cost, 4GB of data and unlimited minutes and texts
Monthly price: £29
SELL: Samsung Galaxy S8 64GB for £220.10
NEW EQUIVALENT MONTHLY PRICE: No upfront cost and £27.75 per month
GO BIG:
BUY: Galaxy S10 plus with 128GB of memory on ee via Metrophone with no upfront cost and a mighty 60GB of data
Extras: unlimited minutes and texts + £25 auto-cashback
Monthly price: £58.00
SELL: Galaxy S9 Plus 64GB for £280.20
NEW EQUIVALENT MONTHLY PRICE: £45.28
YET WHO NOT GO CLASSIC:
BUY: Galaxy S10 128GB on EE via Buymobile.net with 50GB of data
Extras: unlimited minutes and texts
Monthly price: £43 + £99 for the handset
SELL: Galaxy S9 64GB for £300
NEW EQUIVALENT MONTHLY PRICE: No upfront cost and £34.62 a month
For additional deals please click here!
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DJI Osmo Pocket
/in Gadgets / Tech/by billywrightThe DJI Osmo pocket is an upgrade to the previous DJI Osmo as you can see the difference between the two products is absolutely incredible! It is such a small device, designed to be as convenient to you as your wallet, easy to remove from your pocket to quickly capture precious moments. But even though it is a much much MUCH smaller device, the video quality is absolutely incredible!
The DJI Osmo Pocket is the smallest 3-axis stabilized camera that DJI have ever designed. Focused on the capturing of life’s precious moments at a moments notice. In just seconds you can share the most important aspects of your life anytime. In real time the Osmo pocket can precisely adjust to your movements and make for some silky smooth movie like recordings.
The camera quality is not to be argued against either. The Osmo pocket shoots with a 1/2.3-inch sensor, 80° FOV, and f/2.0 aperture. It can also shoot 4K/60fps video at 100 Mbps, slow motion video at 1080p/120fps 4x, and photos at 12 MP! Absolutely mind blowing when you see just how SMALL this device is! The Osmo has intelligent functions like ActiveTrack, Motionlapse, and 3×3 Panorama, Osmo Pocket unleashes your creativity with impressive effects that are impossible with smartphones.
DJI Osmo Pockets companion: DJI Mimo
DJI Mimo’s Story Mode is the companion app that lets you shoot edit and even share all that you create with the DJI Osmo Pocket. It is designed to help create professional quality video, no matter where you are! Taking advantage of preset shooting patterns and camera motions that are built right into the app! My Story also lets you add templates, filters, music and even watermark stickers!
You can even take some incredible photos with the DJI Osmo Pocket. Pro mode lets you manually adjust a ton of camera parameters. Such as exposure, ISO and even shutter speed. Something that is brought from the big boy DSLR’s is also available on the tiny Osmo Pocket. You can even shoot RAW/D-Cinelike Videos.
Accessories
There’s a ton of accessories available for the Osmo Pocket allowing you a ton more creativity:
Controller Wheel: Dial a precise pan and tilt
ND Filter Set: Enabling more control of camera settings in any lighting condition.
Accessory Mount: Provides compatibility with a wide range of sports camera accessories to use Osmo Pocket for sports and action-based scenarios.
Smartphone Adapter: The Smartphone Adapter (Lightning, USB-C) allows you to connect your smartphone to the Osmo Pocket and use DJI Mimo App to experience more
(DJI)
To check out more about DJI Osmo Pocket please click here!
Purchase a DJI Osmo Pocket here!
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Samsung Galaxy S10, Fold and much more!
/in Gadgets / Tech/by billywrightSamsung recently announced a bunch of new phones including a brand new foldable smartphone called the Galaxy Fold. We have a plethora of Samsung Galaxy S10 information to tell you all about, plus new wearables!
Samsung S10
So, Samsung announced a total of 4 different variations of their flagship phone this year. The Samsung Galaxy S10, S10+, S10e and the S10 5G version.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 has an Infinity-O AMOLED display, which this time round has got rid of the notch and replaced it with a keyhole design. The only thing that’s preventing the S10 to be fully screen is the camera and we’re sure that at some point in the near future we will definitely see a full screen phone.
The Samsung Galaxy S10, has a 6.1″ display, the S10+ 6.4″, both are curved QUad HD+ screens and come with an inscreen fingerprint reader. Surprisingly the S10 5G version has an even bigger screen that the S10+ at 6.7″ Cameras are very impressive on the S10 too. Both the higher end models have a 12MP camera with variable aperture (f/1.5 and f/2.4), that’s for the ‘main’ camera. There’s three in total. The ultra wide camera is 16MP and has a f/2.2 aperture. The telephoto has a f/2.4 camera. The selfie camera is 10Mp. Field of view portrait style photo’s are only possible on the larger end models, that being the S10+ and 5G version.
Both the Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+ have 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage. However, if you’re pockets are deep you can go to 12GB RAM and an INCREDIBLE 1TB of storage, and that’s not including the optional microSD card slot for storage either! The high end 5G version is only available at 8GB RAM and no storage expansion. It’s also a little thicker than the other models too. The 5G version also has the biggest battery out of them all, standing at a crazy 4,500mah battery. S10 and S10+ will be available on March 8th, costing $900 and $1000.
Release for the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G for the UK is at the beholden of carriers in the UK adopting 5G. Furthermore the Samsung Galaxy S10’s also have inductive charging on them so users can charge their Galaxy Buds, or Galaxy Watch Active on them. Even their phones. By simply placing the products on the rear of the devices.
The S10e is to rival the cheaper iPhone XR and as you’d expect, it’s slightly less powerful than it’s bigger brothers. There’s 6GB of RAM and only 256GB of storage, however, you can add in storage via the microSD slot. The screen is also smaller at 5.8″ flat Full HD+ AMOLED display. No in-screen fingerprint reader either. There’s a sensor on the side of the handset instead. Camera’s are the same, yet, there’s no telephoto or depth sensor on the front. March 8th is when you’ll be hable to get your hands on it and at a lower price too at $750.
Galaxy Fold
So, foldable phones are here and Samsung are the first to the punch with the Galaxy Fold. It’s as you’d expect. EXPENSIVE! $1,980 to be exact.
The screen is 7.3″ when folded out and the screen on the front is 4.6″. You could argue that the screen on the front is the secondary screen. Especially as it’s so small and designed just to show important information.Both screens are AMOLED, while the screen on the inside is described as Flex AMOLED.
It’s when you open up the device is when you get much more detail. Therefore much more real estate to do whatever you want, even run up to 3 apps at once if you wish. Watch a video on YouTube, whilst sharing it on Twitter and talking about it on WhatsApp. The smaller screen for example can show you basic information on Google Maps on the front, however, open it up and you see much more of your route.
There’s 12GB of RAM in this bad boy, 512GB of storage and a 4,380mAh battery to power it all. There’s 3 rear cameras, 2 front cameras and a 10MP sensor on the cover, therefore you’re never without a camera.
Galaxy Buds
As stated above the Galaxy Buds can be charged by placing them in their case and putting them on the rear of the Galaxy S10. They sell for $130 when they release on March 8th. However if you pre-order a Galaxy S10, you’ll get a pair thrown in for free.
The buds have Ambient Sound mode, that will make the sound around you clearer. You can activate it by taping them, this is Quick Ambient Mode. They also have “adaptive dual microphones” this will help people who are at the other end of phone calls hear you clearer. Regardless of how noisy the environment you’re in is. The way that this works is via the “inner mic” this will pick up your voice internally when in a busy environment. The Buds are able to sense your environment and will switch from the mic on the outside to the inside. Samsung have described the Galaxy Buds as use for both listening and talking.
They’ll last 6hrs when listening to music on a single charge or 5hrs when talking. The case, which comes with the buds as standard, will provide an additional 7hrs of battery life if you run out of charge when out and about. You can also quick charge these. 15mins will give you 1.5hrs of charge.
(Engadget)
Galaxy Watch Active
Samsung also showed off a brand new fitness first focused smartwatch. It has blood pressure monitoring, stress tracker, automatic workout detection. The stress tracker will give users breathing exercises to users when it feels as though it’s user is overwhelmed. The Galaxy Watch Active is also smaller than the Galaxy Watch that is out now, additionally it’s thinner too, making it mroe comfortable to wear. Not only in workouts but every day too. It’s also out on March 8th alongside the S10 and sells for $199.
(Engadget)
Photos courtesy of Samsung
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Whiskey With Alexa!
/in Gadgets / Tech/by billywrightVoice is going to be HUGE in 2019 and there are more and more usages that companies are discovering every day. One of the interesting ones that we’ve used is from Diageo. It’s available on Amazon’s Alexa and it’s called Talisker Tasting Experience. Once asking Alexa to open Talisker Tasting, consumers will be asked to name the Whiskey that they own. Be that the Talisker Skye, Talisker Storm or Talisker 10 year old Single Malt. Once informed Alexa will begin an audio journey. Consequently drinkers will be taken through an auditory journey of how to taste the Scotch and get to know the richness and complexity of flavours from within the Talisker range. Furthermore after completing their drink, tasters will be invited asked to ask questions about the story of their drink, or flavours of Scotch that they’re interested in.
The final stage invites the taster to ask questions about the story behind their drink or flavours of Scotch they may like to try in the future.
“Talisker is a brand with an extremely rich heritage, produced by the sea on the Isle of Skye. When approaching this project, we were looking to bring elements of this location and the fantastic tasting tours at the Talisker Distillery into people’s homes.”
“Voice is the perfect technology to do just this and provide an enhanced brand experience by putting the consumer, product and brand at the centre of a tasting, in a completely seamless and non-intrusive way.” Benjamin Lickfett, Head of Technology and Innovation at Diageo
Additional Apps
This isn’t the only Alexa based app from Diageo either! They also have ‘The Bar’ which was released in December 2017. However, this app is specifically for the Echo Show. This app will highlight how to master mixology techniques and shop for ingredients. All through voice led advice. Furthermore Happy Hour Amazon Alexa Skill uses voice to provide cocktail recipes. Consequently, the app will even recommend bars to drinkers, specific bars to enjoy a Diageo cocktail.
While, voice is getting really really good and we’re intrigued to find out how Diageo will develop their voice technology. It’s worked really well for the Talisker Tasting Experience and we cannot wait to see more!
Download Talisker Tasting Experience here!
Purchase some Talisker Whiskey here!
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What are your most Data Draining Apps?
/in Gadgets / Tech/by billywrightQuick Tip:
Download on Netflix to allow videos to be played offline to save data. However, if you don’t wish to download videos, let the show buffer whilst you are on WiFi network and then watch on your mobile network. Therefore you aren’t using any data as the file has already buffered on your phone! Furthermore on YouTube you can head into settings and make sure that the ‘limit mobile data usage’ option is ticked. This will force the app to only watch videos in HD when connected to a WiFi Network.
(Deloitte)
*Mobile Phones Direct watched 5 minutes of content from each app and multiplied it to determine the total data usage over an hour. Each video was watched on both an iPhone 7 plus and XR in HD using 4G. Results may vary.
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#10YearChallenge – Smartphone Edition
/in Gadgets / Tech/by billywrightThe #10YearChallenge has only just finished sweeping the world. However, what would the #10YearChallenge look like if our smartphones undertook this challenge instead? CompareMyMobile have undertook a really cool study on how the smartphone world looked 10years ago. It’s very suprising to be fair! We’ve come a very long way!
For example 10 years ago only 17% of adults had a smartphone, compared to a whopping 78% of adults currently. Which as a result we are more addicted to our smartphones than we ever were. They’ve also changed in a number of other ways
- Costs – the mobile phones of today are in some cases 7 times more expensive than they were in 2009
- Memory capacity – it has increased 16 times in some cases
- Display is twice as big (or more!) compared to mobile phones in 2009
- Camera – smartphone cameras today have at least 3 times (or more pixels) than in 2009
CompareMyMobile.com has compiled a list of the most talked about phones in 2009 and compared them to their 2019 rivals from the same manufacturer. They also took a look at what contracts were on offer to punters in 2009 too!
Contracts
They discovered that in 2009, upfront costs for phones and monthly payments were a lot cheaper (unsurprisingly) however, what is shocking is that some of the 2019 prices compared to their 2009 equivalent have TRIPLED! Whereas mobile devices were affordable in 2009 when looking at upfront costs. While in some cases monthly payments are fairly similar. The one thing that is surprising. If you look at all of the contracts today for smartphones. It’s normal to expect Gigs of data. It’s crazy to think now, but in 2009, some networks were charging £5 per megabyte for internet usage!!
In 2009 500 texts per month, which was deemed as quite good. Minutes were 100-900minutes. Fast forward to 2019 and both those are often listed as unlimited. (Who calls these days anyway?)
Please see two examples below!
For a much more detailed look at the #10YearChallenge Smartphone edition please click here! There’s a look at past popular smartphones developers such as Blackberry’s (remember BBM!?) and the ever favourite Nokia.
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When is the best time to sell your Samsung?
/in Gadgets / Tech/by billywrightAre you planning on getting the latest Samsung Galaxy, the Galaxy S10 once it launches on February 20th 2019? Do you already own a Samsung smartphone, or have an old one around your home somewhere?
Well, trade in site musicMagpie have got some news for you! If you want a new one, the best time to sell is NOW! They’ve got a handy chart (seen above) which depicts the value of a range of smartphones after 12 months.
Why is the best time to sell NOW? Well musicMagpie found that Android devices. Such as Samsung handsets. Could lose as much as a 35% decrease in value once the latest handsets release. In this case, the S10.
Trade-In Value
musicMagpie figure that the Samsung Galaxy S9 since its release in 2018, could fetch £300 if they trade in now. Those that have the larger handset, the S9+ can see a return of £340. However, once the S10 drops the value decrease is said to drop! If users were to trade in early, they will ensure a very good return on their initial investment.
The research from musicMagpie also found that both handsets the S9 and S9+ both decreased in value by 64% over a 10month period. Which was more than any other previous generation Galaxy handset over a 10month period. Suprisingly and interestingly, if the S10 follows the same decrease in value than it’s predecessors, it is set to lose at least 50% of it’s value in the FIRST MONTH after launch.
Thoughts
“With the S10 launch just around the corner, consumers looking to upgrade to the S10 can get more money for their old device now rather than after. The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ lost the same amount of value in the same time and we’ve never really seen that in any other device range – usually, the newer version of the handset takes longer to lose value.
While cars typically lose approximately 20% when driven off the lot, technology items can lose up to an average of 65% once they are taken out of the box, depending on the brand. It’s well documented in our bi-annual depreciation studies that iPhones hold their value better than Samsung devices, and it’ll be interesting to see how much more the Samsung Galaxy S9 will drop in value once the S10 is out.” Liam Howley, Chief Marketing Officer at musicMagpie
For more detailed look at phone depreciation, please click here!
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UK Government Porn Block : Update
/in Gadgets / Tech/by billywrightPorn Blocks, who woulda thought eh?
Way back in 2015 the UK government were looking to restrict access to porn. A porn block if you will. However, they can’t just block it, there needs to be some legal measures first. Firstly, the changes introduced in the Digital Economy Act 2017, states that commercial providers of porn should have age checks on them to stop children from seeing explicit images and videos.
The government planned to introduce age verification (not of the honor system kind, the give us your credit card info kind. Digital ID’s are also said to be used also.) in April 2018. Sites such as RedTube, Pornhub and xHamster have all said that they will comply with the changes. Yet, there were some technical challenges of implementing the law across thousands of websites. Subsequently, the law was postponed. However, a year later, April 2019, the age checks are said to appear online. Wired are reporting that this is yet to be confirmed however.
Websites that operate under a commercial basis will have to comply with this new law. The Online Pornography (Commercial Basis) Regulations 2018 sets out stipulations as to what counts as commercial pornographic content and it’s not only cash which classes as ‘commercial’ either. If the person making the content receives some kind of benefit, cash or not, then it will be classed as commercial.
There are a range of age verification systems that a website can use, each with different methods of confirming ages. Five comapanies are said to be creating different age verifcation systems: Yoti, Verime, GBG, AV Secure and AgeID.
Work Arounds
It can be quite easy to get around this block, for anyone with a bit of technical know how. Which won’t be too surprising as kids these days are growing up with computers and by their late teens know a lot more about computers than 90’s babies. VPN’s would be able to be used to circumvent these checks, by connecting to servers in other countries.
Privacy Worries
Unless you’re Google or Facebook, you wouldn’t be able to match up someones real identity with their online behaviour. It’ll be nigh on impossible. However, if people are using their real names, real emails and real credit card details, you’ll be able to to find out everyone’s taste in porn. A HUGE privacy concern.
Checks
Even though the government want to implement the porn block, it’s leaving it up the to the industry to fix the issue. One small problem is one company called MindGeek, they are developing AgeID, MindGeek own a LOT OF PORN SITES. Such as PornHub, YouPorn and RedTube.
So by giving MindGeek, via the AgeID system, everyones information, you’re letting your card company know that you’re looking at porn. Wired are reporting that AgeID’s privacy policy is limited to an email address and password, which is protected. However, a previous privacy policy stated that company could collect names, addresses, date of birth and browsing data. Furthermore MindGeek also state that the policy can be updated at any time!
Is there a good reason for a Porn Block?
Wired are reporting that the policy was launched off from the results of an NSPCC report. Which claimed that more than half of children and teenagers who accessed porn ‘stumbled’ across it. Wired quite rightly note that if children do come across porn, then it will most likely be on social media. But the legislation doesn’t cover social media.
According to Wired, the same report states that almost a tenth of 12-13yr olds were ‘addicted’ to porn. Which is shocking, which of course caught a lot of media attention. However it turns out that the research was all a bit silly. The NSPCC research was from a group called OnePoll. OnePoll are a survey firm which pays people to fill in online questionnaires. Questionnaires which pulled results like “German men are the world’s worst lovers” and “Fifty percent of British adults think Mount Everest is in the UK”. The porn related questionnaire had a total of 11 questions, which users were told to hand over to a child. If one was available.
For a more extensive look at how the government are looking to block porn to the UK please check out two of WIRED’s great articles here and here.
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IKEA Smart Home Invasion
/in Gadgets / Tech/by billywrightWhen we think of smart home tech we think of the Apple’s, the Amazon’s, the Phillips’ of the world. When we say to you flat packed furniture the company that springs to mind is IKEA. IKEA smart home invasion is coming your way in 2019.
However, that soon may change in 2019, with IKEA set to become a major player in the smart home market. Wired are reporting that by playing to it’s strengths, not only in brick and mortar stores. One can assume that their displays is the perfect opportunity to show off how the tech works, before a customer buys it. But, furthermore by building inline sales and partnerships with the big boys in Sonos, Apple and Xiaomi.
Weapons in their arsenal
IKEA already have smart home kit in their Arsenal, with smart home light bulbs (TRÅDFRI) and smart electrical outlets (KADRILJ and FYRTUR) both systems are low cost and near invisible tech. They both work manually as you’d expect and automated controls. Not only that, but they also work within the main ecosystems of the three big players within this market. The Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s HomeKit. If IKEA are smart enough they could put smart home tech into all aspects of the home, be that kitchen gadgets, home entertainment or garden accessories.
As you would expect IKEA are implementing the same DIY aspect of their furniture into their smart home tech.
“It is as simple to install KADRILJ and FYRTUR as all our other blinds….You can even change from an old HOPPVALS or SKOGSKLÖVER to this one, using the same bracket. This means that the customers can easily install the smart blinds themselves, a unique IKEA property.” Lena Engman, business leader home textiles at IKEA
Wired are reporting that Björn Block, business leader of IKEA Home Smart confirms that we will see more smart products in 2019. This smart home push begins with the smart blinds that are releasing in ‘some markets’. The highest profile product will be a smart speaker: SYMFONISK, this will be in collaboration with Sonos. Which, consequently, is part of a long-term Future Home Sound Project.
SYMFONISK was first teased in June last year and is expected to hit stores ‘mid to end of the year’. The smart speaker was designed to fit in to various pieces of IKEA furniture. Which not only makes sense in the home of customers but even easier for the retail powerhouse to show off it within their stores.
(WIRED)
An outlook…
Will this foray into the Smart Home market dent the grip that the big boys have on it? Will people take IKEA seriously in the tech world? Only time will tell, but if done right IKEA have a great outlook on things, after all, we all buy our flat packed furniture from there, why not our smart home tech if it were integrated perfectly?
For a more extensive look at how IKEA are taking on the smart home market please click here to check out WIRED’s deep dive look at IKEA’s Smart Home Invasion.
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