Samsung Galaxy Note 2 now on sale in the UK - where can you get it?

Vodafone and Three have become the first two UK networks to carry the Samsung Galaxy Note II. The 5.5-inch phone-tablet hybrid, which officially went on sale at the start of October, is now available from Vodafone from free with a contract of £47 a month, that comes with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 2GB of mobile data and 3GB of BT Openzone Wi-Fi access. The Samsung Galaxy Note II is now on sale in the UK. Image: Stephen Shankland/CNET For a Note 2 at no upfront cost, Three users will need to sign up to a £44 per month contract, with all-you-can-eat data, 1,000 minutes and 5,000 texts. Both the Vodafone and Three deals run over 24 months. O2 customers will also be able to get their hands on the Galaxy Note 2 — eventually. The operator's website says the device will be coming in October, but doesn't give an exact date. Three users may also be in for a wait — the tablet is marked as "out of stock" on its website. EE, the operator formerly known as Everything Everywhere, will also be adding the Samsung device to its line-up later this month. An LTE version of the Galaxy Note 2 will be available on both Orange and T-Mobile contracts from 15 October (EE owns both operators). Once EE launches its 4G service in the next few weeks, anyone with one of the LTE devices will be able to upgrade to one of EE's 4G price plans. EE confirmed this week that it will be switching on its 4G LTE network in 10 UK cities at the end of this month.

Keep the heart healthy by eating apples daily: study

A small-scale study funded by the apple industry claims that an apple a day can, indeed, keep the cardiologist at bay. Published in the Journal of Functional Foods, the research found that healthy, middle-aged adults who ate one apple every day for four weeks succeeded in lowering levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol by 40 percent -- a substance which has been linked to the hardening of the arteries. To carry out their study, researchers from Ohio State University recruited 16 healthy adults between the ages of 40 and 60 who weren’t regular apple eaters – less than twice a month. Participants were instructed to eat either a Red or a Golden Delicious apple every day for four weeks. Another 17 participants took oral capsules containing 194 mg of polyphenols for four weeks, and a third group of 18 people took a placebo. While the polyphenol capsules also yielded measurable results, they weren’t as strong as consuming whole apples, researchers said. “That could either be because there are other things in the apple that could contribute to the effect, or, in some cases, these bioactive compounds seem to get absorbed better when they're consumed in foods,” hypothesized lead researcher Robert DiSilvestro. When oxidized LDL or low-density lipoprotein --also known as ‘bad cholesterol’ -- oxidizes after meeting free radicals, the cholesterol is more likely to promote inflammation and cause tissue damage, researchers explain. DiSilvestro also claims that eating whole apples daily was found to be more effective in this particular capacity -- lowering bad cholesterol levels -- than other antioxidant-rich foods he’s studied separately, including turmeric, green tea and tomato extract. The latest study builds on previous research vaunting the health benefits of apples. A Florida State University study likewise proved that eating an apple daily lowered ‘bad cholesterol’ levels by 23 percent while also increasing good cholesterol levels by 4 percent. Female participants also lost an average of 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) during the year-long experiment.

Gov't site sets up 'checkpoint', denies hacking

Hours after the Palace denied reported hacks on government websites, the Official Gazette has started running an "e-checkpoint" Thursday. A gray screen now flashes before users logging into gov.ph, with a message noting that they will be shortly redirected to the Official Gazette front page. This comes amid protests against the new Cybercrime Prevention Law, which has sparked a spate of hacking attacks targetting government websites. "We continue to adopt appropriate security measures to ensure the integrity of our websites," Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio "Sonny" Coloma said in a statement. As if telling hackers not to flatter themselves too much, Coloma denied that the websites of the Office of the President and a state news agency had been defaced. "There was a scheduled systems maintenance of the President’s website that lasted for about 5 hours in the morning of Oct. 3," Coloma said. He was reacting to reports that visitors to the Malacañang website got error messages early Wednesday. "During this period, Facebook fans and Twitter followers of the President were duly re-directed and were able to use these social media channels without any interruption," Coloma said. Reports that the Philippine Information Agency website had been hacked are also not true, he added. "There was no actual defacement of the PIA website and at no time was there a service disruption," Coloma said. He admitted, however, that a hacker had accessed the personal email of one of PIA's editors early Oct. 2 and had inserted a link that appeared in one of the news agency's online posts. "This specific irregularity was addressed immediately," Coloma noted. Websites crippled by hackers include the National Telecommunications Commission, the central bank and the Manila Water and Sewerage System. In a separate statement Wednesday, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that hackers "deprive the broader public of access to much needed government information and services online" . Critics of the Cybercrime Prevention Act should likewise condemn the series of hackings, Lacierda urged. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, meanwhile, has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to hunt down and arrest individuals behind the attacks, reports said. This, as protests against the new law remain ablaze, forcing senators who voted for its passage to vow to fie amendatory bills on contentious provisions, especially libel.