There are a number of ways how you can use 1GB of free data these days — that’s what Vodacom is giving each of its 33m customers in South Africa on Sunday (for one day only). The Internet is full of exciting things to watch, download or even just update.
What you need to keep in mind, though, is that your connection speed will ultimately determine how quickly you can use your 1GB. If you want to check the connection speed at your current location, you can go to Speedtest.net. It will give you a good indication of the speed of your connection. Just keep in mind that speed tests download a test file, so it will consume some of your allocation — the file size is generally determined by the speed of your connection.
If your smartphone or tablet supports this feature, and most new ones do, you can also tether your device to a desktop computer or notebook. This could come in handy if you choose to stream video: a larger screen is always better for enjoying video. Now that the basics are out of the way, let’s take a look at what you can do with your free data.
Update your devices
Let’s be honest, the most sensible thing to do would be to update the applications on your smartphone or tablet. Better yet, take the time to delete the ones you don’t use anymore: we don’t want to waste bandwidth. Make sure you check if there are any operating system updates. These could easily take up a few hundred megabytes.
Back up your device
This is probably the most useful thing you can do with your free data tomorrow. If you use your smartphone camera often, there are a lot of images that you may want to back up. One of the best free online backup solutions today is Google Drive and it is available on Android and Apple devices, as well as on Mac and PC. You get 15GB of free storage space. For 1GB of bandwidth, you will be able to upload between 3 500 and 4 000 photos.
Install a game
There are some really great games available in both the Android and Apple stores. If you have not played GTA San Andreas on your tablet yet, then you are in for a treat. The game on both platforms is well over 1GB in size — 1,6GB on iTunes and 2,4GB on Google Play, so make sure you have additional data available. Fifa 14 is another great game if you are a fan of the franchise. The game is just over 1GB on both Google Play and iTunes.
Stream some videos
Streaming music videos on YouTube is a great way to enjoy a Sunday afternoon. With your free 1GB of data, you will be able to watch just over five hours of video, or between 70 and 80 music videos. Just be sure to switch to a lower resolution when you stream. In high definition, you will obviously consume a lot more data. To get you started, here is a great playlist of the 100 best music videos on YouTube, as compiled by NME.
Download music for offline listening
If you subscribe to a music service such as Google Music or Simfy Africa, you can save albums and playlists offline so that you don’t have to keep streaming your favourite albums over and over. Cue up some of your favourite albums and enjoy unlimited offline listening. You should be able to download around 10 hours of music, or about 150 songs, for 1GB. If you are not yet a subscriber to a music service, what are you waiting for? Our recommendations are Nokia’s free MixRadio, Google Music and Simfy Africa. Unfortunately, Google Music is region locked and you will need a virtual private networking service to access it. Check out StrongVPN if you need one. It’s not free, but it works great on all devices. — (c) 2014 NewsCentral Media
