Published on Monday, May 21, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 21st May 2012

A different kind of share for Facebook CEO

Mark Bridge writes:

What a week for Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Not content with transforming his company through its stock market flotation, he then went on to marry. What does this reveal?  Well, he’s clearly capable of multi-tasking and he’d rather wear a suit for social occasions than for work.

A few days before Friday’s share sales started, Facebook acquired the technical team behind Android photo-sharing application Lightbox. There’s no mention of costs but I doubt it came close to the staggering $1 billion paid for Instagram. Lightbox’s online service will close in mid-June.

It was also a good week for mobile payments (yet again, some might say) as iZettle announced the beta release of its mobile payment service in the UK. iPhone and iPad users can attach a plug-in chip-card reader that can turns their device into a credit card terminal.

The ever-increasing versatility of mobile phones was emphasised by new research that didn’t just show an increase in the number of smartphone users (and a boost in Android’s popularity) but an increase in the number of downloaded applications as well.

Meanwhile over in the world of business, research commissioned by BT showed that over 80% of IT managers thought a Bring Your Own Device policy gave businesses a competitive advantage. Perfect timing for Cortado to combine its cloud desktop app with mobile device management, I’d say – and for HTC to promote its business-focussed HTCpro service (even if getting hold of HTC phones isn’t so easy for some people).

Is all this the honest truth?  Well, it seems the easiest way to find out is to send a text message. A new study from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research has suggested that people are inclined to be more honest when they’re texting and also tend to give answers that are more precise. Mind you, it’ll probably be a while before SMS is used in every research situation.

yor honR, im tellin you, I wz not ther

Start your week with a reminder of the latest mobile headlines. Simply register at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page and we’ll send you this weekly news summary by email.

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Opinion Articles

Friday, May 17, 2013

Reports about mobile phone calls cause an increase in blood pressure

Mark Bridge writes:

I was on the radio for a few minutes this morning. Nick Ferrari on LBC 97.3 FM was talking to me about a recent survey that noted a rise in blood pressure when people received calls on their mobile phones. As I waited to go on-air, a producer asked me what I thought. “Storm in a teacup”, I said. Well, it seemed better than “Makes my blood boil”.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Device keeps internet on when power goes off

Michael Scaturro of voanews.com writes:

A team of Americans and Kenyans has developed a new Internet router - and it's creating buzz. That's because it is an affordable, reliable solution for people without consistent Internet access. It can run while plugged in or on battery power, jump between networks at will, and become a mobile hotspot for multiple devices. The team presented the device - called the Brck [pronounced Brick] - at the Re:publica tech conference in Berlin.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Last week at The Fonecast: 13th May 2013

The rise of the machines

Mark Bridge writes:

Nokia has had a busy few days. First came the Asha 501, a ‘smartphone lite’ that introduced developers to a new version of the company’s Asha platform. This was followed by the Lumia 928, which is a Windows Phone 8 handset exclusive to Verizon Wireless in the USA. It’s quite like the Nokia 920, so we’re not missing out too much.

 
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