ExclusiveLast week at The Fonecast: 26th March 2012 Opinion Mark - March 26, 2012 Mark Bridge writes: It’s been a week of ups and downs for the mobile industry. It started with good news as Apple – fresh from hitting 3 million new iPad sales – announced its plans to spend some of the $100 billion sitting in its decidedly non-mobile wallet. There’ll be a quarterly dividend and a share buy-back scheme.
ExclusiveNFC smartphones can clone some contactless credit card data, says report News Mark - March 23, 2012 NFC-equipped smartphones can be used to copy data from contactless credit cards, according to a report by Channel 4 News. It showed security company ViaForensics successfully copying a cardholder’s name and card number from a Barclays Visa card. Attempts to access card information from other providers wasn’t successful.
ExclusiveLost your phone? You probably live in Manchester News Mark - March 23, 2012 Mobile security business Lookout has published a study into lost mobile phones and has launched an interactive website to reveal when and where phones are frequently mislaid. The company analysed data from more than 15 million users worldwide, discovering that a user’s location was a significant factor when it came to phone loss.
ExclusiveTenfold increase in 4G LTE shipments expected this year News Mark - March 23, 2012 The number of global LTE mobile phone shipments will grow tenfold this year, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics. 67 million 4G LTE handsets are expected to be shipped worldwide in 2012, up from 6.8 million units in 2011.
ExclusiveOver a third of UK feature phone owners are planning a smartphone upgrade News Mark - March 23, 2012 Research company YouGov has found that 42% of ‘standard’ mobile phone owners in the UK plan to choose a smartphone when they replace their handset. The figure is 6% up from last year.