Aug9Written by:thefonecast.com team
Monday, August 09, 2010 
Mark Bridge writes:
Welcome to TheFonecast.com for this week’s Carnival of the Mobilists, an itinerant online publication that contains the best mobile-focussed writing from the previous seven days.
The summer holidays may have reduced the quantity of online commentary for Carnival #234... but the quality remains unaffected.
Let’s start with my ‘Post of the Week’, written by Steven Hoober from Little Springs Design. He looks at the design of battery indicators on portable devices and explains why many are over-engineered. Such a tiny thing – yet so many ways to get it wrong!
Talking of batteries, Antoine RJ Wright has been asking what needs to happen before we all ditch our computers for mobile phones. Perhaps unsurprisingly, better battery life is at the top of the list.
Mobile technology’s been in the mainstream press too, with the security of BlackBerry devices being scrutinised by individuals and governments. C Enrique Ortiz has been taking a look at the implications of a BlackBerry ban in certain countries.
Ajit Jaokar has written an article about using wireless sensors in conjunction with Twitter and WordPress. The technology can be used to automatically post online updates in the event of a forest fire. Very clever.
And Judy Breck at Smart Mobs suggests we take app store growth predictions with a pinch of salt.
Time to take a break from all that reading. Peggy at MSearchGroove has produced a podcast that investigates how small businesses can benefit from mobile marketing – and why mobile marketing is a particularly good fit for small businesses. Given that the smallest businesses often have particularly good relationships with their customers, a permission-based mobile campaign can make a lot of sense.
I’ll conclude my list of entries with a recent post of ours about smart meters. It’s what would probably be called “Smart Meters 101” in the USA… but as we’re not there, we’ve called it “Everything you need to know about smart metering in the UK”. There's the choice of a podcast or a transcript depending on your preference.
You may have spotted a gap in the hosting schedule for Carnival of the Mobilists next week, which means there’s an opportunity for you (yes, you!) to step into the breach. Whether you’re a potential first-time host or a regular at CotM, have a word with Peggy Anne Salz and book yourself a place in history.
Well, that’s all from me. Thanks for calling into The Fonecast to read this week’s Carnival of the Mobilists. We at TheFonecast.com produce a free podcast for the UK mobile phone industry every week; you can find it on iTunes, you can pick it up from our RSS feed and you can listen or download from TheFonecast.com.
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