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Last week at The Fonecast: 24th February 2014

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Mark Bridge writes:

Some companies have saved their big announcements for the week of Mobile World Congress. Samsung and Nokia, for example. Others have issued a press release in advance.

It would be easy to assume that the companies making pre-show announcements were worried their news might not get noticed. I don’t think this was the case for Facebook, which is spending £9.6 billion on instant messaging app WhatsApp. Much of that value was in Facebook shares but there’s plenty of real money changing hands as well. It’ll be interesting to hear what Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says during his keynote speech at MWC tonight.

Also making a splash before the show was Huawei, with a multi-product announcement yesterday afternoon. There was a mobile WiFi hotspot, two tablets, a smartphone with a 5 megapixel self-portrait camera and a wearable ‘TalkBand’, which combines fitness tracking with Bluetooth calling.

Microsoft had a Sunday announcement, too. It’s now working with nine new hardware partners for Windows Phone, which is likely to mean lower-priced devices targeting developing markets.

Other manufacturer news included new smartphones from Acer, Alcatel and Kazam (and a 3D-mapping prototype from Google), plus Jolla’s Sailfish OS was being readied for Android phones and Apple iOS needed a security update.

In the world of apps, both Visa and MasterCard talked about Host Card Emulation; a cloud-based security process for mobile payments that avoids the need for account details to be uploaded to a SIM card. And mobile payment/advertising partnership Weve announced Pouch, a mobile-based ‘loyalty card’ application.

Right, it’s time for me to head to the airport and join the crowds in Barcelona. Instead of our regular podcast this week there’ll be a series of interviews from MWC; you can keep up to date with all our programmes by bookmarking our website, subscribing free on iTunes, using our RSS feed or downloading the Stitcher.com mobile app.

On Monday mornings we summarise the past week’s mobile industry headlines in an email newsletter that’s very much like this article. To receive it, simply register your email address at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page.

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Opinion Articles

ExclusiveLast week at The Fonecast: 1st July 2013

Mark Bridge writes:

I don’t know about you but I’m delighted to see Sony Mobile getting plenty of coverage for its new smart watch and giant smartphone. The company’s impressive presence at Mobile World Congress 2013 showed plenty of promise... and I’d say it’s now delivering.

ExclusiveLast week at The Fonecast: 24th June 2013

Mark Bridge writes:

Another week, another couple of product announcements from Samsung. There appears to be no stopping them, despite a recent drop in the company’s share price.

This time it’s a couple of tablets – one of which runs both Android and Windows 8 – and a 20 megapixel camera that’s got a 4G-enabled Android device built in.

ExclusiveLast week at The Fonecast: 17th June 2013

Mark Bridge writes:

The telecommunications industry was making plenty of headlines last week – but much of it wasn’t particularly upbeat.

The debate about privacy and security continued in the wake of allegations about US agents intercepting internet traffic. Meanwhile, Nokia prepared to make its last Symbian smartphones and Tradedoubler warned that mobile devices were having a negative effect on high-street consumer loyalty.

ExclusiveHow to shield from internet snooping

George Putic of voanews.com writes:

When news broke about U.S. government agencies collecting metadata about its citizens’ Internet and phone communications, many were surprised by its scope. The surveillance covered a vast number of Internet messages and phone calls. The government did not deny the action but pointed out that the collected data contained, not the substance of the communication, but the so-called metadata.

ExclusiveGiving it all away

Mark Bridge writes:

There’s been a lot of talk recently about PRISM, which may allow the US National Security Agency - and anyone they choose - to access some of our personal online information if it passes through the USA. It’s unclear exactly what (if anything) is being shared with whom… and given the nature of national security, we may never know.

However, alongside the possibility of governments seeing information we thought was secure, it’s also worth pointing out that we choose to share plenty of online information ourselves.

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