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Last week at The Fonecast: 20th May 2013

Mark

New products from BlackBerry, Google, HP and Nokia

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Mark Bridge writes:

Last year, the Google I/O developer conference gave us plenty of product announcements: Google Glass, the Nexus 7 tablet, the Nexus Q device and the Jelly Bean version of Android. This year’s announcements were less dramatic: a streaming music service, a Google-friendlier Galaxy S4 and some game development tools. Coincidentally (or perhaps not) Apple announced its 50 billionth app download in the middle of the event.

Still, if it’s product news you’re after, there was plenty from other parts of the world. Blackberry revealed the third smartphone that’ll run its BlackBerry 10 platform. It’s the Q5, it has a QWERTY keyboard and it’s expected to hit the shops from July. Mind you, soon you won’t need a BlackBerry device to chat to your mates on BBM: from this summer there’ll be compatible iOS and Android apps as well.

In addition, Nokia announced its Lumia 925 smartphone – which is rather like a smarter-looking Nokia 920 with a better camera – and HP showed off a convertible Android tablet with a detachable keypad.

Mobile networks were also in the headlines. EE started last week with a defence of its privacy policies following a Sunday Times report… but it ended on a happier note by confirming it would be providing temporary 4G coverage for the Glastonbury festival.

BT revealed that its WiFi service now has more than 5 million hotspots in homes and commercial properties across the UK and Ireland. Telefonica announced a deal that’ll add direct mobile billing to Samsung’s application store. And Vodafone started looking forward to a £2 billion dividend from US partner Verizon Wireless.

Finally for now, we bid farewell to Mary Grant, CEO of Phones 4u’s Distribution business: responsible for the retailer’s high-street shops and online business. She’d been in the role for less than 18 months, having joined from bus and rail operator FirstGroup plc. It’s reported she’s leaving the company for ‘personal reasons’.

Every Monday morning we summarise the past week’s mobile industry headlines in a newsletter that’s a lot 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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ExclusiveIan Brown, CEO of Axell Wireless, talks about underground mobile phone coverage

Mark Bridge writes:

Just a few weeks ago WiFi was made available on a number of London Underground stations - yet mobile coverage still stops when you go down the escalator.

So why is it taking so long for us to get mobile phone service on the Tube?

For an insight into some of the challenges and the possible solutions I spoke to Ian Brown, CEO of Axell Wireless. The company is a leader when it comes to providing additional wireless coverage in confined spaces - from tunnels to sports stadiums - and is currently involved in the project to install mobile phone service on the Channel Tunnel.

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Mark Bridge writes:

It was a good week for technology stories hitting the mainstream news, thanks to the apparent appearance of a Higgs boson, Sir Alan Sugar’s YouView online TV service and football goal-line technology.

Mobile-related news hasn’t been quite so big, although plenty of well-known names have turned up in the headlines. What’s also been turning up – rather more than usual – is the presence of WiFi.

Last week at The Fonecast: 25th June 2012

ExclusiveLast week at The Fonecast: 25th June 2012

Mark Bridge writes:

Microsoft started last week with news of an own-brand rival to the Apple iPad. The new Windows-based Microsoft Surface tablets will start to appear later this year, although full details of the specifications – including whether or not there’ll be cellular connectivity – remain unconfirmed.

ExclusiveAdding a little extra to every mobile sale will make a big difference

Mark Bridge writes:

Is there any product that offers as much potential for additional sales as the mobile phone?

When I visit a coffee shop to buy a coffee, I’m often asked “would you like any pastries or muffins with that?”

On the one occasion that I bought a new car, I was offered the option of paying extra for different colours, for floor mats and for a fancy stereo. When you buy a DVD player or a games console, it’s pretty obvious you’ll be paying extra for entertainment.

Yet, when you consider the variety of add-ons available in the mobile industry, I’d say smartphones were in a league of their own.

ExclusiveLast week at The Fonecast: 18th June 2012

Mark Bridge writes:

Oh, how cheerful we were last Monday. Apple previewed iOS6, which will bring mobile tickets (and 200 other new features) to the iPhone and iPad this autumn. Vodafone cut the cost of using your phone in Europe with its flat-rate £3-per-day EuroTraveller deal and a few days later Three came up with its own ‘unlimited’ European data roaming.

Yet by the end of the week there were fewer smiles in the mobile industry.

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