Categories
Close
Menu
Menu
Close
Search
Search

Featured Articles

Opinion

Last week at The Fonecast: 15th April 2013

Mark

Going up...

Share:

Print

Rate article:

No rating
Rate this article:
No rating

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s claimed there’s recently been some dodgy equine activity in the mobile industry. No, I’m not talking about the dancing pony that promoted Three UK. I’m not even making lasagne jokes. I’m talking about the ‘Trojan horse’ threatening to monopolise the mobile marketplace.

That Trojan horse is the Android platform, according to a complaint to the European Commission… and those companies doing the complaining include Microsoft, Nokia and Oracle. They’re part of a coalition called FairSearch, describing Google’s distribution of Android as “predatory”. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.

Sticking with legal activity, the UK’s Office of Fair Trading has launched an investigation to find out whether some free mobile applications and web-based games for children are breaking the law.

It’s not saying anyone is; it’s just checking because consumer protection law doesn’t allow products to include a ‘direct exhortation’ encouraging children to make a purchase. The results of its fact-finding are due to be published later this year.

In other news from the past seven days, a lot of things appear to be going up. Worldwide tablet shipments are expected to increase 38% this year, the number of mobile HTML5 browsers is forecast to rise by 87% this year and app downloads are already up by 11% since the end of 2012.

Also increasing is the UK’s spending on mobile advertising – up 148% to £526 million in 2012 – along with global spending on location-based ads.

4G data speeds are on the way up, too. EE says it’s going to double the speed and the capacity of its UK network, introducing maximum data speeds of over 80Mbps.

And one final increase: a large-screen smartphone from Samsung. This new ‘phablet’ is packing the biggest screen ever seen on a Samsung phone; bigger than the Galaxy S4 and the Note II. It’s equipped with a 6.3-inch display and is called the Samsung Mega. Yes, Mega. Well, with a screen that size it was hardly going to be subtle, was it?

Every Monday morning we summarise the past week’s mobile industry headlines in a 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.

Comments

Collapse Expand Comments (0)
You don't have permission to post comments.

Opinion Articles

ExclusiveDead phone boxes are now ready for saving lives

Mark Bridge writes:

The public telephone box is disappearing as mobile phone coverage improves. In 2002, there were 92,000 BT phone boxes in the UK. Today, there are a total of 51,500 payphones… including 11,000 traditional red boxes. In order to preserve the appearance of rural life - if not the landline connection - BT has been asking parish councils across the UK if they'd like to adopt their local kiosk. Just £1 lets a community keep its red BT phone box (with the payphone taken out)… and 1,500 have been adopted so far.

ExclusiveThis week at The Fonecast: 9th July 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

Roaming charges are back in the news this week. Not the latest round of price cuts (or, to be technically correct, lower price caps) but the European Commission's plans for the future. As well as continuing the downward pricing trend for a few more years, Neelie Kroes also wants wholesale interconnection at capped rates and the option of a separate 'roaming contract' when you travel abroad.

ExclusiveThe changing face of app stores

Mark Bridge writes:

When applications first hit the headlines, there were many stories about developers making small fortunes just from selling applications. Now there’s much more focus on promoting the app.

To understand what's changed - and to discover how developers get their apps noticed inside ever-expanding app stores - I spoke to Carsten Frien. He's CEO & co-founder of mobile advertising marketplace madvertise, a company that's based in Germany and has recently opened an office in the UK.

ExclusiveRecycling mobile phones from Africa to Europe

Mark Bridge writes:

Recycling an unwanted mobile phone makes sense. It's good for the environment and it generates cash as well.

Newer phones recycled in Western Europe are likely to be reconditioned and resold locally, while older models may be reconditioned for use in developing countries. Damaged phones are either used for spares or are broken down for the metals and minerals in their components.

But what happens when people in those developing countries need to recycle their phones?

ExclusiveRIM denies fire but admits to presence of smoke

Mark Bridge writes:

Anonymous opinions about technology are all over the web... and they're not always pleasant. PC versus Mac. Apple versus Android. WiMAX vs LTE. Even a relatively light-hearted rant can be misinterpreted. Still, if some unknown voice is trying to irritate you, you just ignore them - right?

Wrong. Not if you're Research In Motion.

RSS
First6667686971737475Last

Recent Podcasts

ExclusivePodcast from Mobile World Congress 2015

Mark Bridge learns about the mobile technology trends at Mobile World Congress 2015 by chatting to James Rosewell of 51Degrees, Dr Kevin Curran from the IEEE and Chris Millington of Doro.

They talk about wearable devices, wireless charging, mobile operating systems and much more... including some of their favourite products from the exhibition.

ExclusiveLooking back at February: from security scares to multiple MVNOs

We're taking a look back at the biggest mobile industry news stories from February 2015, including allegations that the UK's security service tried to breach SIM card security by hacking into one of the world's biggest SIM producers.

We also talk about the planned BT and EE merger, the creation of two new UK virtual networks, some acquisitions in the mobile payment arena and a new Ubuntu smartphone.

ExclusiveA month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

We also discuss Apple's record-breaking quarterly figures, the highlights of CES and the launch of Microsoft Windows 10, as well as saying farewell to the current version of Google Glass.

RSS
12345678910Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Archive Calendar

«June 2026»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
25262728293031
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293012345

Archive