Categories
Close
Menu
Menu
Close
Search
Search

Featured Articles

Opinion

Last week at The Fonecast: 18th February 2013

Mark

There's only one MWC...

Share:

Print

Rate article:

No rating
Rate this article:
No rating

Mark Bridge writes:

As the final days before this year’s Mobile World Congress approach, we discover there are two types of scheduled news announcements from the wireless telecoms industry.

There are the announcements delayed until MWC begins because the company wants to be part of the buzz at Barcelona. And there are the announcements made in the fortnight beforehand because they don’t want their story to get lost.

LG’s technique is to do both… and more. Last week it announced that its fifteen-million-selling Optimus L smartphone range is about to be upgraded to the L Series II, with an official launch taking place at Mobile World Congress. If that wasn’t enough, it’s already put one of the new L Series II smartphones on sale in Russia.

Also being revealed pre-MWC is a developer preview of the Ubuntu smartphone operating system, the new social media app from manufacturer-turned-developer Inq and the new Android-powered luxury phone from Vertu. More-than-just-a-browser-company Opera announced that it was acquiring more-than-just-a-browser company Skyfire. Oh, and the new Mobile World Centre opened in the Mobile World Capital of Barcelona. That’s quite enough MWCs for the moment.

Finally, research revealed that almost a third of the UK's web page views now come from mobile devices, almost a third of network revenue is expected to come from 4G services in 2017 and mobile broadband customers want more value-added services to choose from.

Right, it’s time I started preparing for Mobile World Congress myself. This time next week we’ll be reporting from Barcelona.

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

Whatever happened to all my tech?

ExclusiveWhatever happened to all my tech?

Mark Bridge writes:

I've been taking a look back at the devices I've written about during the past few years. Some are still faithful companions, others... well, let's just say my faith was misplaced.

ExclusivePredictions for 2016: Network Function Virtualisation, 4G throttling and video calling

Mark Windle, head of marketing at OpenCloud, predicts that this year’s reduction in the number of traditional telecoms operators in some countries will provide an opportunity for other operators to innovate and capture market share in 2016.

He says next year will be a year of rapid change for telecoms… whether it’s MVNO disruption, competitive tariff pricing or simply defence from the ‘dark art’ of hacking.

Kapture review: the audio-recording wristband

ExclusiveKapture review: the audio-recording wristband

Mark Bridge writes:

The most memorable moments in life often go unrecorded. You don't have your camera in your hands. Your finger is still hovering over the 'pause' button on your audio recorder. Or you were simply too busy experiencing whatever was happening. It's all about the one that got away.

That's where Kapture can help.

RSS
1234567810Last

Recent Podcasts

ExclusiveJohan Lodenius of MediaTek talks about wearable devices, smartphone evolution and the importance of driving costs down

This year's Mobile World Congress was notable for the number of product launches by handset manufacturers. To get a better understanding of smartphone manufacturing, we spoke to Johan Lodenius of semiconductor company MediaTek.

He gave us a simple overview of how 'fabless' manufacturing works, discussed developments in smartphones and wearable devices, contemplated the end of the PC era and talked about the importance of driving costs down.

ExclusiveMobile payments, new smartphones, wearable devices, connected cars, CeBIT and David Cameron

This week's programme opens with a quick look at David Cameron's commitment to 5G technology and the Internet of Things, which was made in a speech at CeBIT.

Iain and Mark then move on to talk about the other big mobile news headlines from the past few days, including the forthcoming Paym m-payment service, new HTC and LG smartphones, the growth of Chinese handset manufacturers, wearable devices, in-car connectivity and damaged iPhones.

ExclusiveThe rise of OTT messaging and the future of SMS: we talk to Stacy Adams of mBlox

Messaging was very much on the agenda at Mobile World Congress this year, following Facebook's announcement that it was planning to acquire WhatsApp in a 19 billion dollar deal. So if the future for this type of internet-based 'over the top' messaging service looks good, what does this mean for SMS?

To find out more, we spoke to Stacy Adams of mBlox to learn what was happening in the messaging world, to find out how SMS is being integrated with mobile apps - and to discover some of the other ways SMS was being used by businesses today.

ExclusiveWe talk about 4G LTE coverage and device sensors with OpenSignal at Mobile World Congress

Even at Mobile World Congress, the relevance of the mobile network operator can sometimes be forgotten. So for a different perspective on this year's event, we spoke to Samuel Johnston from British mobile crowd-sourcing firm OpenSignal.

Samuel discussed the announcements from MWC14 and OpenSignal's latest report into 4G LTE coverage around the world, as well as giving us an exclusive insight into OpenSignal's next research subject.

RSS
First567810121314Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Archive Calendar

«June 2026»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
25262728293031
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293012345

Archive