Podcast - 20th November 2013
This week's headline-grabbing product launch is the Motorola Moto G, which promises a decent Android smartphone at a very attractive price.
We also discuss new rules about mobile phones on planes, a new campaign to ban hands-free calls in cars, falling SMS revenue, mobile wallets and BlackBerry's $1 million investment.
Article rating: No rating
UK-based road safety charity Brake is asking drivers to forget about hands-free calls and switch off their mobile phones completely.
Its new campaign, which has been launched at the start of the charity’s Road Safety Week, comes ten years after the use of hand-held mobiles whilst driving was explicitly banned.
Article rating: No rating
The European Aviation Safety Agency is planning to publish guidance that’ll allow airlines to permit the use of personal electronic devices in ‘Flight Mode’ during taxiing, take-off and landing as well as throughout commercial flights.
This will cover tablets, smartphones, eBook readers and mp3 players as well as laptops, although heavier devices will need to be stowed safely during take-off and landing.
Article rating: No rating
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
Mark Bridge writes:
The Rockstar Consortium. That name sounds as though it could be promising more than it can deliver, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not. It’s the group of mobile companies that picked up Nortel’s portfolio of several thousand tech patents for $4.5 billion. And now, its members – including Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Ericsson and Sony – have set some of those patents on their biggest competitors.
Article rating: No rating
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) - part of the the US Department of Transportation - has told airlines they can allow passengers to use portable electronic devices during flights.
Individual airlines can choose how to implement the rules but it’s expected than many will allow devices to be used ‘gate to gate’ by the end of this year. Each airline needs to complete a safety assessment and obtain FAA approval before changing its policy for electronic devices.
Article rating: No rating