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Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

UK service providers must notify customers when they connect to a different network

New rules from UK telecoms regulator Ofcom will protect customers when they use their mobile phone on a foreign network. In addition, customers will be alerted if they are inadvertently roaming, perhaps because they're near an international border.
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Global smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.
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Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

New Hutchison/Vodafone network would be biggest UK operator

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.
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UK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.
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Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Which? seeks payout for Samsung and Apple smartphone owners

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.
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Opinion Articles

Saturday, June 1, 2013

6 things you need to know about mobile research, smartphone rumours and imaginary new products

Mark Bridge writes:

Where did it all go wrong?  When did the mainstream mobile industry start to slide away from innovation and into repetitive nonsense?  For a while I suspected the downloadable ringtone was to blame. Just days after hearing 'Barbie Girl' on the mobile phone of a man from Vodafone Value Added Services in the late 1990s, I'd downloaded a poptastic tune to my own Nokia 2110. Soon, the entire mobile world was focussed on 30-second instrumentals instead of technical innovation. It was the beginning of the end.

Actually, no. What's now described as 'content' has become a massive part of the mobile ecosystem. (Yeah, ecosystem. Bigger than a mere industry but smaller than a planet). Ringtones aren't really the culprit. It's mobile itself that's causing the problem, like a parasitic worm nibbling at its own tail.

Here at The Fonecast, we do our best to sort the wheat from the chaff, the iPhones from the iBones and the Androids from the fanbois.

Most of the time the less newsworthy stories are discarded light-heartedly... but every so often there's one that pushes me over the edge. I feel I could be teetering at the moment. So, for all our sakes, let me offer a few suggestions about press releases I don't want to see.

Any kind of list. Ten things you need to know about the Nokia BLD-3. Five Tweets you must read before you die. The seven secret Symbian shortcuts that could change your life.

Statistically invalid research, particularly if it that lets you promote your insurance company by saying something about phones being lost in taxis or dropped in toilets. If we're lucky, it'll be accompanied by a pun in the headline and a half-amusing comment from the MD or Marketing Director. 

Speculation, especially when it involves SEO-friendly topics like a new iPhone, Facebook usage or hashtags. "Could this be the new Google smartphone?"  No, it couldn't.

A product you announced six months ago without much media interest, so you're having another go.

A product that doesn't exist outside some nice 3d rendering. Even worse if you're hanging your virtual news on someone else's virtual product. "Apple iWatch owners want waterproof cases, says waterproof case manufacturer".

But the most irritating - and that's because I occasionally fall for it and get halfway through writing a news article before I realise - is a favourite of research and analysis companies. I'm talking about a new study that's not really new at all but is just a paragraph from a report that was originally released a couple of months ago. Every few months another morsel is released, complete with a quote from the author of the report. Stop it, please. You're supposed to be the people we can trust.

Mark Bridge co-presents The Fonecast alongside Iain Graham and James Rosewell. This week it's all got a bit much so he's taking a few days away from the office.
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Recent Podcasts

Mobile Monday London: Acceleration and Finance

Podcast - 21st February 2014

This podcast takes a look at the issue of finance for start-ups - and, in particular, at Accelerators for tech-based companies.

It's a discussion that was recorded at Mobile Monday London earlier this week with a panel including Jon Bradford of Techstars, Simon Devonshire from Telefonica's Wayra, Diane Perlman from Microsoft Ventures and Simon Cook of DFJ Esprit.

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From smartphones to security... and from wireless charging to connected machines

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SMS security and text message spam

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John Murtagh, CTO at text message specialist Anam Technologies, explains more about the risks involved with SMS, the challenges for mobile network operators and the solutions that can protect consumers.

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Big changes for Microsoft, Sony and Brightstar... plus the rest of the week's mobile industry news

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There's also mobile payment news from MasterCard and Weve, some patent agreements, a warning about second-hand smartphone sales, a forecast of mobile data growth and a report about app developers.

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Searching for the UK's Most Innovative Mobile Company with the Smart UK Project

Podcast - 9th February 2014

The Smart UK project is an annual government-supported competition looking for the UK's Most Innovative Mobile Company.

A few days ago, all 20 companies on the competition shortlist gave a short presentation to the Smart UK panel of judges. Afterwards, Mark Bridge spoke to some of the entrants to discover exactly what they had to offer - and how they planned to disrupt the mobile industry.

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