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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

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Geography meets Social Media on 'Geosocial' sites

Ted Landphair of voanews.com writes:

There’s a well-worn phrase in real estate: “location, location, location,” meaning that where a property is located, alone, means more than anything else when it comes to assessing its value.

But ‘location’ is getting new meanings in these days of smartphones and other hand-held devices.

When satellite-based global positioning and tracking became commonly available on computers and smartphones, sales of maps and requests for directions from strangers took a nosedive. We know of people who hardly go out of the house without first checking for GPS directions.

Some apps, or phone applications, even provide real-time alerts about traffic jams, accidents, and detours.

A new study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project finds that 28% of adults use what it calls mobile and social-media ‘location services’ every day. And not just to plan trips and get directions.

“Smartphone owners are using their phones to get fast access to location-relevant information on-the-go," said Kathryn Zickuhr, co-author of the Pew report.

What does that mean?  Lots of smartphone owners get recommendations for restaurants, museums and theaters based on where they happen to be at the time. Young adults use so-called ‘geosocial’ check-in services such as Foursquare and Gowalla, to keep track of friends’ whereabouts and pick places to meet and eat.

Foursquare users can play a game in which rivals compete to become what they call the ‘mayor’ of a place - even an office building or a post office - just by sending out a signal that they’re in that particular location.

We’re told that a security guard here, for instance, was the ‘mayor’ of the Voice of America for a time, reviewing our visitors’ tour and even the quality of our cafeteria food. We’re scrolling our smartphones frantically to read that.

Originally published on voanews.com
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