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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

Friday, July 24, 2009

What price for a hands-free conversation?

Iain Graham writes:

When you get up tomorrow morning and get in the car, why don't you screw up three £20 notes and lob 'em out of the window?!  Oh, and whilst you are at it, take out your driving licence, and put three points in the penalties column!!

Why would you do that, I hear you ask?  My answer would be, "I don't know, but it's what I see a lot of people doing every day I drive anywhere or walk down the road!"  It is the completely unnecessary risk you take when you sit behind the wheel of a car that is in motion and use a handheld mobile phone at the same time!  If you are a truck or bus driver, you have no reason to feel smug because you are equally as guilty!!

WHY DO YOU DO IT??!! Is it because;

  • The chance of being caught is infinitely small
  • The police should have better things to do
  • I am a responsible person and I am perfectly safe when I do it, it is all the other muppets who don't know what they are doing
  • It is an infringement of my civil rights/liberties
  • I never phone, I only text and sending a text is not an offence???

Have you ever been guilty of saying any of the above?!  I certainly have in the past, but then I used to drive at 90mph in a car with no seatbelts after I passed my test!  (I know you didn't think I was that old, but in my early days there was no speed limit on motorways in Britain and seatbelts hadn't even been thought of, let alone invented!)

Nowadays, I wouldn't move off my driveway without belting up. Why the change of heart?  Greater sense of social responsibility maybe?  Getting more sensible with age?  No, not really, it's because certain things when you give them a bit of thought just make sense!

Also, every car comes with easy to use, comfortable seatbelts and 94% of people use them all the time.

So it is the same with mobile phones. Every new phone comes with a basic wired earpiece for free, and Bluetooth devices are available from around a tenner upwards, so what's the reason only one person in three uses one regularly?

Come on guys (and gals), it is incredibly unsafe and dangerous to everyone around you to use a non-handsfree handset whilst driving. Use a handsfree kit now - YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE - before the government realises that current legislation is not working and they ban the use of ALL mobiles in a moving vehicle.

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Recent Podcasts

From CES to customer service, we talk about all the latest mobile tech news

Podcast - 8th January 2014

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return with their first mobile industry podcast of 2014.

This week they're looking at new Samsung, Sony and ZTE products from CES, they're talking about Android embedded in cars, they're catching up with the latest news from BlackBerry, they're discussing cheque payments by smartphone, they're revealing complaint data from Ofcom and they're investigating quite a few other stories as well.

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We make our mobile industry predictions for 2014 and review our end-of-year forecasts from 2013

Podcast - 18th December 2013

It's our last podcast of the year, which is the traditional time for us to predict what'll be happening in the mobile phone industry during the next 12 months... from forthcoming consumer technology to deals between network operators.

As well as making our 2014 predictions, we'll also be reviewing those we made last year and discovering how accurate our forecasts for 2013 really were.

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Bill shock, cheaper roaming, court injunctions, satellites, shopping and loads more mobile industry news

Podcast - 11th December 2013

This week we're talking about a UK government deal to prevent bill shock, good news for some UK consumers visiting the USA, a court threat to HTC sales, new high-speed satellite broadband, mobile search, mobile shopping and much more.

Join Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge for an informed and entertaining look at all the major mobile industry news stories from the past seven days.

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Sailfish smartphones, shopping, security, spectrum shortages and several supplementary stories

Podcast - 4th December 2013

It's been a week of diverse mobile headlines in which Jolla started selling its Sailfish smartphone, mobile shopping broke records and BlackBerry's CEO looked to the future.

We're also talking about smartphones for seniors, battery life, a looming spectrum shortage, phone theft and Sony's Smart Wig. Something for everyone, surely!

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We interview James Atkins of UK-based smartphone manufacturer Kazam

Podcast - 29th November 2013

In today's programme we're talking to James Atkins, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of smartphone manufacturer Kazam.

The company launched earlier this year and has just announced its first seven Android-based handsets. James explains the story behind Kazam's creation, the company ethos, its product range and its plans for the future.

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