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Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

UK telecoms regulator Ofcom wants to ban inflation-related rises in phone and broadband contracts. Instead, it says any potential mid-contract price rises should be set out in pounds and pence.
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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

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Catherine Zeta-Jones and the security of touchscreen passwords

Mark Bridge writes:

I knew I’d seen it before. Towards the end of last week I read about a study from the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania that said it was pretty easy to identify passwords from smudges on touchscreen mobile phones.

We discussed it in this morning’s edition of The Fonecast and I mentioned that I was sure I’d seen something similar in film. Well, I’ve been doing some checking online and I’ve confirmed my suspicions. The 1999 movie Entrapment, which starred Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones, includes a scene where the pair attempt to break into the ‘International Clearance Bank’ at the top of the Petronas Towers.

They reveal a number of fingerprints on a Dataton touch-sensitive panel and quickly conclude the passphrase is ‘Don't use a cannon to kill a mosquito’.

Entrapment touch-screen passphrase

As for my reference to Ms Zeta-Jones’s bottom; if you’ve not seen the film, there's a scene where the actress climbs through a 'net' of laser beams that many cinemagoers were particularly fond of. Take a look at the film trailer if you're still not sure what I'm talking about.

 

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Recent Podcasts

Ofcom straightens out contracts, LG makes a curved phone and a mobile security company is accused of crooked dealings

Podcast - 30th October 2013

We start this week's podcast with Ofcom's announcement that it's clarifying the rules for fixed-term mobile phone contracts.

There's also a new curved smartphone from LG, accusations about a mobile security company, information about mobile phone thefts, a report into the UK's communications infrastructure and some quarterly results figures.

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The world of mobile payments

Podcast - 28th October 2013

M-commerce and mobile payments are terms that can mean several different things.

In this special podcast we learn more about the subject by talking to Tim Green, editor-in-chief of Mobile Money Revolution.

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What is HTML5 and what does it mean for mobile?

Podcast - 25th October 2013

HTML5 is often described as the shape of things to come; sometimes as the future of the web and sometimes as the nemesis of native mobile applications.

But exactly what is 'HTML 5' - and what does it mean to the mobile industry?

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New tablets coming to the UK from Nokia, Apple, Amazon and Argos

Podcast - 23rd October 2013

There's plenty of product news in this week's podcast, with a new Apple iPad and new tablets from Nokia and Argos as well.

We also talk about HMV's battle with the Apple App Store, new 4G tariffs from Tesco Mobile, Samsung's patent proposals and a complaint about coverage maps.

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Mobile app promotion - top tips and salient stats

Podcast - 18th October 2013

If you've created a mobile application, you'll want people to download it, use it and tell their friends. But how can you ensure that as many people as possible know about your app?

Today's podcast is designed to help with some of the answers. It was recorded in London at the very first App Promotion Summit earlier this year.

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