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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, October 17, 2009

Which mobile operating system will top the charts at Christmas?

James Rosewell writes:

It seems to be accepted that the Apple iPhone will be the top selling mobile phone this Christmas now it’s available on almost every UK network. The more interesting question is which handsets will hold the number 2 to 5 positions - and what operating system will they be running when the smartphone scores are announced in the new year?

Christmas OS TreeMicrosoft announced Windows Phone last week and I commented on the importance of persuading their heartland fans to move from iPhone and other platforms to Windows Phone. Disappointingly, finding a mobile retailer willing to sell a Windows Phone is not easy at the moment. Orange tell me they’ve withdrawn the one model they were going to offer from Toshiba. Vodafone didn’t even know what a Windows Phone was.

On the other hand, Android based devices in the form of the HTC Hero and Motorola DEXT among others are available on the streets today - and they're running an operating system that’s been commercially available for 18 months. As anyone who bought a G1 or even an HTC Magic will testify, Android handsets have not been without their problems. However, many of those early bugs have been resolved and both new devices appear very capable; packed full of “App Store” value, adding downloads, out of the box functions, hi-res touch screens and - in the case of the DEXT - a lovely slide-out keyboard. They won’t knock Apple off the top spot but if the competition can exploit Apple’s premium pricing and poor battery performance I’d be willing to bet an Android phone will feature alongside a Symbian-based device in the top five. I’d even go as far as to suggest the DEXT may herald the return of Motorola.

Conversely, Microsoft and its partners will have to work very hard in 2010 to rectify what could be a very bad Christmas if they don’t get high-quality Windows Phone based handsets into the channel quickly. Ultimately they could lose out to Android as well as to Apple.

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Recent Podcasts

From the archive: some of our favourite mobile industry interviews from 2007, 2008 and 2009

Podcast - 5th June 2013

We're celebrating the seventh anniversary of The Fonecast this month with a handful of our favourite interviews from the early years.

You'll hear Ben Whitaker from Masabi, Truphone co-founder James Tagg, former Olympic athlete Steve Backley OBE and online banking pioneer Steve Townend.

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The latest mobile industry news: from the delayed 'Facebook phone' to life-saving QR codes

Podcast - 29th May 2013

This week's podcast begins with a report about a delay - or perhaps even cancellation - for the UK launch of HTC's Facebook phone, the HTC First.

We then move on to Vodafone's results, an Android app scare for Sky, Samsung's successes, contactless payments, potentially life-saving QR codes and an uncomfortable story about a smuggled mobile phone.

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New devices from BlackBerry, HP and Jolla... plus a new purchase for Yahoo

Podcast - 22nd May 2013

We start this week's podcast by talking about Yahoo and Tumblr before moving on to discuss Google's recent developer conference.

There are product announcements from BlackBerry, HP and the former MeeGo developers at Jolla... and there's some interesting mobile app news as well.

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Good news from Nokia, unwelcome headlines for EE and a profitable year at Sony

Podcast - 15th May 2013

Three new smartphones launched at three separate events. Yes, Nokia has definitely been busy in the past few days.

As well as talking about Finland's finest phones, we also discuss recent claims made about EE, annual results from Sony, smart metering, 5G technology, virus protection, Vodafone and the worldwide growth of mobile phones.

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From airports to airtime... and from mobile ads to mobile apps

Podcast - 8th May 2013

We start today's programme with the promise of a faster roll-out for the UK's mobile broadband services.

Next on the agenda is tablet sales... followed by mobile security, mobile boarding passes, quarterly results, acquisitions, advertising and management succession.

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