Latest Podcast



Featured Articles

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.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

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.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
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.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

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.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
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.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS

Opinion Articles

Sunday, September 11, 2011

This week at The Fonecast: 11th September 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

Welcome to this week's news summary from The Fonecast. Sorry it's late but I have a reasonably good excuse. On Friday I was in central London to meet Hans Eriksson of Bambuser. He was about to stream his life online for 24 hours, relying on social networking to find him off-beat attractions. You'll find our conversation on TheFonecast.com – and the results are at bambuserchallenge.tumblr.com

Anyway, to the rest of the week's news… and I’ll start with some international giants.

Yahoo! has ditched CEO Carol Bartz and has replaced her with current Chief Financial Officer Timothy Morse until a permanent chief executive is appointed. You won’t be surprised to learn that Carol’s unhappy.

Also in the USA, Google has acquired the Zagat Survey restaurant guide business. This may or may not be a big deal for the mobile industry, depending on what happens next.

And Twitter has reached 100 million active users worldwide, with 55 million of them using Twitter on mobile devices.

In the world of network operations, Vodafone has created an R&D centre in Silicon Valley, the O2 More mobile advertising service has acquired six million opted-in users, Everything Everywhere says it’ll upgrade mobile TV for its customers, Orange has introduced a mobile music streaming service, Telefónica is creating a new London-based Digital business unit and Three UK has been feeling a bit left out when it comes to mobile payments.

Meanwhile, mobile manufacturing appears to be dominated by legal issues at the moment. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 remains banned from sale in Germany, while HTC has bought a number of patents from Google and is using them to fight Apple.

But it’s not all conflict. Microsoft has persuaded Acer and ViewSonic to license its patents, thereby covering their use of Android. And the software giant has promised that it won’t be long before Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint find their way into Symbian Belle. (Which raises two questions: What has Android got to do with Microsoft? – and why would I buy a Windows Phone device if I can upgrade my old Nokia instead?)

When you’ve answered those, I’ll challenge you with one final question. If you wanted to promote a “light-hearted, positive and contemporary image of Christianity relevant to the Easter weekend”, what would you do?

The answer, if you’re Phones 4U, is that you’d create a cartoon of Jesus Christ and His Sacred Heart. You’d make sure it portrayed the Son of God winking and giving the thumbs-up sign – and you’d use it to advertise “Miraculous deals”.

This week the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a number of complaints against the ad, noting that it was likely to cause serious offence. Phones 4U has apologised and said it has no plans to run the ads again. Mind you, they’ve not specifically ruled out using other religious figures.

Stay ahead of the crowd by receiving this weekly news summary from TheFonecast.com by email. Simply click the ‘register’ link at the top right-hand corner of our website and enter your details.

If you use an iPod, iPhone or iPad - or you’re simply a fan of iTunes - it’s easy to find our weekly mobile industry podcasts. Click here to subscribe... or search for ‘The Fonecast’ in the iTunes store.
Print
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Rate this article:
No rating

Leave a comment

This form collects your name, email, IP address and content so that we can keep track of the comments placed on the website. For more info check our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use where you will get more info on where, how and why we store your data.
Add comment

Recent Podcasts

Chris Millington introduces the Doro PhoneEasy 740 and the Doro Experience

Podcast - 9th November 2012

In this special feature we're talking to Chris Millington, Doro's MD for UK and Ireland. Doro, which produces easy-to-use mobile phones for older people, is releasing its first touch-screen smartphone this month.

As well as explaining the phone's benefits, Chris also describes the advantages of Doro's tablet and PC software. In addition, we take a few minutes to look at Doro's plans for the future.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Struggles for Comet and Sharp, worries about Android apps

Podcast - 7th November 2012

In this week's podcast we hear that Comet has gone into administration and that Japanese tech manufacturer Sharp is struggling to survive.

There's also concern about the security of some Android apps, some changes afoot at O2 and a new favourite device at WiFi hotspots.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Apple, Google and Microsoft all have something new to talk about

Podcast - 31st October 2012

We're talking about Apple's iPad mini, the new Google Nexus devices and Microsoft's two updated operating systems in our podcast this week.

There's also the launch of 4G from EE, an assortment of quarterly results and some analysis of smartphone sales.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: 4.0

EE reveals its 4G tariffs, O2 makes some changes and Samsung still hasn't copied the iPad

Podcast - 24th October 2012

This week we're talking about the UK's first 4G mobile phone tariffs, Ofcom's consultation about contract pricing and O2's response to its recent network outage.

We're also looking at quarterly results from Google and Nokia, Apple's iPad design, Microsoft's tablet pricing and texting cows.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Problems for O2, ZTE and Huawei... but some good news, too

Podcast - 17th October 2012

Last week wasn't particularly good for O2 in the UK or for Huawei and ZTE in the United States. In today's podcast we explain why.

There's also a look at newly-independent Vertu, Microsoft's new music service, a mobile-friendly search engine and 5G research in the UK.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
First2627282931333435Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Twitter @TheFonecast RSS podcast feed
Find us on Facebook Subscribe free via iTunes

Archive Calendar

«November 2024»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
28293031123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
2526272829301
2345678

Archive

Terms Of Use | Privacy Statement