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

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Mobile business applications: the next frontier

Anthony Keyworth, Orange UK’s Director of Product Marketing, has been gazing into his crystal ball to predict which business-focussed mobile applications could change the ways we work in the next five years.

His top four future developments, published under the heading “The next frontier for mobile business applications”, are:

Augmented reality

“Have you stared at your computer screen in confusion when faced with an error message or gazed blankly at the printer manual?  Well, here’s where augmented reality holds the potential to come to the rescue. For instance, by scanning the error notice using your mobile, this application will analyse the message then provide a visual step-by-step guide on how to solve the problem.”

Mark Bridge from TheFonecast.com says: Using Augmented Reality for business seems an obvious next step. Google Goggles and Nokia Point & Find can already provide online information to augment whatever you’re looking at via your mobile phone, so creating a business version – perhaps linked to your company intranet – makes good sense. I’m not completely sure about Anthony’s example, though – because I think there’s a chance your computer could be smart enough to diagnose itself in five years' time.

Personal health monitoring

“Businesses across the UK could save up to £13.2 billion by keeping their workforce healthy and happy. A personal health monitoring application could give staff the power to check their own health, ensuring they receive any early warning signs of potential illness. Though this is no replacement for a fully qualified medical professional check-up, it could help employees better manage certain aspects of their health such as blood pressure. The application also holds the potential to ensure the safety of lone workers by reducing their risk of falling ill in isolated situations. By continually monitoring their vital statistics, any health alerts can be immediately transmitted to emergency services and reported to their place of work.”

Mark Bridge says: Although the health monitoring app sounds good, I’m not convinced it’ll get past the company lawyers. However, using it for lone worker protection sounds more likely… as long as it doesn’t need some kind of implant!

Mobile / Office synchronisation

“Cutting carbon emissions and reducing energy costs is a priority for most businesses. However, ensuring that all staff turn off their computers or switch off the lights when they leave work can be difficult to enforce. The synchronisation application will link your mobile device with your office and by determining your location and activity, alter your work environment accordingly. This means that it will be possible to switch on the computer when you are nearby, turn it to standby when you leave, activate the printer, and maybe even boil the kettle when it’s time for tea.”

Mark Bridge says: The idea of mobile & office synchronisation was popularised around ten years ago when the BlackBerry arrived, so we’re already well on the way to this. But it’s not going to be completely straightforward; there’ll need to be additional security to protect against borrowed or stolen phones.

Personal identification

“The days of carrying multiple wallets and personnel documents, especially when travelling for business could soon be over with the advent of personal identification applications. We’re already on our way with the ability to conduct monetary transactions via your mobile; in five years time, we could even be boarding a plane with a mobile passport.”

Mark Bridge says: Our recent conversation with Mary Carol Harris of Visa Europe suggested that the adoption of ‘mobile money’ was still several years away – which makes me think the five-year timeline to a mobile passport is very optimistic. However, there’s definitely a trend towards using mobiles as additional ID rather than as a sole means of identification.

 

Print
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Rate this article:
No rating

Categories: OpinionNumber of views: 8089

Tags:

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

Motorola cuts jobs, Digia acquires Qt and Starbucks partners with Square

Podcast - 15th August 2012

This week's edition of The Fonecast starts with news that Motorola Mobility is to lose around a fifth of its staff worldwide. There's also more reorganisation at Nokia, which is passing its Qt software business to Digia.

In addition we're talking about a new US partnership between Starbucks and Square, some good news for Research In Motion, a worrying report for Samsung and a major milestone for Shazam.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

BlackBerry PlayBook, Vodafone's start-up plans, Google Wallet and more quarterly results

Podcast - 8th August 2012

We start this week's edition of The Fonecast with a new product from RIM: the mobile-enabled BlackBerry PlayBook. Next comes Vodafone's move to Tech City and Google moving its mobile wallet into the cloud.

You'll also find the latest batch of quarterly results, some mobile data research and a story about sheep sending SMS text messages.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Samsung and Apple's quarterly results, smartphone sales figures and much more

Podcast - 1st August 2012

There are plenty of quarterly results to report in this week's edition of The Fonecast, including Samsung, Apple, Telefonica and Facebook. In addition, we have new research that shows how smartphone sales are racing ahead as feature phone sales slow down.

There's also news about mobile coverage in the Channel Tunnel, mobile application downloads and m-commerce.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Doug Suriano of Tekelec talks about net neutrality for mobile networks

Podcast - 30th July 2012

In today's podcast we're talking to Doug Suriano, Chief Technology Officer at mobile broadband solutions company Tekelec, about net neutrality.

Net neutrality is the principle that consumers are not restricted in the ways they're able to use their internet connection. The topic is often in the headlines, either because some governments may want to prevent their citizens from viewing certain types of information - or because of commercial restrictions.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Ofcom prepares the UK for 4G, WAC joins the GSMA and O2 talks about compensation

Podcast - 25th July 2012

We start this week's podcast with two news stories from Ofcom. Not only has the regulator announced its plans for the UK's 4G spectrum auction, it's also released research that shows we're texting more than we talk.

There's a look at the changing relationship between HTC and Beats Electronics, O2's apology for the network outage earlier this month and the Wholesale Applications Community's integration into the GSMA.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
First2930313234363738Last

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