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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

Thursday, September 24, 2009

The mobile phone tries to grow up

Mark Bridge writes:

The end of civilisation. The dawn of the future. Mobile phones are somewhere in the middle. Once seen as novelties for people with too much money, the mobile phone is now ubiquitous. And with that ubiquity comes an acceptance that they’re just tools. Doesn't it?

Which is why I was surprised to see a news article from Voice, a trade union that wants mobile phones banned from nurseries because of concern about inappropriate photographs. No mention of banning cameras, of course. Dear me no, because that would be obvious. Or banning pens and watches, because it’s possible to get a camera built into one of those, too. Come on – your concern for your staff and their responsibilities is admirable, but your aim is misplaced. While you’re at it, why not issue a press statement about your desire to ban penknives from staff keyrings? “Nursery teacher carries knife in school”, anyone?

Meanwhile, in the other corner of the ring is a 29-year-old teacher who’s facing prosecution because he attacked a pupil. How was he caught? Mobile phone video footage. Thank heavens for that. Perhaps mobile phones should be banned for teachers but made compulsory for students. Now that’s an idea. Especially as some schools are using them as part of the teaching process.

Jorge Colombo All this came to mind because I read about Jorge Colombo recently. He’s a designer, a photographer and an illustrator. This year, he’s also become known as a man who paints pictures using his Apple iPhone. And he’s certainly not the only mobile phone artist.

Which brings me back to my headline. “The mobile phone tries to grow up”. Mobiles aren’t a novelty any more. The cellular phone has now been in the UK for almost 25 years. So let’s stop pointing at it as though it’s a two-headed bearded lady in a Victorian circus, shall we?

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