Latest Podcast



Featured Articles

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.
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

Saturday, February 5, 2011

This week at The Fonecast: 6th February 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

Last year, mobile payments seemed a lifetime away. Even Visa Europe's head of mobile wasn't overly optimistic about the likelihood of the 'mobile wallet' becoming a reality in the short-term.

And then along came Orange and Barclaycard with last week's announcement about their summer launch of mobile payments in the UK.

This week we have not one, not two, but three mobile payment announcements. O2 UK is applying for an e-money licence and plans to launch a mobile payment service later this year. Ericsson has created a business called Ericsson Money Services. And Visa Europe has developed a clip-on mobile payment accessory for iPhones in partnership with Wireless Dynamics. Let the battle of the competing standards commence!

Talking of competition, research company Canalys says the Android operating system has overtaken Symbian to become the world's leading smartphone platform. Its figures show that 32.9 million Android-based smartphones were shipped worldwide in Q4 2010, followed by 31 million devices running Nokia's Symbian platform, although some disagree with their calculations. However there's little doubt about Android's move into tablet devices; Strategy Analytics says Android captured 22% of the global market in the fourth quarter of 2010.

While we're on the subject of growth, let's not forget Vodafone, where data revenue has exceeded messaging revenue for the first time ever. (Mind you, just look at recent reports about consumer electronics, machine-to-machine connections and the demand for mobile video). The company also announced a new chairman – Sir John Bond will soon be replaced by Gerard Kleisterlee from Philips Electronics – and said it wasn’t happy after its recent dealings with the Egyptian government. It seems they're not on their own with that last point.

A couple of popular online services have announced new mobile features in the last few days. Facebook Deals was introduced to the UK, offering discounts from participating retailers when customers 'check in' using their phones. But there's a new check-in kid on the block, too. Google has added a check-in feature to its Latitude location service – and it’s introduced a browser-based store for Android users. You can now remotely download apps to your phone from your PC's browser. Or to someone else's phone if they've left their Google account logged on.

From spending on apps to spending on spectrum. Ofcom, having had its hand forced by new legislation in December, published a proposal that would allow UK mobile network operators to buy and sell radio spectrum from each other. Improved service for consumers is promised, although it’ll be interesting to see how this works out in reality.

I'll sign-off with a story that ended this week's podcast news. (If you've not listened yet, our special guest is Jonas Vig, co-founder and CEO of mobile video streaming service Bambuser). Research from the USA suggests 47% of mobile app users click on more in-app ads by mistake than they do deliberately. In-house research from TheFonecast.com suggests the vast majority of these clicks can be blamed on high-flying Angry Birds!


Receive our newsletter by email every weekend. Simply register using the link in the top right-hand corner of this page.

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

Categories: Networks and operators, OpinionNumber of views: 5015

Tags: opinion payments

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

The week's biggest mobile industry news stories, from flying smartphones to falling profits

Podcast - 9th July 2014

We have a varied collection of mobile industry news stories in this week's podcast, including new rules affecting airline passengers with smartphones.

We also talk about BlackBerry giving up its European research centre, Vodafone installing fibre-optic broadband, Samsung's profits, spending on mobile advertising, M2M adoption and WiFi on trains.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Talking about smartwatches, smartphones, roaming charges and customer complaints

Podcast - 2nd July 2014

In this week's podcast we talk about two of the big announcements from Google I/O: a new version of Android and the retail launch of smartwatches powered by 'Android Wear'.

We also talk about Android-based smartphones from Nokia and Blackphone, network complaints in the UK, a reduction in European roaming charges and mobile ticketing.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

A week of mobile news, including a US launch for the Amazon Fire smartphone and a UK launch for Google Glass

Podcast - 25th June 2014

This week's podcast covers the launch of the first Amazon smartphone and the introduction of Google Glass to the UK.

We also talk about new WiFi-powered voice services from EE and Three, plans to reduce mobile 'black spots', BlackBerry's app partnership, smartphone theft, 4G innovation... and rechargeable trousers.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

A week of mobile news: 5G technology, takeovers, tablets, tax and trackers

Podcast - 18th June 2014

We open this week's podcast with news about the European Commission and South Korea working together on 5G mobile technology.

There's a quick look at Samsung's new tablet, some acquisition deals to talk about, a tax investigation, research into wearable devices and plenty of other mobile industry news as well.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Mobile industry news... including new smartphones, new tablets and a new satellite broadband service

Podcast - 11th June 2014

This week's podcast begins with Ofcom's plans to cut the wholesale cost of inter-network mobile phone calls. But what benefit will consumers see?

Iain, James and Mark then move on to discuss luxury smartphones, a new handset on the high street, mobile broadband for aircraft passengers, government monitoring, the growth of smartphones - and 4G-equipped donkeys.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
123468910Last

Follow thefonecast.com

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

Archive Calendar

«March 2024»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
26272829123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
1234567

Archive

Terms Of Use | Privacy Statement