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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

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

It’s all been done before

Mark Bridge writes:

No-one really likes an anticlimax. That was my biggest complaint about the launch of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7. Plenty of potential, a nice new interface – but nothing much that wasn’t being done elsewhere.

It’s the same type of accusation that’s been levelled at Apple’s iPhone in the past. The user experience is exciting… but the technology can be bettered by other devices.

Last week Palm released version 1.4 of its webOS, which introduced video capture. As Henry Kelly might say, “you’re playing catch-up”. I had video recording on my mobile phone in 2003.

And now dear old Vodafone seems to be doing the same.

“Qik mobile video service now available through Vodafone”. 

Excellent news. I’ll install it on my… oh, hang on, I downloaded it over 12 months ago.

“Foursquare now available on Vodafone mobiles”.

Yeah, it’s available and has been pretty much since Foursquare launched in the UK last year.

I realise there’s more to these stories than the 'now available' angle. These are partnerships that involve mutual benefits.

All I’m asking for is common sense and a little modesty. If you’re following someone else’s lead, please don’t try to convince me you’re doing something new. If you’re jumping on a bandwagon, don’t pretend you’re in the driving seat.

Thanks to their marketing efforts, I’m starting to doubt the innovative abilities of several mobile companies. They’d have been better off keeping quiet.

Or, as Aesop put it – around 2,500 years ago – don’t cry wolf.

 

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