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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

Friday, September 3, 2010

Santa's bringing tablets this Christmas

Mark Bridge writes:

Santa’s bringing tablets this Christmas – and I’m not talking about the plink-plink-fizz of Alka Seltzer. These are tablet computers… and they’re going to be everywhere.

It all started with the Apple iPad; a device so widely anticipated, the TV advertisements didn’t even need to say what it did. "What is iPad?  iPad is thin…"

But now it’s having to share the limelight. The Samsung Galaxy Tab runs the rival Android OS and, unlike the Apple iPad, appears to have every model 3G-ready.

Then there are the new Binatone tablets. Archos tablets. And many, many iPad lookalikes from China. Plus potential new products – such as RIM’s rumoured BlackPad, along with LG, HP and Motorola tablet devices – still to come.

So… we’ve got the stock. But what about the demand?

Well, according to retailers, that’s there too.

DSGi chief executive John Browett expects the iPad to be a "winning product at Christmas" in Currys and PC World stores.

Glenn Lurie, president of AT&T's emerging devices division, says tablets could make laptops obsolete.

Best Buy’s Shawn Score says his company "will make tablets a focus" – and it wouldn’t be too surprising to find The Carphone Warehouse heading in a similar direction.

Cost could also play a big part. Not only are some of these WiFi-only tablets costing under £100, even the dearer 3G-equipped ones will look attractive when subsidised with a two-year mobile contract.

Overall, it looks like good news for the mobile industry. Whether it’s also good news for consumers isn’t so clear. After all, there’s still a chance that may of those tablet devices could end up in the same cupboard as electric candles and laser-guided scissors!

 

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Recent Podcasts

Podcast - 8th September 2010

This week's podcast takes its usual look at the latest industry headlines, covering everything from tablet devices to network sharing. There's also a preview of Friday's "Definition of Mobile" event, which aims to show businesses how they can take advantage of mobile technology.

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Podcast - 1st September 2010

Google moves even further into the telecoms space, O2 introduces 'eco ratings' and some of technology's biggest names go shopping. All this - plus the possibility of mobile phones made from nut shells - is discussed by Iain, James and Mark.

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Podcast - 25th August 2010

Iain, James and Mark take their regular look at the UK's top mobile industry news stories. This week, Intel, Nokia, Ofcom, ZTE, Apple, Facebook and the City of London police are some of the organisations making the headlines.

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Podcast - 18th August 2010

This week we talk to mobile security expert Jack Wraith, who heads the Telecommunications UK Fraud Forum and the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum. Plus there's a discussion about all the week's other big news stories - from Android to Zeta-Jones!

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Podcast - 11th August 2010

Iain, James and Mark take their usual look at the week's mobile industry headlines, from high-level departures to mobile payments. There's also an interview with Anthony Erwin, founder of mobile dating and social networking company StreetSpark.

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