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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, December 17, 2010

The teardown: engineering or entertainment?

Mark Bridge writes:

A few months ago I wrote about the so-called geek porn of unboxing. Unboxing, in case you’re unaware, refers to photos and video clips showing brand new mobile phones being removed from their packaging and switched on.

However, I’ve recently been reminded there is another similar type of geek porn. It’s darker than unboxing. More destructive. More intimate. It’s the teardown.

Now, a teardown – pronounced tare, not tier – isn’t a term from American Football. It’s another word for dismantling. However, instead of just ending up with a box of bits, you’re presented with an inventory that reveals all kinds of information about components and manufacturing processes.

The latest product to be subjected to a teardown is the Google Nexus S (or the Samsung GT-i9020, if you believe what’s written inside the phone). Online repair community iFixit has strapped on its anti-static wrist band and whipped out the motherboard.

I can’t pretend I’m not slightly interested by the results – but they don’t teach me anything that would affect my buying decision.

Which, I think, reveals the truth of the teardown. For most of us, it falls somewhere between the mystery of reverse engineering and the spectacle of Will it blend?

And that’s got me thinking. We’ve already been introduced to live teardowns. But maybe the speed teardown could be the next phenomenon for the wannabe geek. Two people, each with nothing but a Phillips size 00 screwdriver, pitted against each other. And then speed reassembly afterwards.

iFixit Google Nexus S teardown

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Podcast - 7th July 2010

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Podcast - 30th June 2010

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Podcast - 18th June 2010

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Podcast - 16th June 2010

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