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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

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Mobile technology publication becomes the first NFC-equipped 'smart book'... sort of

Mark Bridge writes:

Atria Books, part of the Simon & Schuster publishing family, has released what it’s calling the first-ever smart book. A thousand copies of ‘The Impulse Economy’ by Gary Schwartz will have an NFC sticker attached, providing a web link to book-related content.

Hmmm. That’s not really a smart book, is it?  The same kind of logic means my NFC credit card turns my wallet into a ‘smart wallet’ and transforms the pocket of my jeans into ‘smart jeans’. It means my NFC-equipped smartphone is a smart smartphone.

Besides, if they’d wanted to save money and reach a wider audience, they could have used QR Code stickers instead. You know, the kind of barcode that’s used on smart posters, smart breakfast cereal, smart newspapers and smart magazines.

What’s that?  You’ve seen QR Codes on literature, too?  Surely not. That would be some kind of proto-smart book. You sure you’re not making it up?

However, despite my cynicism about the promotional campaign, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see more books with embedded NFC chips. They’re already being used for much more than payments, URLs and contact information. Nokia is implementing NFC for simple Bluetooth pairing, for example. Why not put NFC chips in every book for libraries - or to help consumers search their own bookshelves?

But, for me, the most uncomfortable part of the announcement is that initial figure. Just a thousand NFC stickers have been ordered. Either NFC chips are still painfully expensive or there’s very little profit margin on the book.

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