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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, July 24, 2009

What price for a hands-free conversation?

Iain Graham writes:

When you get up tomorrow morning and get in the car, why don't you screw up three £20 notes and lob 'em out of the window?!  Oh, and whilst you are at it, take out your driving licence, and put three points in the penalties column!!

Why would you do that, I hear you ask?  My answer would be, "I don't know, but it's what I see a lot of people doing every day I drive anywhere or walk down the road!"  It is the completely unnecessary risk you take when you sit behind the wheel of a car that is in motion and use a handheld mobile phone at the same time!  If you are a truck or bus driver, you have no reason to feel smug because you are equally as guilty!!

WHY DO YOU DO IT??!! Is it because;

  • The chance of being caught is infinitely small
  • The police should have better things to do
  • I am a responsible person and I am perfectly safe when I do it, it is all the other muppets who don't know what they are doing
  • It is an infringement of my civil rights/liberties
  • I never phone, I only text and sending a text is not an offence???

Have you ever been guilty of saying any of the above?!  I certainly have in the past, but then I used to drive at 90mph in a car with no seatbelts after I passed my test!  (I know you didn't think I was that old, but in my early days there was no speed limit on motorways in Britain and seatbelts hadn't even been thought of, let alone invented!)

Nowadays, I wouldn't move off my driveway without belting up. Why the change of heart?  Greater sense of social responsibility maybe?  Getting more sensible with age?  No, not really, it's because certain things when you give them a bit of thought just make sense!

Also, every car comes with easy to use, comfortable seatbelts and 94% of people use them all the time.

So it is the same with mobile phones. Every new phone comes with a basic wired earpiece for free, and Bluetooth devices are available from around a tenner upwards, so what's the reason only one person in three uses one regularly?

Come on guys (and gals), it is incredibly unsafe and dangerous to everyone around you to use a non-handsfree handset whilst driving. Use a handsfree kit now - YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE - before the government realises that current legislation is not working and they ban the use of ALL mobiles in a moving vehicle.

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Recent Podcasts

A week of mobile industry news, including the latest security and privacy concerns

Podcast - 16th April 2014

We begin this week's podcast with a discussion about the Heartbleed bug, the effect it's having on the mobile industry and the wider issues for all internet users.

We're also talking about the future of BlackBerry, UK 4G coverage, new CEOs, Bluetooth connectivity, privacy concerns and the next generation of mobile processors.

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A new mobile move from Microsoft, a roaming revolution in Europe... and much more

Podcast - 9th April 2014

This week's podcast starts with news from Microsoft about an update to its Windows Phone platform and a cost-free OS offer to hardware manufacturers.

There's also a new flagship smartphone from Nokia, a roaming announcement from the European Parliament, a UK virtual mobile network from The Co-operative Group, a change at the top for Mozilla, retail expansion for Vodafone and an awkward end to BlackBerry's relationship with T-Mobile in the USA.

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Acquisitions, banking, complaints... and the rest of the week's mobile industry news

Podcast - 2nd April 2014

Acquisition announcements from Facebook and Intel are the first stories in this week's look at the latest UK mobile industry headlines.

They're followed by news about mobile payments, mobile banking, a phone with an invisible solar panel, customer complaints, low-cost 4G smartphones, productivity apps and an intriguing case of WhatsApp-itis.

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Smartphones, smart watches and SMS spam: all the week's mobile industry news headlines

Podcast - 26th March 2014

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge are reunited for their regular weekly look at the latest UK mobile industry headlines.

Today they're talking about smart watches, an Apple iPhone announcement, the new HTC One M8, the closure of Ovivo Mobile, text spam, peer-to-peer messaging, government hacking and mergers.

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Designing mobile phones for seniors: we talk to Doro and Emporia Telecom

Podcast - 21st March 2014

Producing mobile phones for older customers requires much more than big buttons and a simple interface. At Mobile World Congress last month we spoke to two major players in this growing sector: Swedish company Doro and Austria's Emporia Telecom.

Our first conversation was with Harald Obereder, Chief Technology Officer at Emporia, who spoke to Mark Bridge about handset design and user interface design. This was followed by an interview with Chris Millington, Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland, about research and development in the 'senior tech' market.

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