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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, October 9, 2009

Information that's free on the web?  There's an app for that!

Mark Bridge writes:

A few months ago I was at the launch of DataWind’s UbiSurfer netbook, a device that includes 12 months of internet access with the surprisingly low purchase price. A light-hearted presentation compared its web access with the Apple iPhone’s “there’s an app for that” TV campaign – and reminded us that many popular web-based iPhone apps cost money whilst web pages were free to access. Pay for a currency converter – or access one online for nothing. Pay for a train timetable application – or go to the mobile web for free.

Commonsense may send consumers straight to the web… but convenience and marketing has still sent plenty to the Apple App Store, which celebrated two billion downloads recently. I didn’t think much more about this until I saw a report in Newsweek a few days ago. It suggested that app developers aren’t getting rich from their work, despite receiving 70% of the money charged by Apple’s App Store (and most competing app stores, too). Instead, many aren’t making any profits at all.

Apple iPhone 3GSWe’re now seeing more and more big name brands heading for the app store; last year half of the Apple App Store’s top 10 chargeable apps were from independent developers – a figure that had fallen to just one in ten when Newsweek published its report. This has led to app prices falling: big brands are happy to give away some applications as part of a larger marketing initiative. Of course, there are other devices and other app stores available – but it’s not inconceivable that the same will happen to them.

The combination of all this struck me yesterday with what’s perhaps one of the first examples of a new kind of commonsense “app for that”. UK rail franchise CrossCountry has launched Train Search for the iPhone; an application that’s free to download… unlike the National Rail app, for example.

It’s a sensible solution for everyone – which leaves me wondering why the whole web application business didn’t start here in the first place.

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3 comments on article "Information that's free on the web?  There's an app for that!"

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The Fonecast

10/9/2009 9:08 AM

Then again, there's Gym Babes - as reviewed by Ewan Macleod. ping.fm/KUVRe


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The Fonecast

10/16/2009 9:49 PM

Ovum preducts more apps, a falling Apple share and lower app prices (as reported by Mobile Entertainment: www.mobile-ent.biz/news/34726/Ovum-187-billion-app-downloads-by-2014)


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adfasd

6/15/2017 10:25 AM

Good article

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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.

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

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

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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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