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Monday, November 5, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 5th November 2012

Expecting the expected

Mark Bridge writes:

Last week I referred to the previous week as having been ‘big news but no big surprises’ - and in many ways the past seven days have seen much of the same.

Google revealed new Nexus-branded Android devices and an update to the Android mobile operating system, all of which had been widely leaked beforehand. The new devices are expected on 13th November. Meanwhile Microsoft ‘unveiled’ Windows Phone 8, even though we’d already seen glimpses of it on smartphones from Nokia, HTC and Samsung.

RIM reassured the world that BlackBerry 10 was still on course for its launch early next year. Oh, and EE redecorated around 700 shops before turning on its 4GEE service for UK consumers.

Talking of retailing, there was concern in some quarters over news that O2’s franchise plans meant over 40% of O2 UK shops wouldn’t be owned by the Telefónica mobile network by mid-2013. And even more concern as electrical retailer Comet called in the administrators.

Sticking with worrying news, Japanese manufacturing giant Sharp feared for its future and security company Bit9 said 25% of Android apps in the Google Play store were suspicious or questionable.

Still, there was good news for Android with IDC calculating that 75% of new smartphones are running Google’s mobile OS - and good news for consumers as Virgin Media became the latest network to offer unlimited mobile data on ‘pay as you go’ tariffs.

But the biggest news for the week - at least in terms of traffic to TheFonecast.com web site - was the revelation that Motorola Mobility is sponsoring Justin Bieber’s ‘Believe’ pop tour. I wonder if a Bieberphone would outsell the iPhone 5?

Receive this reminder of the biggest mobile headlines by email every Monday morning. Simply register at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page and we’ll send you our weekly news summary.
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Opinion Articles

Is Android losing its impact for Google?

Mark Bridge writes:

Recent figures released by ABI Research have prompted the market intelligence company to ask whether Google is losing control of the Android ecosystem.

At first glance, Android dominated smartphone shipments for the final quarter of 2013. ABI Research says 77% of the 287 million smartphones shipped in Q4 2013 were running Android.

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It’s time to prepare for the upcoming surge in signaling traffic

Robin Kent writes:

After initially suffering from slow pick up by consumers, 4G has begun to accelerate, and is now well on the way to the forecasted one billion subscribers by 2017. In fact EE, owner of T-Mobile and Orange, recently announced the addition of 493,000 new 4G customers to its existing base of 1.2 million.

Author: The Fonecast
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Mobile phone coverage: is this as good as it gets?

Mark Bridge writes:

A new report has highlighted the issue of poor mobile phone coverage in rural Sussex villages. BBC Sussex invited me onto their ‘Sussex Breakfast’ radio show to explain what could be done - and, as usual, I made enough notes for a lecture rather than a three-minute interview.

Here’s what I would have liked to have said if I’d been given a disproportionate amount of time to talk.

Author: The Fonecast
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Last week at The Fonecast: 27th January 2014

Expecting the unexpected

Mark Bridge writes:

Great news for mobile phone users. Ofcom’s new rules preventing unexpected mid-contract price rises came into force last week, which means UK consumers can no longer be surprised by their subscription charge increasing while they’re still locked into a minimum-term deal.

Author: The Fonecast
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Ofcom changes the rules for mobile phone contracts... and so does O2

Mark Bridge writes:

This week, new Ofcom rules came into force. They’re designed to avoid unexpected price rises during the minimum term of a mobile phone contract. Yes, just because you signed a fixed-term contract doesn’t mean the charges can’t increase. Networks said they needed this option in case of inflation or regulatory changes. Customers felt trapped.

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