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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 16th January 2012

Mark Bridge writes:

So that’s CES week over. This year’s show seemed particularly US-centric, given the amount of 4G LTE mobile technology kicking about. Not that the UK isn’t making its own 4G plans; far from it. But let’s start at the beginning...

CES 2012 saw opening announcements from Microsoft and Nokia that celebrated Windows Phone and the forthcoming Lumia 900. Intel’s move into mobile took a real leap forward with news that its Intel Atom processor was going to end up in Lenovo and Motorola devices. And new handsets were forthcoming from Sony Ericsson (or was it Sony?) with the Sony Xperia S - and Huawei with the super-thin Ascend P1 S smartphone.

Here in the UK, Ofcom announced a number of revised proposals for making 4G mobile spectrum available. It’s come up with new ideas to ensure 4G coverage is available to at least 98% of the population. Is everyone happy?  Let’s just say it looks like more people are happier than with the previous scheme.

Other UK news came from film and TV streaming service Netflix, whose launch here and in Ireland has raised the question of whether mobile networks can handle that kind of data traffic (and whether consumers will even try). Meanwhile, Three and giffgaff have both been talking about data usage and the results of having an ‘unlimited’ usage policy.

The world of patents saw Microsoft doing an Android-related licensing deal with LG, Nokia licensing its own patents from Sisvel International and the US International Trade Commission ruling that Motorola hadn’t infringed three Apple patents.

Finally, to the surprise of the week. Well, for me, anyway. A Forbes.com report says Samsung is working on merging its bada mobile operating system with the Tizen OS. Apple, Android, RIM and Windows Phone could well have a tough new contender this year.

Start your week with a reminder of the latest headlines. Simply register at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page and we’ll send you this weekly news summary by email.
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Opinion Articles

The art of accessory sales is changing

Mark Bridge writes:

We're told it's not merely 'sales'. No, it's an art. "The art of selling". And with over 4 million hits on Google, you could easily argue that the art of selling is more popular than painting.

The same goes for the two sub-categories of cross-selling and up-selling. They're arts as well, you know. Mystic and creative disciplines...

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Secure mobile phone calls explained

The security of 3G and GSM mobile phone calls has been questioned recently. Mark Bridge spoke to Dr Simon Bransfield-Garth, Chief Executive of Cellcrypt, at Mobile World Congress to find out how real the problems are. The interview was included in our podcast on 19th February 2010; here's an edited transcript of the interview:

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‘The App is Dead. Long Live the App’ at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Apps (defined as games, information services, social networking video and web content among other things) dominated MWC10 with debate focused on the provision of radio network capacity to support them, the technologies used to create them and the methods for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to monetise them. Given the fragmentation in technology and the investment needed from MNOs to provide capacity coupled with a lack of reward for MNOs, we would be forgiven for thinking the App as we know it is not long for this world. However new technologies offering broader platform support, plus smart network investment coupled with new business models, mean the App will evolve and come of age ready for 2011.

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Windows Phone 7 Series at Mobile World Congress

Mark Bridge writes:

We queued in the rain outside the Catalonia Barcelona Plaza hotel. We sat on the floor in a basement room. And we watched on TV as Steve Ballmer announced Windows Phone 7 Series.

The life of a reporter is not a glamorous one.

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HTC Smart could start a smartphone price war

Mark Bridge writes:

I’ve previously talked about a report from 2009 which warned how touch-screen phones that weren’t true smartphones were pushing down ARPU. Consumers thought they were buying something that was relatively advanced but were being seduced by form over function.

This week HTC stepped in to the arena with the HTC Smart, described by HTC's Peter Chou as "a more-affordable smartphone". Although it may not fit everyone’s definition of a smartphone, it certainly ticks most of the boxes. It has an open operating system, Qualcomm’s Brew platform, which has over 18,000 available applications and has been installed on over 1200 handset models worldwide.

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Recent Podcasts

Reviewing our 2015 mobile industry predictions... and looking forward to 2016

Podcast - 15th January 2016

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Later in the programme, the team anticipates some of the topics that will be hitting the headlines during 2016.

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Podcast from Mobile World Congress 2015

Podcast - 6th March 2015

Mark Bridge learns about the mobile technology trends at Mobile World Congress 2015 by chatting to James Rosewell of 51Degrees, Dr Kevin Curran from the IEEE and Chris Millington of Doro.

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Looking back at February: from security scares to multiple MVNOs

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We're taking a look back at the biggest mobile industry news stories from February 2015, including allegations that the UK's security service tried to breach SIM card security by hacking into one of the world's biggest SIM producers.

We also talk about the planned BT and EE merger, the creation of two new UK virtual networks, some acquisitions in the mobile payment arena and a new Ubuntu smartphone.

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Interview with Chris Millington of Doro about mobile retailing, wearables and technology for older consumers

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In today's programme Mark Bridge talks to Chris Millington, who's Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland.

They discuss the state of mobile retailing in the UK, the future of wearable devices and - as you might expect - smartphones for seniors.

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A month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

Podcast - 30th January 2015

We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

We also discuss Apple's record-breaking quarterly figures, the highlights of CES and the launch of Microsoft Windows 10, as well as saying farewell to the current version of Google Glass.

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