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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

‘The Eyes Have It’ at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

DoCoMo are one of many network operators and handset manufacturers demonstrating innovative new products as Mobile World Congress. Our eye was caught by the employee demonstrating “Eye Controlled Earphones”. It’s a good job the ladies from the CBOSS stand weren’t walking past at the time.

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'Mobile Money Monday' at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Monday’s Mobile World Congress conference agenda dedicated one of 4 streams to Mobile Money - Transfers, Transactions and Technology allowing all stakeholders to share experiences and debate the future of Mobile and Money.

Two types of service dominated presentations and panel discussions; Near Field Communication (NFC) technology enabling payment at traditional Point of Sale (PoS), and the Mobile Wallet replacing plastic or cash.

Author: The Fonecast
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‘Innovation Corner’ at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Here’s my pick of the 3 most innovative companies I’ve uncovered at the 2010 Mobile World Congress.

Cootek.com win the prize for simplest innovation... an accurate touch screen keyboard. They’re a few months away from being ready to release the software to handset manufacturers, but the demo handsets worked very well. The keyboard assumes the user is not going to press the intended key, but in fact might miss and press another key in the same area. Based on this knowledge and an extensive dictionary of words and language context, it’s able to determine the intended word with surprising accuracy. I sincerely hope their technology will be made available for the Nexus One in the not too distant future.

Author: The Fonecast
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Google “Mobile First” from Eric Schmidt’s Key Note at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, presented a compelling vision of a mobile centric future. The phone has become the “high value end point” for Google services enabled by a combination of increasing handset power, mobile data networks and cloud computing. By far the scarcest resource is the bandwidth available through the mobile data networks. Google appear committed to work with Mobile Network Operators (MNO) to maximise bandwidth usage, although several audience questions suggested scepticism from the main stream mobile industry. Eric expressed a need to maintain a harmonious relationship with MNOs stating Google could not operate its service on mobile devices without their co-operation.

Author: The Fonecast
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The great Windows Mobile 7 conspiracy theory

Mark Bridge writes:

I like a good conspiracy theory. A good one, mind you. None of this “Funny thing happened on the way to Mars” nonsense. Oh no, not me. And, despite occasionally mirroring Jerry Fletcher by balancing a bottle on the door handle, I’ve never been inclined to publish such a theory. Until now.

You see, it’s Mobile World Congress in a fortnight’s time. Which is when the great and the good of the mobile industry – along with their mates and hangers-on – head for Barcelona. Microsoft will be there. They’re holding a press briefing on Monday afternoon. And there’s a lot of talk about Windows Mobile 7 being (unofficially) on the agenda. But where’s the evidence?

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