Latest Podcast



Featured Articles

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Last week at The Fonecast: 31st October 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

In the world of retail, you can’t move for Hallowe’en puns at the moment. You know the kind of thing. Spooky offers. Frighteningly low prices. Missing our deals will haunt you. There’s not the ghost of a chance we’ll shift these PlayBooks unless we cut the price.

And it’s been another big news week for mobile manufacturing. Nokia has revealed its first Windows Phone devices, along with some S40 almost-smartphone handsets. The WP7 phones are branded as ‘Lumia’ and the S40 mobiles are ‘Asha’. Feel free to write your own “Brimful of...” headline.

Also in the world of manufacturing, Sony has agreed to buy Ericsson out of the Sony Ericsson partnership after ten years. Sony is picking up a mobile phone business with a handful of useful patents, while Ericsson is picking up just over a billion Euro.

Still with manufacturing but very much focussed at the luxury end of the market (wherever that is), Porsche Design and Research In Motion have confirmed they’ll be producing a new luxury mobile phone. Officially it’s called the Porsche Design P’9981 smartphone from BlackBerry – but it’s equipped with an angular QWERTY keyboard that sets it a long way apart from other BlackBerry products.

As well as talking about the stainless steel and leather P’9981 (which, much like Hallowe’en, has an apostrophe in an unexpected place), RIM had two of its smartphones approved by MasterCard for its PayPass NFC payment system. Mind you, it wasn’t all good news from RIM; the company also warned that the next version of its BlackBerry PlayBook operating system wouldn’t turn up until next year.

Quarterly results are still coming thick and fast, with Motorola Mobility, Samsung, LG and Everything Everywhere all publishing their figures. No great surprises, with the exception of Olaf Swantee’s description of Everything Everywhere as “a silly name”.

And Strategy Analytics has calculated that Samsung is now the world’s top seller of smartphones, overtaking Apple (which, in turn, overtook Nokia in the previous quarter).

Mind you, Apple might have the last laugh. Having been granted a patent earlier this year for the pinch-and-zoom touchscreen interface, it’s now been granted a slide to unlock patent. Thank heavens for Android’s new face recognition unlocking, eh?

Last week we spoke to Dr Mark Smith of ipadio about the ways the voice broadcasting service has changed since it launched two years ago. You can listen on our website, via iTunes or by downloading the MP3 file.

Stay up to date by receiving this news summary by email every week. Simply register at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page.

Print
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Rate this article:
No rating

Leave a comment

This form collects your name, email, IP address and content so that we can keep track of the comments placed on the website. For more info check our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use where you will get more info on where, how and why we store your data.
Add comment

Opinion Articles

Why a mobile TV service is just like a zombie

Mark Bridge writes:

Here in the UK, we’re struggling a bit with mobile TV. Which made me wonder what the problem really was. Well, after a long evening with the finest stilton and the cheapest port, the answer came to me in a dream. A mobile TV service is just like the lurching, drooling nightmare creatures that appear in every zombie film. And once consumers understand zombies, they’ll understand the problems with mobile TV. Let me explain.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Selling your way out of a recession? Of course you can!

Iain Graham writes:

Everybody these days (apart from a lucky few!) is suffering from a lack of business or reduced sales due to the current 'downturn in the economic climate'. In my opinion, this is the time when sales people should stand up and be counted!

No, I don't mean the hard nosed, foot in the door double-glazing, second-hand car or mobile phone types (no offence!), I mean EVERYONE! Selling is a concept as much as it is a profession.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Mobile & Contactless Payments

James Rosewell offers his opinion on the current state of mobile and contactless payments.

The banking and mobile industries have big plans for Near Field Communication (NFC) as the mobile payment mechanism of the future. Barclaycard has been leading the way from the credit card sector forming a partnership with Orange, having previously worked with O2, and running a catchy TV advert prompting contactless cards using VISA’s paywave system.

However the reality of NFC payments appears a lot further away. The Point of Sale (POS) technology appears to be badly deployed by some of the first-phase retailers mainly made up of low-value high-volume businesses like coffee shops, fast food outlets and newsagents.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Insecure Mobile Browsers

James Rosewell writes: I note with interest Barclays mobile on-line banking home page extolling the safety of mobile banking whilst claiming it’s as secure as their non-mobile equivalent. This is on the same page that recommends customers use Opera Mini to access Barclays mobile on-line banking.

Yet following the link to the operamini.com web site and looking at the help section we can read Opera’s answer to the question “Is there any end-to-end security between my handset and — for example — paypal.com or my bank?” and the answer is “No. If you need full end-to-end encryption, you should use a full Web browser such as Opera Mobile.”

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
First107108109110111112113114116

Recent Podcasts

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

Podcast - 15th January 2016

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return to review their mobile industry predictions from last year. Which mergers, partnerships and developments did they forecast correctly... and which didn’t work out as planned?

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

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

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.

They talk about wearable devices, wireless charging, mobile operating systems and much more... including some of their favourite products from the exhibition.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Looking back at February: from security scares to multiple MVNOs

Podcast - 27th February 2015

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.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

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

Podcast - 24th February 2015

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.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

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.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
12345678910Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Twitter @TheFonecast RSS podcast feed
Find us on Facebook Subscribe free via iTunes

Archive Calendar

«January 2025»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
303112345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
272829303112
3456789

Archive

Terms Of Use | Privacy Statement