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Monday, June 11, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 11th June 2012

Vodafone and O2 team up to battle Everything Everywhere

Mark Bridge writes:

With just three working days for many people in the UK last week, you’d be forgiven for thinking nothing much would happen. However, you’d be wrong.

Telefónica UK and Vodafone UK announced plans to pool the basic parts of their network infrastructure in an expansion of their existing ‘Cornerstone’ partnership. It means that Vodafone and O2 will be using the same base stations for 2G, 3G and 4G service across the country. Responsibility is being split down the middle; Telefónica UK will take care of the east, while Vodafone UK will have the west. I imagine the dividing line running conveniently between the headquarters buildings in Slough and Newbury respectively.

But that wasn’t the only big news from Vodafone. It’s also taken control of mobile coupon business Vouchercloud, which lets registered customers receive discounts, codes and vouchers on their phones. I’d say there’ll be some kind of integration into Vodafone’s mobile payment partnership before too long.

On the subject of acquisitions, A1 Comms is reported to have taken over the Go Mobile UK franchise business, Google has acquired the Quickoffice mobile productivity business and Citrix has expanded its mobile services by picking up data optimisation provider Bytemobile.

All fun and games, you might say – which would be a perfect link into our next couple of stories. Microsoft has revealed a new application that’ll bring entertainment from its Xbox gaming console to other Windows 8 devices and Windows Phone handsets. It’s called Xbox SmartGlass and, for example, will display bonus features from TV shows on your smartphone while you’re watching television via the Xbox.

Meanwhile Sony had good news for fans of its rival PlayStation gaming platform. HTC is joining the fun and will be bringing PlayStation Mobile games to HTC devices.

Finally, a question. What’s 12.3mm wide, 8.8mm high and just 0.67mm thick?  That’s the new smallest-ever SIM card. 40% smaller than a microSIM, it’s just been approved by ETSI. Expect to see it appearing in the iPhone 6 from 2013 (perhaps). Let’s just hope my eyesight will still be good enough to fit the card.

Start your week with a reminder of the latest mobile 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.

The Fonecast is sponsored by 51Degrees.mobi. More details about advertising and sponsorship opportunities are available on the About Us section of our website.
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Opinion Articles

Sponsor our coverage of Mobile World Congress 2014

Mark Bridge writes:

Would you like to be part of our Mobile World Congress coverage?

Mobile World Congress is Europe’s biggest mobile communications industry show. It runs from 24th - 27th February next year in Barcelona and is expected to welcome over 70,000 attendees and around 2,000 exhibitors.

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Ruthless logic is revolutionary: we talk smartphones and customers with Kazam

Interview with Chief Marketing Officer James Atkins

Mark Bridge writes:

Earlier this month, London-based smartphone company Kazam announced seven new Android handsets. That's pretty impressive... and is an even more noteworthy feat when you consider the company didn't even exist at the beginning of the year.

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Printed interactive Bluetooth-enabled books and posters are just around the corner

Mark Bridge writes:

Imagine books that could automatically link with your tablet as you touched the pages. Or posters that reacted to your fingertips and displayed the results on your smartphone. It seems this kind of Bluetooth-enabled interactivity is just around the corner, thanks to tiny low-power processors and a patented printing process that doesn’t require specialised equipment.

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Banking on good customer service?

How mobile technology is changing the banking sector

The future of customer service is to bridge the gap between the smart consumer with the smartphone and the bank holding his or her financial assets. Even though mobile applications are becoming increasingly powerful customer touch points, many banks are failing to leverage them in order to engage with consumers.

Mandip Shergill, Account Executive at Genesys, looks at how banks can maintain and strengthen the customer relationship in the mobile channel.

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Facebook is a mobile company – are you?

Ashley Gilmour writes:

A quick fact: nearly half of Facebook’s advertising revenue now stems from mobile ads.

That’s right – of the social network’s $1.8 billion (£1.1 billion) generated in the third quarter of 2013, 49% of it was made up of mobile advertising revenue. Last year, the channel represented only 14%.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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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