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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

The impact of iOS 7 on mobile app developers

The impact of iOS 7 on mobile app developers

Anton Faulconbridge writes:

It’s the latest tech update that everyone is talking about; for good or for bad, iOS7 is here and it’s something that all mobile app developers need to take into consideration. So, how have these changes to Apple’s system had an impact on third party apps?

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It’s not your fault, so why wait for your mobile phone?

David Heled writes:

The dependency on mobile phones is at an all-time high. Used for everything from the weekly grocery shop to monitoring heart rate, it’s no underestimation to say that we would be lost without our mobile phones. So when it takes days for your phone to be repaired, it has a considerable impact on your normal daily life.

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How ring-back tones could transform the way we use our mobile phones

Interview with Florent Stroppa of OnMobile

Mark Bridge writes:

Ring-back tones offer consumers yet another way to customise their mobile phone service. Yet despite this – and the revenue opportunities they provide – many mobile network operators don’t offer them.

Recently I spoke to Florent Stroppa, General Manager Europe for value-added service specialist OnMobile, to find out why the UK doesn’t really seem to be bothered about ring-back tones… and whether the next-generation of ring-back services will change this.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 7th October 2013

Compare and contrast

Mark Bridge writes:

Talk about a difference. In preliminary results last week, HTC announced its first-ever quarterly loss while Samsung revealed record quarterly profits.

Curiously, many of the week’s other news stories also had a companion headline to provide a contrast.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 30th September 2013

Changes revealed, charges concealed

Mark Bridge writes:

Things didn’t look so bad in the mobile industry last week. After the shock of BlackBerry’s job losses and restructuring, it seemed as though the saga could be reaching a conclusion. On Monday shareholder Fairfax Financial announced a bid to buy the company. BlackBerry’s board of directors has approved the terms of the agreement, although it’s still able to consider alternative proposals as well.

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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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