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Sunday, November 13, 2011

Last week at The Fonecast: 14th November 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

Flash is dead, HTML5 is the future. Okay, the next stage in the evolution of the mobile browser isn’t that clear – but a restructure at Adobe has pretty much marked the end of mobile Flash development.

Let’s get the rest of the week’s bad news out the way now. It seems Best Buy UK couldn’t convince enough people that its products were… well… best buys. That’s one suggestion after Best Buy Europe announced plans to close its eleven so-called ‘Big Box’ stores in the UK. Most staff are expected to be offered roles within The Carphone Warehouse – and we’ll see the Best Buy brand in some of those shops as well.

The Motorola Defy isn’t as tough as the company suggests, according to the Advertising Standards Authority. O2 UK isn’t selling the Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone handset in its shops. And applications from Apple’s App Store aren’t necessarily as safe as you might think.

Bad news also came for Nigel Cranswick, who was arrested after attempting the UK’s largest VAT fraud. Some might suggest that claiming a start-up turnover of almost £100 million per week was a bit of a giveaway.

Doing its best to give the UK an enthusiastic kick up the backside was eBay, which published a mobile manifesto in a bid to boost economic recovery. Equally enthusiastic about new technology was Bromley FC; it persuaded its footballers to have QR Codes shaved into their hair.

Huawei was another company coming high in the enthusiasm stakes, having announced plans for a European design centre in London – and Sir Richard Branson was announced as one of the new investors in mobile payment company Square Inc, although neither he nor Square has revealed the amount of investment involved.

I started by talking about HTML5 – and that’s where I’ll finish. Our feature report on Monday last week saw me talking to Carsten Mickeleit, the CEO of Cortado, about a new HTML5 client that offers desktop-type document access on a variety of mobile devices. Is HTML5 the future?  On the basis of what we’ve seen in the past few days, it’s certainly a big part of it.

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Opinion Articles

Last week at The Fonecast: 12th August 2013

Welcome to the not-so-silly season

Mark Bridge writes:

August is traditionally known as the ‘silly season’… but last week’s mobile industry news was all very serious. Apple started with a move designed to reassure customers about unsafe iPhone chargers by arranging a discounted exchange scheme – and it ended the week with a patent victory in the USA.

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Dual Core Smartphones only £7.70pm... whatever that means

Mark Bridge writes:

Don't sell the steak – sell the sizzle!  That's the mantra of many salespeople. It's all about emphasising the benefits of a product rather than its features. You don't tell people about the 13 megapixel camera when they ask about the new LG smartphone, you tell them it'll capture the first steps of their precious young nephew in pin-sharp accuracy. Or something like that.

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Mobile retailers waste over £21.6 million a year on unnecessarily sending mobile phones for repair

David Heled of Cellebrite writes:

Smartphones are now by far and away the communication, payment and information device of choice for consumers and enterprises. Sales are set to overtake those of traditional feature phones this year for the first time. However, the increasing complexity of the devices’ technology means that there’s a lot more that can go wrong, and make it harder for mobile retailers to identify potential problems – and it’s costing them millions per every year.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 29th July 2013

Surprises and statistics

Mark Bridge writes:

Google’s big announcement last week involved the company introducing Android v4.3 (as expected), launching a new Nexus 7 tablet (as expected) and also revealing a ‘Chromecast’ HDMI adaptor that’ll stream from most portable devices. That was more of a surprise.

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Top Ofcom tips when taking your smartphone or tablet abroad

Mark Bridge writes:

With the school term over and August just a few days away, UK telecom regulator Ofcom has published a new guide to help travellers avoid ‘bill shock’ after using their mobile phones, tablets and laptops abroad.

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