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Monday, October 1, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 1st October 2012

A high for RIM, a low for Apple

Mark Bridge writes:

Apple started last week in the glow of a CoolBrands survey that had named it the UK's coolest brand – but it ended the week with its head bowed in embarrassment. Not only did Tim Cook apologise for the quality of the company’s iOS 6 Maps application, he recommended that customers use competing services until it gets better. In addition, the company revised its web site to drop any suggestion that Apple Maps might be ‘the most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever’.

RIM could have had a similarly downhill week, starting with the excitement of its BlackBerry Jam developer conference and ending with a financial results announcement. However, its figures showed an increase in worldwide users alongside the expected quarterly loss, which seemed to please the stock market.

Also ending the week on a high were Vodafone and O2, who said their planned network collaboration had been given the all-clear by the Office of Fair Trading and Ofcom. The two operators already work together on a UK mast-sharing project and now plan to combine the basic parts of their network infrastructure in a new company.

As well as all this, changes were afoot at augmented reality pioneer Layar, at O2 shops, at WHSmith and at Brightstar. Layar is adopting a new focus on ‘interactive print’, O2 wants to sell more phones without chargers, WHSmith is installing free WiFi and Brightstar has added the Mobile Phone Xchange trade-in business to its distribution empire.

When it comes to retailing, Barnes & Noble responded to Amazon’s recent revamped Kindle Fire line-up with two of its own multimedia tablets. One has a 7-inch screen, one has an iPad-like 9-inch screen, both will hit the UK and the USA before Christmas.

Mobile billing hit the headlines twice. Facebook announced a deal with Bango to let the social network bill customers via their mobile networks, while MACH announced direct mobile operator billing partnerships with all the UK’s major mobile phone networks. I’d say it won’t be too long before customers are adding all manner of purchases to their phone bills.

Enough of my opinion; time for some proper research. SIM-only contract sales have hit a new UK record, according to figures from GfK. Three is still the UK’s most complained-about mobile network, according to Ofcom. Live sport is driving mobile video usage, according to QuickPlay Media. And the forthcoming Firefox mobile OS from Mozilla is expected to be used on 1% of global smartphone shipments in 2013, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics.

Finally, if the constant ‘Apple vs Android’ discussions are all getting a bit much and the British weather is getting you down, take a look at http://youtu.be/xnI9h3ELwjc. It’s a good way to start Monday morning.

Begin 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.
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Opinion Articles

Last week at The Fonecast: 24th June 2013

More of the same

Mark Bridge writes:

Another week, another couple of product announcements from Samsung. There appears to be no stopping them, despite a recent drop in the company’s share price.

This time it’s a couple of tablets – one of which runs both Android and Windows 8 – and a 20 megapixel camera that’s got a 4G-enabled Android device built in.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 17th June 2013

Making the network truly mobile

Mark Bridge writes:

The telecommunications industry was making plenty of headlines last week – but much of it wasn’t particularly upbeat.

The debate about privacy and security continued in the wake of allegations about US agents intercepting internet traffic. Meanwhile, Nokia prepared to make its last Symbian smartphones and Tradedoubler warned that mobile devices were having a negative effect on high-street consumer loyalty.

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How to shield from internet snooping

George Putic of voanews.com writes:

When news broke about U.S. government agencies collecting metadata about its citizens’ Internet and phone communications, many were surprised by its scope. The surveillance covered a vast number of Internet messages and phone calls. The government did not deny the action but pointed out that the collected data contained, not the substance of the communication, but the so-called metadata.

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Giving it all away

Paying with our privacy

Mark Bridge writes:

There’s been a lot of talk recently about PRISM, which may allow the US National Security Agency - and anyone they choose - to access some of our personal online information if it passes through the USA. It’s unclear exactly what (if anything) is being shared with whom… and given the nature of national security, we may never know.

However, alongside the possibility of governments seeing information we thought was secure, it’s also worth pointing out that we choose to share plenty of online information ourselves.

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6 things you need to know about mobile research, smartphone rumours and imaginary new products

Mark Bridge writes:

Where did it all go wrong?  When did the mainstream mobile industry start to slide away from innovation and into repetitive nonsense?  For a while I suspected the downloadable ringtone was to blame. Just days after hearing 'Barbie Girl' on the mobile phone of a man from Vodafone Value Added Services in the late 1990s, I'd downloaded a poptastic tune to my own Nokia 2110. Soon, the entire mobile world was focussed on 30-second instrumentals instead of technical innovation. It was the beginning of the end.

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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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