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Monday, February 3, 2014

Last week at The Fonecast: 3rd February 2014

Patently obvious

Mark Bridge writes:

Patents were a very popular topic of conversation last week. Google sold its Motorola Mobility smartphone business to Lenovo but hung on to most of the patents. Does this mean the patents were the most valuable part of the business? Well, when you look at the difference between the original purchase price and the sale price, it seems a reasonable conclusion.

Meanwhile, Google also arranged a cross-licence patent agreement with Samsung... and Samsung agreed a patent licensing deal with Ericsson. Everyone happy?  Well, perhaps ‘sated’ is a better word.

And while we’re on the subject of Samsung, it’s asked Carphone Warehouse to run 60 of its stand-alone shops across Europe. All this, and illy coffee too.

Other cheering news came from Ofcom, which confirmed that all the UK’s major mobile networks now offered 90% 3G coverage. Mobile marketing and mobile wallet venture Weve launched a beta version of its mobile display advertising service in the UK. And new rules from the Office of Fair Trading have clarified in-app payments, which promises to be good news for parents who’ve given their children an iPad. (26 million iPads shipped worldwide in the last quarter, says Apple, with IDC estimating that was a third of the global tablet market in Q4).

Finally, there were a few goodbyes last week. We said farewell to Inq Mobile, the Hutchison Whampoa handset manufacturer turned app producer. Azzurri Communications said goodbye to CEO Vim Vithaldas, who’s overseen a successful refinancing arrangement. And AT&T told us it wasn’t interested in taking over Vodafone. Not at the moment, anyway.

On Monday mornings we summarise the past week’s mobile industry headlines in an email newsletter that’s very much like this article. To receive it, simply register your email address at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page.
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Opinion Articles

Last week at The Fonecast: 4th March 2013

What happened at Mobile World Congress?

Mark Bridge writes:

We’re back from Mobile World Congress – and what a show it was. Located at a new site that saw more visitors than ever before, the show had everything… except any particularly obvious theme from hardware manufacturers. Last year was the year of the quad-core smartphone, this year there was plenty of incremental innovation but nothing truly startling.

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Cell phone use increasing pedestrian danger

Faiza Elmasry of voanews.com writes:

Teenagers are often warned against texting on their cell phones while they are behind the wheel of a car, since distracted driving can lead to serious automobile accidents.

Many teens, however, are not aware that distracted walking can be just as dangerous.

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Mobile phone shopping tips from Mark Bridge on Britain's Secret Shoppers

Mark Bridge writes:

I like a challenge. I like learning. Ask me to do a spot of research and I’ll happily pore over books, trawl the internet and have lengthy conversations into the night.

So I was more than happy to help when Optomen Television, the company behind “Britain’s Secret Shoppers” on Channel 4, asked me for a few tips that would help viewers get a good deal on a mobile phone.

Author: The Fonecast
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What's wrong with Android?

What's wrong with Android?

and why 2.3 is still the most popular version

James Rosewell writes:

8 months ago I moved my main smartphone from Android to Windows Phone. I had entered a simpler world. There were less applications, no tethering option, voice dictation sucked and I couldn’t get a multi-SIM device. But overall I survived.

Then I started travelling more. I moved back to Android a few weeks ago... and what a disappointment.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 18th February 2013

There's only one MWC...

Mark Bridge writes:

As the final days before this year’s Mobile World Congress approach, we discover there are two types of scheduled news announcements from the wireless telecoms industry.

There are the announcements delayed until MWC begins because the company wants to be part of the buzz at Barcelona. And there are the announcements made in the fortnight beforehand because they don’t want their story to get lost.

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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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