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Monday, February 11, 2013

Last week at The Fonecast: 11th February 2013

WiFi goes on the attack

Mark Bridge writes:

Mobile networks aren’t what they used to be. As last week’s interview with Vince Russell of The Cloud demonstrated, more and more customers are relying on WiFi to augment their mobile data service.

Truphone is now planning to do exactly the same with voice calls and text messages by linking its mobile network with WiFi for even wider coverage. Before long you’ll be able to make and receive calls via GSM or a WiFi hotspot, all using the same telephone number.

Also blurring the boundaries between mobile and VoIP is Skype, which has now got direct mobile operator billing up and running. It means customers can pay for Skype credit by charging it to their mobile phone account. First came Russia, next it’s the USA and Canada.

On the subject of money, Amazon is launching its own virtual currency in May. To start with it’ll only be offered to Kindle Fire owners in the USA, although expansion seems pretty likely. Amazon Coins will be an option for buying applications, games and in-app items.

It’s real money being spent by Michael Dell, who’s planning to buy back the computer company he founded. (That’s Dell, in case you hadn’t guessed). The deal’s worth around £15 billion. Back in the UK, Broadband and telephone business Liberty Global is spending a similar amount to acquire Virgin Media.

And there was relatively good news from the Royal Academy of Engineering, which warned that violent sun spot activity could knock out satellites and disrupt electricity supplies... but reckoned it would leave the UK’s mobile phone networks largely unaffected. Of course, how we’d manage to recharge our phones is another matter entirely.

We’re off to Mobile World Congress 2013 at the end of the month - and there are just a couple of sponsorship packages left at The Fonecast. If you’d like to put your company or client in front of the people that matter, take a look at what we’re offering.

Every Monday morning we summarise the past week’s mobile industry headlines in a newsletter that’s just 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

RIM boss ignores the questions when asked about BlackBerry difficulties and competitors

What went wrong? What did you learn from the iPhone?

Mark Bridge writes:

Live TV and radio interviews. They can be worrying things, even when you’re not expecting to be challenged too much. I know this from experience. So when your company is launching a much-delayed operating system, you’d expect a few difficult questions… and you’d be ready with a response.

The official response of RIM is apparently to ignore the questions.

Author: The Fonecast
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Mobile phones transform lives in Africa

Jennifer Lazuta of voanews.com writes:

Rene Mendy, a street vendor in Dakar, has never had enough money to open a bank account. But now, thanks to an emerging mobile phone banking service, he has access to many financial services.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 28th January 2013

Figuring out the figures

Mark Bridge writes:

I didn’t study economics at college, which is probably one of the reasons I have a very simple perspective on quarterly results. As far as I’m concerned, they fall into one of three categories: much as expected, better than expected or worse than expected. Anyway, it’s the time of year when some of the biggest names in the mobile telecoms industry publish their financial results – so here we go.

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Bringing personalised radio to your smartphone

We interview Shankar Meembat about the UTuneMe radio app

Mark Bridge writes:

Targeted advertising on mobile devices is something we’re all getting increasingly familiar with. Visit a web site and there’s a good chance you’ll see an advertisement that’s aimed directly at you, perhaps using information about the sites you’ve previously visited, the type of smartphone you’re using or even your location.

Yet listen to the radio or stream music on your smartphone and that same level of personalisation hasn’t been aavailable. That’s all changing now, with help from a new service called UTuneMe.

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Why Huawei should get out of the mobile handset market

Why Huawei should get out of the mobile handset market

or why Huawei need to spend their £1.6 billion profit on marketing

James Rosewell writes:

Huawei is a company one can’t miss at Mobile World Congress. They bring their own building!  Plus last year a wonderful “Pegasus” flying horse sculpture made using Ascend handsets was proudly displayed next to the main fountain to hail the launch of the Ascend series of handsets.

Huawei has been busy following MWC12. They now run major parts of Everything Everywhere, Three and O2’s network in the UK. On a less positive note they’re not welcome in the US.

But how has the devices side of the business performed?

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Reviewing our 2015 mobile industry predictions... and looking forward to 2016

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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

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Looking back at February: from security scares to multiple MVNOs

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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.

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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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