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Monday, December 3, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 3rd December 2012

Innovation, legislation and anticipation

Mark Bridge writes:

As the end of the year approaches, so the volume of ‘real news’ tends to reduce as it’s replaced by annual reviews and seasonal surveys. We’ll be joining in with our predictions for 2013 in a few weeks’ time... but first, here’s a look back at the biggest stories from the past seven days.

Nokia started the week by launching the Nokia Asha 205; a featurephone with a QWERTY keyboard and a dedicated Facebook button. It’s not the first ‘Facebook phone’ – I’d say 2008’s INQ1 took credit for that – but the presence of a physical Facebook key marks it out from the competition.

Musician, entrepreneur and technology lover will.i.am also had a product launch this week. The i.am+ foto.sosho (think ‘photo social’) fits on an iPhone 4 or 4S and offers a choice of different lenses as well as photo editing and sharing. Apparently the forthcoming iPhone 5 version will replace the camera sensor entirely.

In Spain, the country’s three main mobile network operators launched cross-network Rich Communication Services through the GSMA’s joyn brand, while Chevrolet in the USA planned to let Apple’s Siri voice-control technology link with its in-car entertainment system.

And dear old RIM maintained its “please wait for BlackBerry 10” campaign by releasing a new prototype device for application developers. Mind you, it also lost a patent ruling that could see Nokia blocking the sale of BlackBerry handsets in the UK, the USA and Canada. I’m expecting a licensing agreement before too long.

In addition, there was bad news for two men who’d run a UK marketing company called Tetrus Telecoms. Sending spam SMS messages resulted in them being fined a total of £440,000 by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.

Finally to some of those end-of-year stories I mentioned. Business advisory firm Deloitte LLP has calculated that around £300 million of Christmas spending in the UK will be bought on smartphones, with a further £3.2 billion ‘influenced by’ smartphone use. Mobile search specialist Mobile Commerce has analysed the year’s top mobile search terms (Facebook, Google, YouTube) and the music tagging magicians at Shazam have used their technology to predict next year’s hits. Curiously, no-one from X Factor is on the list.

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Opinion Articles

Operation Mobile as military prepares to synchronise with smartphones

How Mobile Apps are changing the way the military operates in the field

Kevin Deal, Vice President of Aerospace & Defence at IFS North America, writes:

It is difficult to believe that the idea of a hand-held mobile phone was an alien concept only a few short decades ago. From brick-sized analogue devices to wafer thin smartphones with processing capabilities comparable to those of laptops, new technology is constantly pushing the boundaries of what we can expect from our phones. And, in a reverse of the normal pattern of technology innovation, a development driven by consumers is set to have an important impact on aerospace and defence (A&D).

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Last week at The Fonecast: 19th November 2012

Confusion by numbers

Mark Bridge writes:

The last few days have been particularly busy for UK telecoms regulator Ofcom. It started the week by announcing its rules for next year’s UK 4G mobile spectrum auction – expect services to go live in around six months – and it ended the week with plans to avoid a 5G capacity crunch.

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Consumer privacy, opt-in marketing and the future of mobile

We talk to Henry Lawson of nFluence media

Mark Bridge writes:

Today’s consumers receive a seemingly never-ending stream of online information from their social networks, from websites, in their email and on their mobile devices. But is there a way to let individuals stay in control whilst also helping companies advertise their products?  According to nFluence Media, there definitely is.

To find out more, I spoke to Henry Lawson, co-founder and CEO of nFluence, and started by asking him to explain exactly what nFluence did.

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Doro aims at the sweet spot for easy-to-use mobile phones

Mark Bridge writes:

Here’s a statement that’ll come as no surprise to anyone who works in the UK mobile industry.

For many people, their mobile phone isn’t just a communication device. It’s a personal statement.

Of course it is. Why else can you buy a gold-plated iPhone, a diamante-encrusted Blackberry or a Samsung Galaxy SIII in colours “inspired by the Earth’s richest materials”?

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Ofcom asks "Which type of communicator are you?"

New analysis of the UK’s communication habits has found that people can be categorised into five different groups of communicators, ranging from the ‘always on’ to the ‘detached’.

Earlier this year, Ofcom’s Communication Market Report revealed that the UK is now texting more that talking. Further analysis of the research, published today, looks at the methods and frequency of communication, as well people’s attitudes towards it.

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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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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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