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Saturday, July 30, 2011

This week at The Fonecast: 30th July 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

Those quarterly figures keep coming. In our Wednesday podcast we talked about Apple and Nokia – and since then we’ve heard from Everything Everywhere, LG, Motorola, Samsung (with its multi-million selling Galaxy S II), Telefonica and Virgin Media. Each had something positive to stay, although some were more convincing than others.

RIM didn’t have quarterly results, having published its figures last month, although it did have more details about its 'cost optimization program'. Apparently around a tenth of the global workforce, a total of 2,000 jobs, are being cut to save money.

Anyway, the really big news – which isn’t really big news any more – is that Apple’s currently the top smartphone producer, followed closely by Samsung and then Nokia. Also, as we’ve been saying for a while, smartphones are becoming increasingly popular – to the extent that feature phone sales have fallen for the first time in almost 2 years.

Talking of which, we’ve seen a couple of very different new devices in the last few days. From watch manufacturer TAG Heuer comes the LINK, an Android smartphone available in a choice of exotic materials. The “first Swiss luxury touchscreen smartphone”, apparently. And at the other end of the financial scale is the Vodafone 555 Blue, described as “the world’s first designated prepay phone specifically designed to put the Facebook experience into the heart of the handset”. It's probably as close to an official Facebook phone as you’ll find.

From the present to the future, with claims that the UK’s 4G plans are set to disappoint. The Institution of Engineering and Technology says we don’t need more regulation but the right regulation. And the Communications Consumer Panel says Ofcom should use the UK 4G spectrum auction as an opportunity to increase mobile coverage. Meanwhile those legal challenges need sorting out. Will the rest of the world be on 5G before we get to 4?


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Opinion Articles

Last week at The Fonecast: 15th October 2012

US government grumbles, O2 UK stumbles

Mark Bridge writes:

Can you trust a Chinese company to build a telecoms network?  Apparently not, according to the US House of Representatives. The “Investigative Report on the U.S. National Security Issues Posed by Chinese Telecommunications Companies Huawei and ZTE” wasn’t at all impressed with the two companies, although most of the complaints appeared to be about a lack of cooperation rather than hard evidence. I wonder if any mysterious agents are planning to visit the new Huawei UK HQ before next year’s official opening?

Author: The Fonecast
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Article rating: 5.0

Mobile phones used to track malaria transmission patterns

Jessica Berman of voanews.com writes:

Scientists are studying the use of mobile phones to track patterns of malaria transmission in endemic nations. The research is part of an effort by many countries to control or eliminate the mosquito-borne disease.

Author: The Fonecast
1 Comments
Article rating: 4.0

Congressional warning on Chinese telecoms could prompt retaliation

William Gallo of voanews.com writes:

Analysts say this week's U.S. congressional report that called two Chinese telecoms a threat to national security is likely to prompt China to retaliate against U.S. businesses.

The House Intelligence Committee report warned U.S. companies against doing business with China's largest phone equipment companies, Huawei and ZTE.

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Kenya to pull plug on counterfeit mobile phones

Gabe Joselow of voanews.com writes:

Mobile phone subscribers in Kenya may wake up Monday morning to find their phones no longer work, as the nation's telecom companies enact a nation-wide switch-off of all counterfeit devices. Retailers and customers have mixed reactions to the plan, which could affect up to three million mobile phones.

Author: The Fonecast
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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.

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