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Saturday, August 20, 2011

This week at The Fonecast: 20th August 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

Welcome to this week’s UK mobile industry news summary from TheFonecast.com. After a week’s holiday on the scenic north coast of Norfolk, which not only lacks cellsites but also hills to put them on, it’s good to finally see the ‘3G’ indicator reappear on my phone. My week off may have been relatively quiet - but the last few days have more than made up for it.

On Monday, Google announced plans to acquire Motorola Mobility, the company formerly known as ‘the mobile bit of Motorola’. Google talked about supercharging Android and reinstated its commitment to openness, while all of Android’s major partners made upbeat noises - although the purchase seems as much a defensive move as the ‘natural fit’ Larry Page described.

We’d barely had time to think of some comically implausible hybrid names - Googorola, Motoroogle, maybe even Motorola-Droid - before being hit with a triple-whammy from HP. It was buying software giant Autonomy for somewhere around £7 billion. (Cue much punning about Autonomy losing its autonomy). It was calling time on the production of webOS devices. (Alas, poor Pre 3 and TouchPad). And it was looking at the possibility of moving its PC business into a separate company. The future of webOS as a platform hasn’t been decided, although I’d say it doesn’t look especially healthy.

After all that, the rest of the week’s news seems a bit insubstantial - even Peter Jones’s £35 million sale of machine-to-machine specialist Wireless Logic. Research In Motion announced a free online service to let small businesses manage their BlackBerry devices remotely . Phones 4u said it would be stocking Huawei’s own-brand Blaze and Vision smartphones in time for Christmas. And Nokia released its Symbian Anna OS update, marred slightly by a server problem that frustrated some users.

But it’s HP’s decision to abandon mobile devices - hot on the heels of Google’s decision to acquire mobile devices - that’s got everyone talking this week. We’ll certainly be doing our share of talking in Wednesday’s podcast.

If you own an iPod, iPhone or iPad - or you’re a regular user of iTunes - it’s easy to find our weekly mobile industry podcasts. Simply click here to subscribe... or search for ‘The Fonecast’ in the iTunes store. Alternatively, you can pick up the podcast from our RSS feed.

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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
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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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Author: The Fonecast
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