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Sunday, March 18, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 19th March 2012

Mark Bridge writes:

Mobile financial services were making the headlines yet again last week. Not once. Not twice. No, we noticed at least three separate (and all pretty big) stories to talk about.

First came Nokia’s planned withdrawal from its mobile money service, which will leave around a million people in India looking for a new mobile wallet. Then there was mobile payment business BOKU announcing $35 million in new funding, including a sizeable investment from Telefónica. And finally along came PayPal Here and its plans to reclaim the iPhone-as-Point-of-Sale-terminal market from US rival Square. PayPal’s service is launching in the United States, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong... and it’s using a card reader that’s triangular to avoid any possible confusion with its rival. Expect a Square vs PayPal vs iZettle debate between me and James in Wednesday’s podcast.

Talking of podcasts, it’s been a busy week for those as well. Two of the discussions we recorded during Mobile World Congress are now online; you’ll find a recording of the ‘Heroes of Emerging Markets’ panel on our website - and it’ll soon be joined by the MEF Privacy in Mobile Apps roundtable (which you can currently hear at the MEF blog).

In network news, Ofcom says it’s happy with Everything Everywhere’s proposal to use existing 1800MHz GSM spectrum for 4G services in the UK. There’ll now be a four week consultation to see if all the other networks are happy with this (no, they’re not) and - more importantly - to see if they’ll produce a solid argument against it.

Virgin Media announced a partnership with London Underground that’ll introduce WiFi internet access to over 80 Tube stations by the summer. Service will be free during the launch period, so load up your preferred mobile VoIP service and prepare to frustrate your fellow passengers. Meanwhile, a company that would have appreciated an alternative network is MVNO giffgaff; it had an unhappy end to the week when water damage to computer systems took its mobile service offline for several hours.

Last week’s notable product announcements came from medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific, now working with Vodafone to offer real-time heart monitoring devices, and Sony Mobile Communications. Its new Android-powered Xperia sola smartphone offers ‘floating touch’ navigation, enabling you to browse the web without touching the screen. Gimmick or practical feature?  That’s probably for consumers to device. Much like mobile payments, it could be argued.

Start your week with a reminder of the latest mobile headlines. Simply register at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page and we’ll send you this weekly news summary by email.

The Fonecast is sponsored by 51Degrees.mobi. More details about advertising and sponsorship opportunities are available on the About us section of our website.
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Opinion Articles

Free calls, free texts, free data: we talk to Dariush Zand of Ovivo Mobile

Mark Bridge writes:

The idea of a free mobile phone network is a dream for many consumers – and potentially a nightmare for traditional mobile operators. Most notably we saw Blyk launch an ad-funded network in the UK five years ago, with the MVNO closing in 2009 as the company’s business model changed.

In this week’s podcast feature I’ve been talking to someone who’s just launched a brand new mobile service that’s giving away calls, text messages and data in return for advertising. The company is Ovivo Mobile, it launched last month and it’s currently targeting students to sign up.

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Doro PhoneEasy 515 review

Mark Bridge writes:

This was going to be my best-ever mobile phone review... and I wasn’t even going to use the handset. But all my plans fell apart because my mother wouldn’t let me do it.

Don’t get me wrong, I hadn’t planned an elaborate ‘theatre-not-journalism’ piece of creative writing and I’m not tied to anyone’s apron strings. I was going to give mum a mobile phone to test.

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Cortado brings mobile device management to its cloud desktop service

Mark Bridge writes:

Cortado was founded in 1999 as ‘ThinPrint’, with the company’s expansion beyond wireless printing leading it to change its name.

This week it’s expanded even further, combining its cloud desktop services with mobile device management. The result is Cortado Corporate Server 6.0, a new service that enables organisations to offer their staff secure, managed mobile access to corporate files.

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Last week at The Fonecast: tell 'em about the money, honey

Mark Bridge writes:

As summer approaches, so the media’s interest in mobile phone roaming increases. Once again, the maximum price of calls and texts when abroad in Europe is falling – but this year there’s something different on the horizon. The European parliament has just approved the EU’s plans to introduce a price cap for mobile data... and in a couple of years’ time we’ll be able to choose a completely separate network to help cut roaming costs.

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Is Facebook killing SMS?

Mark Bridge writes:

Facebook is killing off SMS traffic and SMS revenue for mobile networks, according to a new research note from Strand Consult. It says the ‘golden days’ of messaging growth are over as consumers increasingly use Facebook to keep in touch.

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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.

Author: The Fonecast
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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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