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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 16th January 2012

Mark Bridge writes:

So that’s CES week over. This year’s show seemed particularly US-centric, given the amount of 4G LTE mobile technology kicking about. Not that the UK isn’t making its own 4G plans; far from it. But let’s start at the beginning...

CES 2012 saw opening announcements from Microsoft and Nokia that celebrated Windows Phone and the forthcoming Lumia 900. Intel’s move into mobile took a real leap forward with news that its Intel Atom processor was going to end up in Lenovo and Motorola devices. And new handsets were forthcoming from Sony Ericsson (or was it Sony?) with the Sony Xperia S - and Huawei with the super-thin Ascend P1 S smartphone.

Here in the UK, Ofcom announced a number of revised proposals for making 4G mobile spectrum available. It’s come up with new ideas to ensure 4G coverage is available to at least 98% of the population. Is everyone happy?  Let’s just say it looks like more people are happier than with the previous scheme.

Other UK news came from film and TV streaming service Netflix, whose launch here and in Ireland has raised the question of whether mobile networks can handle that kind of data traffic (and whether consumers will even try). Meanwhile, Three and giffgaff have both been talking about data usage and the results of having an ‘unlimited’ usage policy.

The world of patents saw Microsoft doing an Android-related licensing deal with LG, Nokia licensing its own patents from Sisvel International and the US International Trade Commission ruling that Motorola hadn’t infringed three Apple patents.

Finally, to the surprise of the week. Well, for me, anyway. A Forbes.com report says Samsung is working on merging its bada mobile operating system with the Tizen OS. Apple, Android, RIM and Windows Phone could well have a tough new contender this year.

Start your week with a reminder of the latest 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.
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Opinion Articles

4G doesn't come to Three

Mark Bridge writes:

Earlier today, Three.co.uk published a blog post headlined “4G comes to Three”. But it hasn’t.

I spent most of this morning here at Mobile World Congress muttering about the blog before returning to it this afternoon. And suddenly it’s changed.

The blog post remains. The headline is completely different. Now we’re told “Three to launch leading edge 3G service”.

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How far does it go, mate?

Geoff Varrall of RTT writes:

About 15,000 years ago some indigenous Northern Australians decided that they needed a more efficient way of talking to each other than just shouting a lot.

And blowing into a long cylindrical tube proved to be just what was needed and seriously useful fun – the dawn of the didgeridoo.

Trumpets and bagpipes were invented at about the same time. The ancient Greeks used the trumpet in battlefield communication to devastating effect.

The way you can tell that your didgeridoo is better than everyone else’s didgeridoo is to blow into it and see how far the sound goes.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 20th February 2012

Mark Bridge writes:

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. So said Sir Arthur C Clarke.

Last week’s magic was supplied by imaging company Scalado, which announced a new product called ‘Remove’. The clue’s in the name: it can automatically remove unwanted people from photos taken on a mobile phone. Expect to see it on a handset near you before too long.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 13th February 2012

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s not been a good week for Nokia staff, with 4000 of them likely to lose their jobs from factories in Finland, Hungary and Mexico. The company says it’s moving device assembly to Asia, where it’ll be closer to component manufacturers. The three scaled-down factories will remain open with a new focus on smartphone customisation.

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Could a new legal framework for FRAND principles end the mobile patent wars in 2013?

Mark Bridge writes:

I’m not the first person to point out that mobile phone patent battles are raging all around us. They’ve been going on for years.

However, the topic of FRAND patents - those designated as ‘industry standards’ and therefore required to be licensed on Fair, Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory terms - has become an increasingly newsworthy topic.

In the last couple of weeks we’ve reported on an EC investigation into Samsung’s licensing of mobile patents and a Motorola/Apple legal battle that involves FRAND licensing.

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