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Saturday, June 4, 2011

This week at The Fonecast: 4th June 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

I’ll start with a personal comment. One of my friends has described my music taste as eclectic - and he didn’t mean that in a good way. It probably explains why I’ve been sitting at my desk singing “melty head” to the tune of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”.

Yes, mobile phones and health concerns are back in the news. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organisation, has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans. In a nutshell, it confirms that previous research has raised this as a possibility but says other factors can't be ruled out. Much of this report is based on last year’s Interphone study, which - as we reported at the time - suggested an increased risk of a particular type of cancer at the highest exposure levels, although biases and error were possibilities as well. So we’re not really any the wiser. More research is needed before anyone can be definite about any potential hazard.

While we’re worrying, let’s take a look at 4G technology. It could mess up your TV reception, said Ofcom this week. Mind you, Ofcom wants the 4G licence holders to fix the problem, so that should all work out nicely. Even if it doesn’t, we’ll probably be able to watch TV on our 4G phones.

Nokia added to the glum mood with a warning that the current quarter wouldn’t be as good for sales as previously thought. Apparently it’s "no longer appropriate" to provide target figures for 2011. Ouch. Elsewhere, Acer is writing off $150 million and losing 300 staff after discovering a few problems of its own, while LG is recovering more slowly than expected. Ouch again.

Still, cheer up, eh?  Apple has an announcement next week. Unusually, it’s already told everyone what the announcement is about: a preview of iOS 5 for iPhone and iPad, a new cloud service and some Mac stuff. Wot, no iPhone 5?

Microsoft’s been doing its own previewing at the Computex technology show in Taiwan. It’s shown off the next version of Windows - codenamed Windows 8 - that apparently will be just as happy on tablets as on conventional PCs. And Asus has been demonstrating the Padfone, which is part tablet - can’t imagine what inspired the ‘pad’ part of the name - and part smartphone. The phone fits neatly inside the back of the tablet.

So ultimately a week of good and bad, as Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder might have sung.

And, ending with another lyric, it’s time to say farewell to Kevin Russell, CEO of Three UK. He’s returning to the land down under, leaving current COO David Dyson in charge. Enjoy the break, Kevin - I’m told the vegemite tastes much better back home!


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Opinion Articles

Last week at The Fonecast: 28th November 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

The really big news last week wasn’t good: 17,000 jobs worldwide are being lost at Nokia Siemens Networks (which, incidentally, is a separate company from both Nokia and Siemens). That’s not far short of a quarter of the total workforce. The company is going to focus on mobile network infrastructure and services, with a particular emphasis on mobile broadband, and is likely to sell off other parts of the business.

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Shared data tariffs, bill shock, net neutrality and mobile traffic management

Mark Bridge writes:

Today’s mobile phone customers want more and more mobile data, which is stretching network capacity. In addition, many of those consumers would rather not be committed to a limit; they’d rather have a mobile internet tariff that is (or appears to be) unlimited. This puts even more pressure on mobile networks.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 21st November 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

Having read some of last week’s headlines, you might think the UK’s Communication Ombudsman has told mobile phone networks not to describe their data tariffs as ‘unlimited’ unless they really are. However, what’s actually happened is that one of the UK’s communication ombudsmen (ombudspeople?) has asked mobile operators to be clear about any limits, to stop unexpectedly high bills from building up and to tell customers before they exceed any limit. Better than nothing but hardly earth-shattering.

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Top 5 Productivity Apps for Business Owners

Ruben Corbo writes:

As a business owner, you know that being out of the office can cost you customers and productivity. However, in this digital age being out of the office doesn’t mean that you have to be away from your business. By downloading apps specifically for business, you can be productive from anywhere. Here are my top 5 apps for mobile business productivity.

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Enterprise user, you are the weakest link...

Mark Bridge writes:

Any security process is only as strong as the weakest link. That’s something of a truism. And for many organisations, the weak link is most likely to occur when information leaves the office. Which means it’s often caused by the user’s mobile phone or the user themselves.

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