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Friday, March 25, 2011

This week at The Fonecast: 26th March 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

There was big news from the United States this week as Deutsche Telekom decided to sell T-Mobile USA to AT&T. Was it a shotgun wedding or is this a carefully calculated deal designed to benefit consumers?  Time will tell – assuming, of course, the merger gets approved by the US regulator.

Talking of regulation, Ofcom’s announced plans for a 4G spectrum auction in the UK next year. It’s hoping to start the auction in the first quarter of 2012 – but that’s also assuming everything runs smoothly. Everything Everywhere has already said it’s not happy with some of the proposed rules.

In the mobile-threatening world of WiFi (or should that be ‘mobile-enhancing’?), things are running a little more smoothly. WiFi network operator Fon has just announced a mobile payment deal with mopay, while London Underground is planning a WiFi network that’ll cover its tube stations.

When it comes to manufacturers, you’d have rightly expected much of their news to be coming from the CTIA Wireless trade show in the USA. It’s been described as ‘the American Mobile World Congress’, which isn’t too far off the mark. Samsung revealed a couple of new Android-powered tablets that out-thinned the iPad 2, while LG offered somewhat vague news of a new wireless charger. Pretty much everything else from CTIA 2011 wasn’t really aimed at the UK.

Back to the iPad 2 for a moment. It made its UK debut at 5pm on Friday… and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is right on its heels. The PlayBook will be available in the USA and Canada on 19th April, with a UK release expected to follow in the summer. As well as running its own apps, it’ll be capable of running Android applications as well (albeit with a little help).

While I’m on the subject of Android apps, Amazon opened its own Amazon Appstore in the USA (and was promptly hit with legal action from Apple). No sign of UK availability yet.

Finally – and still with a legal theme – five men were jailed this week for a total of 37½ years after a missing trader VAT fraud worth £140 million tax. HM Revenue & Customs said the men “blatantly deprived us all of millions of pounds for the nation's public services”. Almost sounds like they’re fighting the same cause as UK Uncut, who are planning to occupy Vodafone's flagship Oxford Street store as a tax protest today!


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Opinion Articles

Last week at The Fonecast: 10th October 2011

Mark Bridge takes a look back at last week’s mobile industry headlines.

Rest in peace, Steve. The death of Apple co-founder Steven Paul Jobs following several years of illness has seen the kind of public grieving usually reserved for pop stars and princesses. There’s not much I can say that hasn’t already been said; it’s hard to argue with Tim Cook’s statement that “Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”

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India launches 'world's cheapest' tablet

Anjana Pasricha of voanews.com writes:

India hopes that the launch of what is being called “the world’s cheapest tablet computer” will help tens of thousands of low-income students connect to the digital world.

The $45 device with a seven-inch color touchscreen, Wi-Fi connectivity, and two USB ports is meant to bridge the digital divide in a country where only three percent of the population has computers.

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Mobile crime and mobile security at Over The Air

Mark Bridge writes:

Much of Bletchley Park’s history involves code-breaking and intercepting radio messages so - when Over The Air 2011 brought hundreds of mobile developers to the site - it seemed appropriate to explore the subject of mobile phone security.

In particular, there were a couple of sessions on the agenda that caught my eye. Detective Sergeant Andy Williams of the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit started by talking about stolen phones... and asking if mobile applications could help with this problem.

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'Design for All goes Mobile' at Over The Air 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

One of the speakers providing inspiration for the mobile developers at Over The Air 2011 was Denise Stephens, co-founder of Enabled by Design. Her presentation, called ‘Design for All goes Mobile’, explored how good design could help mobile phone users live more independently than they would otherwise be able to.

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The other Apple announcements that shouldn't be ignored

Mark Bridge writes:

Apple’s evangelists will need to wait a little longer for the iPhone 5, it seems. Last night’s announcement of the Apple iPhone 4S by Apple CEO Tim Cook seems to have disappointed many people, although plenty of others had predicted the arrival of this faster and smarter sibling for the iPhone 4.

But that wasn’t the only news from Apple.

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Reviewing our 2015 mobile industry predictions... and looking forward to 2016

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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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Looking back at February: from security scares to multiple MVNOs

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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.

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In today's programme Mark Bridge talks to Chris Millington, who's Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland.

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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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