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Sunday, February 19, 2012

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.

Also hitting the headlines – but with slightly less magic – was Barclays, which launched what it described as Europe’s first person-to-person service for sending and receiving money using mobile phone numbers. The service is called Barclays Pingit and will be available to all UK mobile users by early March.

From magic to predicting the future. Who’d have expected a humble search engine to buy a multi-national mobile phone company?  Today Google is edging into the driving seat as its acquisition of Motorola Mobility clears two of the biggest regulatory hurdles. Meanwhile Sony has acquired Ericsson’s half of the Sony Ericsson partnership, now being renamed to Sony Mobile Communications. And Vodafone is thinking about a takeover of Cable & Wireless Worldwide. Only thinking at the moment, mind you.

Ofcom cleared a legal hurdle as well last week. Its plans to cut Mobile Termination Rates were given the go-ahead by the Competition Appeal Tribunal, despite complaints from various network operators. The new plans will be even faster-acting than the original proposal. Will consumers see their mobile bills drop overall?  It would be nice to think so.

Talking of legal challenges – fancy that – Apple won a patent-related court case against Motorola Mobility in Germany. Apparently a number of Motorola smartphones infringe the ‘slide-to-unlock’ touchscreen patent owned by Apple. You know, that magical feature you find on most Android handsets. There may be trouble ahead...

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. You’ll find more about advertising and sponsorship opportunities on the About us section of our website.

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Opinion Articles

Last week at The Fonecast: 26th September 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

Welcome to a summary of last week’s mobile industry news from TheFonecast.com.

The biggest mobile-flavoured story from the past seven days was probably HP’s replacement of its president and CEO. Léo Apotheker is out after less than a year, replaced by former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. It’s not likely to affect the company’s plans for webOS tablets and phones… but it’ll be interesting to see what Ms Whitman does next.

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Don't worry about Facebook Timeline... worry about your data, wherever it is

Mark Bridge writes:

I’m glad I don't work for Facebook. One minute everyone loves you, the next minute they hate you. Multiply that by the 500 million people now using Facebook every day and I’d be pretty insecure.

Author: The Fonecast
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Not all mystery shopping is a complete mystery

Mark Bridge writes:

If you’ve worked in retail, you’re probably aware of the ‘mystery shopper’. This is someone who appears to be a regular consumer but is actually reviewing your performance. Perhaps they’re working for your employer, maybe they’re conducting an independent survey, they may even be reporting for a magazine or newspaper. But they’re about as welcome as a knock on the front door when you’re at home in the shower.

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Only 17 per cent of advertisers have a mobile-optimised site

Google UK head of mobile advertising, Simon Morgan, considers the most significant developments in the field of m-commerce and crunches the mobile numbers.

Over the past year we've seen smartphones overtake PC sales for the first time. The number of people on the mobile web globally has doubled, reaching one billion and in the UK there are now 20 million mobile internet users. If we think of search as being a barometer of consumer interest, in just 12 months there has been a huge shift.

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Geography meets Social Media on 'Geosocial' sites

Ted Landphair of voanews.com writes:

There’s a well-worn phrase in real estate: “location, location, location,” meaning that where a property is located, alone, means more than anything else when it comes to assessing its value.

But ‘location’ is getting new meanings in these days of smartphones and other hand-held devices.

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

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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

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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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Interview with Chris Millington of Doro about mobile retailing, wearables and technology for older consumers

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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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