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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

Will LG buy webOS from HP?

Mark Bridge writes:

Google and Motorola. HP and webOS. Each apparently heading in opposite directions when it comes to strategy.

However, although HP has pretty much pulled the plug on making webOS devices, it's not calling time on the webOS platform.

Author: The Fonecast
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Didn't predict the recent events at Google, Motorola and HP? Don't worry about it

Mark Bridge writes:

Let’s face it, last week’s Google/Motorola deal wasn’t widely predicted. Stasys Bielinis of Unwired View deserves a round of applause but I don’t remember hearing anyone else suggesting this radical move.

Author: The Fonecast
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This week at The Fonecast: 20th August 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

Welcome to this week's UK mobile industry news summary from TheFonecast.com. After a week's holiday on the scenic north coast of Norfolk, which not only lacks cellsites but also hills to put them on, it's good to finally see the '3G' indicator reappear on my phone. My week off may have been relatively quiet - but the last few days have more than made up for it.

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Ian Hook from Compliant Phones talks about mobile phone call recording

Mark Bridge writes:

Recording a phone call made by a mobile phone isn’t particularly difficult – it's something we do regularly for our podcasts – but recording every call made and received by a mobile phone isn't so easy. It's even more of a problem for companies with dozens or even hundreds of employees using mobile phones... and yet, for many organisations, this type of thing will soon be a legal requirement.

To learn more, I've been talking to Ian Hook, vice-president of marketing at Compliant Phones. I started by asking Ian why companies would want to record all their mobile phone calls.

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Vopium puts a friendly face on mobile VoIP

Mark Bridge writes:

Voice over IP – the ability to make phone calls over the internet - is a topic we covered in our first-ever podcast five years ago. At times it promised to change the way we used mobile phones... so what's been happening?

I've been talking to Tanveer Sharif, CEO and co-founder of international call service Vopium, to learn more.

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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.

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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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