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Monday, May 14, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: tell 'em about the money, honey

Mark Bridge writes:

As summer approaches, so the media’s interest in mobile phone roaming increases. Once again, the maximum price of calls and texts when abroad in Europe is falling – but this year there’s something different on the horizon. The European parliament has just approved the EU’s plans to introduce a price cap for mobile data... and in a couple of years’ time we’ll be able to choose a completely separate network to help cut roaming costs.

Talking of money, it’s been a busy week for mobile payment news. Payment solution provider VeriFone Systems, whose name you’ll see on a lot of credit card machines, has just introduced a new plug-in card reader for smartphones. As well as letting businesses use smartphones to accept payments, it also opens the potential for mobile developers to build secure payment solutions on top of VeriFone’s infrastructure.

Meanwhile MasterCard announced that its digital PayPass Wallet was expected to launch this autumn, iZettle dropped its fixed transaction fee for mobile payments and Samsung’s new Galaxy SIII was confirmed as the payment-enabled Olympic Games Phone.

From payment applications to a different kind of app. Facebook has announced plans to introduce an ‘App Center’ to its web pages and to its iOS and Android applications as well. It wants to encourage the use of mobile apps that link with Facebook, which is hardly surprising given the lack of revenue currently coming from the social network’s mobile users.

That’s common sense - but some companies are happy to defy convention. In an industry that’s historically made plenty of money from messaging, here’s a network that wants to give it all away. Telefónica has just launched a new all-in-one communication application called TU Me. This is a free messaging app that’s available internationally and introduces the new TU brand from Telefónica Digital. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.

Finally... we ended Wednesday’s podcast with the story of Yahoo! CEO Scott Thompson, whose non-existent computer science degree was causing eyebrows to be raised in Silicon Valley. Surely not a big deal?  Well, he’s now the former CEO.

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. More details about advertising and sponsorship opportunities are available on the About us section of our website.
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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.

Author: The Fonecast
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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.

Author: The Fonecast
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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.

Author: The Fonecast
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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.

Author: The Fonecast
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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.

Author: The Fonecast
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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.

Author: The Fonecast
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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.

Author: The Fonecast
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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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