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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 13th February 2012

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s not been a good week for Nokia staff, with 4000 of them likely to lose their jobs from factories in Finland, Hungary and Mexico. The company says it’s moving device assembly to Asia, where it’ll be closer to component manufacturers. The three scaled-down factories will remain open with a new focus on smartphone customisation.

A cheerier note came from O2 UK, which asked head office staff to test its flexible working arrangements on Wednesday. Around 3,000 people didn’t turn up for work, leaving the security guards to race around the empty offices in swivel chairs. Or something like that.

We’re still in quarterly results season; last week’s figures came from HTC, Vodafone and Virgin Media. The latter revealed that its ‘pay monthly’ mobile users had overtaken the number of prepay customers for the first time.

Talking of contracts, Phones 4u launched a new scheme to let customers upgrade every six months. It’s called JUMP – Just Upgrade My Phone – and splits the traditional monthly contract into separate network and phone contracts. JUMP has been running in around 100 shops as a trial since last May.

And while we’re on the subject of upgrades, Cellebrite – the company whose kit disappoints Yoda by transferring contact details between different models of mobile phone – has recently enhanced its touch-screen tablet with a diagnostic option. It’s designed to help in-store staff differentiate between faulty phones and confused customers.

A different kind of problem befell Google, when a flaw in its US mobile payment service was discovered. Rather took the shine off its Chrome mobile browser announcement from earlier in the week. Problems too for satellite phone owners, who learned that their calls could – theoretically, at least – be hacked.

Mind you, GSM calls have been open to hackers for a while... and that’s hardly dented sales, has it?

Why not 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

Tablets aren't real computers... and that's why they're so popular

Mark Bridge writes:

As any Star Trek fan knows, Apple didn't invent the tablet computer. The crew of the Enterprise regularly used handheld devices that looked remarkably like an electronic clipboard... or an iPad. In fact, engineers in the 1960s were working on tablet devices as the original Star Trek series first aired.

Then there were the Microsoft Tablet PCs from around ten years ago. I bought one - an Acer TravelMate - as my main computer and loved it. I even loved the special pen that was needed to write on the screen.

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Mark Bridge - BBC News

James Rosewell writes:

For those that don't regularly watch the BBC News Channel at 5pm here's a rather hasty recording of an interview with our very own Mark Bridge concerning "Quick Tap"; a rather underwhelming new mobile payment product from Orange and Barclaycard.

Author: The Fonecast
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New sensors can turn your smartphone into a medical tricorder

Mark Bridge writes:

Dr 'Bones' McCoy moves an electronic device over a patient’s leg encased in a plaster case. The device immediately identifies swelling within the cast, alerting the doctor to take action.

But this isn't a medical tricorder being used by the doctor. It's a Google Nexus S mobile phone. And the situation isn't set in the 23rd century. It's now.

Author: The Fonecast
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The Council of Europe and its plans to 'ban mobile phones in schools'

Mark Bridge writes:

Europe's leaders want mobile phones and WiFi networks banned in schools. Well, that's what the headlines appear to say.

Except - as often seems to be the case with most mobile phone health warnings - things aren't that simple. So let's start at the beginning.

Author: The Fonecast
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DigiMo promises a fast, simple and smart mobile payment solution

Mark Bridge writes:

Almost everyone in the mobile telecoms industry seems to be looking for a perfect payment system that'll transform their mobile phone into some kind of electronic wallet. Yet despite many trial schemes – and a few commercial launches – cards and cash are still favoured by consumers and retailers in much of the world.

Author: The Fonecast
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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

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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.

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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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Author: The Fonecast
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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.

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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