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Sunday, March 18, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 19th March 2012

Mark Bridge writes:

Mobile financial services were making the headlines yet again last week. Not once. Not twice. No, we noticed at least three separate (and all pretty big) stories to talk about.

First came Nokia’s planned withdrawal from its mobile money service, which will leave around a million people in India looking for a new mobile wallet. Then there was mobile payment business BOKU announcing $35 million in new funding, including a sizeable investment from Telefónica. And finally along came PayPal Here and its plans to reclaim the iPhone-as-Point-of-Sale-terminal market from US rival Square. PayPal’s service is launching in the United States, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong... and it’s using a card reader that’s triangular to avoid any possible confusion with its rival. Expect a Square vs PayPal vs iZettle debate between me and James in Wednesday’s podcast.

Talking of podcasts, it’s been a busy week for those as well. Two of the discussions we recorded during Mobile World Congress are now online; you’ll find a recording of the ‘Heroes of Emerging Markets’ panel on our website - and it’ll soon be joined by the MEF Privacy in Mobile Apps roundtable (which you can currently hear at the MEF blog).

In network news, Ofcom says it’s happy with Everything Everywhere’s proposal to use existing 1800MHz GSM spectrum for 4G services in the UK. There’ll now be a four week consultation to see if all the other networks are happy with this (no, they’re not) and - more importantly - to see if they’ll produce a solid argument against it.

Virgin Media announced a partnership with London Underground that’ll introduce WiFi internet access to over 80 Tube stations by the summer. Service will be free during the launch period, so load up your preferred mobile VoIP service and prepare to frustrate your fellow passengers. Meanwhile, a company that would have appreciated an alternative network is MVNO giffgaff; it had an unhappy end to the week when water damage to computer systems took its mobile service offline for several hours.

Last week’s notable product announcements came from medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific, now working with Vodafone to offer real-time heart monitoring devices, and Sony Mobile Communications. Its new Android-powered Xperia sola smartphone offers ‘floating touch’ navigation, enabling you to browse the web without touching the screen. Gimmick or practical feature?  That’s probably for consumers to device. Much like mobile payments, it could be argued.

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

Five top trends to look for at Mobile World Congress

Bluestreak Technology, a Canadian company that provides technology for delivering multimedia to various consumer devices, has listed the top 5 most important technology trends it expects to hear about at Mobile World Congress 2011.

2010 was a year of tremendous change in the technology industry...

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Mobile Phone Recycling Comparison Site announces iPod, Gold and Music CD recycling

Mobile phone recycling has become increasingly mainstream, with many millions of people in the UK handing in their old mobile phones and electrical gadgets for cash. It's a growth industry that's seen more and more companies and websites offering cash bonuses to customers selling mobile phones.

Advertising feature

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How to deal in mobile phone contracts without selling the phones

Adam Taylor writes:

The mobile phone industry is an attractive proposition. Over 90% of the UK population has a mobile, and the seemingly non-stop developments in mobile technology are doing a great job in satisfying the UK’s thirst for anything that provides a quicker, more efficient (or in some cases, more fun) way of doing things. With such a demand, naturally supply tends to follow.

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This week at The Fonecast: 30th January 2011

Mark Bridge writes:

Sorry, but I find it hard to get excited by financial results. Actually that's not strictly true. I find it hard to get excited by financial results that aren't unexpected.

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The Sony PlayStation Phone is not what you think it is

Mark Bridge writes:

I just wanted to have a few words about the Sony PlayStation Phone. I know I’ve been wrong about things in the past – and I have little doubt I’ll be wrong again – but I’d like to suggest a lot of people have been looking in the wrong place.

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

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A month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

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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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