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Monday, August 9, 2010

Carnival of the Mobilists #234

Mark Bridge writes:

Welcome to TheFonecast.com for this week’s Carnival of the Mobilists, an itinerant online publication that contains the best mobile-focussed writing from the previous seven days.

The summer holidays may have reduced the quantity of online commentary for Carnival #234... but the quality remains unaffected.

Let’s start with my ‘Post of the Week’, written by Steven Hoober from Little Springs Design. He looks at the design of battery indicators on portable devices and explains why many are over-engineered. Such a tiny thing – yet so many ways to get it wrong!

Talking of batteries, Antoine RJ Wright has been asking what needs to happen before we all ditch our computers for mobile phones. Perhaps unsurprisingly, better battery life is at the top of the list.

Mobile technology’s been in the mainstream press too, with the security of BlackBerry devices being scrutinised by individuals and governments. C Enrique Ortiz has been taking a look at the implications of a BlackBerry ban in certain countries.

Ajit Jaokar has written an article about using wireless sensors in conjunction with Twitter and WordPress. The technology can be used to automatically post online updates in the event of a forest fire. Very clever.

And Judy Breck at Smart Mobs suggests we take app store growth predictions with a pinch of salt.

Time to take a break from all that reading. Peggy at MSearchGroove has produced a podcast that investigates how small businesses can benefit from mobile marketing – and why mobile marketing is a particularly good fit for small businesses. Given that the smallest businesses often have particularly good relationships with their customers, a permission-based mobile campaign can make a lot of sense.

I’ll conclude my list of entries with a recent post of ours about smart meters. It’s what would probably be called “Smart Meters 101” in the USA… but as we’re not there, we’ve called it “Everything you need to know about smart metering in the UK”. There's the choice of a podcast or a transcript depending on your preference.

You may have spotted a gap in the hosting schedule for Carnival of the Mobilists next week, which means there’s an opportunity for you (yes, you!) to step into the breach. Whether you’re a potential first-time host or a regular at CotM, have a word with Peggy Anne Salz and book yourself a place in history.

Well, that’s all from me. Thanks for calling into The Fonecast to read this week’s Carnival of the Mobilists. We at TheFonecast.com produce a free podcast for the UK mobile phone industry every week; you can find it on iTunes, you can pick it up from our RSS feed and you can listen or download from TheFonecast.com.

You can also follow us on your mobile phone; visit http://thefonecast.com and you’ll discover our sparkling new mobile website. Alternatively, text the word FONE to 07781482797 from your mobile phone and we'll send you a link by SMS. (Standard operator text and data charges apply).

Carnival of the Mobilists

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Opinion Articles

Review: BeeWi BBS020 solar-powered hands-free Bluetooth car kit

Mark Bridge writes:

Persuading mobile phone users not to hold their phone when they’re driving should be a simple task. It’s dangerous, it’s against the law and the penalties include a fine plus points on your licence.

But even then, there’s often an excuse about convenience and usability. Some people don’t like wearing headsets, some don’t like wires and some simply forget to charge the batteries.

That’s why a new hands-free Bluetooth loudspeaker from French company BeeWi caught my eye.

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The simple case of the disguised iPhone 4

Mark Bridge writes:

I remember the launch of Carweek back in the 1990s. It was a motoring magazine produced as a weekly glossy newspaper; a novel format, although one that probably led to its demise. 'Spy shots' of prototype cars seemed then – as now – to be much sought-after, despite them often not showing much resemblance to the finished product. Indeed, I often wondered how you could possibly road-test the handling of a new car when it was covered with unflattering body parts that served to disguise its shape.

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Maria Sharapova and the 'geek porn' of unboxing

Mark Bridge writes:

'Unboxing' is - or was - the new geek porn. We know this because The Register told us so in 2006, when the practice of video recording the unpacking of new consumer electronics products started to become popular. Just over two years later The Independent tried to tell us that unboxing was still the new geek porn but, by then, conventional porn had probably returned to... er... pole position.

Why do I mention this?  Well, Sony Ericsson has just published its own unboxing video featuring tennis player, model, charity worker and Sony Ericsson brand ambassador Maria Sharapova.

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Scaremongering news stories? There's an app for that

Mark Bridge writes:

Here’s a news headline that caught my eye.

Shotgun certificate up for renewal?  There's an app for that

Or, if you prefer…

Police to allow gun users renew licences with iPhone app

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Mobile payments: solutions get dumber while cards get smarter?

Mark Bridge writes:

Last week I spotted a couple of mobile-related news stories that involved payment company MasterCard. One came from CPI Card Group, which had introduced a “next-generation, MasterCard-approved payment tag” (a.k.a. 'sticker') that enabled “any mobile device to be used to make payments anywhere using the worldwide contactless MasterCard PayPass standard” (by sticking it on the back).

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