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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 16th January 2012

Mark Bridge writes:

So that’s CES week over. This year’s show seemed particularly US-centric, given the amount of 4G LTE mobile technology kicking about. Not that the UK isn’t making its own 4G plans; far from it. But let’s start at the beginning...

CES 2012 saw opening announcements from Microsoft and Nokia that celebrated Windows Phone and the forthcoming Lumia 900. Intel’s move into mobile took a real leap forward with news that its Intel Atom processor was going to end up in Lenovo and Motorola devices. And new handsets were forthcoming from Sony Ericsson (or was it Sony?) with the Sony Xperia S - and Huawei with the super-thin Ascend P1 S smartphone.

Here in the UK, Ofcom announced a number of revised proposals for making 4G mobile spectrum available. It’s come up with new ideas to ensure 4G coverage is available to at least 98% of the population. Is everyone happy?  Let’s just say it looks like more people are happier than with the previous scheme.

Other UK news came from film and TV streaming service Netflix, whose launch here and in Ireland has raised the question of whether mobile networks can handle that kind of data traffic (and whether consumers will even try). Meanwhile, Three and giffgaff have both been talking about data usage and the results of having an ‘unlimited’ usage policy.

The world of patents saw Microsoft doing an Android-related licensing deal with LG, Nokia licensing its own patents from Sisvel International and the US International Trade Commission ruling that Motorola hadn’t infringed three Apple patents.

Finally, to the surprise of the week. Well, for me, anyway. A Forbes.com report says Samsung is working on merging its bada mobile operating system with the Tizen OS. Apple, Android, RIM and Windows Phone could well have a tough new contender this year.

Start your week with a reminder of the latest 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.
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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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