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Monday, February 24, 2014

Last week at The Fonecast: 24th February 2014

Are you ready?

Mark Bridge writes:

Some companies have saved their big announcements for the week of Mobile World Congress. Samsung and Nokia, for example. Others have issued a press release in advance.

It would be easy to assume that the companies making pre-show announcements were worried their news might not get noticed. I don’t think this was the case for Facebook, which is spending £9.6 billion on instant messaging app WhatsApp. Much of that value was in Facebook shares but there’s plenty of real money changing hands as well. It’ll be interesting to hear what Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says during his keynote speech at MWC tonight.

Also making a splash before the show was Huawei, with a multi-product announcement yesterday afternoon. There was a mobile WiFi hotspot, two tablets, a smartphone with a 5 megapixel self-portrait camera and a wearable ‘TalkBand’, which combines fitness tracking with Bluetooth calling.

Microsoft had a Sunday announcement, too. It’s now working with nine new hardware partners for Windows Phone, which is likely to mean lower-priced devices targeting developing markets.

Other manufacturer news included new smartphones from Acer, Alcatel and Kazam (and a 3D-mapping prototype from Google), plus Jolla’s Sailfish OS was being readied for Android phones and Apple iOS needed a security update.

In the world of apps, both Visa and MasterCard talked about Host Card Emulation; a cloud-based security process for mobile payments that avoids the need for account details to be uploaded to a SIM card. And mobile payment/advertising partnership Weve announced Pouch, a mobile-based ‘loyalty card’ application.

Right, it’s time for me to head to the airport and join the crowds in Barcelona. Instead of our regular podcast this week there’ll be a series of interviews from MWC; you can keep up to date with all our programmes by bookmarking our website, subscribing free on iTunes, using our RSS feed or downloading the Stitcher.com mobile app.

On Monday mornings we summarise the past week’s mobile industry headlines in an email newsletter that’s very much like this article. To receive it, simply register your email address at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page.
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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.

Author: The Fonecast
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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.

Author: The Fonecast
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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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