Mark Bridge writes:

We started last week with a 20th birthday party for the SMS text message, which was first used as an alternative Christmas card by Neil Papworth in 1992. Since then, mobile data has been transformed from the familiar dit-dit-dit dah-dah dit-dit-dit of Nokia phones to non-stop internet connectivity on smart devices.

Mark Bridge writes:

There are some things I don’t want to accept. Events that have rocked my perception of the world. Dave Lee Travis being arrested. The death of Amy Winehouse. Visiting a pork pie factory. I now have a new one on my list: Vodafone’s blog post today about the Smart Tab II.

This week Iain Graham has been talking to Keith Curran about the problems facing mobile networks and the opportunities for mobile phone dealers.

Keith was a director of the Caudwell Group before setting up, running and later selling service provider Yes Telecom. He’s now CEO of Steadings Group.

Joe DeCapua of voanews.com writes:

This week (3rd-5th December), over 4,000 people from 50 countries have gathered near Washington, D.C. to discuss how mobile technology is affecting healthcare. Organizers of the mHealth Summit say some of the biggest advances and initiatives are taking place in low and middle income countries.

Juniper Research has revised its forecasts for the worldwide NFC market, lowering its estimates for NFC growth in North America and Western Europe.

It says Apple’s decision not to include NFC technology in its iPhone 5 has reduced the confidence of brands and retailers, which means we’ll see fewer NFC marketing campaigns and less interest in rolling out new Point of Sale equipment.