Mark Bridge writes:

This week’s podcast feature from TheFonecast.com takes a look at mobile telecare: using mobile telecommunications to help elderly people and those with special needs.

UK-based Burnside Telecom has recently announced a couple of telecare products that take advantage of the company’s expertise in producing ‘fixed cellular’ devices, so I’ve been talking to managing director Colin Aitken about these new products.

Colin Aitken from Burnside Telecom talks about the company's new mobile telecare products: the MoniCare GSM remote monitoring solution and a 'fixed cellular phone' designed as a landline alternative for elderly users.

Mark Bridge writes:

A brainstorming day run by T-Mobile UK with a dozen farmers, M&C Saatchi Mobile, the National Farmers Union and EBLEX (the organisation for the English beef and sheep industry) has resulted in some fascinating mobile-focussed solutions. The aim was to raise awareness of the benefits that smartphone technology can bring farmers and other small business owners.

This week's podcast starts with news of 17,000 job losses at Nokia Siemens Networks. But we also have some upbeat stories, including a new mobile payment processing service for the UK, new net neutrality guidelines from Ofcom and a couple of luxury smartphones.

Mark Bridge writes:

The really big news last week wasn’t good: 17,000 jobs worldwide are being lost at Nokia Siemens Networks (which, incidentally, is a separate company from both Nokia and Siemens). That’s not far short of a quarter of the total workforce. The company is going to focus on mobile network infrastructure and services, with a particular emphasis on mobile broadband, and is likely to sell off other parts of the business.