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New podcast from 'The Fonecast' updated every week

2009-02-04T10:00:00.004Z

The Fonecast is available to download free of charge. It's updated every Wednesday morning at TheFonecast.com and is also on the Mobile News website. In addition you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

The Fonecast is presented and produced by Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge at TheFonecast.com

We've moved our blog!

2009-01-29T16:00:00.000Z

We've moved our blog to our own site at TheFonecast.com. You'll find all the latest mobile industry news there, along with a few new features as well. Plus, of course, there's our free weekly podcast produced for Mobile News.

Barclays bank gives mobile security software to customers

2009-01-29T09:10:00.003Z

Barclays is giving its online banking customers free software to protect against mobile and PC security threats. It says it's the first UK bank to offer mobile security software. Barclays mobile banking is available online at http://barclays.mobi/ [Source: Mobile News]

Acer smartphone due next month

2009-01-29T08:46:00.002Z

Computer manufacturer Acer is expected to launch a smartphone on 16th February at this year's Mobile World Congress, according to reports. [Sources: Pocket-Lint.co.uk; DigiTimes.com]

190 million Fixed/Mobile Convergence users by 2013

2009-01-28T16:34:00.004Z

There'll be over 190 million people using converged fixed/mobile services by 2013, according to Informa Telecoms and Media - and 46% of these will be using femtocells. [Source: Telecoms.com]

Eight mobile technologies to watch

2009-01-28T16:22:00.003Z

Research company Gartner has published a list of eight mobile technologies that it says will have an impact on mobile strategies and policies over the next couple of years:

Bluetooth 3.0,
User Interfaces,
Location Sensing,
802.11n WiFi,
Display Technologies,
Mobile Web and Widgets,
Mobile Broadband and
Near Field Communication.

[Press release]

Vodafone buys Wayfinder

2009-01-28T16:16:00.002Z

It's not just Nokia interested in maps. Vodafone has completed its takeover of Swedish navigation software company Wayfinder, which was first proposed in December. [Sources: TheRegister.co.uk; Vodafone press release - as before, not for Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa!]

Nokia buys another map company

2009-01-28T15:50:00.003Z

Nokia has agreed to buy bit-side GmbH, a Berlin-based services and software company with 39 employees. It says integrating the company in its Services unit will strengthen and accelerate its mobile development for Nokia Maps. Nokia acquired digital map company NAVTEQ last year. [Press release]

New Mobile News podcast now online

2009-01-28T08:00:00.001Z

As usual, the Mobile News podcast team looks at the latest headlines from the industry. Iain, Mark and James talk about termination charges, premium SMS, manufacturers' quarterly results, crossing the road with a phone... and Barack's BlackBerry. You can download or listen free at TheFonecast.com and on the Mobile News website... and you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

The Mobile News podcast is presented and produced by Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge at TheFonecast.com

Sumsing Turbo 3000

2009-01-27T12:00:00.000Z

Okay, it's not new - but it is funny.

Competition searches for 'best text message'

2009-01-27T09:11:00.002Z

Mobile application blog SMS is the new Black is running a competition to find the best text message sent or received in January 2009. It's an entertaining promotional exercise... and it'll be interesting to see the results. [Press release]

Research says crossing the road with a mobile is dangerous for children

2009-01-27T08:52:00.002Z

Children who are talking on their mobile phone when crossing the road are at greater risk of being involved in an accident, according to research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. Pretty obvious when you think about it. Psychologists who used a virtual reality software program found that all of the children tested (aged 10-11) were more likely to exhibit risky behaviour when they crossed the street while talking on a mobile phone, even when the children were familiar with mobiles or were rated as highly attentive. Children using mobiles took an average 20% longer to cross the road, gave themselves 8% less time to cross safely in front of traffic and were 43% more likely to be hit by a vehicle or to have a close call. [Press release]

Electricity by SMS

2009-01-27T08:31:00.003Z

Rwanda's national electricity company, Electrogaz, has been selling prepaid electricity scratch-cards since the beginning of last year. Customers buy a card, scratch off the serial number, send a text message and receive a unique code that lets them add the credit to their electricity meter. Apparently 30% of the country’s electricity consumers now purchase their electricity this way. [Source: Nathan Eagle via Telco2.net]

Mobile companies could keep 3G licences forever

2009-01-26T22:13:00.003Z

The Sunday Times says mobile companies will be allowed to keep their 3G licences permanently if they commit to new broadband plans expected in the next few days from communications minister Lord Carter. He's expected to tell the UK telecomms industry that it needs to provide broadband service to every home in the country. The 3G licences cost a total of £22.5 billion in 2000 but are only valid for 20 years. [Source: TimesOnline.co.uk]

New premium rate mobile rules for UK

2009-01-26T21:29:00.001Z

Premium phone service regulator PhonepayPlus has set out new measures for the mobile premium content market. With immediate effect companies offering mobile subscription services charging over £4.50 a week or applying pay-per-page mobile internet charges must apply for permission from PhonepayPlus. In addition, customers must receive a free confirmation text message and must reply to that text before the service starts. [Press release]

BT considering mobile internet service?

2009-01-26T15:01:00.003Z

The Guardian says BT is considering setting up a mobile phone or mobile data service in partnership with T-Mobile and 3. It currently offers some mobile services as an optional extension of its broadband package.

Google G2 to launch by summer?

2009-01-26T14:43:00.004Z

A successor to the Android-powered T-Mobile G1 mobile phone will be launched in May, according to an assortment of online rumours. The G2, made by HTC and codenamed Sapphire 2.0, won't have a slide-out keyboard but will apparently have a 3.2 megapixel camera. [Sources: Wired.com; PCWorld.com]

President Obama to keep BlackBerry

2009-01-25T12:28:00.003Z

In November we reported that Barack Obama would give up his BlackBerry when he became president - but now it seems he'll be hanging on to it. His email address will remain confidential, his email addresses will apparently be designed not to be forwarded... and pretty much everything he says will be archived. [Sources: NYTimes.com; Seattle Times]

Microsoft job cuts to hit mobile?

2009-01-25T12:22:00.003Z

Microsoft has said it's cutting 5,000 jobs worldwide during the next 18 months, with 1,400 going immediately. It's now reported that the company's Entertainment and Devices unit will be the first to suffer. This is the part of Microsoft that's responsible for Xbox, Zune and Windows Mobile -and many of the immediate cuts are expected here. [Source: ZDNet.com]

Samsung figures show increased sales

2009-01-25T12:08:00.004Z

Samsung's quarterly results show an overall 22.2 billion Korean Won loss (around £12 million) loss, despite shipping 52.8 million handsets (up 14% year-on-year and up 2% from the previous quarter). The handset operating division did, however, make a profit. Rather like Nokia, it anticipates a 5%-10% drop in sales during 2009. [Sources: Press release (pdf); WashingtonPost.com]

Vodafone's Indian tax battle continues

2009-01-25T11:48:00.003Z

India's Supreme Court has said it's not appropriate for it to hear Vodafone's appeal against its £1 billion tax bill for buying Hutch Essar. Instead it says India's tax authorities should reconsider the case and - if they considers that they have jurisdiction - Vodafone can then approach the High Court again for action. [Source: TelegraphIndia.com]

UK mobile termination rates likely to fall

2009-01-23T11:30:00.001Z

The Competition Commission has told O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone that their mobile termination rates should be cut to 4p per minute for April 2010, which is 1.1p per minute more than Ofcom's original proposal. The decision stems from Ofcom's change to mobile phone termination charges in 2007. The recommendations have been passed to the Competition Appeals Tribunal, which meets next month. [Competition Appeal Tribunal; Press release (pdf)]

Opera ends 2008 with 17.8 million mobile users

2009-01-22T16:16:00.005Z

Mobile browser company Opera has published a review of the mobile web for 2008. Its State of the Mobile Web report shows continuing growth, with 17.8 million people using Opera Mini at the end of the year. In the UK, the top 5 sites visited by Opera mobile users were google.com, facebook.com, yahoo.com, bbc.co.uk and orkut.com. The top UK social network was facebook.com with 536% growth in 2008. MySpace, incidentally, showed a 15% drop. [Press release]

Nokia predicts 10% sales drop in 2009

2009-01-22T15:25:00.003Z

It's the big one. Nokia has published its Q4 results, which saw sales down 19% year-on-year but up 3% on the previous quarter. It sold 113.1 million units, which was down 15% year-on-year and down 4% on Q3, giving it an estimated market share of 37% in Q4 2008 (down from 40% in Q4 2007 and down from 38% in Q3 2008). It says it expects sales in 2009 to be down around 10% from 2008, having previously estimated a 5% drop. [Press release]

GPS phone sales will grow in 2009

2009-01-22T15:12:00.002Z

ABI Research says shipments of GPS-enabled mobile phones will continue to grow throughout the current economic downturn. Although global mobile shipments are expected to drop by up to 5% in 2009, 240 million GPS-equipped phones will be shipped; an increase of 6.4% over 2008. By 2014, the company reckons 9 of every 10 smartphones will contain GPS, compared with one in three last year. [Press release]

LG Mobile results are up

2009-01-22T15:04:00.004Z

LG’s Mobile Communication Company results for the last three months of 2008 show sales of 4.49 trillion Korean Won (around £2.4 billion), which is up 34.6% year-on-year. Handset sales were up 40.3% year-on-year and 16.5% up on the previous quarter. In addition, handset shipments were up 8% year-on-year to 25.7 million, which meant over 100 million units were sold in 2008 compared with 80.5 million units in 2007. Digitimes.com says this puts LG in third place worldwide, ahead of Motorola and Sony Ericsson (and behind Nokia and Samsung). [Press release]

Apple sold 4.4 million iPhones in Q4

2009-01-22T14:52:00.005Z

Apple says it sold 4.4 million 3G iPhones in the final quarter of 2008, which is down from the 6.9 million sold in the previous quarter but almost twice as many iPhones as were sold in Q4 2007. Whichever way you look at it, that's a lot of phones. [Press release]

MSN adds mobile music downloads for UK

2009-01-22T10:23:00.002Z

The MSN Mobile portal has launched a music download service that lets UK consumers choose from a million tracks and download them directly to their phone. Music tracks cost £1.50, ringtones are £3.00 and music videos are £2.00 each. Charges are added to the user’s monthly bill or taken from their prepay credit. [Source: Mobile News]

New 'Mobile News' podcast now online

2009-01-21T09:57:00.004Z

The Mobile News podcast looks at crime this week, with contributions from Detective Inspector Stephen Leonard of the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit and MICAF's Jack Wraith. Plus, as usual, we talk about the week's news headlines. You can download or listen free at TheFonecast.com and on the Mobile News website... and you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

The Mobile News podcast is presented and produced by Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge at TheFonecast.com

Three Microsoft mobile launches expected in Barcelona

2009-01-20T17:33:00.003Z

Technology news website Neowin.com says Microsoft plans to announce three major new mobile products at next month's Mobile World Congress. It says we should expect Windows Mobile 6.5, a mobile application marketplace and an online sync & storage service.

Blyk changes its tariff structure

2009-01-20T08:51:00.002Z

Ad-funded MVNO Blyk has said it's changing its tariff structure next month. Gone is the free bundle of 217 texts and 43 minutes per month; instead the company will be giving its customers £15 of credit every month to spend on calls at 24p a minute or texts at 8p each. It means that customers can now send picture messages and use data as part of their allowance. [Source: Blyk.com; there's also in-depth commentary at MobileIndustryReview.com]

Hyundai Mobile launches in UK

2009-01-19T14:15:00.003Z

Hyundai, best known for its motor manufacturing, has announced the UK launch of Hyundai Mobile and says it aims to achieve 3% - 5% market share within the next five years. The company is currently located at the Advantage Cellular distribution centre in Oxfordshire and has recruited former Advantage marketing manager Graham Jelfs as its head of marketing and communications. Hyundai's products are largely prepay phones, aimed at what it describes as a "broad, price-conscious target group”. [Source: Mobile News]

Mobile set-up too complicated for most users

2009-01-19T09:12:00.003Z

A survey of mobile phone users in the UK and the USA says most people get annoyed when they set up a new handset. 85% of users said they were frustrated by the difficulty of getting a new phone working, with 61% saying it was as challenging as moving bank accounts. The survey, by mobile device management software company Mformation, also revealed that 95% of people said they would be more likely to use new features if the initial set-up was easier. Most people expected to take 15 minutes to set their phone up but found the actual time was around an hour. [Sources: BBC News; Computerworlduk.com]

Sony Ericsson publishes 2008 figures

2009-01-17T16:02:00.003Z

Sony Ericsson has reported a loss of €187 million in Q4 2008 and an overall loss of €73 million for the whole year, compared to a €1 billion profit in 2007. [Press release]

Samsung reorganises

2009-01-17T15:52:00.002Z

Samsung Electronics has reorganised its four businesses into two operating divisions. Its telecom and media businesses are being combined into a single unit, as are its memory chip and display businesses. Choi Gee-sung, who currently heads the company's global telecommunications business, will oversee the new media and telecom division. [Sources: Guardian.co.uk; BusinessWeek.com]

Vodafone achieves 16Mbps mobile broadband speed

2009-01-17T15:34:00.002Z

Vodafone has achieved download speeds of 16Mbps during mobile broadband trials in Spain. It's now aiming to achieve 21Mbps in the next few weeks, which would mean consumer speeds of around 13Mbps. The tests combined new HSPA+ and 64QAM technology along with MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) - multiple antennae on base stations and data devices. 64QAM and MIMO both require new HSPA+ mobile broadband devices, so these speeds won't be available on any current mobile equipment. [Press release]

Google drops Dodgeball mobile application

2009-01-15T19:56:00.002Z

Google says it's going to close Dodgeball, which lets users in the USA share their location with friends via text message. It bought the company in 2005. [Google blog]

Apple CEO takes a break for health

2009-01-15T18:38:00.003Z

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is taking the next 5 months off work to focus on issues affecting his health. [Press release]

Motorola cuts 3,000 mobile jobs

2009-01-15T14:58:00.003Z

Motorola says it'll cut 3,000 jobs from its Mobile Devices business in 2009 and around 1,000 more from corporate functions and other business units. These are in addition to job losses announced at the end of last year. It's all part of the company's cost-cutting drive and, together with all the other recent cuts, is estimated to reduce spending in the Mobile Devices business by approximately $1.2 billion this year. [Press release]

Mobile phone use isn't linked with eye cancer

2009-01-15T10:36:00.002Z

The latest edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute says mobile phone use isn't associated with the risk of melanoma of the eye (uveal melanoma). Researchers in Germany looked at the association between phone use and risk of uveal melanoma, finding no statistically significant association between mobile phone use of up to about 10 years and uveal melanoma risk. [Source: ScienceDaily.com]

T-Mobile UK MD quits

2009-01-15T09:48:00.003Z

T-Mobile UK managing director Jim Hyde is leaving the company at the end of March for a new job with telecoms company nTelos in the USA. He joined the company three years ago from T-Mobile's American business and has been with the Deutsche Telekom group for a total of 12 years. [Sources: Mobile News; nTelos press release]

150 million bank customers will be mobile by 2011

2009-01-15T09:38:00.004Z

Juniper Research says there'll be over 150 million people using mobile phones as an additional tool for banking transactions by 2011. It says this figure just refers to existing customers of conventional banks rather than 'transformational banking', which offers mobile banking to customers that aren't within reach of branch-based banking. Juniper Research has previously forecast over 800 million people worldwide to be using some form of mobile banking by 2011. [Press release]

Carphone announces figures and plans

2009-01-15T08:46:00.003Z

The Carphone Warehouse has announced its quarterly trading update for October, November and December 2008, as well as revealing its plans for the next 15 months. UK like-for-like revenue (compared with the same period in 2007) was up 8.3%, with European like-for-like revenue up 6.5%. In the next 12 months it plans to open the first Best Buy 'big box' stores in the UK and will be conducting an efficiency review alongside its current structural review. [Press release]

New Mobile News podcast now online

2009-01-14T11:15:00.001Z

This week's Mobile News podcast previews the MOTO W233 Renew, which is made from recycled plastic bottles. Plus, as usual, we'll be taking our regular look at the latest news headlines from the mobile industry. You can download or listen free at TheFonecast.com and on the Mobile News website... and you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

The Mobile News podcast is presented and produced by Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge at TheFonecast.com

Vodafone takes new angle on mobile TV

2009-01-13T17:10:00.003Z

Vodafone UK has launched a trial scheme with Babelgum Mobile that'll let customers watch video clips 'free' on compatible handsets: initially the Nokia N96, N95 and 6210. Babelgum is a web TV service that, unlike many other video sites, generates its own original programming as well as showing clips from other television channels. [Press release (pdf)]

Truphone to include Skype calls

2009-01-13T13:29:00.003Z

Mobile VoIP company Truphone says it's launched Skype calling and IM on the newest version of its Apple iPhone and iPod Touch software, which means Truphone users can make and receive Skype calls from their chosen Apple device as well as using Truphone services. [Truphone blog; BB Comms blog]

New Year's Eve texting

2009-01-13T09:27:00.003Z

O2 and Vodafone have both released their 'New Year' text figures for the UK - and they're pretty evenly matched. O2 says a record 166 million messages were sent over its network in the 24-hour period ending at 7.30 am on New Year’s Day 2009, while Vodafone says nearly 170 million text messages were sent over its network during a similar 24-hour period. Vodafone added that its customers also sent 1 million picture messages on Christmas Day. [Sources: 160characters.org; MobileIndustryReview.com]

Vodafone returns to court in India

2009-01-12T16:16:00.002Z

As expected, Vodafone has gone to India's Supreme Court in a bid to overturn last month's High Court decision upholding an income tax demand of over £1 billion. [Source: Indiatimes.com]

5% of American mobile users watch video

2009-01-10T11:26:00.004Z

Talking of mobile multimedia, a report from The Nielsen Company says 10.3 million Americans currently watch videos on their phone each month - that's 5% of all mobile customers (compared to 3% in the UK). The majority of users - 66% - say they watch their video through the web, rather than downloading clips to their phones. The Apple iPhone is the most popular phone for mobile video consumers, comedy is the most popular mobile video content and waiting for someone or something is the most popular occasion for video usage. [Report (pdf)]

35% of US households to get mobile TV this year

2009-01-10T11:10:00.004Z

The Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC), which is an alliance of commercial and public broadcasters in the USA, says 63 TV stations will launch mobile digital television services in 2009, covering 35% of US households that watch TV. Services will use the ATSC Mobile DTV standard and can only be received on a compatible device. [Press release (Word document)]

Vodafone & 3 are favourite mobile portals

2009-01-09T18:14:00.003Z

Research from Strategy Analytics says that consumers in the UK prefer the usability and design of Vodafone and 3's mobile internet portals in preference to those from O2, Orange, T-Mobile and even MSN. They've also recently published a report that says an increasing number of consumers are happy with navigation on their phones, with the usability of Vodafone's Telmap Navigator software winning over two dedicated navigation devices. [Portal press release; Navigation press release]

Skype for Google Android and Java handsets

2009-01-09T15:52:00.001Z

VoIP service Skype has launched a beta version of its service that can be downloaded on Android-powered devices as well as more than 100 other Java-enabled mobile phones. [Press release]

New UK CEO for Blyk

2009-01-09T14:54:00.003Z

Antti Ohrling has been appointed as as UK CEO of virtual network Blyk following Shaun Gregory's resignation for personal reasons. Mr Ohrling is one of Blyk's co-founders and is currently an executive director of the company. He's also the chairman and founder of Contra Group, an advertising agency. Last year Blyk announced that it had doubled its first-year target by attracting 200,000 members to its network. [Source: Press release]

Palm unveils new phone and OS

2009-01-09T09:27:00.002Z

Palm has revealed its new 'Pre' smartphone and a new 'webOS' operating system. The operating system claims to integrate information from multiple calendars, contacts and messaging applications - recognising people who are listed in multiple accounts - while the Pre has a touch-controlled screen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It's due for a USA release in the first half of 2009, although there's no mention of a UK date. [Press release]

Finland tells parents to monitor childrens' mobile use

2009-01-08T08:46:00.002Z

Rather like the findings of the UK's Stewart Report, Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) says there's no evidence that mobile phones are dangerous to health but tells parents to restrict children's mobile phone use until all the effects are known. It suggests sending text messages instead of making voice calls and says children should be taught to use hands-free devices. [Sources: Finland.fi; stuk.fi (Finnish)]

3G, smartphones and dongles will help sales in 2009

2009-01-08T08:40:00.003Z

Although the mobile phone industry saw just 7% annual growth in 2008 - and a 5% year-on-year drop in device shipments is expected to be shown in the final quarter - ABI Research says there are still a few rays of sunshine (their words, not mine) for 2009. Sales of 3G devices worldwide are expected to exceed 50% of all mobile phones in 2009, with smartphone sales also expected to grow along with USB modems. [Press release]

International CES opens today

2009-01-08T07:00:00.000Z

The annual International CES consumer electronics show opens today in Las Vegas, with some commentators suggesting it'll be much more subdued than previously. [Sources: WashingtonPost.com; CBC.ca]

Apple lets iPhone users download via mobile network

2009-01-07T17:17:00.002Z

Apple 3G iPhone users, who've previously only been able to download music from iTunes via WiFi or by using their computer, can now also download by connecting to their chosen mobile network. [Source: Apple.com Hot News]

Half of US mobile users ignore multimedia features

2009-01-07T17:09:00.003Z

A new report by The NPD Group says 45% of American mobile phone users don't use the multimedia features on their handsets. In fact, only 20% use their mobiles as an all-in-one device for music, videos, web surfing and other activities. 21% were not sure if their handsets would play music and 23% weren't sure if their phone included GPS - although NPD calculated that 55% of phones sold from January to November 2008 had GPS technology. [Press release]

Reports say train crash engineer regularly used his mobile

2009-01-07T17:02:00.002Z

The engineer allegedly responsible for the fatal Los Angeles rail crash on 12th September 2008 was known to regularly use his mobile phone while operating trains, according to reports that quote a lawyer acting for several victims. [Sources: Cellular-News.com; NYTimes.com]

3M announces mini-projector for phones

2009-01-07T13:27:00.000Z

3M is preparing to launch the MM200, which is a miniature projector small enough to be built into a mobile phone. It's capable of projecting a 50-inch image while using only 1 watt of power. [Press release]

New Mobile News podcast for 2009

2009-01-07T09:30:00.000Z

In the Mobile News podcast this week we welcome 2009 with a review of the top stories from 2008. And, as usual, we'll also be taking a look at the current news headlines from the mobile industry. You can download or listen free at TheFonecast.com and on the Mobile News website... and you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

The Mobile News podcast is presented and produced by Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge at TheFonecast.com

Peter Jones CBE

2009-01-06T15:43:00.002Z

Peter Jones, now better known for his role on BBC TV's Dragons' Den than for his ownership of the Phones International Group, has been awarded a CBE in the New Year's Honours List. [Source: Mobile News]

New Motorola handset made from recycled water bottles

2009-01-06T13:35:00.004Z

Motorola has announced the MOTO W233 Renew, which it's describing as the world’s first mobile phone made using plastics comprised of recycled water bottles - and the world's first carbon-neutral mobile phone (thanks to a carbon offsetting deal). The case is recyclable, the box is printed on recycled paper and there's a postage-paid recycling envelope in the box for your old phone (well, there is in the USA, where the Renew will be available on T-Mobile within the next few weeks). [Press release]

Hospitals should reconsider mobile phone bans

2009-01-06T11:56:00.002Z

New guidelines from the Department of Health say hospitals in England should consider allowing mobile phones to be used in hospitals wherever it doesn't interfere with equipment, affect privacy or cause a nuisance. They also say that mobile phone use should continue to be restricted in areas where critical care equipment susceptible to electro magnetic interference is used. [Press release]

3G iPhone can now be unlocked by anyone

2009-01-06T10:36:00.000Z

The iPhone Dev Team have released a beta version of yellowsn0w; free software that'll apparently unlock any 3G Apple iPhone. [Dev-Team blog]

UIQ files for bankruptcy

2009-01-05T13:36:00.004Z

UIQ Technology, which makes software based on the Symbian operating system, has filed for bankruptcy in a Swedish court. The company was originally part of Symbian and is now jointly owned by Motorola and Sony Ericsson. Its future has looked very uncertain since Nokia acquired Symbian and founded the non-profit Symbian Foundation last year. [Source: Telecoms.com]

Vodafone and Orange expected to share more

2009-01-05T07:47:00.002Z

Vodafone and Orange are apparently close to expanding their existing base station sharing agreement by integrating 3G access and possibly even working together on international coverage, according to a report in The Observer.

4giv me fathR...

2009-01-04T18:30:00.003Z

The Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, who heads a church of around 12 million Orthodox Christians in Egypt and another 4 million elsewhere, has banned priests from taking confessions over the phone and has also banned monks in Coptic monasteries from using mobiles. Pope Shenouda III says there is a chance that telephones are monitored, meaning that the confessions could possibly be overheard by state security, according to news reports. He also said that monks were supposed to be secluded from the world when in monasteries, which is why he'd banned the use of mobiles by monks but had allowed monastery administrators to keep their phones. [Source: Cellular-News.com]

Google launches website for mobile ideas

2009-01-02T09:14:00.000Z

Google has launched a website - http://productideas.appspot.com - that allows users to suggest and vote on suggestions for Google Mobile products.

UK mobile networks to cut jobs?

2008-12-31T11:15:00.002Z

The Guardian says the mobile phone industry is likely to cut thousands of jobs in the UK during early 2009, blaming competition and the economic slowdown.

Orange says mobile multimedia is more popular than ever

2008-12-30T13:13:00.000Z

The latest Digital Media Index report from Orange (covering summer/autumn 2008) says that mobile data usage has almost doubled since the company's previous report, which covered November 2007 to January 2008. Sales of 3G mobile internet 'dongles' were up 2,139% since January, with 3G customer numbers rising 86%: 1.3 million people. Mobile search was up 30% and music downloads were up 10%. [Press release]

Texperts taken over by kgb's 118118

2008-12-27T15:56:00.000Z

New York-based kgb, the company behind directory enquiry service 118118, has taken over text message service Texperts. Texperts was previously known as 82ASK until rebranding in 2007. [Source: MarketWatch.com]

Google gives G1 phones as Christmas gifts

2008-12-26T17:19:00.002Z

Google staff in the UK, the rest of Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore and the USA are being given a G1 mobile phone instead of a Christmas bonus. The remaining 15% of staff in countries where the G1 won't work will still receive a cash payment. [Source: BrandRepublic.com]

Germans use mobiles to control street lights

2008-12-23T12:36:00.003Z

The village of Doerentrup in Germany is using mobile phones to save electricity and reduce carbon emissions. Street lamps are switched off at 9pm but local residents who've registered their mobile phones with the council can call a special access code to switch individual street lights on for 15 minutes. [Source: BBC News video, audio]

Mobile dealers sentenced for £1.6 million clawback fraud

2008-12-22T09:53:00.004Z

Mobile phone dealers Jonathan Shulton and James Cahill have been convicted of fraud at Southwark Crown Court for their parts in a £1.6 million abuse of commission schemes. They'd claimed commission for connecting new customers and then liquidated their companies before networks had the opportunity to realise that the connections were fraudulent. Following a Serious Fraud Office investigation, Jonathan Shulton has been sentenced to a total of 27 months imprisonment, with James Cahill sentenced to a 240 hours community punishment order. [Press release]

Motorola AURA goes on sale in UK

2008-12-21T15:21:00.004Z

Motorola's premium phone, the AURA, went on sale in London's Selfridges department store yesterday. It's the handset we previewed in our podcast at the end of October. Apparently there are only 10 available pre-Christmas. I wonder if they'll sell them all...

Samsung plans Android device

2008-12-20T09:58:00.001Z

Korean IT news website etnews.co.kr says Samsung has an Android-powered 'Google phone' planned for Q2 2009.

Panasonic to control Sanyo

2008-12-19T17:19:00.002Z

Panasonic and Sanyo have said they've agreed to a "Capital and Business Alliance", which will result in Panasonic owning a controlling interest in Sanyo when everything's agreed. [Sanyo press release; Panasonic press release (pdf)]

More mobile ads seen via WiFi

2008-12-19T17:09:00.002Z

This story seems almost inevitable to me, although it's been covered in fairly excitable terms elsewhere. Mobile advertising company AdMob says 8% of all advertisements it delivered to UK mobile devices in November were served via WiFi rather than over a conventional mobile network. That's up from 4% in August, with over half of the ads coming from Apple iPhone users. It's a similar story in the USA. [AdMob report (pdf)]

Mobile phone market expected to slow in 2009

2008-12-19T17:03:00.003Z

No surprises here. Analysts at IDC say the mobile phone industry will ship fewer handsets in 2009 than it has in 2008. They predict total mobile phone volumes will be 1.9% lower in 2009, which is the first annual downturn since 2001. [Press release]

Ofcom publishes guidance about 'small print' charges

2008-12-19T13:47:00.002Z

Regulator Ofcom has published guidance that tells communications providers how it thinks the law - the the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 - applies to any charges consumers may have to pay in addition to their regular bill. These charges are usually for not paying by direct debit, for receiving paper bills, for late payments or for leaving before a contract ends. Ofcom has also published a consumer guide that covers the same subject. Its guidance says charges for late payments and different payment methods should be limited to the cost of dealing with payments, charges for itemised billing shouldn't be more than £1.50 per bill and consumers who end contracts early should never have to pay more than the payments left under the contract. [Press release; Consumer guide (pdf)]

17.5% of US homes are mobile only

2008-12-18T09:10:00.003Z

The latest National Health Interview Survey from the USA shows that the number of homes with only mobile phones continues to grow. More than one out of every six homes in America (17.5%) only had mobiles when surveyed in the first six months of 2008, up 1.7% from the previous six months. [Source: cdc.gov]

Motorola freezes pensions and salaries to cut costs

2008-12-18T09:02:00.003Z

Motorola is permanently freezing its US pension plans from March 2009 to cut costs, which means existing benefits will be preserved but there'll be no future benefits accrued from that date. It's also said many employees won't receive a salary increase in 2009, with co-CEOs Greg Brown and Sanjay Jha taking a 25% salary cut. [Press release]

New Ofcom head announced

2008-12-18T08:50:00.004Z

Dr Colette Bowe has been chosen to replace David Currie as chairman of Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries. Dr Bowe began her career as an economist at the Department of Trade and Industry and is currently a Board Member of Axa Framlington, Morgan Stanley Bank International, Electra Private Equity and London & Continental Railways, as well as being Chairman of Council at Queen Mary College and a board member of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research. She has been a member of the Ofcom Board since January 2008 and is a member of the Ofcom Audit Committee. Her appointment will now be formally scrutinised by the Business and CMS Select Committees. David Currie steps down from his role after Easter next year. [Press release]

Data costs holding back mobile content growth

2008-12-17T17:55:00.003Z

The cost of using mobile data is holding back growth in the European content market, according to mobile transaction company mBlox. They say UK consumers face charges of up to £10 to download a single song and recommend that networks adopt a ‘sender pays' business model to include data costs with purchases from their own online stores. [Press release]

Recession hits mobile spending in Europe

2008-12-17T17:51:00.003Z

The mobile phone market in Western Europe stopped growing in Q3 2008, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics. Mobile data revenues continued to perform well but the voice market saw revenue growth slow more than expected, with revenue falling for some operators. [Press release]

Exclusive Orange iPhone banned in France

2008-12-17T17:34:00.004Z

The Conseil de la concurrence, France's competition regulator, has suspended France Telecom's exclusive Apple iPhone 3G deal - which means the phone will also be available from the SFR and Bouygues Telecom networks from tomorrow. France Telecom apparently had a five-year deal with Apple to sell its iPhone on the Orange network in France, which was seen as damaging competition in the mobile phone market. [Sources: WashingtonPost.com; ArsTechnica.com]

Festive Mobile News podcast now online

2008-12-17T11:31:00.005Z

The Mobile News podcast bids farewell to 2008 this week. We're taking our usual look at mobile industry headlines from the last seven days and we're also predicting what'll be making news next year. In addition, there's a look back at our predictions from 12 months ago. 3G iPhone on Vodafone, anyone?

As always, you can download or listen free at TheFonecast.com and on the Mobile News website... and you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

The Mobile News podcast is presented and produced by Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge at TheFonecast.com

Mobile security worth $889 million in 2011

2008-12-16T14:45:00.004Z

Market research firm Infonetics Research says by 2011 mobile networks will have spent $889 million on security appliances and software to protect themselves. It says the increasing popularity of mobile data is driving investment in networks and data centres while an increasing number of security threats are driving the need for improved security. [Press release]

Mobile ticketing standard agreed by UK rail companies

2008-12-16T13:57:00.003Z

Back in October we talked to Ben Whitaker from secure mobile applications company Masabi about tickets on mobile phones. The company has now announced that it's developed a new standard for secure barcode rail ticketing in conjunction with the Rail Settlement Plan, which is the ticketing organisation jointly owned by train and rail operating companies. The new open standard allows all mobile ticketing schemes to use a common barcode system and means they're able to start accepting a single mobile ticket on a journey involving multiple rail operators. [Press release]

We'll all be smartphone surfing in 2020

2008-12-16T12:52:00.002Z

The Pew Internet & American Life Project (in partnership with Elon University), which surveys technology stakeholders and critics, says the mobile device will be the primary connection tool to the internet for most people by 2020. Voice recognition and touch interfaces will be used much more for browsing than they are today. [Imagining the Internet, PDF report]

North Korea's mobile network launches

2008-12-16T10:06:00.003Z

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea - known to many as North Korea - has just launched its first official mobile phone service (as originally reported earlier this year). The 3G service currently just covers the capital, Pyongyang, although the network will be expanded to cover the rest of the country. [Sources: BWCS.com; WashingtonPost.com]

Vodafone to drop cricket sponsorship

2008-12-16T10:01:00.005Z

Vodafone is ending its 12-year sponsorship of the England cricket team following a review of its current activity, although it'll continue to work with the England and Wales Cricket Board. The cricket deal runs until January 2010. Other current Vodafone sponsorship activity includes the McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team, driver Lewis Hamilton and music sponsorship via MTV. [Sources: Press release; BrandRepublic.com; Telegraph.co.uk]

In-flight texts from London to Moscow

2008-12-16T08:57:00.000Z

bmi has become the first British airline to offer its passengers an in-flight communications service that includes text messages, email and internet browsing from mobile phones and PDAs. The service, supplied by OnAir, is being trialled for six months on an Airbus A320 aircraft operating between Heathrow and Moscow. [Press release]

It's a trillion-dollar industry

2008-12-15T09:22:00.003Z

Cheer up, everyone. Annual revenue from mobile phone customers globally will exceed a trillion US dollars by 2013 (that's twelve zeroes), when there'll be more than 5.3 billion customers. In fact, by the end of 2013, revenue from mobile operators is expected to be up a third since the beginning of this year - and customer numbers will be up 56%. Needless to say, most of those new customers won't be coming from North America and Western Europe but from the Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin American markets. The figures - from Informa Telecoms & Media - also say voice revenue will make up the majority of that $1.03 trillion figure, although data revenue will more than double from $148 billion in 2007 to $347 billion in 2013. [Source: Telecoms.com]

Estonians to vote by mobile phone

2008-12-15T09:10:00.003Z

Estonia's parliament has approved a law that makes Estonia the first country in the world to allow voting by mobile phone. The parliamentary elections in 2011 will be the first time the technology is used, although online votes were permitted last year. Estonia is already seen as an internet pioneer and has previously declared internet access to be a basic human right. [Sources: UPI.com; TMCnet.com]

Mobile social networking use will become less passive

2008-12-15T09:02:00.003Z

Today's mobile social network users are mainly checking messages, updates and comments rather than posting photos or comments themselves, according to a recent study by ABI Research. However, the company says this pattern is changing as more consumers have access to smarter phones and social network applications that are easier to use. Currently over 60% of mobile social network users are mainly checking for messages or comments, with approximately 17% of users checking in at least once a day. [Press release]

The Key to Safe Driving?

2008-12-15T08:53:00.003Z

Sounding rather similar to the Aegis Mobility service, Key2SafeDriving is a wireless device designed by the University of Utah that does its best to stop young people from driving while using their mobile phone. The Key2SafeDriving (k2sd) device holds the ignition key and puts the driver's phone into 'Driving Mode' when the key is released for use. This causes the phone to display a 'Stop' message and also prevents the phone from ringing when someone calls. [Press release via Media-Newswire.com]

Nokia to launch 3G dongle in 2009

2008-12-14T12:26:00.002Z

Nokia says it'll start selling its first 3G internet modem in early 2009, according to press reports. [Source: WashingtonPost.com]