Author Archives: Tony Dennis
RIM will struggle to serve its two masters with BB10
Rating: BB10 device needs to be priced as premium or mass market
Industry pundits are waiting with bated breath to see what RIM will actually do when it announces its long awaited BlackBerry 10 device or devices today [January 30th 2013]. However, Malik Saadi, a principal analyst with Informa Telecoms & Media believes that RIM will struggle to serve its two masters: – the developed countries in North America and Europe and the emerging markets. Saadi argues the BlackBerry Curve has enabled RIM to attract a large audience in the other regions, mainly young professionals and students. If RIM is to target the same audience in these emerging markets, the new BB10 device should not be priced higher than US$250, Saadi says. That, of course, is unlikely to happen if RIM is to rebuild its image as a supplier of premium smartphones. Continue reading
Get ready to switch to RIM’s BB10
Rating: GoMo’s Top Tips for migrating from an old Berry to the latest models
With RIM all set to launch the very latest version of its mobile OS – BlackBerry 10, tomorrow [January 30th 2013], it has drawn our attention to the process of migrating from one BlackBerry model to another. The need for backups is therefore a must. GoMobile News thought it might be useful to provide some Top Tips for doing so from our recent experience of migrating from an 8250 to a 9320. We don’t know how much easier it might be to migrate to a BB10 device yet but there’s no harm in being safe rather than sorry. Continue reading
Sun highlights need for real time fraud protection
Rating: Scare story could hinder sales of data roaming packages
Under the headline ‘Network cashing in on crime’, the British newspaper – the Sun on Sunday wrote an article which could seriously scare ordinary folk away from taking their mobile phone with them on holiday. Which could damage mobile operators’ efforts to sell custom data roaming packages to their subscribers – especially business folk. With MWC 2013 fast approaching, this story could also have implications for attendees too. The crux of the issue is that network operators continue to charge subscribers for calls made after a phone has been stolen and until the theft is reported. Continue reading
Feint ray of hope for Nokia from Q4 sales
Rating: Whatever happened to Nokia’s MeeGo sales figures
The focus and a very high percentage of the analysis over the last few days has focussed on the battle between Samsung and Apple for dominance in the smartphone sector. With a BlackBerry 10 OS handset or handsets set for release in a few days time [January 30th 2013], RIM has drawn some focus as well. But poor old Nokia frequently get left out in the cold. Even though it did quite well in Q4 2012. That said as the accompanying graph illustrates, 2012 saw a gradual decline in the smartphone market for Nokia. Continue reading
Biggest challenge for BYOD is data security not phishing
Rating: Hospital recommends TigerText for doctors
Responding to a recent opinion piece from SpamTitan here, hospital professional, Trinity Shravner has written in to warn of the security dangers from BYOD, Trinty says, “I agree that in 2013 that social media will be the platform of choice for phishing attacks, but I think one of the biggest BYOD challenges will be data security and device control. Continue reading
Market penetration is now the name of the game says KPMG
Rating: Apple and Samsung need to worry about Amazon
After Samsung and Apple announced results earlier this week, (see here) market penetration not innovation is now the name of the game says KPMG. After all, the very latest product releases from Apple such as the iPad mini and the iPhone 5 have been evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Under Tim Cook’s leadership, we have seen no signs of further ‘game changing’ products. Continue reading
Industry reaction to Gartner’s global mobile advertising revenue predictions
Rating: Sector took off faster than Gartner had anticipated
The overall view of the global mobile advertising market taken by respected IT research company, Gartner, isn’t exactly shared by everyone from within the mobile industry itself. The company has recently released a report entitled, ‘Forecast: Mobile Advertising, Worldwide, 2009-2016′. [More information here.] As Gartner was forced to admit in the comments accompanying this report, “The mobile advertising market took off even faster than we expected due to an increased uptake in smartphones and tablets, as well as the merger of consumer behaviors on computers and mobile devices.” Continue reading
adsmobi yet to crack the Holy Grail of China
Rating: GoMo has cosy chat with Ramy Yared, adsmobi founder
GoMo finally caught up with Ramy Yared, co-founder and md with adsmobi – the mobile media buying platform in London’s Covent Garden. It was extremely interesting to chat about the current state of the mobile advertising market with him. Adsmobi – which is a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Smaato – the leading mobile advertising network, is going great guns. But GoMo was intrigued to discover that as Ramy confessed, his company has yet to crack “the Holy Grail” of China – the world’s biggest mobile market. Crucially, that’s not to say that adsmobi has no presence in China – it’s that it presently deals with demand via Hong Kong or Singapore. By complete contrast – admobi has an excellent entre into the Indian market (another BRIC county). Continue reading
Virtual telephone numbers will combine SMS & OTT
Rating: GigaOM Research & tyntec study identifies way forward
A study conducted by tyntec in association with GigaOM Research has identified virtual (telephone numbers) as the way forward for both OTT (over the top) messaging services and mobile operators offering SMS (text) based messaging. The research found that the number of IP-based messaging subscribers already surpassing SMS user numbers in 2012 and 1.8 billion users sending 15 trillion messages per year by 2016. But SMS isn’t dead because it is a vital medium in specific instances. Continue reading
11% of iOS fans search for apps on loo
Rating: Shocking stats on how users behave on App Store
Research from Surikate/GfK, has just revealed that 11 per cent of iPhone users have confessed to browsing for apps whilst on the loo. This finding doesn’t shock GoMobile News since we have already revealed that smartphone users watch videos in the bathroom, too. The survey was intended to demonstrate just how difficult it is to get an app noticed on Apple’s key iTunes App Store. Continue reading
Apple cutting orders for iPhone parts indicates weakness says Frost & Sullivan
Rating: Frost & Sullivan dares to say Samsung is the new Apple
It’s a bit of a taboo subject – just like Jimmy Saville’s antics, but industry analysts are finally admitting that Apple’s star is waning. And Samsung has taken over. The first clear indication of this are reports that Apple has cut orders for iPhone parts. But the signs have been there before. As one GoMo reader pointed out, when we reported Nokia’s discounting of the Lumia 920 here as a sign of weakness, Apple had done virtually the same thing in Canada – offering the iPhone 5 free on contract and nobody mentioned it. (See Comments to this story). Continue reading
Bango & Telefónica offer app stores mobile billing
Rating: Crucially supports billing to handset over Wi-fi
An important alliance has been forged by Bango and Telefónica Digital over a direct-to-bill payment capability mostly aimed at mobile app stores. What Telefónica brings to the party is some 314 million chargeable customers worldwide. Importantly, trials of direct-to-bill on Telefónica’s mobile networks have proven its ability to drive sales. The prime advantage to Bango’s platform is that it supports billing to handsets even over Wi-fi. The pair are also hoping to entice others to utilise Telefónica’s BlueVia payment APIs. Continue reading
Industry reaction to demise of UK music retail chain – HMV
Rating: Is this a classic case of no ‘click & collect’ offering?
Over here in Blighty [UK] we’ve all been fond of the little do sitting next to a gramophone which symbolises HMV (His Master’s Voice). Although it enjoys an estimated 38 per cent share of physical music sales in the UK, HMV has just recently slipped into administration. Market watchers appear unanimous in their verdict that online sales have badly hit the chain’s 249 stores. What should HMV have done or do now to save itself? GoMobile News agrees with the suggestion made by Gregory Mead, Musicmetric’s CEO that it should have embraced a click & collect model. We also agree with Ovum’s Mark Little that this development might well give an unexpected boost to digital music sales. Continue reading
ZTE wins design award & signs deal with Nuance
Rating: Chinese manufacturer’s innovation recognised
Here at GoMobile News we are not the least surprised to learn that up-and-coming Chinese mobile phone producer, ZTE, has just won an award for one of its smartphones. The handset was officially launched at the CES 2013 in Las Vegas. The ZTE Grand S – 5.0 FHD LTE has won the prestigious the 2013 iF International Design Award. The ZTE Grand S was picked by a judging team comprised of 49 top international designers and stood out amongst 4,325 entries from 51 countries. It’s not the only major news to come out from ZTE this week. The company has also just announced a major tie up with digital voice specialist Nuance Communications. The pair aim to collaborate on a range of devices and apps which will incorporate Nuance’s voice capabilities for ZTE Android phone range. Continue reading
Marks & Sparks results show value of multi-channel
Rating: Sales from mobile devices were up over 90%
This morning leading UK retailing chain, Marks and Spencer, announced its Q3 trading results here. A key figure amongst all this data was that sales from mobile devices were up over 90 per cent. Once again these results point to the success of a multi-channel approach to retail selling rather than the fact that the internet – mobile or otherwise, is killing bricks and mortar companies. According to John Oswald, a business design leader with service design consultancy Fjord, “This is concrete proof of the ‘revolution in retail’ we are seeing as online and offline continue to merge.” Significantly, Marks & Sparks multi-channel sales rose by an impressive 10.8 per cent. Continue reading
