Category Archives: mobile news
Possible hint that BlackBerry Q10 release is imminent
Rating: UK PT team just sends us Q10 details
Well, this is strange. We all know that Blackberry is planning to launch the QWRTY version of its BB10 handset – the Q10, any time now. The smart money has so far been on April 30th [2013]. But, for no apparent reason, the company’s UK PR team decided to remind us just how desirable this handset will be. We’re fans. We’ve checked and apparently some Canadian web sites are already letting BlackBedrry junkies pre-order this handset. So just in case the launch is more imminent we’ve republished the Q10 promo blurb below. Continue reading
Foxconn sales drop casts shadow over iPhone
Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturer and major supplier of iPhones, has revealed that 2013 Q1 sales have fallen by almost a fifth due to weaker than expected demand for Apple’s flagship device. The company, listed as Hon Hai Precision Industry, relies on Apple for 60 to 70 per cent of its revenues but has been hit by disappointing sales for the latest iPhone. It says revenues are 19 per cent down year-on-year to 808.97 billion Taiwanese dollars (£17.6 billion) in the three-month period. Continue reading
UK mobile ad spending doubles in 2012
Smartphones, tablets and 4G driving growth of richer mobile content
New research from PriceWaterhouse Coopers reveals that spending on digital advertising in the UK rose by more than 12 per cent last year, fuelled by the growth of smartphones. According to PWC, digital advert sales hit £5.42 billion in 2012, up £607 million on 2011. Mobile adverts proved to be the biggest area of spending, more than doubling to £526 million. It now makes up 10 per cent of digital advertising spend, against just 1.1 per cent three years previously, as increasing numbers of mobile users tune into video sharing hosts such as YouTube and social networking sites, especially Facebook and Twitter. Continue reading
HTC shares at record low as delays hit phone launch
First quarter profits for Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC have slumped to a record low, denting hopes it could reverse its declining fortunes.
The company cited problems in making camera components for its new HTC One device, with the delay pushing back its full launch to the end of this month.
That cost the manufacturer heavily as sales for the period fell to NT$42.8 billion ($1.4 billion), compared to forecasts of NT$50-NT$60 billion. Profits were also down to NT$85 million ($2.85 million). Continue reading
GoMo examines UK gov design principles for mobile
Rating: With a little help from Martha Lane-Fox
Not so long ago [July 2012], the UK government came out with a set of design guidelines for (public) digital services. Given that we are at the point where access to the internet more often than not originates from a mobile device than the desktop, here at GoMo News thought we’d investigate how relevant this is to mobile. Plus we’ll look at how well implemented UK government services are for mobile users. Continue reading
Sales on rise at China’s Huawei, despite western fears over Red Army links
China’s Huawei, the world’s third-biggest smartphone maker, expects revenues to grow by an average of 10 per cent over the next five years as robust home demand counters weak sales abroad.
Sales in China, which accounts for about a third of its business, were up 12.2 per cent last year while its revenues elsewhere in the world rose 6 per cent – the exact reverse of 2011, according to the company’s 2012 annual report.
But Huawei is still struggling to fight off suspicions in the west that it might be a threat to security, given its former ties to the state. Thouugh the manufacturer has previously pledged to provide more financial detail and shareholder information, the latest report sheds little further light on its structure. Continue reading
Banks brought on board to advise on EE float
£10 billion could be raised in London’s biggest IPO for years
Owners of Britain’s largest mobile operator, EE, have move a step closer to floating the business with the appointment of banks to advise on the sale. In what is expected to be one of the biggest initial public offerings in London in years, it’s thought the partial flotation of EE could raise as much as £10 billion for France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom who both need a cash injection to expand infrastructure in Europe and elsewhere. Continue reading
Amazon poaching of Microsoft veteran fuels rumours of smartphone launch
Kindel joins Kindle maker in secret role
A Microsoft veteran of 20 years standing, and who most recently worked in its Windows Phone unit, has been poached by Amazon – fuelling speculation that the online retailer may be poised launch its own smartphone.
Charlie Kindel, who joined the Seattle software giant in 1990, went on to lead its Windows Media Centre and Windows Phone developer platform before leaving just over a year ago to work on two start-ups in the region. Continue reading
Six in ten smartphones sold in UK now Android, says Kantar
But the clouds still over BlackBerry
Latest figures from market researcher Kantar confirm Android’s overwhelming dominance of the UK smartphone market, accounting for six in every ten handsets sold. But, as with the rest of the world, Kantar’s quarterly survey up to February [2013] also reveals BlackBerry as continuing to lose ground, with the once dominant manufacturer taking just 5.1 per cent of sales in the period, down from 16.8 per cent a year ago.
BlackBerry didn’t dupe investors over stock value, rules judge
Failings don’t equate to fraud
A class action brought by disaffected BlackBerry shareholders, accusing the troubled manufacturer of trying to hide its falling market position, has been thrown out by a US judge. The action, filed by investor Robert Shemian, sought to recover losses on behalf of other US shareholders who bought the company’s stock from December 2010 through to June 2011 when shares in BlackBerry – then known as RIM – commanded as much as $75. Continue reading
Investors gamble against BlackBerry turnaround
Nearly third of stock held by short sellers, waging price will fall
Shares in BlackBerry look set to continue their nosedive after it emerged that a record number of investors are betting against the company’s recovery. On Monday it was revealed how US sales of BlackBerry’s flagship Z10 appeared to be sluggish, having debuted three days’ earlier. But now new data from Nasdaq suggests that nearly a third of BlackBerry’s stock is held by short sellers – intermediaries who profit when prices drop. Continue reading
Industry needs to adopt a positive attitude to text driving
Rating: Help teach drivers to SMS hands-free
[caption id="attachment_41875" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="How is it smart to overlook the intelligence in mobile devices?"]
[/caption]
Whilst listening to Radio Jackie, GoMo News was struck by the hugely negative attitude towards using mobile phones – and especially text/SMS whilst driving vehicles. An advert placed by Drive SMART – which is a partnership between Surrey Police and Surrey County Council, even suggested drivers might kill a child whilst texting on the move. This stance totally overlooks the fact that there is plenty of technology available out there to enable drivers to use the facilities of a mobile phone hands-free and therefore safely. Continue reading
UK’s CESG/GCHQ adamantly denies failing BB10
Rating: Security body says we haven’t evaluated that platform yet
GoMo News carried a story yesterday [March 20th 2013] from The Guardian newspaper implying that the UK’s Computer Experts Security Group (CESG) – obviously part of GCHQ, had failed BlackBerry’s latest version of its OS (BB10) over security worries. BlackBerry has subsequently provided us with a major denial from a GCHQ spokesperson saying that no such review has been performed yet. Obviously it is hard for GoMo News to check the validity of such stories because the ‘spooks’ don’t exactly participate in cosy banter with journalists. Continue reading
App developers given helping hand by Google
Google Drive, a feature that allows users of the search engine to store and share documents in the cloud, is being rolled out to app developers for the first time.
Drive’s new Realtime API (application programming interface) is being offered up to the development community so that teams can collaborate through Google, with the interface helping to resolve such issues as network communication, storage, presence and conflict resolution on the fly. Continue reading
