Rating: No Wi-fi tethering and Bluetooth auto-answer yet
In Europe, Nokia has been proudly boasting that has released the third software update for the Lumia 800 W7 Mango phone in only four months. There are plenty of disappointments, however. One of them will almost certainly focus around the fact that while Wi-fi tethering has been promised [...]
Rating: Claims it will make iPhone theft a thing of the past
An ingenious gift and gadget developer, thumbsUp!, claims to have developed the ultimate theft deterrent for iPhone thieves. The company says that its Chameleon Case for iPhone 4 is an intelligent cover that will blend almost seamlessly into its environment. The technology behind the Chameleon Case, developed by thumbsUp!’s in-house product development team, works using a similar premise to an ambi-light. That’s where the light cells on the back of the case change colour according to the surroundings. In effect, each circular cell transforms as it picks up nearby hues, thus creating a camouflaged effect. The CCL*-based developer is offering the case on its web site here at a special price for today only [April 1st 2012] for £24.99. Continue reading →
Rating: Alcohol education charity, Drinkaware, introduces mobile site
It appears that drunkards aren’t so intoxicated that they are unable to access the moble web. UK alcohol education charity, Drinkaware, has noticed a 200 per cent increase in mobile phone traffic. Hence the charity has launched a new mobile-friendly version of its website. Visit m.drinkaware.co.uk.The new mobile site’s features are customised to switch between day and night content. The new mobile site enables users to access tips and tools on the move to help change their behaviour and think about the long term health impact of drinking. Whether users are thinking of buying alcohol in a shop; bar, pub or club; or are feeling sorry for themselves the morning after, the mobile site will be able to offer advice. Continue reading →
Rating: OTT services still not much of a threat
Apparently, the industry has recently been hit with a number of reports that SMS/text is on the demise. That would be stories like ours – ‘Smartphones’ unified mailbox are helping to kill SMS says Strand‘, then. Well, Acision says its recent (2012) research on consumer messaging habits, shows that 93 per cent of smartphone owners communicate via SMS, despite having access to Instant Messaging (IM) and over-the-top (OTT) services. The company actually says that, “The over-the-top (OTT) messaging services market is highly fragmented, and so far we have not seen one service establish itself as a main challenger to SMS.” Hence,”Predictions of the ‘death of SMS’ have been unduly presumptuous, as SMS continues to be a large part of operator’s revenues worldwide,” Acision says. Continue reading →
Rating: W7 Mango & RIM slip in last 3 months
Only slightly more US cellular subscribers (50.3 per cent) own a featurephone as opposed to a smartphone according to the latest figures (for February 2012) just released by market watcher, Nielsen. If you do the maths another way this means there’s been a pretty hefty leap in US smartphone ownership. The number of smartphone owners has effectively increased by 38 per cent over the last twelve months. By comparison, back in February 2011 only 36 per cent of mobile subscribers owned smartphones and now it’s 49.7 per cent. In essence this is all great news if you happen to be a mobile app developer. Android continues to do well as does Apple’s iOS – so it is RIM’s BlackBerry OS and Microsoft’s W7 Mango OS which are faring badly. Continue reading →
Rating: Or is subscriber inertia preserving SMS revenues?
Highly respected mobile telecoms consultancy, Strand Consult, is warning mobile network operators that the present generation of smartphones are helping to kill off text/SMS. In the report here, the specialist consultancy lays the blame firmly at the feet of the unified mailbox. It claims its prediction is corroborated by the decrease in sent texts that mobile operators in Denmark and Norway have already seen. Significantly, the company insists that the conclusions it reached in an original report written back in 2009 into the iPhone’s impact on the market still hold true. Continue reading →
Rating: Parrot Asteroid hooks up to the Net via your phone
Probably the industry’s best known Android based in-car system is the Asteroid produced by France’s Parrot. GoMobile News was intrigued to discover that the product has just got better thanks to a new release of its operating software (version 1.5). The major new feature is USB tethering for Android, Rim/BlackBerry and Windows Phone (W7 Mango). What Parrot means by this is that it will enable the car’s owner to hook the Asteroid up to the Internet via a regular Android handset’s 3G/4G connexion. For those with an Apple iOS device or a Nokia Symbian smartphone you can achieve the same thing via Bluetooth ‘tethering’. The company also claims compatibility with 3G+ and 4G mobile broadband dongles. More details of the update are here. Continue reading →
Rating: Don’t blame the QR code – a lack of security is the issue
A Press release put out by a web hosting specialist, UKFast is definitely scaremongering over the dangers potentially involved with scanning in a QR code/barcode from dubious origins. The implication is that if you don’t know what you are doing you can end up with malware on your smartphone. The company claims that a recent attack exposed the security risk after infecting victims’ mobile devices with malware. Those malicious apps then handed over access to all SMS messages, emails and call logs on the device to the crooks, UKFast says. Continue reading →
Nokia Lumia 800 W7 Mango Updates disappoint 
thumbsUp! develops Chameleon Case for iPhone4 
Now mobile drunks can visit m.drinkaware.co.uk from their smartphones 
Reports of SMS’ death greatly exaggerated says Acision 
Half of US subscribers now own a smartphone says Nielsen 
Smartphones’ unified mailbox are helping to kill SMS says Strand 
Best Android based in-car system gets better 
UKFast claims users can’t be sure where a QR code is taking them 
Sponsormob picks Austin to drive mobile ad growth in USA 
