Mobile news: snippets from the weekend press.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 26.10.2008

Financial Times

The huge demand for netbooks, the miniature low-priced laptops, has surprised techonology companies.  Even with the downturn in the global economy the demand has turned the netbooks in to the hottest procut in years and according to a consumer technology firm analyst shortages are expected before Christmas.


International Herald Tribune 

Sony Ericsson's new phone, theW595, will be the first in the world equipped with the YouTube upload function allowing customers to upload videos to YouTube with just a few clicks.  The new phone will only be sold in Italy by 3 Italia.
 

Yahoo! News 

The European Comission urged greater competition in the telecoms sector.  Viviane Reding, the comissioner responsible for the information society and media said that ”I firmly believe that regulation taking care of competition always has a positive effect on the economy ”.

See:-   Mobile Today.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 2.11.2008

Guardian

After profit warnings hit City, BT shares fell to the lowest point since 1984.  Ian Livingston, chief executive, admitted that the performance of BT Global Services had been "particularly disappointing" and that the second quarter is also likely to miss expectations.


The Times

BT is planning a radical shake-up of its £35 pension fund as it seeks to cut costs after the disappointing profit warning.  The company wants to increase the retirement age from 60 to 65, up staff contributions and base the payouts on a career average rather than of final salary.

BSkyB has eneterd talks to acquire Tiscali with a bid of £450m for the company's UK operations after Carphone Warehouse walked away from the auction.  Going ahead with the acquisition would make Sky Britain's 3rd largest broadband supplier.


Telegraph

Charles Dunstone, Carphone Warehouse founder, with PR guru Matther Freud have joined a group of high-profile investors backing a new household energy monitoring device called the Owl.

See:-   Mobile Today.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 9.11.2008

The Sunday Times

The new Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao announced the companys plans to cut costs by £1bn because of the drop in consumer products.  20% of Vodafone's western Europe workforce could be at risk.

The Times

BT is also reducing production and cutting up to 500 jobs of its payroll due to the economic downturn, of which 90 are likely to be in the UK.

A new mobile phone system, Wikitude, will allow the use of your mobile phone as a tour guide everywhere in the world.  By using GPS triangulation, it will know exaclty which sight or building the phone is facing and collects its information from Wikipedia.  It is built for Google's new Android operating system for mobile phones.  The first phone using the system is T-Mobile's new G1.

Yahoo! chief executive Jerry Yang admitted he is still open to a deal with Microsoft.  The company rejected two bids from Microsoft this year.  According to Mr Yang "I would say that the best thing for Microsoft to do would be to buy Yahoo!  We remain open to everything but it has to make sense."

The Independent

Orange, the mobile phone operator, is going to bring back call centers to the UK to improve services for customers.  The UK chief executive Tom Alexander said it wont be long for all the companys call centers to be running in Britain.

Financial Times

The expand of UK operations of an Indian telecoms firm, Tech Mahindra, will create up to 500 new jobs in the telecoms sector over the next three years.  The company is working in partnership with BT and will be advertising for call center and IT staff.

Lenovo, the world's 4th largest computer vendor, announced a sharp profit fall on Friday.  The company said conditions would remain challenging due to low consumer spending and slowing demand.

See:-   here.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 16.11.2008

The Sunday Times

Carphone Warehouse chief executive, Charles Dunstone, is expected to confirm talks of a demerger this week.  The break up would hive off TalkTalk and assist in Dunstone's plans to release value for the £1.3bn company.


The Times

Nokia issued a second profit warning on Friday blaming the sharp fall in consumer spending in the last few weeks.  The company also forecast a fall in handset sales in 2009, which analyst believe could be as much as 27%.


The Independent on Sunday

T-Mobile's UK chief executive Jim Hyde warns that there will be a rise in SIM-only deals as customers are holding off upgrades.  The impact of the credit crunch has increased the number of SIM-only deals, which according to Hyde is not a bad thing for the company.
 

Mirror

O2 boosted profits with acquiring over 400,000 in the three months up until the end of September.  The number of text messages sent between July and September increased by 45 per cent compared to last year.  Matthew Key of O2 commented: “We have accelerated away from our competitors”.


Telegraph

The management of BSkyB is still reviewing its options on the ruling of the Competition Appeal Tribunal last September, which ordered the company to reduce its stake.  According to sources the thinking inside the company is that an appeal is likely.


Financial Times

Sun Microsystems announced on Friday that it would cut up to 6,000 jobs, 18 per cent of it's workforce as companies and consumers are slowing down spending.

Source:-   Mobile Today.

[mobaholic]

Additional post:
 
The big news is the new BlackBerry Storm, which was released last Friday and is exclusive to Vodafone. The papers are pushing the £35 per month tariff on Vodafone.  What is not advertised is that this price is only available on a 24-month contract.  A phone number is supplied to encourage buyers to opt for telephone sales.

O2 is prevalent among the pages with two major promotions.  The first is the 3GB dongle available at £15 per month with ’50 days of happiness’.  The deal gives buyers the opportunity to return the dongle after 50 days if they are not satisfied with it.  Secondly, O2 is heavily promoting ‘priority’, which gives O2 customers the chance to can buy tickets before anyone else at the O2 arena.

Sim-only deals is also in the spotlight this week.  T-Mobile has cranked up the text allowance on its Solo tariff at £15 per month – boosted from 150 to 650 per month.  Virgin’s Liberty Sim is £10 per month, while Vodafone is pushing the Friends and Family Sim.

See:-   here.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 23.11.2008

Telegraph

BBC plans to launch all of its channels live on the internet with licence fees still applying to any equipment, whether using a mobile phone or a television.  It is still unclear how to control if viewers have paid the license fee or not, if using a computer or a mobile phone.

Financial Times

Telefónica of Spain and Vivendi of France are in talks of a possible joint bid to buy the satellite pay-TV business Digital Plus.  BskyB the UK broadcaster has withdrawn from the bidding contest.

China's path to the third generation services started last May but according to analysts the resolutions to key issues in the area are at least one or two years away.  Some analysts believe that the TD network will end up as a solution for mobile broadband access, rather than a 3G market standard.

Reuters

Nokia plans to start a mobile phone service in Japan next spring.  Under an arrangement called mobile virtual network operator the company is expected to use Japan's biggest mobile phone carrier NTT Docomo Inc.  Nokia will first offer the service with high-end models.

See:-   Mobile Today.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 30.11.2008

The Times

The communications minister has hinted on starting up an auction for 'fourth generation' mobile technology. By using a block of spectrum previously intended for the digital television, the 4G technology would give download speeds up to five times faster than the standard fixed-broadband connection.

The Guardian

BT is dropping the connection fee it charges ISPs.  Consumers are using more bandwidth-consuming content over the internet, such as the BBC iPlayer.  As the BBC adds more high definition content to the iPlayer, the problem will only get worse.  BT's Openreach provides backhaul services for ISPs to connect customers to their own networks.

Theo Paphitis, the Dragon's Den entrepreneur has emerged as a potential buyer for the struggling high street retailer, Woolworths.  Administrator Delotte has been inundated with expressions of interest in the chain's 815 stores.  There are beileved to be 10 serious candidates.  Tesco, Asda and Iceland are interested in shops that can sell food, while Poundland and Wilkinsons also have their eyes on Woolworths' shops.

The Telegraph

BT is investgated by CPS for accusations that it broke privacy laws by using an advertising system, which could track and record all internet pages used by customers.  BT ran two trials of the software without customers' permission.  City of London Police earlier investigated the trials but found no illegal activity.  Now Alex Hanff, a campaigner, has filed a private persecution against BT. EU Commission, Viviane Reding is also investigating whether the trails were in breach of European Convention on Human Rights.

See:-   here.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 7.12.2008

The Times

BT plans to increase its network rent prices by up to 11%.  The rise could give BT a profit boost of £21m, but could add about £10m to resellers costs, such as Carphone Warehouse and BskyB, according to analysts.

Guardian

Ofcom's answer to BT's network price increase was lower than expected by BT. Ofcom's proposal has raised doubts about BT's willingness to build Britain's next generation broadband network if the company cannot make a reasonable return.

BBC News

A new freeware application for the iPod Touch can turn the player into a virtual mobile phone by allowing users to make calls to other iPod Touches through Google Talks's messaging service using Wi-Fi technology.  The developers plan to extend the software to allow users to call landlines, Skype users and instant messaging very soon.

The Independent

BT, Cable & Wireless and Global Crossing are lining up for the government's communications contract, the Ocean Program.  The contract would last up to seven years and estimated to be worth £2.5bn.  The contracts are expected to be in place next autumn.

Woolworths had the best day of trade in history as the clearance sale of the retail chain began and the company made hundreds of support staff redundant.  Mr Kahn of Deloitte, the administrator of Woolworths, believed that stores would remain open beyond Christmas.

See:-   here.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 14.12.2008

The Sunday Times

Telecoms giants Vodafone, O2 and BT have begun discussions with technology companies on teaming up to start talks to form bidding consortiums to run 'smart meters' in the UK.  The contract for these digital gas and electricity meters to all homes in Britain is expected to be worth several billion pounds.

David Ross, Carphone Warehouse co-founder, spoke out for the first time after stepping down from a third public company last week.  He insisted that he wanted to resolve the issues and move on as his business career is not over.

Telegraph

The other co-founder of Carphone Warehouse, Charles Dunstone, publicly announced his engagement Saturday night at a party in London.

Former Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin has been approached about becoming a partner at the equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.  Sarin has been tipped for desirable roles after stepping down from Vodafone, including at Yahoo.

Source:-  here.

[mobaholic]

"The Observer

Vodafone and Orange are set to sign a deal that will share the companies' costs of technology, engineering and maintenance at their UK network base stations.  Vodafone is expected to see a saving of £1bn per year".

Source:- the Mobile Today newsletter.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 11.1.2009

The Observer

Steve Jobs not showing up at the annual product announcements of Apple, focused the attention on the company’s future rather than the products.  Identified as the Apple’s driving force, Jobs not showing up has raised questions about his health and speculations of his possible successor.


The Sunday Times

Former Woolworth supplier TMTI received a cheque from the company for almost £100,000 as the emporium went into administration.  Instead of cashing it, TMTI decided to frame it and sell it on eBay for charity for the National Autistic Society.

See:-   Mobile Today.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 18.1.2009

The Sunday Times

Mixed information from Apple is raising concerns in investors.  Steve Jobs' future in the company is still open due to health problems.

The Indpendent

The European Commission accuses Microsoft of dominating the web browser market, with control of roughly three-quarters, and preventing rivals from competing.  The EU is giving Microsoft eight weeks to reply to the objections.
     
The Telegraph

Tesco has become one of the first retailers in the UK to start using a social messaging service with customers.  The text-based messaging service will inform customers of offers and store openings.

See:-   Mobile Today.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 25.1.2009

The Sunday Times

Mobile companies such as Vodafone and Orange are given the permission to keep their 3G-phone licences if they agree to the communications ministers' plans to provide a broadband connection to every british home.

A company called Airwave, once part of the mobile phone group O2, is building a phone system for the police, fire and ambulance communications for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. 

The Observer

BT is considering to launch a mobile phone operation with T-Mobile and 3. Discussions are at an early stage and investors are critical of BT's attempts, but a deal would mean a great mark for BT as broadband and internet services are migrating to mobile devices.

Last week's profit warning has put the telecoms industry to seek for bail-out and the governments £3.5bn plans for broadband for all british home is in jeopardy.

Financial Times

Vodafone's $2bn battle with India's highest court has suffered a setback. The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the company and ordered the case to be sent back to the tax department.

Source:-   Mobile Today.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 1.2.2009

The Times
 
British Airways is planning to allow the use of mobile phones and wireless networks on flights from London City to New York, starting this autumn.  Big airlines in America are already launching Wi-Fi network access, and BA is following behind.
 
The Sunday Telegraph

The communications minister, Lord Carter, is looking to space technology as a method of providing broadband connections to all homes in Britain by 2012.  A company called Avanti is already providing 300,000 homes with broadband and, having launched it's first satellite, was suprised that such technology hasn't been recognised.
 
Financial Times

Following Government proposals to provide broadband for all British homes, there is concern about rising costs for homeowners.  Ministers are looking at withdrawing BT's current obligation to provide the service, as a way of cutting costs for end users.

The Independent

Nokia is launching a new "Nokia Tube Dance" routine for a touch-activated dance floor, which lights up and reflects sound on the new 5800 XpressMusic device.  The product will sell at £249 in the UK.

Source:-   Mobile Today.

[mobaholic]

What the weekend papers say 08.01.2009

Financial Times

Sales of PC's have fallen for the first time in eight years, according to analysts.  IDC technology research group said the previous 4% growth forecast is unlikely to hold.  Microsoft reported that the first half of 2009 could see even worse conditions than Q4 of 2008.  But the expected sales of the new, small low-priced laptops could boost the figures of 2009. 

Telegraph

The O2 arena has been put up for sale for £35m, with initial offers due this week.  The sale of the world's most popular entertainment arena has been named 'the bargain of the century'.

Mail Online

Google now offers 1.5 million books to be downloaded free onto mobile phones.  The company believes that the new generation of mobiles with large screens now make it possible to provide the service.  Experts believe the move will start an online battle for the market.

Source:-   Mobile Today.