Samsung Galaxy Phones Banned From Europe
Samsung has been prohibited from selling three of its Galaxy smartphones across several European countries after complaints by Apple over patent infringements.
The injunction was implemented by a court in the Netherlands as a result of Apple filing a claim for patent infringement. Apple claim that Samsung has copied technology it owns, relating to the way photos are displayed on mobile devices.
The ban is due to come into effect in seven weeks.
The Dutch Judge dismissed several patent issues but the one which achieved the ban on sales involved the interface for viewing and navigating photos on touchscreen mobile phones.
The ban covers the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Ace but it doesn’t prevent sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
However, despite these products being banned from sale in seven weeks, Samsung has welcomed the judgement. A company statement said “Today’s ruling is an affirmation that the Galaxy range of products is innovative and distinctive. With regard to the single infringement cited in the ruling, we will take all possible measures including legal action to ensure that there is no disruption in the availability of our Galaxy smartphones to Dutch consumers”.
The statement added that the ruling would not affect sales of Galaxy smartphones in other European countries. It believes it just affects sales in Holland which it uses to import goods into the European Union.
However, the interim injunction will prevent sales of the Galaxy devices by Dutch subsidiaries to the UK, France, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Sweden and Switzerland.
What is intriguing about this injunction is that the photo management system used by Samsung is actually part of Google’s Android operating system which means that Apple may now take action against other handset producers. This means that Google may have to send out a critical update to Android phones.
A number of mobile phone manufacturers have been involved in patent infringements with Apple. For example, Nokia has recently settled a long running dispute with Apple over a number of patent infringements and other companies such as Motorola and LG have gone to court to secure their patents.
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Ofcom Tells Mobile Operators To Cut Termination Charges
Ofcom has told mobile phone operators that they must reduce the termination charges for calling mobile phones from other networks and landlines.
Over the next four years Ofcom has said that termination charges will fall 80%. A termination charge is the amount mobile phone companies bill other companies for handling calls from their network.
At the moment O2, Vodafone and Everything Everywhere (Orange & T-Mobile) charge 4.18p a minute to connect calls from other phone companies. But after Ofcom’s announcement this will drop to 2.66p from the beginning of April and by 2014 it will be 0.69p.
As a result, if operators act as Ofcom wants them to, landline customers will benefit from savings and it will also mean that mobile operators will be able to provide more choice. The hope is that small mobile phone operators will benefit and will be more able to offer more competitive prices – and therefore customers will benefit too with cheap mobile calls.
Ofcom said mobile operators are making money from data services so the reduction in income from termination charges should be outweighed by this new and growing form of income. More and more people, especially business mobile customers, use their phones to access the internet and for text messaging rather than using mobile phones for telephone calls. Ofcom said that last year data traffic increased by over 50% and that it now makes up the majority of traffic over mobile networks.
The managing director consumer for BT retail, John Petter said “Ofcom has made some worthwhile reductions in mobile termination rates, which will benefit customers in the near future”.
However, the European Commission had wanted these reductions to be in place by 2012 rather than 2014 so this directive from Ofcom is a compromise. Mobile operators have ignored the advice from the European Commission and customers will have to wait until 2014 to fully benefit from a reduction in termination rates.
But there are concerns that mobile phone operators will simply put up charges elsewhere rather than pass the savings on to customers. It could be that operators introduce charges for paper billing as a way of making up for lost income.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Everything Everywhere which has 28 million customers, said they were “disappointed” with this decision from Ofcom and would consider an appeal.
He added “Our concerns focus on the impact of the decision to our vulnerable pay-as-you-go customers. Ofcom has suggested we recover a larger share of our costs from retail charges. This may force us to change the pay-as-you-go model as we know it as a large number of these customers will now become uneconomical – making the way our consumers currently buy, use and enjoy their mobiles radically different”.
Despite termination charges not falling to 0.69p until 2014, consumer groups are claiming victory after their campaign for cheaper mobile phone calls. The question now is whether these savings will actually be passed on to the customer or whether mobile phone companies will make the lost revenue up elsewhere.
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Users Locked Into Long Mobile Phone Contracts
Research has found that people are being locked into long mobile phone contracts which they can only get out of if they pay a large buy out fee.
Three year contracts are now seen as the best option for customers who want a smartphone but also want cheap monthly payments. However, problems arise when customers find they need to change to another deal halfway through.
There are many reasons for having to change or come out of a contract e.g. redundancy or reduced wages while others want to come out of a contract in order to upgrade their phone. But it’s not easy to get out of a long contract because of their expensive buy out clauses. It means that there are lots of people with mobile phones that they don’t want and perhaps can’t afford.
Many people want smartphones which is why mobile phone companies tie them into long contracts. They have to find a way of making some money back on these expensive devices if the customer can’t buy the phone themselves.
Long contracts have become more common compared with six years ago when most phone sales were on a 12 month contract. uSwitch found there were just 279 12 month contracts available but the number of 24 month deals has gone up to 939,000. There are 3,300 three year deals available.
While people in the past would have preferred a 12 month contract, these have now been made unattractive for most, with the result that they are forced to take 24 month or 36 month deals. With technology changing so quickly anyone in a 36 month contract could be left with an outdated phone for quite some time before they are allowed to update their phone.
Long contracts will soon be a thing of the past however. New European Union rules will come into effect in May and this will mean the end of 36 month contracts. The rules will also mean that mobile phone companies will have to give customers the option of signing a 12 month contract.
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HTC Introduces The Facebook ChaCha And Salsa Mobile Phones
HTC, the mobile phone manufacturer has said it is making phones with a dedicated Facebook button, the ChaCha and the Salsa – the first phones to feature such a service.
HTC says it’s going to launch two new phones with a dedicated Facebook button. The phones, called ChaCha and Salsa, will allow instant access to Facebook.
HTC and Facebook have worked closely together on developing these new phones. The Salsa is a touchscreen phone and the ChaCha also includes a keyboard.
The chief executive officer of HTC, Peter Chou said “We wanted to create the ultimate socially connected phones with mass market appeal”.
Meanwhile the head of mobile business for Facebook, Henri Moissinac, said “We have worked closely with HTC for several years on bringing Facebook to their devices and HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa are the next stage”.
The Facebook button will allow users to share photographs and music via the phone and if the phone knows that a caller is a Facebook friend it will show status updates and information for that caller. HTC is marketing the phones at users who use Facebook to organise their diary rather than email.
HTC has also announced it’s bringing out a new 7” tablet called the Flyer. It has a pen and can combine recording sound with taking notes. It means that students could use it in lectures – recording the lecture and adding their own notes.
The new HTC products will be available towards the middle of this year.
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Ofcom Calls For 0800 Numbers To Be Free From Mobile Phones
Ofcom has said what many people have thought for a long time – that calls to numbers starting with 0800 should be free from mobile phones.
Proposals published by Ofcom today will mean that calls to 0800 numbers will be free from mobiles as it tries to make prices simpler and reduce the amount of confusion over the cost of calls to non-geographic numbers i.e. those beginning with 03, 08, 09 and 118.
These non-geographic numbers are used by all sorts of agencies including charities, businesses and TV shows. Ofcom says that it costs 40p a minute to call 0800 numbers from a mobile phone and last year people spent £1.9 billion calling non-geographic numbers.
Under Ofcom proposals 0800 numbers will be free from landlines and mobiles while 01, 02 and 03 numbers will be charged at geographic rates. Numbers starting with 07 will be charged at mobile rates while 0871/2/3 numbers will be charged at business rates. Finally 090, 091 and 098 numbers will be charged at premium rates.
The chief executive of Ofcom, Ed Richards said “’Making 0800 free from a mobile and giving people clarity about what they are paying for will improve transparency, improve competition and enhance trust in these important services”.
It may be a while before these changes take place however because initially a consultation has to take place. It’s thought they will come into effect within the next two years.
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3 Offers Unlimited Data Downloads For Smartphone Users
The mobile phone network 3 is set to bring unlimited data downloads to smartphone users.
The mobile phone network 3 has said that it will offer unlimited data downloads for smartphone users in an attempt to lure users on networks with monthly limits. Networks such as Orange and Vodafone have monthly data limits of around 500MB but 3 says its offer will really mean unlimited.
Other mobile networks reduced their data allowances in the summer for smartphones including the iPhone and Google Android phones. This was because operators said that a 500MB limit would be suitable for the majority of users. O2 said overall data use was doubling every four months and the number of iPhones on its network had doubled in just a year. This suggests that smartphone users are using an increasing amount of data.
However 3 believes there’s a gap in the market and will allow users to install their SIM in devices other than their smartphone (known as tethering). A spokesman for 3 said “We will allow tethering and as long as someone isn’t doing something illegal then we will allow it”.
3 hopes that their offer of unlimited data downloads will increase their share of the market which is dominated at the moment by Everything Everywhere with a 31% share, O2 with a 27% share and Vodafone with a 22% share. At the moment 3 has just a 10% share of the market.
The decision by 3 to scrap data limits could mean other mobile operators have to re-think their strategy on data downloads. However, there are concerns that allowing unlimited data downloads could put a strain on 3’s network.
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HTC Beats iPhone For Good Mobile Phones Search
Surprisingly more people are likely to search for HTC mobile handsets than an Apple iPhone, according to new research. The research was carried out by Good Mobile Phones – the mobile phone comparison site.
Good Mobile Phones found that the most searched phones were HTC’s Wildfire, Desire and Desire HD whereas the Apple iPhone 4 was back in sixth place. Even Samsung and Nokia phones – the Galaxy S and N8 were higher in the search list than the iPhone.
Mark Owen, the managing director of Good Mobile Phones said “Our results clearly show that they (HTC) have taken the lead in terms of consumer demand for their smartphones”.
Part of the problem with the iPhone is the cost, says Mr Owen. Without a contract it can cost £499 but even on a contract an iPhone 4 can cost £329 on some networks.
Mr Owen added “Many believe that the HTC range of handsets offer a more competitive technological edge in terms of features and functionality”.
However, listening to conversations in the office it could be that consumers are choosing to buy an iPad and a normal mobile phone rather than having any sort of smartphone. Is this the answer?
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New Vodafone Tariff To Drive Smartphone Sales
Vodafone is making it cheaper for customers from the UK to use their smartphones in Europe. Vodafone has announced that UK customers can use their home data plan aboard for just £2 a day.
In an attempt to help both domestic and business mobile users Vodafone is also offering a price plan for frequent travellers that includes data roaming within their current monthly package.
Vodafone hopes the changes will make it simpler and cheaper for those travelling abroad whether on holiday or business. Vodafone customers will be able to get the new tariffs in all European countries serviced by Vodafone and also France, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria.
The chief executive of Vodafone, Vittorio Colao, has said that he expects sales of smartphones in Europe to grow from 32% to over 70% by 2013. He said that by offering a competitive pricing package Vodafone hoped to drive up smartphone sales.
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Virgin Media In The Hotspot
Communications giant Virgin Media looks set to copy its rival BT by entering the WiFi Hotspot market, reports theinquirer.
A ‘hotspot’ is a site that offers Internet access over a wireless local area network using a router that is connected to a link that connects to an Internet service provider and typically uses Wi-Fi technology.
With its network up and running, BT Openzone already features some 3,900 hotspots that provide up to 8Mbps.
According to reports, Virgin Media – one of the UK’s leading providers of television, telephone and broadband internet services to residential and business customers, is now toying with the concept of creating its own WiFi Hotspot network.
Speaking to HEXUS, the company confirmed that it was ‘actively exploring’ an investment opportunity that could boost its mobile network and also act as a channel through which it would be able to provide its video on demand service – a smart move considering more people are demanding TV and video on their smartphone devices.
The Virgin Media Hotspots will apparently work off the back of the company’s cable network, providing speeds of up to 5Mbps reports the Daily Telegraph. However, the company has stated that it will only locate its hotspots where there is the demand and are economic.
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December Launch For UK iAd
Apple is to launch its brand new mobile advertising platform across Europe – starting in the UK and France next month – then Germany in the New Year, reports Guardian.co.uk.
This new service offers advertising within mobile applications (apps) on devices like the iPhone and iPod Touch and its first commercials will come from clients including L’Oréal, Louis Vuitton, Renault and Unilever.
Apple refers to the iAd as the next-generation service that will fling open the advertising potential of mobile devices, as it promises to “combine the emotion of TV advertising with the interactivity of internet advertising”.
iAd was launched in June and at the time Apple it had already secured $60m in pre-bookings for campaigns, representing half of the total forecast mobile ad spend in the US for the second half of the year. The company estimates that the actual revenue take of completed campaigns on iAd will equate to 21% of the total US mobile ad spend this year.
Since it’s unveiling in June, the number of advertises on the network has doubled, plus there are thousands of developers who now have a valuable new revenue source, explained iAd’s vice president Andy Miller.
However, there are reports which suggest that developers have limitations in which they are able work due to Apple’s ‘tight grip over the creative process’.