Mobile Network Comparison

The tech lord giveth and the tech lord taketh away. Just a day after it was reported that Apple is working on its own mobile phone network the company has moved quickly to quash the rumours. Business Insider reported recently that the most valuable company in the world is secretly trialling a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that would eventually be rolled out in the United States and Europe, including the UK.

Apple has either been spooked that the news leaked, or the company is genuinely not working on this project. Either way, Cupertino issued a statement denying the report, reaching out to CNBC to say, “We have not discussed nor do we have any plans to launch an MVNO.”

Pretty emphatic then. However, the old adage that there is no smoke without fire is oh so true in the tech world, so Apple’s denial could be meaningless and the company could still indeed be working on its own MVNO. Considering the initial report said the service would not be ready for five years, there’s a long wait ahead to find out. It is worth noting that Apple is not the type to talk about a product that exists, so if the company makes a rare public denial, it usually turns out to be the case that the product is not true.

The original report suggested that the company is trialling the service in the US before moving it to Europe for further tests. An MVNO is a virtual network where a third party company buys network space from an existing carrier to run their own service. For example, Apple would effectively lease network space from a carrier (say AT&T in the States) and then use that leased space to run its own network.

That would mean any new iPhone falling within the MVNO network range would come with Apple’s own network ready to go out of the box. It would stop the company being restricted to a certain carrier or network from region to region and would of course offer a new revenue stream as iPhone users would be contracted to Apple and not a carrier.

At the moment though, this is theoretical considering Apple’s clear denial.

In the smartphone world, “pink gold” seems to be the new black. Following the introduction of Apple’s Rose Gold iPhones 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, Samsung announced it is preparing to launch a Pink Gold version of its Galaxy Note 5 in South Korea. The phablet will also appear in “Silver Titanium”.

Apple has given Samsung and other smartphone manufacturers a hard time this year. After the introduction of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the company’s share price tripled. Samsung, however, is still showing good results in the lower-priced phones segment, where the company controls over 59% of the market.

Last year HTC presented a girlie smartphone – the HTC One. There also were several pink and red models produced by LG, Samsung, and other phone manufacturers, but none of them has got a lot of attention. Now Apple has introduced its stylish and elegant Rose Gold colour, which can’t be categorically described as feminine. There are a lot of discussions on forums and social networks regarding this aspect. Some men think it is a “girlie” phone, others disagree. Yet, Rose Gold iPhones seem to be extremely popular. First sales results worldwide showed they are selling faster than other versions. Apparently these data have prompted Samsung to copy the new trend to take on the competition. This is not the first time Apple and Samsung have done this; the companies have a long history of patent infringement lawsuits.

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices will become available in South Korea on October 23rd. The presentation of the Pink Gold and Silver Titanium Galaxy Note 5 is scheduled for next week as well. Samsung is clearly going to compete hard for its home market. The company has plans to start sales of Pink Gold and Silver Titanium phones in other Asian countries later this year.

However, here in the UK, we have to show some patience. The Galaxy Note 5 is not yet available for British consumers at all. Rumour has it Samsung plans to launch the device in the European market in January 2016. We expect the long awaited phablet will be presented in several colours, including Pink Gold.

What do you think? Is Apple’s Pink Gold really a feminine colour? And if you’re a guy, would you buy a Pink Gold handset?

Android is often accused of being less than secure, something that Google has repeatedly said is the fault of OEMs who take the secure software of stock Android and change too much. The biggest Android OEM is Samsung and now the Korean giant has decided to take security on the platform a step further by issuing monthly security patches for its handsets.

Dong Jin Koh, executive VP at Samsung, spoke about insecurity on the open source Android operating system, particularly focusing on the “Stagefright” exploit that left 950 million Android devices open for attack recently. That was not the first time issues have been apparent, with Google’s own research showing 5% of all Android devices are infected with malware (a small amount on paper that actually totals millions of units worldwide).

“With the recent security issues, we have been rethinking the approach to getting security updates to our devices in a more timely manner,” said Koh. “Since software is constantly exploited in new ways, developing a fast response process to deliver security patches to our devices is critical to keep them protected.”
Samsung’s move will certainly be an aid to Google as the company has been fighting an unwinnable battle against the idea that Android is a security risk.

The company has repeatedly defended itself and claims that security is a top priority when building new Android versions. Mountain View insists that Android is as secure as any mobile platform in its stock form, but the problem is over 95% of all Android products do not run the platform as stock.

Third party vendors drape their own software and skins over Google’s platform, while developers are free to build apps with minimal restriction, using forked systems to bypass any Google rules. Samsung has been spearheading increased security on its own devices with its Knox system and other methods, and now the company is matching Google’s ambitions by sending out monthly security patches.

The company was among the first to send out fixes for the Stagefright problem and is clearly worried about any future vulnerabilities in Android. It is certainly in Samsung’s best interest to stamp out any problems and give consumers piece of mind, especially with the Samsung Pay service due to launch before the holiday season.

As for Google, it too will start issuing monthly updates, although the company said it will only do so for its Nexus products (i.e. the ones that run stock Android), including the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 7, Nexus 9, Nexus 10 (deep breath) and the Nexus Player.

What’re your thoughts?