Mobile Network Comparison

It’s hard (and sad) to believe it, but summer is already over. It was a busy belter for sure, and we got some great weather but the days are already getting longer and the kids are already back at school. Before you know it, the shops will be playing carols and you’ll be thinking about making the first batch of mulled wine of the year. But before that happens, let’s take a while to look back at the best mobile stories from the summer.

We’ve had some great headlines over the last couple of months. Not least the various leaks about Apple’s new iPhone 5S. While we are fairly certain about the name, very little else is known for sure until secretive Apple makes an official announcement. There are strong hints there will finally be a 128GB version as well as a new gold-coloured option though. Stay tuned as we’re expected to hear much more tomorrow.

There were also lots of juicy rumours about new Android phones and tablets such as the Motorola Moto X, the Nexus 7, Nexus 10 and and the stunning Samsung Galaxy Note III with its massive screen. Full official details are due any day now. But one of the most intriguing things about having a large screen is the possibility for gargantuan 4K screens at an unbelievable 640 ppi resolution as they are now supported in the latest version of Android Jelly Bean 4.3. Android as a digital ecosystem is also doing incredibly well as it has been reported that their sales account for almost 80% of all smartphones these days.

In other news, we saw the launch of the first phone running the shiny new Firefox OS as well as plenty of new devices running Windows Phone OS. BlackBerry is still on the decline, however.

But what else has been happening? Here’s a round-up of the five very best articles and news stories from the Mobile Network Comparison blog.

Sainsbury’s and ethical business

At the beginning of the month, we reported on a new virtual mobile network being launched by Sainsbury’s. However, after a while, it became clear that there was more to it than it first seemed. The choice of CEO Justin King to use Vodafone as their network provider deserves some scrutiny as he’d repeatedly made statements saying that businesses should pay a fair amount of tax back to the state and not try to avoid their ethical responsibilities.

However, Vodafone are well known in the UK for their complicated arrangements for evading tax payments. Despite taking in over £40 billion in revenue and paying out billions to shareholders, Vodafone didn’t pay any tax at all last year. Check out our full story for details of their tax records and the issues with Justin King going into business with them despite his strong claims about the rights and wrongs of businesses’ tax affairs.

Revealed – the great mobile tax con

Continuing our reporting into UK networks’ tax avoidance, we wrote a detailed article covering exactly how much mobile operators are paying in tax. This article revealed shocking facts such as the fact that foreign-owned EE has 25 million UK customers but spends almost 150% on paying shareholders than the total 2013 budget for all NHS A&E departments in the country.

For more details on how much money mobile companies are making, how much they are paying their executives and how much tax they are contributing and paying back to society, you can’t miss this post.

Lenovo A789 review

This summer we also published our first ever mobile handset review. The Lenovo A789 is typical of a Chinese phone that’s not available directly on the UK market – much cheaper than the norm but packing an impressive specs list and a unique feature set including great ideas such as dual-SIM capability and a built-in FM transmitter.

We got our hands on one and played around with it for hours and hours to work out its best pros and cons. Our full review includes a detailed critique of the hardware, specs, design and operating system of this great value phone.

iPhone 5S to have fingerprint scanner

This post looked at one of the most interesting leaked features of the new iPhone 5C – a fingerprint scanner built into the touchscreen. We looked into industry claims that using fingerprint scanners on phones will change the way we use technology forever. Our analysis not only went into detail about the likelihood of this being confirmed for the new iPhone but also unravel some misconceptions and truths about privacy and security on iOS.

PAYG showdown: 321 vs Giffgaff

Finally, we wrote a massive 1,100 word post on Three Mobile’s groundbreaking new 321 tariff. This new deal slashes prices and offers what seems to be the UK’s best value PAYG price-plan with calls just 3p, texts coming in a 2p each and mobile data costing a cheap-as-chips 1p/MB.

But is it really the best value option for you? This detailed price comparison post does what we do best and really delves into real world costs to see if there are any better ways to save money on your mobile. If you want the actual cheapest deal available, don’t miss this read.

We hoped you liked our look back at the summer’s mobile stories and went back to have a look at our best articles. Let us know your favourites and if you think there’s anything we missed out in the comments below 🙂

So it’s now been several days since the shock announcement that Microsoft are acquiring Nokia. And we’ve had plenty of time now to hear opinions from talking heads and industry experts as well as let the news sink in. But now it’s time to look back and what exactly happened, why and what it means for consumers and all companies involved in mobile technology. This is final part (part 1, part 2) in our in-depth look and the background and future of the historic £4.6 billion deal.

The future for Nokia (and Blackerry)?

But what does the deal mean for the future of Nokia? Outgoing Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, has maintained that the company is still committed to Nokia’s Finnish employees. However, you don’t have to be too cynical to assume that it’s only a matter of time before more redundancies, and many roles are outsourced by the American company.

There are also ethical concerns as Nokia were well-regarded as by far the most morally sound of mobile phone manufacturers. Apple’s contractors such as Foxconn have long been in the new for their appalling labour conditions and most smart phones and smart phone parts are manufactured in the Far East where workers’ rights are far from the standard expected in Western Europe.

It remains to be seen how long Nokia’s ethical credentials will last under the guidance of Microsoft. It only seems a matter of time before manufacturing is moved completely to China. It’s also been alleged that they will now aim to cut costs by sourcing metals used in their phones from illegal mines in Africa.

The deal also shakes up the entire smart phone market. Now, there really are only three big players left with a chance in terms of mobile software – Google with its Android operating system, Apple with iOS, and Microsoft with Windows Phone.

Previously, Canadian manufacturer BlackBerry (formerly RIM) had also been in the running although, like Nokia, its fortunes have also significantly fallen in recent years . With this new alliance forged between Nokia and Microsoft, it’s hard to see a place for BlackBerry in the future of smart phones. It has recently seen its revenue and sales fall off a cliff edge so much so that it has been desperately trying to find a buyer. With Microsoft choosing Nokia over BlackBerry, it’s hard to see how they’ll be up to compete with the new big three of Google, Apple and Microsoft.

As for the future of Microsoft and its aim to have a meaningful presence in the mobile market, it’s really too early to tell now. The duopoly of Android and iOS seems incredibly solid at the moment and it’s hard to see how Microsoft will be to chip away at their market share. However, it is clear that they are willing to spend and do whatever it takes to have a chance to be one of the major players in this business.

Having said that, the underlying dynamics that have meant Windows Phone has not been the success Microsoft hoped are not changing in any way with this acquisition. The strategy has been failing so far, as hard to see how ploughing even more money into it is likely to change any of the fundamental reasons why they haven’t been successful so far.

The purchase of Nokia by Microsoft was far from unseen by industry insiders. However it’s certainly a major event in the saga of the smartphone era. In many ways, this bold move was an entirely necessary gamble for Microsoft if they are to have any hope of maintaining a foothold. In the broader picture, Microsoft have been struggling to keep up as a technology company in the age of mobile and it really needs to make mobile phones an integral part of its business plan if it is to maintain any of its dominance it enjoyed in the 90s and early 21st century.

So, over to you, our readers. What do you make of this shocking development after reading all three parts? Do you think Nokia’s ethical manufacturing processes will suffer all that staff will be laid off in the coming months? And, most importantly of all, how will it affect the balance between the three major mobile operating systems in the coming years?

Is Apple’s famous 1984 advert being taken too seriously in Cupertino these days? We’re sure you all remember that classic video and at the time Apple used it to claim that they would ensure that the future would not resemble George Orwell’s chilling dystopian vision.

In his keynote speech, Steve Jobs portrayed Apple as the only company to “ensure future freedom”. However, we have seen new Apple patents that would allow covert police or government operations to remotely prevent wireless communication whenever they want and impose blackout conditions. The patent allows government agencies to transmit a special kill signal to all Apple devices in a given area and prevent them from recording videos or taking photographs.

The scary implications of this are not hard to imagine. The rise of the mobile phone has been a great equaliser and has help the public reign in and publicise police brutality. Mobile phone footage has been a fantastic tool for popular protesters during the Arab Spring and in alerting the Western world to atrocities committed in Syria. And who can forget this chilling footage from London of balaclava-wearing police attacking an unarmed bystander causing him to die:

The news about this new patent has led many to fear that authorities could order a blackout during public protests to allow them to get away with police brutality, abuses of power or even cover-up large-scale injustices. Governments would have the final say on when these powers could be used and it has been reported that they only need to claim that a situation is “”sensitive” and that it needs to be “protected from externalities” to flip the killswitch.

Apple have also made statements alluding to the fact that this technology could be used to allow intelligence agencies to cover-up illegal state activity such as the PRISM surveillance programme revealed by Edward Snowden. What would governments be able to get away with if they had control over these powers?

It’s not yet clear whether Apple will implement this intellectual property into its products now what checks and controls will be in place to govern its use. However, it is somewhat alarming that a company who warned consumers about being enslaved by technology is actively promoting ideas like this.

What do you make of this news? Can preventing people from making recordings in public ever be justified? Will Apple introduce this technology soon? If so, how confident are you that its use won’t be abused? Finally, quis custodiet ipsos custodes?