I recently attended a very interesting debate about whether Google or Rupert Murdoch had more influence in the UK today. Speakers also considered who would have more influence in ten years’ time. During the debate one of the protagonists refrained from calling Google the Antichrist, but only just. Similar things have been said about Mr [...]

The hype about cloud computing services continues relentlessly. Not only could IT architectures revert back to more-centralised systems, but completely new business models may emerge to disrupt the market. Yet I’m sensing the first signs of “cloud fatigue” are creeping in with the clients I’m talking to. I’m sure this is partly caused by the [...]

Just before Christmas we spoke to some of Tieto’s Telecoms and Media group for an update on their mobile strategy. We found them emerging successfully from a transition year. Tieto is an IT services company of around 16,000 people, of which 6,000 are in the Telecoms and Media group. In the past, the focus for [...]

In our predictions for 2010, we suggested that mobile data prices may go up in some markets. We discussed this prediction at length before putting it on our list. Many of us have been in the mobile industry a long time and we’ve never seen prices go up. But the sceptics were convinced and the [...]

We’ve just put the finishing touches on our predictions for next year. The full set is available to our clients here, but I thought I’d share my favourite eight predictions in a blog posting.

Here’s what we think will the next 12 months (and more) will bring the mobile industry.

Motorola will be acquired by Google. Although [...]

One of the big stories to come out of Nokia’s Capital Markets Day was the revelation that it plans to cut its smartphone portfolio in half (see CCS Hotline about the event here). It set me thinking, “Is this a bold move?”

It’s quite easy to argue that it probably is. Why? Because it risks opening [...]

I was talking to a friend of mine last week — a software developer — who’s been a committed iPhone user. Although he isn’t a Mac or iPhone developer, he’s passionate about how much better the iPhone’s user interface and apps are than any other phone he’s tried.

However, he’s just switched away from the iPhone, [...]

It’s interesting to see that while the touch screen interface has become increasingly popular, many mobile phones still offer a separate control pad for manoeuvring the cursor. Usually this control pad is located in the centre of the device just under the phone screen, but the rise of the slide-out qwerty keyboard has meant the [...]

It’s no secret that RIM’s browser isn’t among its strongest assets. The list of sites that the BlackBerry browser either struggles or fails to render is growing by the day. That said, its poor performance hasn’t harmed BlackBerry sales, with subscribers now totalling at least 32 million. The dominance of BlackBerry Enterprise Server in business, [...]

Vodafone’s signed a distribution deal with Warner Music, making it one of the first mobile operators to offer DRM-free music from all the major record labels. The operator’s already signed up Universal Music, Sony Music and EMI.

Although the agreement with Warner Music isn’t earth-shattering, the removal of restrictions from Vodafone’s catalogue is a further step [...]