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Mobile World Congress is the Fashion Week for the technology industry. Every year the titans of mobile gather for this four day summit in Barcelona.

We’ll soon see a wealth of lovely new gadgets to covet and gain an insight into what will be lining our pockets and wallets in the coming months. One of the most important elements of MWC is that it sets the tone for mobile technology and the trends that we see here will determine how we’ll use our devices over the coming months

We’ll be covering some of the biggest developments over the next few days, but for now here are our biggest predictions on what we can expect to see!

Now that smartphone adoption is commonplace and there’s a mobile app out there for just about everything, we can expect technology firms to be concentrating on delivering experiences. One of the most prominent will be around the new iteration of the world’s biggest operating system, Microsoft’s Windows 8. Wednesday has been earmarked as the day in which we could see the Redmond giant unveil a test version of Windows 8. It’s been nearly two years since the arrival and uptake of Microsoft Windows 7 yet with this version Microsoft is creating an experience that mirrors the style and functionality of that on their mobile devices. This is its chance to catch up with Apple and Google in the battle to control the computers of the future, be they smartphones, tablets or humble PCs. Interestingly Apple’s recent developer preview of its  forthcoming OS X Mountain Lion also blurs the lines between mobile and desktop platforms.  

Mobile World Congress is also breaking new ground in the automotive world this year. Not only is manufacturer Ford set to make a keynote at the show but we’ll likely see big developments in the way of connected cars. The first ever car to launch at MWC, the Ford B-Max should impress us with its evolved mobile integration. Ford say the car will show just how important mobile communications have become, future mobility and the connection between cars and communication.

As network operators start to extend the mobile experience into other products, the realm of in-car entertainment and navigation is rapidly becoming a hot topic. We guesstimate that we'll see several announcements that involve using phones and tablet devices in the car. Volvo and Ericsson will also demonstrate an electric car fitted with a mobile internet connection.

We expect this year's MWC to be as much about services as it is about new devices. Stay tuned for the latest coverage and our pick of the week’s biggest stories as they unfold!

An app a day keeps the doctor away: Patients told to use mobile phones for a check-up instead of visiting their GP
Patients will be told to use mobile phones ‘apps’ to monitor their health at home rather than seeing a doctor or nurse. Cancer sufferers, pregnant women and those with diabetes, lung problems and heart disease will be urged to take daily measurements and text them into a central computer system. Their results will be analysed and within a few minutes they will be sent a reply advising them on what treatment to take. If any reading is abnormal patients will be urged to phone their doctor or nurse immediately. The scheme is being rolled out by the Department of Health in the hope it will save the NHS millions of pounds through unnecessary visits to the surgery or hospital.
Daily Mail

The rise of enterprise mobility
Smartphones, tablets and e-readers are selling more than laptops and desktop computers, bringing the day closer when mobile devices will reign supreme both in offices and homes. iPhones, rapidly developing network technologies, 4G and Wi-Fi availability, lower mobile data cost and smartphone applications are bringing this assumption ever closer to reality. A recent study by ABI Research revealed that the number of mobile app downloads is estimated to reach 44 billion by 2016. One big reason behind the rise is Google's Android and Windows 7 mobile phones gaining on Apple's dominance in the apps market and in popularity. According to MarketsandMarkets, another research firm, the global mobile apps market is expected to be worth $25bn by 2015 compared to $6.8bn in 2010.
Guardian

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz's birthday marked with Google doodle wave
The search engine’s logo on its home page has been replaced with a moving image of waves on a graph, in recognition of the German physicist’s pioneering work on electromagnetic waves. The waves depicted in the Google doodle are in Google's trademark colours – red, blue, yellow and green. Hertz’s experiments made him the first person to conclusively prove the existence of electromagnetic waves, which later led to the development of the wireless telegraph, radio and eventually television. Born in Hamburg in 1857, Hertz demonstrated an aptitude for sciences from a young age and went on to study under the physicists Gustav Kirchhoff and Hermann von Helmholtz in Dresden, Munich and Berlin. At the University of Berlin, his progress was so rapid that in 1880, at the age of just 22, he obtained his PhD on electromagnetic induction in rotating spheres.
Telegraph

Android beats iOS in terms of smartphone OS popularity in UK
Android has secured the top spot in the UK's most used smartphone OS chart with other key players in the market such as iOS and Windows Phone lagging far behind, according to a new study. The study was conducted by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech and according to its findings Android has managed to secure a whopping 36.9 per cent share out of UK's smartphone installed base. The study included an extensive survey carried throughout the country in four weeks till January 23 this year. While Android topped the chart, Apple's iOS platform had to be content at the second spot with 28.5 per cent stake in the country's smartphone user base. And, when it came to market share, Android secured just under 50 per cent stake in the UK's smartphone arena, while Apple's market share stood at somewhere around the 30 per cent mark. The third spot was secured by RIM with 15 per cent. The other platforms including Microsoft's WP and Nokia's Symbian divided the rest of the 6 per cent amongst themselves. The study also claimed that over half of the UK's total population (50.3 per cent) were now in possession of a smartphone.
IT Pro Portal

Blackberry Playbook OS 2.0 released
Blackberry Playbook owners will be glad to know that yesterday (Tuesday the 21st of February) the latest OS (2.0) launched for the sleek seven-inch tablet – several months after it was meant to arrive but, hurrah! As with any new OS it’s the features that matter and RIM have included quite a few that will surely get the owners cheering. Some of these new features include the long awaited built in email client on the tablet. Previously users had to connect up with their Blackberry devices to get email access but now, you no longer need your smartphone to do this. This native email client features a unified inbox which can pull all your email accounts at once, tabs and a rich text editor.
iMedia Monkey

Groupon acquires mobile technology companies, tests loyalty program
Groupon has acquired Hyperpublic and Kima Labs, a company spokesperson told Direct Marketing News on February 21st. Hyperpublic builds technology that allows information to be incorporated into location information and Kima Labs is the creator of the barcode-reading app Barcode Hero and the mobile payment app TapBuy. "Kima Labs has developed popular apps that make mobile transactions easier, more fun and more of a possibility for merchants,” a Groupon spokesperson said. “We're excited by the team's ability to create technology that consumers love, and we believe they'll be strong assets in our pursuit to change the way people shop." The Chicago-based company is also revamping its website design and adding features, including “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” buttons, Groupon's CEO Andrew Mason recently told Bloomberg Businessweek. The changes are aimed at tailoring Groupon's offers to individual preferences and ensuring its 33 million users receive offers that are as relevant as possible. Groupon's redesigned homepage will also showcase special events and holidays, along with any associated deals.
Direct Marketing News

Ubuntu plans to turn a smartphone into a full-sized PC
Smartphones are already more powerful than laptops were a few years ago. But they are limited by the size of their screens and lack of a really a really usable keyboard. There are already a few attempts to marry a handset with a laptop, such as the Motorola Atrix 2. But London-based Canonical is going a step further with Ubuntu Linux for Android, which it says will provide a full desktop operating system when a smartphone is plugged into a keyboard and screen.
Tech Europe

Nightline goes inside Apple factories in China
A week after Apple said the Fair Labor Association was starting independent investigations of the working conditions at its partners’ factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China, ABC News was able to take its cameras into Foxconn’s factories for a look at how iPhones, iPads and MacBook computers are made — and what the conditions are like for workers there who make about $1.78 an hour. Masked and gloved workers at the iPad plant told Nightline correspondent Bill Weir that they handle up to 6,000 units each during shifts that can last 10 hours. A robotic feminine voice says “Okay,” “Okay,” “Okay,” as each iPad is “born,” Weir says.
Forbes

UK gets its own version of English in Windows 8
Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system will have the U.K. version of English as a display language option, to address customers in that country, and some other countries like South Africa, India, Ireland, and Australia that use the version of the language. Windows 8, the next version of the company's OS, will also have 13 new language interface packs (LIPs) that install on top of a standalone Windows display language, Ian Hamilton, a program manager in Microsoft's Windows International Team said in a blog post on Tuesday. The packs contain localized user interface elements for the most commonly used Windows features. Users will also have the option to install multiple display languages and switch between them, as for example between U.S. English and Spanish, a feature relevant in the U.S., Hamilton said. Offering the operating system in local languages will help because in many countries English is at best a second language, said Vishal Tripathi, a principal research analyst at Gartner. But support for local languages will have to go beyond the display of the operating system to supporting these languages in applications as well, he added.
PC World

Shanghai court hears lawsuit against Apple over use of iPad trademark in China
Apple Inc. defended its right to use the iPad trademark in China in a heated court hearing Wednesday that pitted the electronics giant against a struggling Chinese electronics company that denies having sold the mainland China rights to the popular tablet computer’s name. Shenzhen Proview Technology’s lawyer Xie Xianghui argued that the sale of the iPad trademark to an Apple subsidiary by Proview’s Taiwan affiliate in 2009 was invalid. Apple countered that Proview violated the sale contract by failing to transfer the trademark rights in mainland China. It also contends that the Chinese LCD maker has not marketed or sold its own “IPAD,” or Internet Personal Access Device for years, thus possibly invalidating its claim to the trademark. The hearing adjourned after a fractious four-hour session which saw the judge repeatedly admonishing both sides to observe proper court protocol as they argued across the courtroom. No date was announced for a judgment or further hearings.
Washington Post

Super-slim smartphone from the old/new kid on the block
Panasonic announced back in December that it was getting back into the smartphone game which made us assume that we would be seeing its new phone line-up at MWC 2012 – but the Panasonic Eluga was actually announced a few weeks early at the company's European conference in Hamburg, Germany. TechRadar was among the first people in the world to get a hands on with the phone and we're pleased to announce that it's actually a great-looking device.
Tech Radar

Meg Whitman gives HP a much-needed adrenalin shot
During an audience Q&A session after Meg Whitman's Global Partner Conference (GPC) speech in Las Vegas last week, one reseller took to the microphone to share his thoughts on the current and former HP CEOs. He explained that after last year's GPC, when he returned to the office and was asked by customers and employees his views on then CEO Leo Apotheker, "he was proved right". He didn’t need to go into detail on his feedback, but it was clearly negative, supported by the removal of Apotheker late last year.
the INQUIRER

The Pirate Bay could be blocked in UK
The filesharing website The Pirate Bay has come a step closer to being blocked in the UK after the high court ruled that the site breaches copyright laws on a large scale. Major music groups want British internet service providers (ISPs), such as BT and BSkyB, to prevent their millions of customers from accessing The Pirate Bay in the UK.
The Guardian

Print on the move with cloud technology
Printing digital documents and photos used to involve connecting your PC or laptop to a printer in a single static location. Now things are very different. Smartphones, tablets, laptops and netbooks enable people to stay connected, no matter what their location. They also enable people to perform computing tasks on the move, such as printing. There are several ways to print from any location. All you'll need to enjoy more flexible printing is an internet connection and the right app for your device.
PC Advisor

Unofficial Site Puts London Crimes On The Map
A new website has been launched allowing victims of street crime to report and map where in London they were robbed or assaulted. Streetviolence.org provides a Google map of the capital on which users can pinpoint where they were targeted and also describe the incident. The charity Witness Confident, which is behind the initiative, hopes it will help warn people about local crime hotspots, encourage witnesses to come forward, allow victims to thank Good Samaritans and let users track arrests and prosecutions of law-breakers.
SkyNews

LG officially reveals Optimus Vu
While many smartphone makers are planning to use the platform of the upcoming World Mobile Congress to announce their new product lines, a few companies just can’t wait to let the cat out of the bag. One such firm is Korean-based LG Electronics, who has today lifted the lid on its new Optimus Vu smartphone, which actually looks more like a tablet. In fact, with its 5in 1,024 x 768 pixel display, it’s very similar to the Samsung Galaxy Note, though It is a little slimmer, measuring 8.5mm thick compared to the Note’s 9.7mm frame.
Hexus

Sony SmartWatch with first 250 pre-orders of Xperia S at Phones 4U
First 250 people pre-ordering the Xperia S will receive a SmartWatch, as the mobile comes second to the iPhone 4S in the number of people to pre-register their interest in a device at the retailer Phones 4U is giving away a free Sony SmartWatch worth £99 to each of the first 250 people that pre-order their interest in the Sony Xperia S.
Mobile News

Twitter partners with Yandex for real-time search
Twitter and Russian search engine Yandex have agreed a partnership that will allow Yandex to show new tweets in its search results almost instantly, as Twitter becomes an increasingly important source of real-time information.
Reuters

Apple faces its 'Nike moment' over working conditions in Chinese factories
Apple is facing a "Nike moment" which hit the shoe company in the 1990s when its use of cheap labour in the far east was revealed, one of the inspectors of Apple's Chinese suppliers has said. Speaking to ABC News' Nightline programme, Ines Kaempfer of the US Fair Labour Association (FLA), which is inspecting the Foxconn assembly plants used by Apple in China, said: "There was a moment for Nike in the '90s, when they got a lot of publicity, negative publicity. And they weren't the worst. It's probably like Apple. They're not necessarily the worst, it's just that the publicity is starting to build up. We call it the 'Nike moment' in the industry."
The Guardian

Mobilethink and Qelp Partner for Smartphone Care Solution
Mobile device management and device intelligence firm Mobilethink has partnered with Qelp, which provides multichannel, interactive customer care for smartphones, to provide Danish telco TDC with the means to cut rising customer care costs when troubleshooting smartphones in its 3G and 4G networks.
MobileMarketing

Apple: Nearly 25 billion apps downloaded
Apple has announced that it is nearing 25,000,000,000 app downloads in the time the App Store on the iPad and iPhone has been running. To celebrate the fact that its millions of iOS users clearly like downloading apps, Apple is turning to the same trick it has used in the past and promising a massive prize give-away of you are the lucky one to download the 25th billion app from the App Store.
Pocket-Lint

Sky Go launches on Android smartphones
Sky Go, the multi-platform live and on-demand TV service introduced by Sky last year, has today launched on many Android smartphones. The Sky Go app is now downloadable from the Android market, available on various handsets including the HTC Desire S and Samsung Galaxy S2. Sky TV customers can access various live TV channels on their Android smartphones, including all five Sky Sports channels, ESPN, Sky News and Sky Movies (in line with their subscription).
Digital Spy

Intel builds Wi-Fi into new Atom-based chips
Intel has combined a Wi-Fi transceiver with a dual-core Atom processor, opening up the possibility of slimmer mobile devices with longer battery life. The company plans to present its new chip, codenamed Rosepoint at ISSCC 2012 in San Francisco later this week. With fewer separate chips, mobile devices like phones, tablets and laptops could be slimmer, less battery-intensive and even cheaper.
TechRadar

200m 3G Subscriptions in India by 2016
3G subscriptions in India will reach 200m by 2016, at a CAGR of 30 per cent - that's according to the Growth Phase of 3G in India whitepaper released by Evalueserve. Evalueserve expects an aggressive 3G push by operators, based on an improvement in the quality of service and device affordability and a decrease in service pricing, to fuel growth in subscriptions. This will be supported by a CAGR of 41 per cent in the active installed base of 3G-enabled devices, to 680m by 2016.
Mobile Marketing Magazine

Dell and Siemens Create Storage Cloud for Medical Images
Dell and Siemens are coming together to provide a massive amount of cloud storage space for medical images. The two companies will create the Siemens Image Sharing and Archiving (ISA) service, which will provide a cloud platform for vendor-neutral image archiving and sharing. ISA will incorporate Dell’s Unified Clinical Archive. The Dell archive will also provide redundant archiving support for the Siemens Healthcare Cloud Computing Centre.
TechWeek

Gov CloudStore opens for business
The Cabinet Office has anointed 255 IT and comms suppliers of all shapes and sizes to sell their wares to public sector punters via the CloudStore – an online catalogue of services. This is the first tranche of government's £60m G-Cloud framework, providing some 1,700 'pay as you go' ICT services through an e-marketplace which is split into four lots: IaaS; PaaS; SaaS; and specialist cloud services.
The Register

Fujitsu to launch mobile devices in EU market
Japan's largest IT services vendor Fujitsu plans to launch a wide range of smartphone and tablet devices for the first time in Europe. Fujitsu is already a large handset and tablet maker in Japan with about a fifth of the market, but is looking to challenge the dominance of European market leaders such as Apple and Samsung. Fujitsu has not said when it would launch the products in Europe's fast-growing and high-margin mobile device market, but said the company is targeting a "double-digit" market share in the next three to five years.
Reuters

British government draws up Big Brother style communications law
It was only a matter of time before the British government would play the terrorism card in a bid to spy on its citizens. According to the Daily Telegraph, the UK government is drawing up new plans which will force landline, mobile phone companies and broadband providers to store data for a year and make it available to any spook who asks for it. The required databases will not record calls, texts or emails, and will just store the numbers or email addresses which are being sent, it is claimed. It will mean that the spooks will have widespread access to information about who has been communicating with each other on social networking sites such as Facebook. Any messages between subscribers to websites such as Twitter would also be stored, as well as communications between players in online video games.
TechEye

Apple's iPhone Loses Ground in World's Largest Market
Despite China being the most important national market for Apple after the domestic one, in terms of revenue, the company had to face a decrease in smartphone market share for the second quarter in a row. Apparently, local brands are appealing to budget conscious customers, while those interested in high-end devices preferred to wait for Apple's latest iPhone 4S which launched last month, causing Apple to slip to fifth place in China.
IT Pro Portal

NSN takes AWS femtocells commercial
Nokia Siemens claims to have deployed the first commercial small cell network using advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum. The infrastructure vendor supplied its 3GPP release nine-compliant femtocell set up to US carrier Mosaic Telecom, which covers rural areas in the state of Wisconsin. NSN claims the solution is the first real-world deployment of femtocells using AWS spectrum, which covers the 1710-MHz to 1755-MHz and 2110-MHz to 2155-MHz bands.
Telecoms Europe

Mobile money - has its moment come?
Take two scenarios where mobile technology should be able to make our lives easier. A migrant worker in Kenya wants to send your family some money without having to get on a bus and travel for days. A group of young professionals in London goes out for a meal with friends, and when one person pays, the others need to settle up with him. In the first case, the money transfer system M-Pesa has been allowing people to transfer cash across the country for years now, proving hugely popular. In the second, it only becomes possible today for anyone with a smartphone to send cash to their friends and see it transferred instantly. The Barclays Pingit system uses a smartphone app to permit person-to-person cash transfers of up to £300. Users who have an account with Barclays - and from March anyone with a UK bank account - can download the app, link it to their phone number, and then send cash to anybody who has linked their mobile number to their account.
BBC News

Rise in nomophobia: fear of being without a phone
Researchers found 66 percent of people are terrified of being without their phone, and the younger they are the more worried they are. First identified in 2008, it would appear nomophobia - defined as 'the fear of being out of mobile phone contact' - is increasing with far more admitting to the problem than when a similar poll was conducted four years ago. A survey of 1,000 people in employment found two-thirds of them fear losing their mobile phone. The study, commissioned by SecurEnvoy, revealed that 41 percent of the people polled have two phones or more in an effort to stay connected. When asked if they'd be upset if a partner looked at the messages and texts on their phone almost half said that they would.
Telegraph

Eee Pad Transformer Android 4.0 update delayed
If you were waiting on the Android 4.0 update for your original Transformer then you might need to hold on for a little while longer. Asus has now revealed the update will be ready "within the Feb / March 2012 period." We're not sure whether that means there is a big delay, but it certainly isn't being pushed out in mid-February as the company previously promised. Transformer Prime owners are already enjoying Ice Cream Sandwich on their devices, although some users complained of random lockups after the upgrade — an issue that Asus addressed recently. Asus didn't offer a reason for its latest Transformer Android 4.0 delay but we can't help but feel it's trying to avoid a repeat of the issues seen with the Prime.
The Verge

Satnav driving us to distraction
Misleading satnavs have caused more than £200 million worth of damage to cars in the past 12 months, it has been revealed, with drivers in the East Midlands exhibiting the most rage with their devices. As many as 83 percent of satnav users have been misled by their system, a survey by Confused.com found. Accidents caused by drivers going the wrong way have led to damage totalling £203 million in the past year, the poll also showed. Of those led astray, 52 percent ended up screaming at their devices, while 68 percent have ended up doing longer journeys and clocking up unnecessary miles. The poll of 2,000 drivers also revealed that women were more likely than men to get angry with their satnav.
The Local

Bafta video game nominations 2012: Batman and LA Noire dominate
Bafta has announced the nominations for this years video game awards. Batman: Arkham City and LA Noire are the big contenders, attracting eight nominations each. Just beneath them, PlayStation 3 titles Uncharted 3 and LittleBigPlanet 2 are competing in six categories apiece, while Valve's sci-fi adventure puzzler Portal 2, the Guardian's game of the year in 2011, received five. The pinnacle Best Game award looks set to be a fascinating showdown. Batman: Arkham City, Fifa 12 and LA Noire are all in the mix with Portal 2, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The academy has also introduced three new awards this year. Debut Game, Online browser and Online multiplayer are there in an attempt to recognise original titles, as well as the growing importance of social connectivity. Of these, Debut Game is set to be the most interesting, pitching smaller titles Bastion, Eufloria and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet against Rockstar's LA Noire giant.
Guardian

Olympus scandal: former executives arrested
Seven people, including three former Olympus executives, have been arrested over their suspected role in a £1.1bn accounting fraud at the company. Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, who stepped down from his role as chairman in October, was taken into police custody along with the company's former executive vice president, Hisashi Mori, and former auditor, Hideo Yamada. Tokyo authorities have also arrested ex-Nomura bankers Akio Nakagawa and Nobumasa Yokoo and two other individuals suspected of taking part in one of Japan's biggest corporate scandals. The seven men are alleged to have covered up huge investment losses through complex mergers and acquisitions deals. An investigative panel commissioned by Olympus had already accused Mr Kikukawa, Mr Mori and Mr Yamada of playing leading roles in a 13-year scheme to hide losses from dodgy investments made in the late-1980's bubble economy.
Sky News

Trademark row could lead to iPad shortages
A Chinese firm which claims that it owns the iPad trademark in China is to ask customs officials to block shipments of Apple's iconic device in a move that could potentially disrupt the technology giant's supply chain. If Shenzhen-based Proview succeeds, it would be a major blow to the Californian company's sales, as all of its worldwide supplies of iPads come from the country. The move could, in theory, lead to serious shortages of iPads around the world. It would also be a major blow for the company in what is Apple's fastest-growing market. Earlier this week, there were media reports of retailers in some Chinese cities removing iPads from their shelves after local authorities banned their sale.
The Independent

Apple 'top smartphone vendor in 2011'
Apple was the top smartphone vendor in the world in the fourth quarter of 2011, with a 23.8 percent share of the market, according to analysts Gartner. For 2011 as a whole, Apple was top with a 19 percent market share. Samsung was the second largest smartphone vendor, closing the gap on Apple, and was ahead of Apple in overall mobile device sales, but behind Nokia. The Finnish manufacturer is the world's leading mobile device vendor, with 23.8 percent of the market, but saw its share of the smartphone market decline. Western Europe and North America led most of the smartphone growth for Apple during the fourth quarter of 2011," Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner, said in a statement.
Telegraph

Sony closes deal to buy Sony Ericsson, now Sony Mobile Communications
Sony said Thursday it had completed its purchase of the Sony Ericsson mobile phone joint venture and turned the company into a subsidiary, which it will soon rename Sony Mobile Communications. The company announced in October that it would would pay Ericsson $810 million for its 50 percent stake in the venture. The joint venture, which began operations in 2001, helped turn around Sony's struggling mobile business and gave its phones a strong international presence, a rarity for a Japanese handset maker. Sony was able to leverage well-known brands in other product categories, such as Walkman and Cybershot, in its phones. With the sudden rise of smartphones, Sony said it wants to better integrate the Xperia handsets with its other product lines, as rivals like Apple and Samsung do now.
Computer World

Landline to mobile call costs set for 85 percent drop
The price of calling mobile phones from your landline will fall by a whopping 85 percent by April 2015, a legal tribunal has confirmed. Following years of arguments between phone companies and regulators, the Competition Appeals Tribunal (Cat) has decreed the scale of the cuts, knocking up to £800m off Britons' phone bills. The cuts, which will continue to happen progressively over the next three years will see the cost-per-minute rate fall from 4.18p to 0.65p. Costs have been falling since April last year. The final figure is even lower than the recommendation made by Ofcom, who welcomed the ruling, saying it would "reduce significantly termination rates which will bring competition and consumer benefits".
TechRadar

EU approves Google's Motorola buy-out
Google's takeover of Motorola moved a step closer on Monday when EU regulators gave the company 'unconditional approval' to proceed with the deal. The planned $12.5bn Googarola deal was announced in August 2011 and since then has been under scrutiny from regulatory commissions worldwide to ensure it doesn't break competition rules."We have approved the acquisition because upon careful examination, this transaction does not itself raise competition issues," said Joaquin Almunia, EU Competition Commissioner, in a statement.
Tech Radar

Vodafone Drops SIM-Only Contract Price By 37.5 Per Cent For 24 Hours!
Vodafone has pioneered a new form of group buying - using Twitter as the medium. The mobile phone operator has successfully managed to get more than 500 retweets for its #9SIMO offer which unlocked a voucher (9SIMO to be used at checkout) which gives a 50 per cent discount on SIM only packages for nine months and full price for the remaining three months. The offer is valid till Wednesday 15th and can only be used on 12 month SIM only contracts and though the Vodafone website.
IT Portal

Tesco offers broadband for LESS THAN THE PRICE OF A PINT
Tesco is offering broadband for a mere £2.50 a month. It sounds like a good deal, but catches abound. For a start, you have to possess a Tesco Clubcard, and you have to cough up for a £13.75 Tesco line rental fee each month. Tesco touts the package as one that offers "unlimited downloads", but there is the inevitable fair use policy in place to prevent you from actually downloading as much as you like and "to keep customer usage within the normal limits expected when providing a residential broadband service".
Reg Hardware

Nokia leaks six handsets before MWC
The product names of six Nokia phones that the Finnish phone maker will announce at Mobile World Congress (MWC) have been leaked.
The big phone and tablet oriented show is approaching in Barcelona where Nokia will announce three smartphones and three feature phones, according to Pocketnow. Nokia's flagship smartphone that it will unveil at the show is the Lumia 900. The Windows Phone 7.5 (WP7.5) smartphone was announced at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas but was for the US only. Therefore, this would be the European version, possible without LTE technology. The other smartphones Nokia leaked are the budget WP7.5 Lumia 610 and the Symbian powered Nokia 808 Pureview. This is supposedly a successor to the 12MP camera wielding Nokia N8.
The Inquirer

Mysterious AT&T Micro SIM hints at LTE enabled iPhone 5
One of the most requested upgrades for the upcoming sixth generation iPhone, expected to hit the market in summer or autumn, is superfast 4G LTE connectivity. AT&T will soon receive micro-SIM cards which are LTE-enabled and could be compatible with Apple's iPhone 5, according to an anonymous source who contacted PhoneArena's Nick T, who published a few pictures of the aforementioned card. One obvious explanation could be that the LTE SIM cards will be used with the Nokia Lumia 900 smartphones that will be soon included in the carrier's lineup; the premier Windows Phone device will have support for AT&T's high speed 4G network.
IT Portal

BT gears for growth in MEA and Turkey
BT is preparing a major push in Turkey, Middle East and Africa in a bid to double its business from the markets, and mimic its success in Asia Pacific and Latin America. The UK-headquartered telco plans to increase the number of support personnel in the three regions, as it seeks a slice of an IT market it estimates was worth £5.4 billion (€6.4 billion) in 2011, and that is tipped to grow 10% through 2012. Up to 170 new staff will be hired in Turkey, Middle East and Africa to bolster BT’s support, consulting, integration and managed services
Telecoms Europe

Vodafone 'evaluating' an approach for C&W Worldwide
U.K. mobile operator must decide whether to bid for troubled telco by 5pm on 12 March. Vodafone Group PLC said Monday that it mulling a takeover bid for embattled U.K. telecommunications provider Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC, a deal that could be worth around GBP700 million, and which analysts say could improve network quality in the U.K. and support its corporate business worldwide. The news comes a week after the mobile giant scrapped merger talks with Greek mobile operator Largo Ltd. amid antitrust concerns.
Total Telecom

MySpace no longer crying a river with 1 MILLION new punters
MySpace may have been dumped by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch but today its star investor - aged pop prince-turned-actor Justin Timberlake - has something to smile about: the site has gained 1 million users since December. The signups represent the first growth for the site since Specific Media bought it. Murdoch's company News Corp acquired MySpace in 2005 for $580m and then ingloriously offloaded it in June 2011 at a $254m loss. Since being cut loose by one of the world's most famous octogenarians, the website has undergone a major revamp that has included redefining the brand as an entertainment hub mainly use by independent musicians.
The Register

India and the Spectrum Scandal
India’s 2G spectrum scandal has cast a cloud over the country’s telecoms sector so dark that former Telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja is said to feel safer in prison than he does walking down the street. He has been sat in a cell for over a year, refusing to post bail and stands accused of taking bribes to sell spectrum to prospective mobile operators at discounted rates; “virtually gifting away an important national asset at throw away prices” in the words of a Supreme Court Council of Ministers. India’s 2008 2G licence sale was intended to attract foreign investors into India, and after spectrum was purchased by Indian companies, a number of overseas players did indeed entere the fray. Norway’s Telenor, Sistema of Russia, Etisalat of the UAE and Batelco of Bahrain all joined forces with Indian businesses to launch services to the country’s 1.2 billion-strong population.
Telecoms.com

Vodafone Confirms C&W Interest
Vodafone has confirmed that it is “in the very early stages” of evaluating the merits of a potential offer for Cable & Wireless. The company confirmed the news in response to recent press speculation, but says there is no certainty that an offer will be made, nor any confirmation as to the terms on which any offer might be made, other than that any offer, if made, will be in cash.
Mobile Marketing Magazine

Apple Seeks Ban on Sales of Samsung Galaxy Nexus in US
Apple adds another lawsuit against Samsung to its kitty, this time in US, whereby it has alleged that Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smartphone infringes upon some of its patents and has requested for a ban on sales of these phones in the US. Apple has claimed in its suit that Samsung is violating four of its patents including the voice-command search function - an accusation that Samsung, as usual, denied right away.
IT Pro Portal

MySpace just grabbed one million new users
Last month we took a look at how many unique visitors social networks receive, and we came across the surprising statistic that MySpace gets more hits than either Google+, Tumblr and Pinterest. A new report from The New York Times shows that, not only is MySpace holding its ground in terms of hits, it’s still managing to grow its user base. That’s quite a turn around on the same time last year. In March 2011, MySpace made the headlines when it lost a whopping 10 million users in the space of just one month. This year, MySpace is adding users, but at a much slower rate, with an impending announcement of one million new users gained since December. The growth spurt can probably be attributed to the introduction of a new music player, as music is undoubtedly one of the features that keeps users coming back to the site.
The Next Web

Acer CloudMobile set to be unveiled at MWC 2012
Acer will reportedly unveil the CloudMobile at MWC 2012, with the handset utilising the company's forthcoming Acer Cloud computing service. Although we're at a loss as to how it came up with the name, Acer's cloud-accessing mobile phone, which will apparently called CloudMobile, will launch in the third quarter of 2012. According to the company the phone will bring Android 4.1, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and boast a 4.3 inch touchscreen and HSPA+ support.
TechRadar

YouTube for Google TV Gets Faster, Easier to Navigate
Google has updated its YouTube app for Google TV with smoother navigation and several new features. YouTube for Google TV now has new channel pages, which let you navigate through playlists and videos in your favourite channels and subscribe to them with a click. Furthermore, you can now see related videos and other videos by the same users by pressing up and down keys on your remote. You can also interact with the video by voting it up, commenting on it or adding it to your playlist. A new feature called Discover lets you browse YouTube channels by categories such as comedy, news, celebrities & gossip, animation, gaming and others.
http://mashable.com/2012/02/13/youtube-google-tv-update/

320kbps Spotify streaming hits iPhone and iPad
Spotify has added high quality 320kbps streaming to its iOS app. An update, which you can download now, pushes the audio quality plenty higher. This puts Spotify above the likes of iTunes Match in quality, which will play tracks at 256kbps. For audiophiles this quality jump is quite a big deal and could make Spotify a much more tempting affair. Those with tight monthly data restrictions however want to be careful, as all that data will make listening to just a single song a data-sapping exercise.
Pocket-Lint

Vodafone and Cubic Telecom launch Maxroam: “roam the world for less”
Maxroam, an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) using Vodafone’s network, has launched in the UK and promises to let us ‘roam the world for less’. Boasting flat rates for voice calls, text messages and data that applies in over 230 countries, Maxroam looks to set to put an end to the horrors of bill shock that has blighted UK holiday goers since we started packing our phones in with our sunblock. With Maxroam’s pay-as-you-go style bundles of credit, you ought to be able to make calls and send texts from abroad for as little as 13p per minute and 10p per text.
Recombu

Hackers breach Indian Microsoft Store, passwords exposed
Anyone who signed up for an account or purchased items from the Microsoft Store in India has reason to be concerned today. Over the weekend, hackers were able to break into the Microsoft India store and compromised the store database. The database breach apparently happened last night and the home page of the site was replaced with one showing that the responsible parties for the hack were EvilShadow team – 7z1&Ancker. The hackers are apparently from China and at this point, there’s no indication of why they hacked the site. The hackers were also able to upload an additional photo some verbiage the read “Unsafe system will be baptized.”
Slashgear

Cisco bolsters Virgin Media remote workers
Virgin Media appears to be seeking cost savings to maintain its new-found profitability, deploying a raft of Cisco kit to make it easier for staff to tele-commute. The UK cable firm aims to boost a flexible working scheme with Cisco’s Quad, WebEx and Unified Communications products, which the software supplier states will allow remote workers to quickly set up video calls and access documents via PCs and mobile phones.
Telecoms Europe

Researchers create Marvin phone
Researchers in the US have come up with a phone which can tell if you are feeling a bit down and can suggest you call a few of your mates to cheer you up. That is of course if you are not feeling depressed because you don't have friends and you have been dumped by Siri. The Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine centre in the US has been trying to work out ways to use digital technologies to treat depression and other mood disorders.
TechEye

Apple in 'crunch mode' preparing apps to demo iPad 3
In the wake of iPad 3 launch rumours, Apple is reportedly scrambling to prepare for the tablet's expected debut event next month. The company is in "crunch mode" to drum up apps to demonstrate the tablet both on-stage and in TV advertising, according to The Verge, which cited unidentified sources with knowledge of the matter. The report notes that Apple usually spends weeks handpicking apps to showcase the tablet's capabilities during its introduction. Apple's selection process, which is moving along at an "increased rate," is placing special emphasis on graphics-oriented apps to show off the new iPad's rumoured Retina display, the tech site reported.
CNET

Microsoft reveals Windows On ARM will bind developers
On Thursday, Windows president Steven Sinofsky described in a blog post how Microsoft is developing for Windows On ARM (WOA). He outlined the changes it is making to support the processor family and its associated devices, which are new to Windows, via a common WOA foundation and Windows binaries running on platforms from ARM licensees Nvidia, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments.
ZDNet

UK.gov: We really are going to start buying open-source from SMEs
Liam Maxwell, Cabinet Office director of ICT futures, said on Tuesday in London that open source has grown up and it's time to dispel lingering misconceptions about this technology and development process. Maxwell told the Intellect 2012 conference: “Opensource software is not three guys in a shed anymore. There are a lot of misconceptions about open source but open source is the future model for delivering IT.” He was speaking the day before the Cabinet Office opens a three-month period of consultation on open standards to be used in the government's G-Cloud initiative.
The Register

Facebook and Bango join forces for mobile payments
Facebook has teamed up with Bango to provide mobile payment services on the social network with the aim to encourage smartphone purchases. Facebook already make an impressive income from microtransactions from within applications and games as well as advertising. However not much of that comes from mobiles, which is where Bango comes in. Bango already handles the payment platforms for Blackberry and Opera app stores, so it's got some serious experience at providing smartphone based payments. It's also likely to draw in customers that might have been wary about paying Facebook directly by putting their payment information on the social network. Doing so through a third party with experience in handling customer details securely, would likely be a load off their mind.
IT Pro Portal

Latest pact on internet piracy set to be derailed
A controversial international trade agreement, which campaigners fear would restrict internet freedom looks likely to be delayed or scrapped, the latest in a string of measures planned to combat online piracy to falter in the face of co-ordinated protests. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, is set to join SOPA and PIPA – the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act – two US planned laws designed to boost copyright enforcement, which were shelved last month after sophisticated online campaigns.
Financial Times

Visa builds data governance operation
Visa Europe has built a data governance function with C-suite leadership, in a bid to improve information management and insight. The company, which processes around 12 billion debit and credit card payments annually and has spent over £400 million on its processing technology, said the function evolved out of a business intelligence project that began three years ago. Paul Fulton, VP of data governance at Visa Europe, told delegates at the Gartner Master Data Management Summit in London today that the company had placed senior leadership on the board of the new function, known as the Enterprise Data Committee.
PC Advisor

HTC Ice Cream Sandwich updates 'will roll out by end of March'
HTC has revealed more concrete details on when it will be updating its smartphones to the latest Android version, Ice Cream Sandwich. Posting on its Facebook page, HTC said: 'We’re excited to announce that our first round of ICS upgrades will roll out by the end of March for the HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation 4G and HTC Sensation XE, followed soon there after by the HTC Sensation XL. 'In addition, we can confirm Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades will be coming later this year to the HTC Rezound, HTC Vivid, HTC Amaze 4G, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G, HTC Incredible S, HTC Desire S and HTC Desire HD. Stay tuned for more updates on Ice Cream Sandwich releases in the coming weeks.'
Know Your Mobile

Google Wallet security concerns raised
Google's new NFC system that purports to turn your phone into a credit card can be compromised using a brute-force attack and that raises questions about its security. Security firm Zvelo has discovered that the Google Wallet PIN, which is required of users to confirm purchases made with their phones, can be cracked via an exhaustive numerical search. Being able to access the PIN would allow criminals to use a Google Wallet-enabled phone to make purchases.
Macworld

Intel antitrust case settled in US
The New York attorney general has settled an antitrust case it brought against Intel in 2009, the chip maker announced on Thursday. While Intel said it does not admit to any violations of the law or that allegations in the suit are true, it did agree to pay $6.5 million to cover some of the litigation costs incurred by the New York attorney general and some non-state public entities involved in the suit.
Computer World UK

RIM in fight back to retain customers
RIM is launching an aggressive campaign to retain customer share and halt falling sales this year with plans to launch a cut-price, money back upgrade deal for BlackBerry customers. The strategy is aimed at retaining customers and follows a particularly tough year for RIM that saw it dogged by a series of prolonged server outages, software problems with its flagship smartphone the BlackBerry Bold 9900, and delays to its BlackBerry ten operating system. The Canadian manufacturer recently appointed COO Thorsten Heins as CEO.
Mobile Magazine

EU fights 'fierce lobbying' to devise data privacy law
It’s in demand, but a new EU privacy law aims to return control of personal details to you. What makes Facebook worth $100 billion? In the words of one EU spokesman, “it’s quite simple: Facebook has 850 million users, and it wants to sell their stuff to advertisers. Data is the currency of our age”. While the social network is not selling any individual’s information, its explicit aim is to make advertisements more relevant and personalised than ever before. Now the European Union is seeking a balance between commercial interest and personal privacy. Viviane Reding, the EU justice commissioner, is hoping that her E-Privacy Directive will offer a solution. She wants to harmonise the rules of all 27 EU member states. At the moment, laws differ significantly between – and sometimes within – countries. The German MEP Axel Voss says that what you can do with a German citizen’s data online differs in the north and the south of the country. What Europeans will notice first is likely to be a much greater emphasis on telling them what data are being given to companies, whether to Tesco for its Clubcard or to Facebook for social networking.
Telegraph

UK PC sales 'worst decline in five quarters'
New Gartner figures have revealed the sharpest yet decline in PC sales as the British market fell 19.6 per cent, even more than the Western European average of 16 per cent, in what Gartner called a the "worst decline in five quarters of PC sales in the UK." Gartner said the UK was a "prime illustration" of a weakness in PC demand across Europe. "Despite aggressive pricing and special holiday deals for PCs, consumers' attention was caught by other devices, such as smartphones, media tablets and e-readers," said Gartner analyst Meike Escherich. All of the major PC vendors suffered with market leader HP down 27 per cent, Dell down 32 per cent and Toshiba down five per cent. In what is perhaps a sign of the times, the only growing player was Apple which despite the difficult trading conditions, grew 17.2 per cent.
PCR Online

UK government rejects Alan Turing’s posthumous pardon petition
The House of Lords is still haunted by repugnance and discriminating perception, which was apparent from its act of not granting pardon to Alan Turing, the father of computer science. Discarding the petition supported by 23,000 people on the internet, requesting the government to absolve Turing from his charges, the UK government has only earned discontent among the common masses. Alan Turing was charged of homosexuality, which fell into the purview of unpardonable acts during the 1880s. However after traversing through the list of contributions of Turing to the British government during World War II, it seems that it has been really unjust experience rendered to Turing. Alan used his skills of artificial intelligence during the World War to decipher the confidential codes of the German force. It was only the Turing's "bombes" which were able to decode 3,000 German messages per day.
It Pro Portal

Cheapflights.co.uk identifies travel habits based on smartphone brands
Cheapflights.co.uk has identified key traits and practices of individuals based on their smart phone choice with its travel habits of mobile phone users infographic combining the results of a recent survey in which more than 700 people took part, along with information based on search data. The comparison of Blackberry, iPhone and Android Phone users produced some interesting results which concluded that iPhone users were the most romantic, Android users the most adventurous and Blackberry users the biggest spenders on holiday. "It might seem like just a bit of fun, but in an age where people are so brand driven, the type of mobile you carry really does provide an insight into aspects of your personality. We took this thinking a step further and applied it to travel behaviour, which enabled us to determine the type of traveller a user is, based on their choice of mobile phone," says Nadine Hallak, Travel Expert for Cheapflights.co.uk.
Travel Daily News

Google to pay web users to browse - as long as search giant can 'watch'
Google is to pay computer users to browse the web, while the search giant watches every link they click. 'Panelists' in the new Google Screenwise programme will be paid up to $25 in Amazon gift cards. The payments offer an insight into how much web users' private data - usually harvested by giants such as Facebook and Google without payment - is worth. Users have to download a browser extension, which allows Google to monitor which sites they visit and how they use them. Popular blog Search Engine Land said, 'The timing of this program seems odd, especially considering the backlash that Google has faced over the upcoming changes to its privacy policy.' 'Even though this Screenwise program is completely opt-in, some critics are bound to question why Google needs more data about web searchers and the websites they visit.' Google is currently taking applications for the programme. It's not clear how many people will participate in Screenwise.
Daily Mail

Google will offer cloud storage
Internet services giant Google is getting set to launch a cloud based storage service it will call Google Drive. The firm already offers its users a decent chunk of email storage, but Google Drive will be a Dropbox like digital locker. The Wall Street Journal reports that the launch is near. Google does not comment on things that it might do in the future, but usually when stories like this pop up they come true. The US financial rag cites sources close to the matter. Google might launch the storage service in the next few months, and it will let users store photos, music and other media in the cloud. With other web sites like Megaupload going to ground, this could be a good alternative for users. The WSJ said that users will be able to upload content to Google Drive and share it with a link, rather than say capturing a photo and instant messaging or emailing it as a file.
The Inquirer

Apple ousts LG as third largest mobile phone vendor by volume
Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, comments on mobile phone vendors' 4Q11 results, which show that Apple has ousted LG as the third largest mobile phone vendor by volume. Apple's results in 4Q11 were marked by a strong performance in smartphone sales which saw it climb to become the third largest mobile phone vendor by volume - up from number five just a year ago. In 2011, Apple led the mobile phone market in terms of both volume and value but in the final three months of the year (reported as 1Q12 in the company's financial year) it also became the third largest mobile vendor by volume alone, after Nokia and Samsung. Apple's market share rose to 8.4 per cent in the quarter, up from 4.2 per cent recorded in 4Q10. The company managed to double the shipments of its iPhone year-on-year in the quarter to 37 million, not only thanks to the impressive performance of the iPhone 4S introduced in October 2011 but also to its strategy to conquer the mass market by keeping earlier versions of the iPhone in the market.
Biz Community

Windows 8 consumer preview to be launched at MWC
Event invites have been sent out as Microsoft prepares to unveil its 'Windows 8 Consumer Preview' at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on February 29th. Whilst Microsoft stock has remained strong so far in 2012, sales of its Windows operating system have been dropping, with the lack in shifted units largely attributed to a slowing PC market as the steel monsters begin to clash with the ever popular tiny tablets. For Microsoft, Windows 8 is an attempt to re-enter the full breadth of the computing market, where, despite its popularity, Windows 7 has seen itself cut out of many sales as mobile segments featuring ARM-based devices, not capable of running the full Windows OS, have emerged. Windows 8 has had a serious makeover, with a redesigned kernel supporting for the first time the ARM instruction set, native USB 3.0 support, alternative approaches to authentication, installation on a USB drive, multiple desktop backgrounds, a host of new management features and most importantly, the new metro UI system and propagation of the Ribbon interface throughout the OS, to allow for a smooth touch-screen experience.
Hexus

Microsoft, Facebook, Ericsson, Motorola: Intellectual Property
Microsoft Corp., the largest software maker, said it would be “fair and reasonable” in licensing its industry-standard technology, pledging to negotiate with competitors instead of trying to block sales of their products. Microsoft also will make its industry-essential patents available without requiring companies to cross-license their own non-essential technology, according to a posting yesterday on the company’s website. The pledge comes as Google Inc. prepares a similar promise to appease regulators scrutinizing its acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. Motorola Mobility has sued Microsoft and Apple Inc. for infringing patents that are covered partly by standards in which companies agree to share technology that is common across their industry. Google, which has drawn scrutiny over the acquisition, plans to send the letter to standards organizations reassuring them it will license Motorola Mobility patents on fair terms, according to two people with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be named because the decision isn’t yet public.
Business Week

One in six parents do not understand their children's hi-tech gadgets
The digital divide between children and adults appears to have widened with only one in six parents understanding the gadgets used by the younger generation, a new survey has found. It also discovered that more than two thirds of children are allowed to watch films seen as unsuitable for their age and a quarter play computer games that are classified for older people. The report was compiled by the ParentPort website which was jointly set up by bodies including the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the Press Complaints Commission and the Office of Communications (Ofcom). It found that one in six – 16 per cent – of parents admitted buying their children a device or gadget that they did not fully understand how to use. The report, on how parents control their children's access to adult media, said a quarter of children were allowed to play games classified above their age, and 40 per cent were allowed to watch films above their age limit.
Telegraph

Photograph: KeystoneUSA-ZUMA/Rex Features

Sunday saw the 46th running of the Super Bowl, but nobody in mediaville really cares too much about the action on the pitch, rather it’s all about the advertisements. The Super Bowl is known to have the most expensive television advertisement segments in the world, and the companies that purchase the space don’t just push out adverts from an existing campaign – oh no!

Infact, the fifty or so adverts that are screened during the ad-breaks on US television are of the highest quality, usually featuring well known celebrities and film star cameos. This year saw an awesome re-make of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with Matthew Broderick revisiting his role as the slacker student for Honda. Other adverts featured Jerry Seinfeld, David Beckham, even Elton John made an appearance.

Over the past two years, the adverts have begun to be shared online and the interaction of fans on social networks has increased at a huge rate. Half of the advertisements for this year’s Super Bowl were shared on YouTube ahead of their television debut; undoubtedly this was to increase reach of their expensive mini-films as few were repeatedly run during the game. And, at $3.5 million for 30 seconds of ad-space during the game, you can’t really blame the advertisers!

It wasn’t just video that saw huge interest. On Sunday, the final three minutes of the game saw over 10,000 tweets per second – incredible! A majority of ads featured links to Facebook pages over corporate websites, and hashtags were de rigeur too.

Anyway, without further ado, here are our favourite ads from the ‘Bowl. Who won the game? The Giants. Who won the advertising war? You decide...

James

 

Honda

The Dictator

Audi

Pepsi

Chevrolet

Samsung

Volkswagen