The UK Mobile Report

LloydsTSB mobile banking app

I've just had a look at the new mobile phone banking application from LloydsTSB.

It was supplied to me pre-loaded on a Samsung G600; a sexy slider phone with camera.

The application is a simple menu based offering, in this with a savings account and a current account set up for the test.

It was easy moving in and out of accounts although the delay of about a second each time is a frustratingly slow, if understandable.

I was able to check my balance and see recent transactions in a mini statements. I was also able to transfer funds between accounts.

In theory I was able to top up my phone or even top up someone elses - a nice idea for parents who haven't bailed their teens out enough already.

All-in-all the application works fine, and it seems a good idea to allow transfer between accounts on your phone, particularly if you want to maintain the bulk of your funds in a savings account.

It's not a giant jump for mobilebankingkind, but it does beg the question as to why we haven't got much more banking on our phones already.

LloydsTSB gains a lead in mobile banking with inter-account app

LloydsTSB is seeking to gain an edge in the mobile banking stakes by rolling out an application that lets you transfer funds between accounts using your mobile. It says it is also looking at offering the ability to transfer between banks.

I have just been sent a phone with the app pre-loaded so will be having a look over the next few days.

The software is a Java application that will probably work on any Java-friendly phone. It consists of menus leading to sub-menus that enable you to view and manipulate accounts. Fairly standard stuff but more on this when I have had a chance to interrogate the dummy account they have set up for the test.

Can't really have much fun moving money from one account to another but hey-ho it's all in a days' virtual mobile banking I guess.

3 attacks snails pace on number migration improvements

Not for the first time 3 UK is up in arms about mobile number porting.

This follows the news that Vodafone won a Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruling that's delayed the OFCOM process towards faster mobile number porting and, yesterday, there was a meeting of the industry MNP working group where the big four decided to halt all technical preparations for faster MNP because of that OFCOM ruling.

The 3 view is that this is anti-consumer and they're going to keep on pushing OFCOM to drive this forward with all possible haste.

A 3 spokesman says: "The Gang of Four (Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile and Orange) has used last week's ruling as an excuse to drag their heels further on mobile number porting. So, rather than being able to move to another network hassle free within minutes by late next year, consumers' numbers will still be chained to their current network for at least twowhole days for some time to come. And we will all still have to go back to our old operator to seek permission to move our number to another network.

Verdict: As the smallest UK operator, 3 has the most to gain from faster porting, so it can be on the side of the consumer in the knowledge that supporting OFCOM is good for business. The other operators meanwhile stand to loose out and while drag their feet as long as their lobbying budgets will allow. 3 is the rightful consumer champion but what we really need is a regulator with real teeth to sort the matter out once and for all.

*Background*

Up until this week the mobile industry was on target to deliver fast, easy mobile number porting to the British consumer by September 2009. It's a system in place in most developed markets and guarantees customer freedom and easy moving to take advantage of the best deal. It means operators have to tell everyone about their best offers rather than offer it in private, 'under the counter'. Easy porting means effective competition and lower prices.

The ruling last week was in a Competition Appeals Tribunal case where Vodafone, supported by O2, T-Mobile and Orange challenged aspects of regulator Ofcom's move to improve number porting. Only 3 supported Ofcom's efforts to improve things for consumers.

Ofcom, following extensive consultation in 2007, told the incumbents to get on with improving the UK MNP with a new system to be in place by September 2009.

Gphone verdict: a small pebble in the pond

Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchronica, has been in touch to give us his thoughts:

"Google Android is just another smartphone platform that will work with our mobile email and synchronization middleware right out of the box, just as we supported the Apple iPhone when it launched last year. Google Android will be addressing a very similar market to the iPhone: i.e. early adopter, wealthy, high tech users. Therefore, it's unlikely that we will see Gphones in the emerging or mass markets any time soon. There's a common misconception that every time a major vendor jumps into the market, we will see more smartphone sales. This is rubbish. My prediction is that the Gphone will have very little impact on the mass market, where feature phones dominate.”

London is tops for Wi-Fi

London is the world's leading city for Wi-Fi access according to research by iPass.

There were 31,000 user sessions (excluding airports and hotels) in the first half of 2008, up by 27% in the second half of 2007, with an average session length of 57 minutes. London's Heathrow airport also moved up the ranks to become third busiest airport hotspot and London Paddington topped the ranks, as the busiest London railway hotspot.

The report shows that worldwide business use of iPass Wi-Fi hotspots has increased by 46% from the first half of 2007 to the first half of 2008.  In the first half of 2008, the UK capital's session count was up by 27% on H2 2007, with an average session length of 57 minutes.

European business use of Wi-Fi hotspots eclipsed North America in the first half of 2008, and now accounts for 47% of global use, up from 36% in the first half of 2007.

The results show that more and more business people are working away from the office, a trend which is expected to continue with the influx of WiMAX and other 4G technologies.

More at www.ipass.com/mobileindex.

Expansys special offers

Expansys' website looks better and better these days. What I didn't know is that they do special offers that are held for short period of time now and again. Last Friday I got details of these offers. I think most are still available.

Novatel Wireless U530 3G PC Card
Normally £24.99
Now only £9.99 inc VAT
Save £15

http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=173693&partner=uknews

 

HTC BH M200 Bluetooth Headset
Normally £43.99
Now only £19.99 inc VAT
Save £24

http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=173690&partner=uknews

 

2 Metre HDMI Cable 2-Pack
with Gold Connectors
Normally £25.99
Now only £5.99 inc VAT
Save £20

http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=173706&partner=uknews

 

iGo EverywherePower
Charges your iPod and many different mobile phones
Normally £19.99
Now only £9.99 inc VAT
Save £10

http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=173095&partner=uknews

 

T-Mobile's paygo broadband at £2 a day

T-Mob is offering a mobile broadband on a pay-as-you go deal starting at £2 per day and going up to £20 per month.

Handy if you have commitment issues. Expensive if you haven't.

Only catch is you need to pay £50 for the dongle thingy to get off the mark....in other words its a very similar deal to that which 3 have been offering for about six months, though 3 charges only a tenner a month.

I have been having bandwidth issues with 3 lately, so T-Mob might just be a better deal.

Boom, bust, then start learning Chinese

What are we to make of the meltdown in the banking industry?

I have had a creeping feeling that those countries with huge sovereign funds are rubbing their hands with glee. China is of course so cash rich that it doesn't bear thinking about.

The BBC's Robert Peston is tracking the crisis with consumate skill, and it is well worth checking out his blog at the beginning of each working day if you want a good heads-up.

Notably today he suggests that China could end up owning the entire banking system in the UK and USA at the end of all this.

Oh my God.

Please Mr Peston write a bit more about this.

Peston is a good talking head, but I kind of wish the thinking man's crumpet Stephanie Flanders wasn't on maternity leave - she is sorely missed during what has to be the finance story of the century. She must be sore as hell.

According to The Evening Standard, Peston is working extra hard to cover in her absence. I shouldn't think he'll be complaining - every journalist revels in being the Ace in the Hole.

Please dnt txt 'n' drve

It's official: new research out today tells us that texting and driving is more dangerous than drinking and driving or even driving while on mind-bending drugs.

It's depressing that a number of people have died or been badly injured while it took us a few years to realise this. Let's hope the message gets through.

Android phone due next week

A T-Mobile branded phone based on Google's Android platform will go on sale next week, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Costing $199, it will be available on contract only to US buyers only.