This week in mobility – 17th April
Hopefully you’re all recovered from the Easter break, slip-slap-slopped for the spring heat-wave and are ready for another week of mobility news!
BlackBerry were back in the headlines after announcing that Leap is now available for pre-order in the UK, but can they regain market share? Mobility took an interesting form in Adelaide this week, as Father Philip Marshall blessed an app that provides a guide through the life of Australia’s saint Mary MacKillop.
Of course, the big news this week has focussed on the election, with pledges about broadband appearing left, right and centre (no political-puns intended). The increasing focus on the importance of nation wide connectivity can only be good news for the UK mobility industry.
Mobile devices may be used to pay around £1in7 spent in British shops within a decade. According to new research from Barclays, mobile devices will be used in 13.7pc of retail sales – up from just 3pc last year, in spite of retailers’ apparent reluctance to invest in the necessary tech.
In the past few months we’ve seen free WiFi appear everywhere from libraries to trains, but there was controversy this week around WiFi on planes. A new study from the US Government Accountability Office set out the threats posed from WiFi hacking. On the other hand, mobile malware is unlikely to be the source of disastrous data breaches any time soon, according to Verizon. Their report describes smartphone malware as mostly ‘adnoyance’.
That’s it for this week folks. Have you started using any payment apps? Tempted to take a ‘Leap’? Let me know in the comments below. Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below, or tweeting @Graham Franklin or @CiscoUKI.
