News

Smartphone technology

• January 17, 2023 17 Jan'23

  Connectivity critical for UK entrepreneurs

  Research from BT Business reveals three-quarters of British entrepreneurs feel they couldn’t run a business without reliable broadband and mobile connectivity

• January 16, 2023 16 Jan'23

  Cash use rises for first time in 13 years as cost of living increases

  The number of cash withdrawals increased last year, for the first time in 13 years, but remains below the pre-Covid-19 figure

• January 12, 2023 12 Jan'23

  UK government completes trials of age estimation technology

  Government-led trials of age estimation and verification technologies for the sale of alcohol in nightlife venues and supermarkets have been completed, with both government and retail lobbyists pushing for legislation that would allow retailers to ...

• January 11, 2023 11 Jan'23

  eSIM market to be worth over $4bn globally by end of 2023

  2023 set to be the year of embedded subscriber identity module as Google and Samsung look likely to emulate rival Apple, leading to a drastic increase in the number of smartphones with eSIM connectivity

• January 05, 2023 05 Jan'23

  Cashless Denmark has no bank robberies in a year for first time

  Denmark saw no bank robberies in a single year for the first time ever, but online fraud continues to increase

• January 03, 2023 03 Jan'23

  Test of digital ID tech at Surrey nightclub proclaimed success

  The majority of visitors to a Camberley venue who piloted a digital identification app developed by 1account said they found it easy to use and preferred it to standard physical ID

• December 28, 2022 28 Dec'22

  Complaints that NCA failed in duty of candour over EncroChat warrants ‘incredible’, court hears

  NCA lawyers argue that a decision by an NCA intelligence officer to disclose notes of a key meeting after two-and-a-half years boosts her credibility as a witness

• December 22, 2022 22 Dec'22

  NCA ‘wrong-footed’ defence lawyers after agreeing to take expert evidence on EncroChat ‘as read’

  The National Crime Agency argued at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal that expert evidence it agreed to ‘take as read’ is limited, flawed and often based on an incorrect interpretation of the law

• December 19, 2022 19 Dec'22

  BT C-RAN 5G architecture pilot scheme live in Leeds

  BT takes next-gen mobile connectivity a stage further with a 5G pilot scheme to enhance coverage and connectivity in key UK city enabling local customers to access faster, more reliable speeds

• December 16, 2022 16 Dec'22

  Defence lawyers claim NCA witness gave unreliable evidence on EncroChat hacking operation

  National Crime Agency argues that the lawfulness of surveillance warrants issued to hack the EncroChat phone network should only be considered in the light of facts and assessments known at the time

• December 15, 2022 15 Dec'22

  NCA officer questioned in Investigatory Powers Tribunal over failure to disclose EncroChat notes

  EncroChat hacking warrant was unlawful and in breach of human rights law, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal hears

• December 13, 2022 13 Dec'22

  More Uber data exposed in possible supply chain attack

  A second incident affecting ride-sharing app Uber appears to have originated through a third party in a supply chain attack

• December 08, 2022 08 Dec'22

  Apple to tap third party for physical security keys

  Apple is launching a number of new security protections, including the addition of third-party-provided hardware security keys

• December 01, 2022 01 Dec'22

  MI6 chief’s hacked emails attacked MI5 and betrayed British spy operations in China

  Former UK spy boss Richard Dearlove leaked names of MI6 secret agent recruiters in China to back an aggressive right-wing US campaign against tech company Huawei. His emails were hacked and then leaked – probably by Russian intelligence

• November 30, 2022 30 Nov'22

  SMEs put faith in communications technology

  Study from orchestration and digital platform provider shows a ‘new’ kind of small and medium-sized enterprise market, with companies already adopting connectivity technology for business resilience

• November 30, 2022 30 Nov'22

  Nearly $1bn in mobile trade-ins and upgrades in third quarter of 2022

  Just more than halfway into what is always the market’s busiest quarter, quarterly analysis of smartphone trade-in and upgrade industry reveals a third quarter of 2022 with the amount returned estimated at $970m, making this the highest third ...

• November 30, 2022 30 Nov'22

  eSIM proves green credentials

  Independent study by provider of adapted system integration technologies at wafer, chip and board level confirms eSIM as an environmentally friendly SIM solution​

• November 30, 2022 30 Nov'22

  Scotland launches national digital platform for health and care

  The online platform aims to give people access to their health and social care data, as well as provide staff with access to data to inform decisions about care

• November 29, 2022 29 Nov'22

  Cyber criminals exploiting naked TikTok ‘challenge’

  Malware operators lured targets by promising them they would be able to view nude videos of TikTok users

• November 23, 2022 23 Nov'22

  UK police arrest 120 in largest-ever cyber fraud crackdown

  The administrator and more than 100 users of the iSpoof.cc cyber fraud website have been arrested in a major counter-fraud operation led by the Metropolitan Police

• November 15, 2022 15 Nov'22

  NHS Scotland extends video consultation scheme

  The Scottish Near Me video consultation platform can now be used in community settings such as libraries and health and care centres for GP appointments, hospital appointments, care homes, dietetics and mental health support

• November 14, 2022 14 Nov'22

  Orange takes 5G to Africa

  New healthcare, education and security services to be enabled in Southern African country as global telco unveils first affiliate in continent of Africa to launch 5G commercially

• November 14, 2022 14 Nov'22

  Orange Belgium sets new 5G standard in Liège

  Belgian subsidiary of global telco adds to portfolio of 5G Labs in the country, showcasing new 5G use cases together with industries local to key city of Wallonia

• November 11, 2022 11 Nov'22

  Qualcomm claims 5G standalone mmWave milestone in China

  Noting 5G standalone mmWave is poised to unlock new capabilities for enterprises, mobile chip giant reveals high-level mmWave performance in anticipation of commercial deployment in China

• October 31, 2022 31 Oct'22

  Cyber crime officer says French legal challenges to EncroChat are ‘hype’

  Matthieu Audibert, officer of the French Gendarmerie’s cyber space command, gets into a spat with defence lawyers on Twitter over the lawfulness of evidence from the hacked phone network EncroChat

• October 28, 2022 28 Oct'22

  Virgin Media O2 trials 5G drone in Snowdonia

  Comms operator trials new 5G drone technology to increase safety for millions of visitors at North Wales national park, delivering network coverage to remote areas and helping emergency services to respond to distress calls better

• October 25, 2022 25 Oct'22

  Apple patches new iPhone zero-day

  Apple’s latest patch fixes yet another zero-day, as security issues keep surfacing in its mobile products

• October 25, 2022 25 Oct'22

  Dutch lawyers raise human rights concerns over hacked cryptophone data

  Dutch defence lawyers say in an open letter that there is a risk of unfair trials unless they are allowed to test the reliability and legitimacy of hacked cryptophone evidence

• October 25, 2022 25 Oct'22

  Sainsbury’s outsources for cloud-first benefits

  Retailer signs multi-year IT services contract with Tata Consultancy Services to support move to cloud-first strategy

• October 19, 2022 19 Oct'22

  Lloyds Bank launches innovation sandbox

  Banking group establishes a sandbox where fintechs can build and test applications for Lloyds

• October 17, 2022 17 Oct'22

  CMA issues proposals to prevent emergency services being overcharged for Airwave network

  UK competition watchdog unveils proposals to restrict how much Motorola can charge emergency services to use mobile radio network

• October 14, 2022 14 Oct'22

  Malicious WhatsApp add-on highlights risks of third-party mods

  Kaspersky researchers discovered a malicious version of a widely used WhatsApp messenger mod, highlighting the risks of using so-called mods

• October 14, 2022 14 Oct'22

  5G adoption increasing rapidly, but failing to hit heightened expectations

  Leading comms tech provider finds next wave of next-gen communications well under way – but significant portion also underwhelmed by 5G services

• October 14, 2022 14 Oct'22

  Protecting children by scanning encrypted messages is ‘magical thinking’, says Cambridge professor

  Ross Anderson argues in a rebuttal to GCHQ experts that using artificial intelligence to scan encrypted messaging services is the wrong approach to protecting children and preventing terrorism

• October 12, 2022 12 Oct'22

  Qualcomm unveils next-gen MR, VR devices based on Snapdragon platform

  New premium-tier extended reality platform is said to deliver 50% higher sustained power and 30% improved thermal performance to enable more immersive metaverse experiences in smaller, lighter form factors

• October 12, 2022 12 Oct'22

  French Supreme Court rejects EncroChat verdict after lawyers question secrecy over hacking operation

  France’s Supreme Court has sent a case back to the court of appeal after police failed to disclose technical details of EncroChat hacking operation

• October 07, 2022 07 Oct'22

  Private investors back innovators to boost African connectivity

  Local operator research finds nearly four out of five VC and private equity firms believe innovation in connectivity will drive expansion in Africa, despite infrastructure issues

• October 06, 2022 06 Oct'22

  Proposals for scanning encrypted messages should be cut from Online Safety Bill, say researchers

  Automatic scanning of messaging services for illegal content could lead to one billion false alarms each day in Europe

• September 27, 2022 27 Sep'22

  Telefónica, Qualcomm collaborate to build XR, metaverse systems

  Partnership designed to grow metaverse and extended reality ecosystem using Snapdragon Spaces as well as upskilling Telefónica’s internal teams and external innovation programmes in XR hardware and applications

• September 23, 2022 23 Sep'22

  Conversation between two police officers formed basis of EncroChat warrant, court hears

  The National Crime Agency did not seek a written explanation of a French hacking technique before applying for a surveillance warrant to use French “intercept” in the UK, a court heard

• September 15, 2022 15 Sep'22

  Smartphone trade-in value rises as average age of devices breaks 3.5-year threshold

  Analysis of mobile trade-ins reveals increasing handset longevity and rising value of used devices, with US$767m returned to US buyers in the second quarter

• September 13, 2022 13 Sep'22

  Investment in UK fintech sees fall amid global turmoil

  Investment in fintech drops, but because figures are distorted by last year’s records, it’s not as bad as it looks, says KPMG

• September 08, 2022 08 Sep'22

  NEC, Mavenir drive mMIMO through Open RAN on Orange France 5G SA

  IT and comms giant teams with cloud-native telecoms software provider to drive open and advanced radio access network functionality with deployment of massive MIMO on leading telco’s experimental 5G SA network in France

• September 08, 2022 08 Sep'22

  EE upgrades 5G network across 14 new UK locations

  BT-owned MNO extends mid-band next-generation network capability across 14 UK towns and cities to support the latest 5G smartphones and pay monthly mobile plans

• September 07, 2022 07 Sep'22

  Qualcomm adds bite to Snapdragon platform

  Just days after kicking off IFA show outlining plans to embed its Wi-Fi, 5G and satellite connectivity technology to drive connected experiences in a world that Qualcomm sees as one where everything is intelligent and everyone connected, chip giant ...

• September 05, 2022 05 Sep'22

  Huge leap to contactless payments in past three years

  Covid-19 pushes the use of contactless payments for face-to-face transactions to 90% of total

• September 02, 2022 02 Sep'22

  Interview: Sibstar, the fintech app for dementia sufferers

  Creator of app and debit card designed to support people living with dementia tells Computer Weekly how the idea developed

• September 02, 2022 02 Sep'22

  IFA 2022: Qualcomm announces Meta partnership as it stakes out connected future

  Chip giant unveils plans to embed its connectivity technology – encompassing Wi-Fi 7, 5G and even satellite – within virtual and real-world environments to drive connected experiences

• September 01, 2022 01 Sep'22

  Major shift detected in smart home technology deployment  

  Research from personalised communications services provider Plume finds consumers’ appetite for internet of things and smart home technologies continues to grow

• September 01, 2022 01 Sep'22

  Arm sues Qualcomm over Nuvia tie-up

  Qualcomm hopes to integrate Nuvia’s technology into its system-on-a-chip products based on Arm cores – but Arm says this infringes its IP