An Iranian chess player competing in the Dubai Open Chess tournament has been caught cheating with SMS. The incident happened when M. Sadatnajafi, with an Elo rating of 2301, received text messages with tips for his next move while playing against Chinese Grandmaster Li Chao. He was caught after just 10 moves, when he dropped…
Telstra to switch off CDMA in favor of its new HSDPA network
Australia’s Telstra will be switching off its CDMA network in favor of the new HSDPA-enabled 3G network, following the approval by the Australian government. According to The Australian, initially the government resisted giving green light to the mobile operator over concerns that the new network would not be able to provide coverage in more remote…
France Telecom to acquire TeliaSonera?
France Telecom is reportedly in talks to acquire Nordic operator TeliaSonera. In a recent conference call with journalists, France Telecom’s Finance Director Gervais Pellissier described the deal as “a strategic opportunity” and one that could be made through a combined cash and share offer. However, the company gave no timeframes for when a deal could…
French supermarket chain Carrefour launches its own MVNO in Poland
French supermarket chain Carrefour is launching its own MVNO telephone service called Carrefour Mova in Poland. This is not their first time, though. Poland is the fifth country in Europe where they are offering their mobile phone service. Other markets include France, Belgium, Spain and Italy. According to Carrefour Polska’s new chairman Gilles Roudy, Carrefour…
Mobile number portability coming to India in June 2009
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended a nationwide deadline for implementing complete mobile number portability. Set for June 2009, this last deadline has been sent by TRAI to the country’s Department of telecommunications, which already said that the facility will be available in the metropolitan cities by December 2008. June 2009, is thus…
Avis uses SMS to make rental process more seamless
First of all I don’t think renting a car is a pain. It may be if you’re renting it offline — renting via web is as seamless as it can be. However, that doesn’t mean car renting companies should stop there and it’s even a great news seeing them further enhancing the user experience. That…
Carphone Warehouse partners with Best Buy to enter the U.S. handset market
Right from the other side of the Atlantic, Carphone Warehouse is preparing to move overseas. The well known phone retailer, which currently has 2300 stores across Europe, is partnering with Best Buy to launch 1,000 retail locations in the USA. Some of them will be boutique shops inside of Best Buy stores, while some other…
British Airways sends over 11,000 SMS apologies
Recently a series of troubles hit Heathrow’s Terminal 5, causing hundreds of cancelled and delayed flights. To make up for the problems, British Airways sent out over 11,000 text messages, explaining people what’s happening. Not that a text message can make you feel better when a flight is delayed or even worse cancelled. Still, we…
China mobile phone design industry to move into consolidation
Handset-design industry in the “world’s fastest growing economy” is expected to enter a phase of consolidation this yer due to rapid declining profit margins. According to data from China-based market research firm ResearchInChina, average gross margins for China-based handset design companies are expected to drift down to 3% in 2008, compared to 5% in 2007…
Using a mobile phone while crossing the street soon to be illegal?
While I (and I guess rest of IntoMobile team) do support laws that would stop people from using their mobile phones without car kits or headsets while driving, somehow I have hard time understanding the low that would fine pedestrians for using cell phones while crossing the street. To be honest, it can distracting and…