Find out the week’s top mobile stories from around the world. Stories this week include… Mobile phone fraud, Twitter kills third-party apps, Instagram adds Quiet Mode, Google’s antitrust trial gets a date and much more…
Mobile phone fraud: ‘They stole £22,500 using my banking app’
BBC
A pickpocket took Jacopo de Simone’s mobile phone and used his banking apps to steal £22,500.
He said his bank investigated but found him liable for the losses so he is still fighting to get the money back.
He is just one victim of the growing threat of mobile phone fraud and banks need to do more to tackle it, according to charity the Fraud Advisory Panel.
UK Finance, which represents 300 banks, said the industry was constantly monitoring fraud threats.
Criminals are stealing mobiles not for the device but to try to access finance apps to steal thousands of pounds, the Fraud Advisory Panel said.
Read more…
This Week in Apps: Twitter kills third-party apps, Instagram adds Quiet Mode, Google’s antitrust trial gets a date
Tech Crunch
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy.
The app economy in 2023 hit a few snags, as consumer spending last year dropped for the first time by 2% to $167 billion, according to the latest “State of Mobile” report by data.ai (previously App Annie). However, downloads are continuing to grow, up 11% year-over-year in 2022 to reach 255 billion. Consumers are also spending more time using mobile apps than ever before. On Android devices alone, hours spent in 2022 grew 9%, reaching 4.1 trillion.
Data Privacy Week Highlights Online and Mobile Privacy
Whistleout
Since 1981, countries worldwide have marked Data Privacy Day in recognition of the treaty protecting the right to privacy. The treaty enshrined respect for privacy and data protection for everyone at a time when personal computing was taking off.
Now, 42 years later, personal data and privacy has evolved with the rise of social media platforms and mobile devices.
In a statement celebrating Data Privacy Week, Philippe Dufresne, Privacy Commissioner of Canada, reinforced the original goals of the original treaty. “Privacy is a fundamental right that we should not have to surrender in the name of innovation or profit,” Dufresne said.
Read more…
Mobile Wallet Usage Is Up, But Many Consumers Still Prefer to Pay With Plastic
Digital Transactions
Consumer adoption of mobile wallets may be growing, but a lot of consumers still prefer to pay using a physical card, a report from J.D. Power finds.
The report, which surveyed 3,588 retail-bank customers nationwide between the first quarter of 2021 and third quarter of 2022, found that 49% of consumers surveyed in September 2022 had used a mobile wallet the previous three months, compared to 38% of respondents surveyed in March 2021.
Read more…
IoT tracking in the supply chain – how cellular IoT solved the global edge
RCR Wireless
So we understand the challenge, then; that the supply chain, floored by pandemic lockdowns and broken confidence, is being messed up further by geopolitical and economic factors. And that the ‘little man’ has the most to lose – and, properly equipped, the most to win as well. Which is the cue for IoT, to enter stage-left, as the micro solution for the techno-edge, to be multiplied into masses of tracking apps – and made into a macro solution to a macro problem.
Read more…
Hands on with Walmart’s new (but buggy) ‘Text to Shop’ feature
Tech Crunch
Walmart recently introduced a new way to shop: via text. Last month, the retail giant launched its “Text to Shop” experience which allows mobile consumers across both iOS and Android devices to text Walmart the items they want to purchase from either their local stores or Walmart.com, or easily reorder items for pickup, delivery, or shipping. However, the chat experience as it stands today does not come across as fully baked, our tests found. The chatbot said confusing things and the user interface at times was difficult to navigate, despite aiming to be a simpler, text-based shopping experience.
Read more…
The Growth Of The Mobile Gaming Impacts Online Gambling Industry
Gaminglyfe
The massive growth in the online gambling industry goes hand-in-hand with modern communication. When the COVID-19 pandemic led to lockdowns, smartphones dominated mobile gaming.
It’s estimated that there might be almost 7 billion smartphone users worldwide in 2023. That figure represents an 86.5% increase from 2016.
Almost 96% of all internet users have a smartphone.
How have smartphones changed the online gambling industry?
Read more…
Japan, Netherlands tipped to back China chip controls
Mobile World Live
Japan and the Netherlands were tipped to be set to support aggressive new US trade restrictions on the export of advanced chipmaking machinery to China, adding to the nation’s woes in its efforts for chip independence, Bloomberg reported.
The news agency reported Japanese and Dutch representatives agreed in principle to the expanded curbs, with talks with US officials expected to close today (27 January).
Read more…
AST SpaceMobile raises $75 million, partners with TIM Brasil
DCD
AST SpaceMobile, a company building a space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard mobile phones, has raised $75 million and partnered with Brazilian telco TIM Brasil.
Last month they closed an offering of Class A Common Stock, raising gross proceeds of $75 million. B. Riley Securities, Inc. was the sole book-running manager of the offering.
The company has also granted B. Riley a 30-day option to purchase additional shares that would raise another $11.25m in gross proceeds.
“We are pleased to announce this successful capital raise as we continue executing our mission of connecting the unconnected,” said Sean Wallace, Chief Financial Officer of AST SpaceMobile. “We were excited to see the demand for this offering, which allowed us to upsize the offering from $65m. We welcome all of our new stockholders.”
