Do you have kids or younger brothers and sisters with mobiles? If so, how well protected are they?

Today Vodafone has launched Vodafone Guardian, a free-to-download Android app which puts protecting young people from unwanted calls and texts, or misuse of the internet, firmly in the hands of parents and carers.

More sophisticated than standard content barring, the new app can be set up by choosing a specific age range, or features can be set individually. Children and parents can discuss specific preferences and program the mobile to control who can call or text, or to bar internet access at certain times of day. There is even a secure ‘vault’ facility for texts from unknown or blocked numbers.

Vodafone Guardian is password protected and any unauthorised change to the settings sends a text alert to the parent or carer. It also has features that allow older teenagers and adults to control who contacts them, without the need for a password.

Latest Ofcom research suggests 18% of 5 to 11 year olds now own a smartphone. Among 12 to 15 year olds, this rises to over one third. Social networking, emailing, sharing photos and watching videos via mobile brings clear benefits but isn’t without its risks. Vodafone’s new app gives people a way to manage these concerns, it’s easy to use and set up, and can be downloaded to most popular Android devices.

Customers can download Vodafone Guardian onto their kids’ phones from Android Market. Vodafone also have a  Digital Parenting app with useful info and tips about your child’s digital world.

“We are pleased to introduce BlackBerry Mobile Fusion – RIM’s next generation enterprise mobility solution – to make it easier for our business and government customers to manage the diversity of devices in their operations today,” said Alan Panezic, Vice President, Enterprise Product Management and Marketing at Research In Motion. “BlackBerry Mobile Fusion brings together our industry-leading BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology for BlackBerry devices with mobile device management capabilities for iOS and Android devices, all managed from one web-based console. It provides the necessary management capabilities to allow IT departments to confidently oversee the use of both company-owned and employee-owned mobile devices within their organizations.”

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion will provide the following mobile device management capabilities for all supported mobile devices (capabilities may vary due to limitations with individual device operating systems):

• Asset management
• Configuration management
• Security and policy definition and management
• Secure and protect lost or stolen devices (remote lock, wipe)
• User- and group-based administration
• Multiple device per user capable
• Application and software management
• Connectivity management (Wi-Fi®, VPN, certificate)
• Centralized console
• High scalability

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion is currently in early beta testing with select enterprise customers. RIM is now accepting customer nominations for the closed beta program which will start in January, and general availability is expected in late March.

From 31st December 2011 it will no longer be legal for Communication Providers to sell Automatically Renewable Contracts (ARCs) for fixed voice and fixed broadband services.

An ARC is a type of contract which recommits a customer into a new contract automatically once their initial contract term expires, without first obtaining the agreement of the customer.

Although Ofcom do not outline specific ways in which express consent can be obtained, they do comment that one off permission or permission gained too early or too late in the contract term are unlikely to comply with the new guidelines.

Any customer who is already on an ARC must be moved away from this type of contract before the end of December 2012.The new legislation applies to any domestic or business customer with less than 10 employees.

The specific guidance can be found on the Ofcom Website.

The Bold 9790 runs BlackBerry 7.0 OS and sports a powerful 1 GHz processor, 8 GB of memory and a 5 MP auto-focus camera. This updated Bold also has Near Field Communication (NFC). NFC technology allows you to read smart tags on signs and posters, and connect with other NFC enabled devices – all with a simple tap.

The new 9380 Curve is the first Curve to have a 3.2″ full touchscreen and also has a 5MP camera. It features a features an integrated Social Feeds application, which ties all of your social networks together into one place. The Curve also features NFC (Near Field Communications) and Augmented Reality (driven by the digital compass). The AR functionality allows you to hold up your device and, using the camera, explore the world around you. Standing in front of an important landmark? Just point your BlackBerry Curve 9380 at it and let Wikitude tell you all about it. The AR is also integrated with BBM in virtually real-time so that you can find your BBM contacts in a crowd.

Availability and price has not yet been confirmed for the UK.

These ‘open femto’ devices have the potential to offer rural areas an affordable way of getting 3G coverage, filling in network ‘not spots’ in small towns and villages. 12 new trials, which will start early in 2012, build on the experience Vodafone have gained from their successful ongoing pilot in East Garston, near Newbury. The extension of this pioneering work is an opportunity for other rural communities to get involved in improving mobile coverage where they live and benefit from the growing smartphone revolution.

Communications Minister Ed Vaizey this morning welcomed news of the plans saying: “It is good to see Vodafone looking for innovative ways to bring mobile coverage to rural areas. I urge areas without mobile coverage to get involved and see if this trial is suitable for them.”
The East Garston trial began after the parish council and local MP asked for help to improve coverage. Working closely with the community, as well as BT and Alcatel-Lucent on the supporting infrastructure, ‘open femto’ devices have been installed in the local pub, outside the village hall, social club and post office and even in the roof of an old red telephone box! Early results have been encouraging and Vodafone will be trialling the use of femtocells on Openreach telephone poles in the village.
East Garston parish council clerk Alan Breadmore can really see the benefits locally: “The bar in the social club is open most evenings and I’m sure it’s helped boost their business because people now go down there in the evening to use their phones. There’s not a week goes by without someone tapping me on the shoulder when I’m walking through the village and asking when they’re going to get coverage in their area.”

Ofcom’s latest ‘State of the Communications Nation’ report published this week, also highlights the issue, saying that 3G coverage is very much “concentrated in urban areas” and that ‘not spots’ in outlying areas may be “technically and commercially challenging to resolve”. Vodafone is currently the only UK network offering an ‘open femto’ solution to tackle this problem for rural communities.

Nokia have announced their first, long-awaited Windows Phone  handsets – the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710. Both handsets are running Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango).

LUMIA 800

The Lumia 800 has a uni-body design, which means that it does not have a user-removable battery. Set inside the shell is a gorgeous 3.7-inch AMOLED ClearBlack display ( the term ClearBlack means it has a built-in polarizing filter that helps it look good under bright sunlight). Interestingly, the display is actually curved outward slightly this resulting in a smooth side-to-side swiping motion. Other specs of the phone include 1.4Ghz processor and 16GB of internal memory; however, users will get 25GB of free cloud-based storage courtesy of Microsoft’s SkyDrive service.

Nokia has always been known for its excellent cameras, and we’re happy to report that the Lumia 800 does have an 8-megapixel camera with an f/2.2 Carl Zeiss Tessar lens and dual LED flash. It can record 720p HD video at 30fps and the camera app offers a few extra features like red-eye reduction, motion blur reduction, and more.

NOKIA LUMIA 710

Nokia’s Lumia 710 is a lower-cost sibling to the Lumia 800. It has less flash memory at 8GB but will ship in more colours. With a 3.7-inch LCD screen which also also employs Nokia’s ClearBlack display technology. While not nearly as stunning as the Lumia 800′s AMOLED display of the same size, it still looks nice and bright and colourful. Itcomes with the same  1.4GHz processor butswaps the 8-megapixel camera for a 5-megapixel version. The camera still supports 720p HD video capture at 30 frames per second.