Author: Denny

Most U.K. mobile technology owners are paying too much for plans

| January 20, 2015

A recent report has shown that 70 percent of consumers pay more than necessary for talk, text, and data.

Research by European firm, Consumer Champion, has indicated that between two thirds and three quarters (70 percent) of consumers in the United Kingdom are paying more than necessary for mobile technology services such as calling, text, and data plans.

It pointed out that many are paying for more services than they require and are locked into 24-month contracts.

Others, particularly children, have mobile technology service plans that are two low for their usage. This means that parents run the risk of regularly running up additional charges when they have exceeded their plan limits. The results of the study showed that an estimated 77 percent of consumers in the U.K. could be saving a minimum of £50 (around US$75) per year by changing their contracts. However, it also underscored the fact that there are some service providers that make it very challenging to switch, as they apply a charge to unlock handsets.

The result is that families across the country are paying billions of pounds too much for their mobile technology service.

Mobile Technology - UK smartphone owners pay too muchThe average savings, according to Consumer Champion, for seven out of every ten people, could be an average of about £159 (around US$240) each, simply by choosing a contract that better reflects their actual needs. For families that are paying for mobile service on four smartphones, that could bring about an annual savings of over £600 (about US$900), which is certainly nothing to laugh at.

Among the causes for the selection of the wrong plan by consumers is that the majority of smartphones – for example the Samsung Galaxy and Apple iPhone models – are sold along with 2-year contracts that require users to pay a monthly fee in order to cover their service and the cost of the handset, but that have a limit to the number of calls, text, and data usage that are included.

As many mobile technology users are on plans that will charge them more when they exceed the capped amount of calls, text, and data – particularly in the case of children – additional fees are run up that make the service far more costly than it would have been if they had upgraded their plans to something that covers a larger amount of service.

Mobile technology startups from Xiaomi to pop up in India

| January 15, 2015

The company has now built up a massive amount of funding for its efforts to fund its next steps.

Xiaomi recently announced that its latest round of funding had closed at about $1 billion, and now it is going to take that money and pour it into efforts to open up mobile technology startups in India, as well as companies focused on connected devices and content aggregation.

The company is working on launching its own startup environment in India, comparable to what it accomplished in China.

In fact, mobile technology startups in India are included among the top priorities for Xiaomi in 2015. According to the head of Xiaomi India, Manu Jain, “We may co-develop, invest or launch their products. We have discussed with a few startups so far.” At the same time that these statements were released, the company declined to make any specific mention of the names of some of the startups that would be launched, or the size of the investment that it would specifically be making.

The company already labels itself as being a mobile technology and e-commerce business, not just a handset manufacturer.

Mobile Technology - Xiaomi and IndiaXiaomi has previously poured investments into Chinese startups that are focused on parts of the tech industry including wearable technology (such as in its fitness band), a video website, and in a smart light bulbs effort.

According to a Convergence Catalyst partner, Jayant Kolla, “Startups would find it lucrative to work with Xiaomi versus other corporates, as it is agile and has been able to grow, coupling the scale brought forward by both the internet and mobile era.” That firm is the Indian branch of one of Xiaomi’s most valuable startups on the globe and which managed to sell a million devices in the country in well under half of a year.

At the time that this article was written, Xiaomi was being valued at about $45 billion, and it has every intention to grow this year through its mobile technology and other startup investments in India. Though its past has been greatly based on smartphones, those are clearly only the beginning of what it has up its sleeves as it progresses into the future.