Qualcomm used its keynote this evening to talk up its credentials for connected, electric and self-driving cars, aided by the presence of F1 champion Lewis Hamilton. The presence of Hamilton, along with Paddy Lowe, executive director, technical for Mercedes AMG Petronas, and the team’s winning car from last season, enabled the US tech firm to draw […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Qualcomm looks to pick up Hamilton’s winning ways
February 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Qualcomm used its keynote this evening to talk up its credentials for connected, electric and self-driving cars, aided by the presence of F1 champion Lewis Hamilton. The presence of Hamilton, along with Paddy Lowe, executive director, technical for Mercedes AMG Petronas, and the team’s winning car from last season, enabled the US tech firm to draw […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Mobile Connect availability hits 2B
February 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The GSMA’s Mobile Connect mobile-based authentication solution is now available to some two billion customers, the industry association said today. Since its introduction at Mobile World Congress in 2014, 34 network operators in 21 countries have launched, “with plans for additional launches and trials to follow in 2016 and beyond”.Mats Granryd, director general of GSMA, said: […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Industry looks to reduce mobile gender gap
February 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment
GSMA launched the Connected Women Commitment Initiative, with initial commitments from operator members aiming to connect millions more women in low and middle-income countries by 2020. The aim is to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The work builds on projects that already see […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Mobile has power to tame transaction fees – PayPal CEO
February 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment
For billions of people across the world, even the simplest financial transactions can be either extremely time consuming or very expensive, which PayPal president CEO Dan Schulman said is “just crazy” in a world of high mobile and smartphone penetration. In his keynote at Mobile World Congress, Schulman said: “We have the ability to make […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Ford trumpets new in-vehicle system, “fundamentally rethinks” transportation
February 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Ford is aggressively pursuing opportunities in the mobile space in its quest to “fundamentally rethink transportation”, its CEO, Mark Fields, said in the Mobile is Connected Living keynote. It is looking to transition from being an “automotive company” to an “auto and mobility” company, through its Smart Mobility efforts – its plan to be a […]MWC 2016 LIVE: CEOs issue rallying call to drive ‘gigabit economy’
February 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment
CEOs from the world’s largest mobile operators highlighted the challenges facing the industry over the coming five years, as society adapts to the changes being brought by advancements in mobile technology and digitisation. In the opening keynote on Monday, Mats Granryd (pictured), director general of GSMA, said mobile technology has already played a huge part […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Ericsson/Cisco partnership on track, insist execs
February 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The importance of the high-profile Ericsson/Cisco partnership was laid bare at the Swedish vendor’s press conference on Monday. Hans Vestberg, Ericsson’s CEO, stressed that the agreement, which has only been operational for 74 days, was already gaining significant traction and had the continuous commitment from both companies. Cisco’s chief strategy officer, Hilton Romanski, was more […]MWC 2016 LIVE: 5G to trigger disruption, claim industry leaders
February 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The next generation of mobile technology will be a key enabler for disrupting traditional business models, claimed a panel of senior industry execs on Monday. “Complete business models are changing,” said Ralph de la Vega, vice chairman of AT&T. “Once we have data in the cloud there will be no stopping industries from disruption.” Vega pointed […]After swallowing effortlessly the right to be forgotten time for Google Ads now to behave
February 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment
2016 is not yet 60 days old and it already seems that this will be another tough year for Google in the EU. Only days after the world learned that Google swallowed the right to be forgotten effortlessly by hiding search results from all its websites to better appease the European Union’s privacy regulators, the news broke out that […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Zuckerberg warns mobile industry not to ignore the unconnected
February 22, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook, warned Congress delegates not to overlook the task of connecting some four billion people that still don’t have access to the web. Under questioning, he expressed “disappointment” that the 5G industry focus was on connecting things rather than the unconnected, and that there was a danger of just providing […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Mobile World Congress shows off planes, trams and automobiles
February 22, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The Mobile World Congress 2016 has just opened its doors today in Fira Barcelona and the Sting is in Barcelona as Brussels’ only EU media to be GSMA’s media partner for many years now. This year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC), under the over-arching theme of Mobile is Everything, will showcase mobile in a plethora of industry sectors. […]MWC 2016 LIVE: The top 5 themes of this year’s Mobile World Congress
February 22, 2016 by 1 Comment
Mobile World Congress is back for its eleventh year in Barcelona and the European Sting is the only Brussels-based EU media to be official media partner. Last year’s event drew more than 94,000 people and 2016 will see even more flocking to the Fira Gran Via during the week of 22-26 February. Past visitors have […]Google succumbs unconditionally to EU’s “right to be forgotten” ruling
February 16, 2016 by Leave a Comment
With an unprecedented move, Google has recently made a new, decisive turning decision to its never-ending story with the European Union. As reported last week, the American tech giant is about to take the “Right to be Forgotten” case to the next level. Google indeed will soon hide content from all its global domains, including the American […]“Airbnb and YouTube are two great examples of a crowd based capitalism”, key stakeholders outline the boundaries of the 4th Industrial Revolution in Davos
January 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment
On the second day of the World Economic Forum 2016 there was a truly interesting session on how digital platforms can increase innovation and help the digital economy grow. The lively session, named “A New Platform for the Digital Economy”, focused indeed on the core theme of 2016 Davos annual event, by analysing some of the key-aspects […]EU Commission announces Safe Harbour 2.0 and a wider Data protection reform
December 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The new EU-US data transfer deal, currently under development, will give the European Union the right to suspend the pact if privacy concerns are raised again, EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová said in a statement last week. For the first time, such right is formally guaranteed, and even though the pact is still a draft, the […]October’s EU strong digital mix: From Safe Harbour to Net Neutrality, Roaming and Snowden
November 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The month of October 2015, which began with another turning point in the Google-EU question and with a decisive judgment on data protection legislation will be remembered for a long time as a milestone for the digital European Union. On Net Neutrality First, last week, the European Parliament passed new rules on net neutrality which […]EU Court of Justice invalidates Safe Harbour and the game for thousands US businesses suddenly changes
October 13, 2015 by Leave a Comment
In what some American media already call a “dramatic judgement”, the European Court of Justice last week changed the course of history for data protection and handling between the EU and the United States. After having declared the “Safe Harbour” data transfer agreement invalid earlier last week, on October 06, the EU’s highest court last Friday […]Google and Apple suddenly realise that doing business in EU is tough?
October 6, 2015 by 1 Comment
Last week was definitely a reference for digital European Union. For those who have felt that the European Commission has specifically targeted Google for some reason, or are particularly interested in the impact that regulators can have on big companies like Google last week must have truly paid off in terms of newsfeed. The Google bias? Let’s start with Google’s story. Last week, European Competition Commissioner […]Oh, well, you are wrong, Google responds to the European Commission
September 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Many months post the European Commission filed formal antitrust actions against Google, the American tech-giant issued its response to the Commission last week. Google, which has always denied the European Union’s antitrust charges, this time decided to formalise its response and speak wide open. In short, the high interests and the enormous weight the case has in antitrust […]EU and US close to an agreement on data sharing amid European citizens’ concerns
August 12, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The European Union and the United States are close to sealing a deal on data sharing, which will affect the way banks and other businesses store data. As reported by Reuters last week, the European Commission is working with US authorities on the final details of the same commercial data-sharing deal that was frozen two years […]Nokia wins Commission’s approval for Alcatel-Lucent acquisition: a new way for antitrust cases?
July 29, 2015 by 1 Comment
The European Commission has given unconditional approval last Friday to the proposed acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent by Nokia, under the EU Merger Regulation. The 15.6 billion-euro merger with the French-American global telecommunications equipment company was announced by Nokia around 1 pm, last Friday, and later on by the European Commission through an official press release. No competition […]Google’s bare truth: Europe’s Chief denies EU accusations but admits they “don’t always get it right”
June 9, 2015 by Leave a Comment
When back in April the European Commission formally filed a complaint against Google it was clear that the action could have turned the page of the whole “EU vs Google” case. But after the tech giant responded and set out the initial arguments against the Commission’s findings, almost immediately, no further discussion about the thorny […]A Sting Exclusive: “The Digital Economy and Industry are no longer opposing terms”, Commissioner Oettinger underlines live from European Business Summit 2015
May 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Written by Günther Oettinger, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society There are few business sectors emerging as fast as the digital economy. Just a year ago almost no one has ever heard of the taxi company Uber or the hotel substitute service Air B’n’B but now almost everyone knows about these two online services. Greater efficiency, the […]MasterCard at European Business Summit 2015: A focus on innovation will drive inclusive economic growth for Europe
May 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Written by Ann Cairns, President of MasterCard, International Markets This year’s European Business Summit’s entitled “Europe 4.0 – Delivering a vision for the future of Europe” falls on the same day as the general elections in the UK which could prove crucial for the future of both, the UK and Europe. At a time when […]A Sting Exclusive: “The competitiveness of Europe depends on a digital single market”, EPP President Joseph Daul highlights live from European Business Summit 2015
May 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Written by Joseph Daul, the President of European People’s Party (EPP) Our lives are digital. This has changed the way we interact, work, produce, consume and live. We must embrace this digital revolution, as it can lead to sustainable growth and jobs for European entrepreneurs, employees and citizens. Our American friends are using new digital services […]It’s EU vs. Google for real: the time is now, the case is open
April 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment
As anticipated by the European Sting in a latest Sting of the day last week on Google’s antitrust case in Europe, the European Commission did take finally formal actions and filed a complaint against the Northern American tech giant, alleging the company’s search results unfairly favoured its own shopping services over third-party sites. The antitrust charge followed a five-year […]On Google antitrust case: “Let’s face it, some companies want to hurt Google and it goes as simple as that”
April 14, 2015 by Leave a Comment
After 5 long lingering years a bit of light will be cast on Google’s antitrust case in Europe. Former Commissioner Joaquin Almunia for Competition failed to resolve the matter successfully during his term, going back and forth numerous times. Like a modern Pontius Pilate who “washed his hands”, the Spanish politician, who launched the Google investigation back […]Yesterday’s “jokes” and sarcasm by Digital Single Market’s Vice President Ansip on EU member states’ right to protect their telco markets
March 25, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The distance between an actual speech and a press release is abyssal. A good example of that came out of Mr Ansip’s introductory speech at an event in Brussels yesterday evening about the EU Digital Single Market. The Vice President of the European Commission for the Digital Single Market (DSM) touched there briefly all current hot topics of the […]EU to Telcos: Stop Mergers and Acquisitions but please help me urgently with 5G development
March 11, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Last week in the Mobile World Congress 2015 you had the distinct feeling being in an immense supermarket, strolling from isle to isle in order to find the product that you desire. For a deep pocket investor #MWC15 could be an excellent market place where she would be able to put in her “shopping basket” […]EU seeks foreign support on 5G from Mobile World Congress 2015 as the “digital gold rush” begins
March 10, 2015 by Leave a Comment
“The digital economy is simply becoming the economy. And the future network infrastructure, 5G, will become the infrastructure”. These words came from Günther Oettinger, the European Union Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, and they were spelled in Barcelona, during Mobile World Congress, 2015 last week. Those words stood for Mr. Oettinger’s introduction for the […]Mobile World Congress 2015 first to debate EU’s new stance on Net Neutrality and Roaming Charges
March 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Did you really think that Christmas 2015 would be the perfect chance to travel abroad in Europe, do your shopping in London or Paris and call your folks back home for wishes at zero roaming cost? More so, did you really think that Christmas 2015 would be the perfect chance for you to Skype with your pal without […]“Be aware where you put your I Agree signature on and something else”; now Facebook by default opts you in an unseen private data bazar
February 6, 2015 by 2 Comments
When was the last time you installed an application or software in your mobile, tablet or computer? I bet it was quite recently; yesterday or even a couple of hours ago. Do you remember the smooth popup text box that appears in your screen before the installation of your new widget begins? You know, it’s […]“As German Chancellor I want to be able to cope with the merger of the real and digital economy”, Angela Merkel from Switzerland; the Sting reports live from World Economic Forum 2015 in Davos
January 30, 2015 by Leave a Comment
At the second day of the World Economic Forum 2015 in Davos the world was expecting the German Chancellor, Mrs Angela Merkel, in one of the most awaited sessions, titled “Global responsibilities in a digital age”. Mrs Merkel’s speech was warm and stimulating covering the hot issues of the European political agenda. To a disappointment […]
