Mobile payment business iZettle has launched its service in Mexico today and has appointed former Visa executive Luis Arceo as Managing Director of its Mexican operations.

It’s the first time iZettle has ben available outside Europe.

Samsung has put a 10x optical zoom lens on a smartphone, Google is acquiring navigation app Waze and the European Commission is getting ready to equip cars with an emergency call system.

We're also talking about a strike threat at O2, the risk of 'showrooming' to high-street retailers, the end of Symbian smartphones and plenty more as well.

A new report from Berg Insight shows that global sales of handsets equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology grew by 300% last year to 140 million units.

Annual device shipments are expected to reach 1 billion by 2017; a compound annual growth rate of 48.2%.

Mark Bridge writes:

The telecommunications industry was making plenty of headlines last week – but much of it wasn’t particularly upbeat.

The debate about privacy and security continued in the wake of allegations about US agents intercepting internet traffic. Meanwhile, Nokia prepared to make its last Symbian smartphones and Tradedoubler warned that mobile devices were having a negative effect on high-street consumer loyalty.

The European Commission has adopted two proposals that would ensure cars could automatically call the emergency services after a serious accident.

Its ‘eCall’ system automatically calls the 112 emergency number via a mobile connection and passes the vehicle’s location to the emergency services, potentially saving up to 2,500 lives a year and cutting response times by up to 50%.