Mark Bridge writes:

Last week I spotted a couple of mobile-related news stories that involved payment company MasterCard. One came from CPI Card Group, which had introduced a “next-generation, MasterCard-approved payment tag” (a.k.a. 'sticker') that enabled “any mobile device to be used to make payments anywhere using the worldwide contactless MasterCard PayPass standard” (by sticking it on the back).

Mark Bridge writes:

I loved the film WarGames. I saw it in the cinema when it came out… and developed a minor crush on Ally Sheedy as a result. If you don’t remember the film – or haven’t seen it – the plot centres on a young computer hacker who almost starts World War III while playing an illicit online game of Global Thermonuclear War with a military computer.

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s time to take sides. Are you with Apple… or are you against them?  Sorry, sitting on the fence is no longer acceptable. Not sure?  Okay, try this one for size. Are you with Google… or are you against them?  Still undecided?

Right – here’s your third choice. Are you with the Rebel Alliance? 

Mark Bridge writes:

It's not often that a news story about the Apple iPhone prompts me to remember a bible verse... but this week was an exception.

The story was in The Washington Post and it was headlined 'Apple's iPhone does well without being the best'. “Very true,” I thought, as I remembered something similar I'd written last summer.

Mark Bridge writes:

Welcome to the Carnival of the Mobilists #224. If you’re a regular visitor to The Fonecast and have no idea what the Carnival is, this is a summary of the week’s best blogging about all things mobile. It travels the internet, alighting at a different mobile-related website every week.

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return to review their mobile industry predictions from last year. Which mergers, partnerships and developments did they forecast correctly... and which didn’t work out as planned?

Later in the programme, the team anticipates some of the topics that will be hitting the headlines during 2016.

Mark Bridge learns about the mobile technology trends at Mobile World Congress 2015 by chatting to James Rosewell of 51Degrees, Dr Kevin Curran from the IEEE and Chris Millington of Doro.

They talk about wearable devices, wireless charging, mobile operating systems and much more... including some of their favourite products from the exhibition.

We're taking a look back at the biggest mobile industry news stories from February 2015, including allegations that the UK's security service tried to breach SIM card security by hacking into one of the world's biggest SIM producers.

We also talk about the planned BT and EE merger, the creation of two new UK virtual networks, some acquisitions in the mobile payment arena and a new Ubuntu smartphone.

In today's programme Mark Bridge talks to Chris Millington, who's Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland.

They discuss the state of mobile retailing in the UK, the future of wearable devices and - as you might expect - smartphones for seniors.

We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

We also discuss Apple's record-breaking quarterly figures, the highlights of CES and the launch of Microsoft Windows 10, as well as saying farewell to the current version of Google Glass.