The European Parliament has moved closer to mandating the installation of an emergency call system in all new cars and smaller commercial vehicles.

Earlier this week MEPs voted to require all new car models to have its eCall system installed from 31st March 2018. They’d originally hoped to mandate eCall from 2015.

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%.

We listen to the European Commission's eCall announcement by Neelie Kroes. It marks the start of the EC's planned introduction of in-car emergency call technology by 2015.

The European Commission has adopted a recommendation urging its member states to ensure their mobile networks are ready for eCall devices.

It wants all new cars produced from 2015 to contain an eCall device that’ll automatically call the 112 pan-European emergency number if there’s a serious accident. The in-car eCall device would pass the vehicle's location to the emergency services but wouldn’t track the user’s location until activated.

Mark Windle, head of marketing at OpenCloud, predicts that this year’s reduction in the number of traditional telecoms operators in some countries will provide an opportunity for other operators to innovate and capture market share in 2016.

He says next year will be a year of rapid change for telecoms… whether it’s MVNO disruption, competitive tariff pricing or simply defence from the ‘dark art’ of hacking.

Mark Bridge writes:

The most memorable moments in life often go unrecorded. You don't have your camera in your hands. Your finger is still hovering over the 'pause' button on your audio recorder. Or you were simply too busy experiencing whatever was happening. It's all about the one that got away.

That's where Kapture can help.

Mark Bridge writes:

James Rosewell shows me a colourful roll of paper that's the width of an iPhone but well over three metres long. When I look closer, I can see it's a printed copy of the Wall Street Journal's mobile website. That's a lot of scrolling to do... and a pretty unfriendly user experience for anyone reading the news online. Why does it work so badly?

The Toshiba Portege G900 smartphone is reviewed, we interview new Extreme Mobile MD John McFarnon, Ian White from Mobile News talks about customer service, we play with Flexis Extreme and we discuss the week’s industry news headlines.

10 things you need to know about the Apple iPhone, an exclusive interview with Unique Distribution's new CEO, industry news and gossip, Ian White's outspoken opinion and a review of the 'phoneAlarm' utility program.

What's happening at Truphone? We talk to the company’s CEO, James Tagg. Ian White tells us about "poaching", and the team review the latest news and views from around the industry, plus review the Sony Ericsson W910i and Spybot Search & Destroy.

The team are joined by Faisal Sheikh of Fone Doctors and Ian White of Mobile News to discuss T-Mobile's rumoured exit from the dealer channel, 3G for all, as well as the rest of the weeks news. They review the O2 Cocoon and debate "Is the mobile internet finally ready for consumers?", and Theme-DIY to customise Nokia series 60s.

The team review the HTC Touch an iPhone contender, debate the question "Are customers getting the mobile services they want?", bring you the latest news and find time to review "Kojak - Detective Puzzles".