UK telecoms regulator Ofcom wants to ban inflation-related rises in phone and broadband contracts. Instead, it says any potential mid-contract price rises should be set out in pounds and pence.

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.

Faiza Elmasry of voanews.com writes:

Imagine shopping for clothes online and being able to run your hand across the screen on your computer or smartphone to feel the fabrics. That kind of simulation technology could be available within the next five years.

Mark Bridge writes:

In the world of retail, you can’t move for Hallowe’en puns at the moment. You know the kind of thing. Spooky offers. Frighteningly low prices. Missing our deals will haunt you. There’s not the ghost of a chance we’ll shift these PlayBooks unless we cut the price.

Mark Bridge writes:

Imagine a mobile phone that can’t be built without the permission of Apple. Impossible?  Unrealistic?  Not necessarily.

This week, Apple was awarded US patent 7,966,578. It's an application that was originally filed at the end of 2007, almost a year after the iPhone was first revealed.

Mark Bridge writes:

I knew I’d seen it before. Towards the end of last week I read about a study from the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania that said it was pretty easy to identify passwords from smudges on touchscreen mobile phones.

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".