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.

By incorporating advanced algorithms and machine learning capabilities, AI can help to optimize a smartphone's performance, providing users with a faster, more efficient and user-friendly experience.

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.

Here’s an edited transcript of our new monthly podcast, broadcast on 30th January 2015.

[Iain Graham]: Hello, it's Friday 30th January 2015. Welcome to this month's edition of The Fonecast. That’s right, you heard correctly: we’ve temporarily moved to a monthly format. If you’d like to join 51Degrees in sponsoring the podcast and returning us to weekly programmes, please get in touch via our website. Now, on with the show.

Mark Bridge writes:

If you listen to this week’s edition of The Fonecast - in which we predict what’ll be happening in the mobile telecoms industry during 2015 - you’ll hear James Rosewell say that BlackBerry’s handset business is doomed. Well, actually that’s not quite true.

Mark Bridge writes:

I open the iPhone 6 box and discover a phone that feels substantial. Well engineered. Practical. Despite being just 6.9mm deep, it doesn't seem unreasonably delicate.

A review of the Nokia 7373 and Sony Ericsson K810i, all the news plus "Are we all swapping Pink for Prada?". There's also a look at Lyric EMI and Ascendo Photos for Blackberry.

The team discuss the changes taking place on the UK high street with 02 pulling out of Phones 4U. Has the Market matured? We also review the Samsung F700 and the HP iPAQ 514, plus Ghost Rider + VolumeCare Pro software for your mobile.

The team look at the cash back crisis impacting the mobile industry, plus review the BlackBerry 8800 and Nokia E90 Communicator. 2 new pieces of software with Andy McNab's Enigma Force and Quickoffice Premier v4.

This week the team look at all the latest news from GSM world, review 2 new phones from Nokia and Sony Ericsson the 8800 and W880i. We also look at smart2go and The Bird - Evil has Wings.

The week the team take a look at the D840 from Samsung and the V3xx from Motorola. They also debate the evolution of VoIP for mobile over the past 6 months, as well as review the latest news from the past 7 days. This weeks software review includes Sonic the Hedgehog and amaZe advertising support GPS navigation software.