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.

Mark Bridge writes:

So, that’s it. Today’s the day Adobe Flash Player - the preferred video player for many web sites - leaves the Google Play store.

Mark Bridge writes:

Happy New Year and welcome to the travelling circus better known as the Carnival of the Mobilists. If you’re looking for the best mobile-related blog posts from the past couple of weeks, you’ve come to the right place. (If you’re wondering about the name of Beyonce’s baby, you need to try somewhere else).

Mark Bridge writes:

Flash is dead, HTML5 is the future. Okay, the next stage in the evolution of the mobile browser isn’t that clear – but a restructure at Adobe has pretty much marked the end of mobile Flash development.

Mark Bridge writes:

Mark Zuckerberg's girlfriend breaks up with him acrimoniously. So off he goes and creates Facebook. Yes, there's nothing like an insult to fire up the creativity. Well, that's certainly what the plot of The Social Network would like you to think.

And, you know, it's got a point. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that sticking two fingers up at the opposition seems to be the new way of doing business.

This week in a double length episode the team provide top tips for 2007, review the W950i and Motorokr 6 plus take a look at the latest news as well as reviewing mobile software Zuma and Flurry.

This week the guys review a smart new phone from Emblaze, take a look at Nokias new offerings, provide advice on Christmas mobile related presents and review GP Bikes 3D and Mobiola WebCam software.

This week the team ask "What's happening at 3?", review the Samsung Z560 and the T-Mobile Sidekick 3. Plus take a look at Opera Mini v2, Sherlock Holmes game and comment on the latest news stories.

This week along side the usual news on the mobile industry the team look at the X-Series from 3, the new chocolate phone from LG, debate the future of mobile advertising and look at an address book backup service from ZYB.com and have a bit of fun with Diner Dash.

This week the team debate the launch date and iPod functionality of Apples forthcoming iPhone, review the Sony Ericsson Z558i with touch screen, take a look at the credit card sized P310 from Samsung and some new software that transfers DVDs to your mobile in 2 clicks, plus South Park has come to the mobile in the form of an interactive game.