BlackBerry is expanding its BBM Money mobile payment service to smartphones running Android and Apple iOS from early 2015.

It was launched in Indonesia last year, enabling customers to make real-time payments to any BBM contacts who have signed up to the service.

Mobile money specialist Monitise plc has changed its leadership structure, appointing Elizabeth Buse as co-CEO alongside current Chief Executive Alastair Lukies.

Ms Buse, who’d previously served on the Monitise board, stepped down from her role as Executive Vice President of Solutions for Visa earlier this year.

Indonesian financial institution PermataBank has joined forces with BlackBerry and mobile money specialist Monitise to launch BBM Money.

This pilot scheme will let customers set up a mobile money account from their BlackBerry smartphone and make real-time payments to any BBM contacts who have also signed up to the service.

In this week's podcast we're talking about mobile payments, NFC security threats, app developers, free WiFi, Ofcom complaints and much more.

Mobile commerce business Monitise plc has agreed to acquire US-based mobile banking company Clairmail Inc. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, values Clairmail at approximately £109 million.

Around 13 million end-users are currently served by the two businesses.

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:

I've been taking a look back at the devices I've written about during the past few years. Some are still faithful companions, others... well, let's just say my faith was misplaced.

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?

This week Iain and Mark take a deeper look at mobile security and crime, they review the massive 4GB N91 from Nokia and look at a a budget video phone from LG.

As well as a brief look at the News this week the gang look at both ends of the new handset spectrum with the QTek 8500 and the BenQ-Siemens E61. James Rosewell provides an overview of how to get music and video to your mobile from DVDs and CDs.

In The Fonecast this week, industry veteran Iain Graham and tech enthusiast Mark Bridge take a close look at the ultra-slim Samsung D900, they pore over the Nokia N73 smartphone and they evaluate a couple of new software downloads. In addition, application developer James Rosewell joins them for a revealing conversation about mobile blogging.

In The Fonecast this week, Iain Graham and Mark Bridge review the new Nokia N93 and Sony Ericsson W850i mobile phones, guest James Rosewell takes a look at competition from VoIP, HSDPA technology is demystified and a couple of new software downloads are evaluated.