A new research report from Berg Insight says the market for mobile machine-to-machine (M2M) communications has begun to move from the 2G to 3G and 4G technologies.

Although cellular M2M devices on HSPA and LTE networks are expected to account for under 20% of the global market by the end of 2014, they’re forecast to dominate with more than 50% by 2018. Meanwhile, shipments of 3G/4G M2M devices are expected to overtake 2G M2M in 2017.

Long-established watch brand Timex has announced its first smartwatch: the Timex Ironman One GPS+.

It’s a fitness-focussed wearable device that offers connectivity via its own SIM card instead of relying on a Bluetooth connection to a nearby smartphone.

Last year AT&T, T‑Mobile and Verizon rolled out their Isis mobile payment service across the USA.

However, recent international news headlines have used the acronym ISIS to refer to a group of fighters in Syria and Iraq.

Online retailer Amazon has announced its first smartphone.

The new device is simply known as Fire - the same branding used to differentiate the company’s multimedia tablets - and will launch next week on the AT&T network in the USA. There is no news about UK availability.

After three years at the top of the Millward Brown BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Brands chart, Apple has lost the number 1 position to Google.

Apple slipped to second place in 2014, whilst IBM remained in third.

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?

We start this week's podcast with Ofcom's announcement that it's clarifying the rules for fixed-term mobile phone contracts.

There's also a new curved smartphone from LG, accusations about a mobile security company, information about mobile phone thefts, a report into the UK's communications infrastructure and some quarterly results figures.

M-commerce and mobile payments are terms that can mean several different things.

In this special podcast we learn more about the subject by talking to Tim Green, editor-in-chief of Mobile Money Revolution.

HTML5 is often described as the shape of things to come; sometimes as the future of the web and sometimes as the nemesis of native mobile applications.

But exactly what is 'HTML 5' - and what does it mean to the mobile industry?

There's plenty of product news in this week's podcast, with a new Apple iPad and new tablets from Nokia and Argos as well.

We also talk about HMV's battle with the Apple App Store, new 4G tariffs from Tesco Mobile, Samsung's patent proposals and a complaint about coverage maps.

If you've created a mobile application, you'll want people to download it, use it and tell their friends. But how can you ensure that as many people as possible know about your app?

Today's podcast is designed to help with some of the answers. It was recorded in London at the very first App Promotion Summit earlier this year.