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:

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?

The number of mobile malware infections increased by 17% during the first six months of 2014, which is almost double the rate seen in 2013.

It mirrors a similar infection rate in residential fixed-line networks, from a 9% increase in December 2013 to 18% at the end of June 2014.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has spoken to the Wall Street Journal following the ‘photo hacking’ revelations that surfaced last weekend.

Personal photos that claimed to be of over 100 celebrities were posted on image sharing website 4Chan, with a number of the famous victims confirming their pictures had been stolen and uploaded.

Microsoft has unveiled three new Lumia-branded Windows Phone handsets and a forthcoming software update at the IFA electronics show.

The Microsoft Lumia 830, Lumia 735 and Lumia 730 will all run Windows Phone v8.1.

Sony has announced a collection of new devices at the IFA consumer electronics show.

The Sony Xperia Z3 has a 5.2-inch display and a 20.7 megapixel camera. There’s also a smaller version, the Z3 Compact.

UK-based smartphone producer KAZAM says it’s working with Microsoft to develop a range of devices powered by the Windows Phone 8.1 operating system.

It already offers feature phones and Android-based devices.