Mobile security business OnwardMobility has announced a deal to produce new Android-powered BlackBerry 5G smartphones in the first half of 2021. The devices will be manufactured by FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Foxconn.

BlackBerry has launched a new smartphone that’s designed as a potential upgrade for BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Curve users. The new BlackBerry Classic - which has a physical QWERTY keyboard and trackpad - promises 60% more screen space, a 50% longer battery life and a faster browser than the BlackBerry Bold 9900.

Specifications include a 3.5-inch touchscreen display, a 1.5GHz Qualcomm processor, 16GB of expandable storage, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera and an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera.

The 5-TILES touchscreen keyboard has been released as a beta version by ETAOI Systems today.

As the name suggests, it uses just five keyboard tiles to type the alphabet rather than 26. This makes it particularly well-suited to devices with small screens, such as smart watches, as well as conventional smartphones.

Apple has announced iOS 8, the new version of its operating system for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices.

Features include a ‘predictive text’ keyboard, enhanced photo editing and storage, video and photo sharing within the messages app, an iCloud Drive for file storage and a health app that provides an overview of personal data.

The Smart UK project is an annual government-supported competition looking for the UK's Most Innovative Mobile Company.

A few days ago, all 20 companies on the competition shortlist gave a short presentation to the Smart UK panel of judges. Afterwards, Mark Bridge spoke to some of the entrants to discover exactly what they had to offer - and how they planned to disrupt the mobile industry.

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?

In this week's podcast we find BlackBerry facing a legal battle, SMS spammers suffering a big fine and EE boosting its 4G data tariffs.

We're also talking about a new iPhone camera accessory from musician will.i.am, rich cross-network communications in Spain, free WiFi in Yorkshire and the year's most-popular mobile search terms.

This week's podcast starts with news that HP is unhappy - but we resist the temptation to include any saucy puns that might spice up the story.

The programme also covers Nokia's new Facebook-friendly phone, plans for white space technology in the UK, shopping on smartphones, Samsung's Chinese suppliers, the demand for mobile data and a new app from Orange that seems to threaten its mobile business.

There's plenty of talk about mobile networks in this week's podcast. We start with a new charity-focussed MVNO before moving on to Ofcom's plans for avoiding a mobile capacity crunch.

There's also talk about WiFi offloading, BlackBerry's free voice calling service, Nokia's map business and much more as well.

In this special feature we're talking about mobile marketing and consumer privacy with Henry Lawson, CEO and co-founder of nFluence.

nFluence offers a technology solution that lets customers use their smartphone to personalise their marketing preferences in less than 30 seconds.

The UK's 4G spectrum auctions are given a start date, while RIM reveals the launch day for its BlackBerry 10 platform.

This week's podcast also covers the patent deal between Apple and HTC, the departure of Windows Live Messenger, the success of the Samsung Galaxy SIII and some mobile payment innovation.