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?

Visa Europe and Wireless Dynamics have developed a mobile payment solution that’ll enable customers to use an iPhone for contactless payments.

It’s based on the Wireless Dynamics iCarte accessory, which will be supplied by participating banks and mobile operators.

Last year we reported on the creation of Facebook Places, a location-sharing service that allows users to 'check in' to places they visit.

Today Facebook has added to the service with the announcement of Facebook Deals in the UK.

Qype, which offers user-generated reviews and recommendations for locations across Europe, has just acquired its millionth member.

Those members have written more than 1.5 million public reviews covering places, events and experiences in 159,000 European towns and cities.

47% of mobile app users in the USA say they click on more mobile ads by mistake than they do deliberately, according to new research.

It suggests almost half of mobile ad spending is wasted.

Online professional network LinkedIn has acquired CardMunch, a young Californian company with an app to convert business cards into electronic contacts.

CardMunch had previously sold its iPhone app via the Apple App Store; a BlackBerry app is in development.