Apple has launched 'Self Service Repair' in the USA, enabling consumers to obtain repair manuals, Apple parts and tools from an official Repair Store. The service will be expanded into additional countries later this year.

Apple has announced a new version of its mid-range iPhone SE. It's the third model in the 'SE' family and will be available from 18th May 2022.

Former smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry has agreed a deal to sell its 'legacy' patents for $600 million. The company, which became a security software business when it moved away from smartphones, says it'll keep patents that are essential to its current business.

US-based tech company Apple has become the first business to reach a $3 trillion valuation on the stock market. Its shares reached a value of $182.88 each on Monday 3rd; that's around a 5,800% increase since the unveiling of the first-ever Apple iPhone in 2007.

Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Xiaomi has been removed from the US government’s blacklist of businesses with alleged links with the Chinese military.

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?

Iain Graham visits Faisal Sheikh of London-based Fone Doctors in today's audio feature.

They talk about the recent Fone Doctors relocation to new offices near London Bridge and Faisal's plans for a franchise outlet at Liverpool Street station before moving on to discuss training, customer service, the rise of the tablet and the demise of customer service.

This week's mobile industry news podcast starts with two very different stories from Nokia and Microsoft: one is announcing closures, the other is expanding its manufacturing.

We also find time to talk about roaming tariffs, mobile money, intelligent vending machines and a handful of recent mobile-related acquisitions.

In this week's mobile industry news podcast we're looking at Apple's new mobile operating system, Vodafone's money-saving European tariff and Microsoft's plans to expand the reach of its Xbox gaming console.

There's also talk about network sharing, legal battles, mobile apps, mobile payments and mobile retailing.

James Rosewell reports from Over The Air 2012 in today's podcast.

The event, which took place on 1st and 2nd June 2012 at Bletchley Park, attracted around 600 mobile developers and designers to celebrate all things mobile.

We're taking a break from the current mobile industry news headlines this Diamond Jubilee week. In fact, we're celebrating our own anniversary because it's six years since we first started recording The Fonecast.

Listen to this week's podcast and we'll take you back to 2006, a year in which 'mobile music' meant ringtones, the Nokia N95 redefined 'smart' and we reported rumours of a new Apple 'iPod phone' being prepared by Foxconn.