Mobile payment business Boku has acquired carrier billing specialist mopay.

The deal makes Boku the largest standalone provider of carrier billing-based mobile payment services in the world, with a combined customer base that includes Electronic Arts, Facebook, Gameloft, Sony, Spotify and Valve.

Online payment provider mopay has announced a carrier billing partnership with Telefónica, giving it direct access to the BlueVia billing platform.

It’ll improve the customer experience when consumers use mopay to buy digital goods and services that are charged to their phone bill.

Online payment specialist mopay has introduced a new service that lets customers charge web site purchases to their mobile phone account with a single click.

The new process is currently being offered via Telefonica and Vodafone in Germany.

Customers who’ve bought goods and services by adding the charge to their mobile phone bill tend to make further mobile purchases, according to a new study by payment provider mopay.

The company analysed information from 300 of its clients, accounting for more than four million mobile transactions in over 80 countries during the past three years.

Mobile payment solution provider mopay has announced a global partnership with Fon, which describes itself as the world's largest WiFi network.

Fon is enabling mopay mobile payments, making it easier for smartphone and tablet users to pay for access to a Fon hotspot. Customers will be able to get WiFi access simply by providing their mobile phone number and adding the Fon cost to their mobile account.

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?

James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return from their summer break with a podcast full of smartphones and smart watches.

As well as products from Samsung, Sony, Microsoft, Motorola, HTC and Kazam, there's talk of Opera's new browser deal, a potential change on the UK high street... and a mobile app that connects to a Bluetooth toothbrush for improved toothpaste coverage.

Mark Bridge takes an in-depth look at the CAT B100 rugged phone from Bullitt Mobile.

The CAT B100 is designed to withstand rather more than everyday bumps and knocks - which is why Mark drops his mobile phone on the pavement, submerges it in his washing-up bowl and shuts it in the freezer.

We start this week's podcast with news that thousands of Microsoft's ex-Nokia employees are losing their jobs.

Other topics for discussion include the new Apple and IBM partnership, Yahoo's acquisition of Flurry, regulating mobile games, improving rural mobile coverage, BT's new phone service and some management movements.

In this podcast Mark Bridge talks to Florent Stroppa from mobile value-added service specialist OnMobile about the state of the mobile industry in 2014.

They discuss the dominance of Apple and Samsung, network consolidation, the new Amazon Fire smartphone, smart wearables and much more.

This week's mobile industry podcast begins with a quick look at the UK government's emergency legislation affecting fixed-line, mobile phone and broadband traffic.

We then talk about Microsoft's plans, a new virtual network from the Post Office, Samsung's renamed app store, budget 4G smartphones, a wearable phone for children and some misleading advertising.