New rules from UK telecoms regulator Ofcom will protect customers when they use their mobile phone on a foreign network. In addition, customers will be alerted if they are inadvertently roaming, perhaps because they're near an international border.

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?

This week we're talking to Bob Sweetlove of distributor HSC about the company's recent Mobile News Award for 'best airtime distributor'. And, as usual, we look at the latest industry headlines, from the BlackBerry PlayBook to mobile payments.

It's been a week of acquisition announcements, with T-Mobile USA, Phones 4U and Snaptu all apparently changing hands. The team also talks about Ofcom's 4G auction plans, Android legal action, the Mobile News Awards... and much more.

Iain, James and Mark look at the week's mobile news headlines, from Ofcom cutting termination rates to Opera launching its own application store... and they also hear how an unusual ringtone resulted in a criminal gang being apprehended.

In this week's podcast we discuss the iPad 2, data restrictions, mobile radio, mobile viruses and mobile tickets. In addition, Leslie Ferry of Broadsoft talks about IP communications... and Iain Graham raps. Yes, really.

There's a focus on mobile payments in this week's podcast, with a look back at Mobile World Congress and a conversation with Mary Carol Harris of Visa Europe. The team also takes its regular review of the week's headlines, including Vodafone's network problems and a hiccup with Microsoft's Windows Phone update.