App research specialist VisionMobile has published the latest version of its Developer Economics report, providing insights into mobile application development worldwide.

It estimates that 2.3 million people were mobile app developers in 2013, with 760,000 (32.9%) of them living in Asia and 680,000 (29.7%) in Europe.

HTML5 is often described as the shape of things to come; sometimes as the future of the web and sometimes as the nemesis of native mobile applications.

But exactly what is 'HTML 5' - and what does it mean to the mobile industry?

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s claimed there’s recently been some dodgy equine activity in the mobile industry. No, I’m not talking about the dancing pony that promoted Three UK. I’m not even making lasagne jokes. I’m talking about the ‘Trojan horse’ threatening to monopolise the mobile marketplace.

There’ll be 1.4 billion mobile devices with HTML5-compatible web browsers at the end of this year, according to a new forecast from ABI Research.

That would represent an annual increase of 87%.

Nokia has rebranded its mapping and location business as HERE, describing it as “the first location cloud to deliver the world’s best maps and location experiences across multiple screens and operating systems”.

One of the first HERE products for non-Nokia devices will be a free HTML5-based maps application for iOS, which is expected to be available in the next few weeks.

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?

There's something of a retail focus in this week's mobile industry headlines, with joint-branded stores, mobile shopping, subsidised iPads and a stand-alone Tesco Phone Shop all being discussed. There's also talk about Symbian, Windows Phone 7 and angels with mobile phones.

The team looks at the UK's latest mobile industry headlines, from mobile money to apps, fraud, network quality, partnerships and advertising. There's also an interview with BroadSoft's vice president of Marketing about the company's move into mobile and its plans for the future.

This week's podcast includes more big news from Facebook, the introduction of IPv6, network sharing, call recording, fraud, legal action and an unusual upgrade offer. In addition, James Rosewell talks to Sophia Salenius, CEO of mHealth provider RegPoint, to learn more about this wide-ranging subject.

Dr Peter Gradwell talks about his company's new virtual mobile network, which puts fixed-line numbers on mobile phones. And, as usual, there's a look at the week's other industry headlines - including big stories from Nokia, Symbian and Facebook.

In this week's podcast we discuss protests at Vodafone stores, Apple's appearance in the 'top five' manufacturer list, new legal action and an underground WiFi trial. We also talk to MoBank co-founder Steve Townend about the changes his business has seen since launching last year.