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.

Mark Bridge writes:

I open the iPhone 6 box and discover a phone that feels substantial. Well engineered. Practical. Despite being just 6.9mm deep, it doesn't seem unreasonably delicate.

Mark Bridge writes:

In the past five years, what started as an advertising message - “there’s an app for that” - has become a challenge to developers. It’s become part of 21st century culture. And it’s become an totem for journalists to pin their most outrageous app-based stories to.

Roadroid doesn’t need the attention-grabbing headlines.

Mark Bridge writes:

Every week we produce a half-hour podcast that covers all the biggest news headlines for the UK mobile phone industry.

Thanks to a special offer from Scribie.com, we can also offer a transcription of last week’s programme.

Mark Bridge writes:

Apple kicked off its 2014 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) last week with an announcement about the forthcoming iOS 8 operating system for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. There was some catching up, some innovation and a couple of new services designed to work with home automation and health/fitness devices. What’s Tim Cook’s plan? We’ll have to wait and see.

Mark Bridge writes:

Recent figures released by ABI Research have prompted the market intelligence company to ask whether Google is losing control of the Android ecosystem.

At first glance, Android dominated smartphone shipments for the final quarter of 2013. ABI Research says 77% of the 287 million smartphones shipped in Q4 2013 were running Android.

James Rosewell and Mark Bridge report from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, with Iain Graham joining them from the UK. They discuss the week's mobile industry headlines, talk about Google's plans for the future and interview John Herrema from Good Technology.

James Rosewell and Mark Bridge report from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where they talk about the launch of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, discuss the movement behind mobile payments and interview Amir Kupervas, CEO of Else Mobile.

Iain, James and Mark take their regular look at the latest mobile industry headlines. This week there's talk about Symbian, a possible delay to the Orange/T-Mobile merger, mobile phone components that rely on quantum physics... and plenty more.

This week's news headlines include Apple's 3G iPad, a handful of quarterly results, loads of free calls, thousands of new jobs and millions of text messages. Plus there's a look at how to boost your mobile signal at home with Vodafone's Sure Signal femtocell.

This week we talk to a couple of telecoms recruiters about the current state of the jobs market. And there's also our regular look at mobile industry news from the last seven days... from Nokia's free maps and Truphone's MVNO to Versace's new handset.