Nokia has filed legal claims in the USA and Germany alleging that products from HTC, RIM and Viewsonic infringe a number of its patents.

The legal action includes a complaint to the US International Trade Commission against HTC, patent cases against HTC and Viewsonic in the USA, and court cases against all three companies in Germany.

In a couple of deals that echo Microsoft’s agreement with HTC in April 2010, the software giant has come to separate agreements with Acer and ViewSonic.

In Acer’s case, the two companies have “executed a patent license agreement that includes broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for Acer’s tablets and smartphones running the Android platform” - and with ViewSonic they’ve “signed a patent agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for ViewSonic’s tablets and mobile phones running the Android or Chrome Platform”.

HTC has bought a number of patent from Google in a bid to strengthen its legal case against Apple.

It’s amended its US International Trade Commission complaint, it’s amended a similar US legal case and has filed a new case as well.

ViewSonic Europe has announced a 'try for free' promotional offer that enables customers to return their ViewPad 7 tablet if they're not completely satisfied.

Dissatisfied customers are given 20 days to experience the 7-inch Android tablet; they then need to return the device within a 10-day window (i.e. within 30 days from the date on their invoice) for a full refund.

Mark Bridge and James Rosewell prepare for day four of Mobile World Congress with a 45-minute podcast that looks at recent developments involving the MeeGo and webOS mobile platforms. What’s the future for Intel and HP?

There’s also an interview with James Coulson,  European Marketing Manager at ViewSonic, and a chat about Motorola’s Xoom and Atrix devices as well.

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?

We begin this week's podcast with a discussion about the Heartbleed bug, the effect it's having on the mobile industry and the wider issues for all internet users.

We're also talking about the future of BlackBerry, UK 4G coverage, new CEOs, Bluetooth connectivity, privacy concerns and the next generation of mobile processors.

This week's podcast starts with news from Microsoft about an update to its Windows Phone platform and a cost-free OS offer to hardware manufacturers.

There's also a new flagship smartphone from Nokia, a roaming announcement from the European Parliament, a UK virtual mobile network from The Co-operative Group, a change at the top for Mozilla, retail expansion for Vodafone and an awkward end to BlackBerry's relationship with T-Mobile in the USA.

Acquisition announcements from Facebook and Intel are the first stories in this week's look at the latest UK mobile industry headlines.

They're followed by news about mobile payments, mobile banking, a phone with an invisible solar panel, customer complaints, low-cost 4G smartphones, productivity apps and an intriguing case of WhatsApp-itis.

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge are reunited for their regular weekly look at the latest UK mobile industry headlines.

Today they're talking about smart watches, an Apple iPhone announcement, the new HTC One M8, the closure of Ovivo Mobile, text spam, peer-to-peer messaging, government hacking and mergers.

Producing mobile phones for older customers requires much more than big buttons and a simple interface. At Mobile World Congress last month we spoke to two major players in this growing sector: Swedish company Doro and Austria's Emporia Telecom.

Our first conversation was with Harald Obereder, Chief Technology Officer at Emporia, who spoke to Mark Bridge about handset design and user interface design. This was followed by an interview with Chris Millington, Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland, about research and development in the 'senior tech' market.