Telefónica - the parent company of O2 in the UK - and Dolby Laboratories have signed a global agreement that’ll see the two companies working together to drive the adoption of premium sound in smartphones.

As part of the deal, Telefonica will offer its customers “the best devices from leading handset manufacturers” with Dolby Audio technology.

Mark Bridge writes:

iPhone, iPhone. Two of ‘em, one dearer than the other but neither especially cheap. One with a 64-bit look-at-me-I’m-fast processor, the other much like an iPhone 5 with a coloured rear panel.

Dolby Laboratories has announced that company founder Dr Ray Dolby OBE died yesterday at the age of 80.

Dr Dolby, who is best known for his pioneering work with the noise reduction and surround sound systems that bear his name, founded Dolby Laboratories in 1965.

UK rapper Professor Green will be the official ambassador for ZTE in 2012, having originally partnered with the Chinese telecoms business last year.

The renewed partnership has seen Professor Green featured in the official unboxing video for ZTE’s new dual-core Grand X smartphone, which was launched this week.

This week’s podcast from The Fonecast starts with news from RIM and Samsung. The BlackBerry 10 platform is offered to developers, while the Galaxy SIII smartphone makes its official debut.

You can listen to the programme on our website audio player, via iTunes, by using our RSS feed or by downloading the MP3.

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're looking at the latest mobile industry news and talking to Chris Caudle from the Independent Mobile Phone Dealers Association about his organisation's plans to resolve cashback problems. There's also a quick review of the new Samsung G810 multimedia phone.

This week's edition of 'The Fonecast' visits the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with a special report from Mobile News online editor Mark Sennett. Iain Graham and Mark Bridge take their usual look at the latest mobile industry headlines - and there's a review of the forthcoming LG KF600 dual-screen phone.

This week's edition of 'The Fonecast' looks at all the latest mobile industry headlines, with a special focus on the proposed Microsoft & Yahoo! merger. We talk to Faisal Sheikh about faulty phones and also review the new Garmin nuvifone.

This week's edition of 'The Fonecast' investigates the recent boom in mobile broadband and USB modem sales by talking to the Commercial Product Manager for Hugh Symons Telecom. There's also a review of the Motorola MOTO U9 and the usual look at mobile industry headlines from the past 7 days.

This week the team look at the Nokia N82, talk to Adrian Foot of "The Phone Shop" about 3's connection policy, take a deeper look at unlocking and firmware upgrades, plus bring you the latest news and rumours.