Bedfordshire Police have issued a statement warning mobile phone users that calling 999 won’t charge their mobile phones.

Operators answering emergency calls in the force control room have also received calls from people who believed that ringing 999 and then hanging up would boost their battery life. This ‘urban myth’ has been circulating for several months.

Mark Bridge writes:

No prizes for guessing which two mobile tech stories grabbed most of the headlines last week. Tuesday morning saw Nokia’s much-rumoured tablet and phablet launches, with a Windows RT device and two 6-inch smartphones joining the company’s product portfolio.

Around 10,000 phones are stolen every month in London, according to the Metropolitan Police, with iPhones accounting for approximately half of all these handsets.

In total, about 50% of personal robbery offences and almost 80% of ‘theft from the person’ offences in the capital involve mobile phones.

EE - the mobile network run by Everything Everywhere Ltd - and research company Ipsos MORI have both defended their privacy policies following a Sunday Times report.

The report, which was headlined “Secrets of 27m mobile phones offered to police”, said location data and other information about millions of EE mobile phone customers had been offered for sale to the Metropolitan Police.

A new advertising campaign from the Metropolitan Police is warning people to appreciate the value of their possessions and to protect them from the risk of street robbery.

Radio advertisements and posters are reminding Londoners to protect mobile phones, tablets, jewellery and cash - although it’s phones that are the favourite target for thieves.

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 Iain and Mark look at mobile industry headlines from the last 7 days and interview Paul Smith about the cashback problems that hit Mobile Media Systems - the owner of Phoneboxdirect. They also review the Sony Ericsson W960i: an 8GB music-playing touch-screen handset.

Download this week's free podcast from TheFonecast.com to discover the mobile industry news headlines from the last seven days, including an assortment of closures, takeovers, departures and developments. The Fonecast team also reviews the new 3G-equipped Nokia 8800 Arte.

This week The Fonecast interviews Russell Raynor from Mobile Business Solutions about the problems of being a dealer, we chat to Faisal Sheikh about unlocking the Apple iPhone, we look at the week's industry headlines and we review the BlackBerry Pearl 8120.

This week Iain talks to John George from JAG about his company's recent expansion. Iain, Mark and James also discuss the week's industry headlines - including the latest iPhone and gPhone stories - and look at the new 5-megapixel Samsung G800.

We review the 3 USB modem, talk to Crispin Thomas from TMTI and Stuart Turner from Fonesure - and discuss the week's mobile industry headlines.