It's time for another news-packed mobile industry podcast from TheFonecast.com, starting with the European Parliament's latest ruling on in-car emergency communication.

After that we're talking about Microsoft's departure from the Nook eBook business, Three UK's 4G growth, Acer's tablet-sized phone, EE's rural coverage solution and some interesting new research about mobile-enabled customer service.

The European Parliament has moved closer to mandating the installation of an emergency call system in all new cars and smaller commercial vehicles.

Earlier this week MEPs voted to require all new car models to have its eCall system installed from 31st March 2018. They’d originally hoped to mandate eCall from 2015.

In this week's podcast we begin with more news about Phones 4u, as Carphone Warehouse steps in to help iPhone 6 buyers.

We also talk about problems at Apple, a brand new handset from BlackBerry, mobile payments, phones on planes and a device that promises to stop people from texting while driving.

Last November, the European Aviation Safety Agency announced plans to permit the use of mobile phones and other personal electronic devices in ‘Flight Mode’ during taxiing, take-off and landing as well as throughout commercial flights.

It’s now introduced new rules that allow these electronic devices - including tablets, smartphones, eBook readers and mp3 players - to be used in their regular ‘connected’ mode when on an aircraft.

Mark Bridge writes:

“Take some responsibility for your own actions”. There’s probably not a parent in the world who hasn’t said or thought something similar. But that’s not the message coming from regulators in the USA.

We’ve laughed in the past about coffee cups from the United States that warn about the coffee they contain. Now there seems to be a similar movement against mobile phones that connect to the internet.

This is a guest post from BusinessInsider.com written by Gregor Schauer, who has worked in tech in Silicon Valley since 2000. Gregor has also recently spent two years in equity research at JMP Securities and Jefferies, covering the internet sector and enterprise software.

Anthony Keyworth, Orange UK’s Director of Product Marketing, has been gazing into his crystal ball to predict which business-focussed mobile applications could change the ways we work in the next five years.

His top four future developments, published under the heading “The next frontier for mobile business applications”, are:

Mark Bridge writes:

No-one really likes an anticlimax. That was my biggest complaint about the launch of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7. Plenty of potential, a nice new interface – but nothing much that wasn’t being done elsewhere.

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s not just me, is it?  The mobile industry really has gone a bit litigation crazy.

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return to review their mobile industry predictions from last year. Which mergers, partnerships and developments did they forecast correctly... and which didn’t work out as planned?

Later in the programme, the team anticipates some of the topics that will be hitting the headlines during 2016.

Mark Bridge learns about the mobile technology trends at Mobile World Congress 2015 by chatting to James Rosewell of 51Degrees, Dr Kevin Curran from the IEEE and Chris Millington of Doro.

They talk about wearable devices, wireless charging, mobile operating systems and much more... including some of their favourite products from the exhibition.

We're taking a look back at the biggest mobile industry news stories from February 2015, including allegations that the UK's security service tried to breach SIM card security by hacking into one of the world's biggest SIM producers.

We also talk about the planned BT and EE merger, the creation of two new UK virtual networks, some acquisitions in the mobile payment arena and a new Ubuntu smartphone.

In today's programme Mark Bridge talks to Chris Millington, who's Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland.

They discuss the state of mobile retailing in the UK, the future of wearable devices and - as you might expect - smartphones for seniors.

We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

We also discuss Apple's record-breaking quarterly figures, the highlights of CES and the launch of Microsoft Windows 10, as well as saying farewell to the current version of Google Glass.