Telecoms comparison site Cable.co.uk has looked at the cost of using 1GB of mobile data in 230 countries, analysing over 6,000 mobile data plans. It says Israel is the cheapest country for mobile data, with the UK in 78th place.

Israeli telecoms company Accel Telecom has launched what it’s described as the ‘first standalone connected car smartphone’ at Mobile World Congress.

The company’s VOYAGER device can be installed in any car and requires its own SIM card, enabling it to be used with an existing phone number on networks that offer ‘multi-SIM’ working.

Mark Bridge writes:

Advertising is already personal. Browse online for certain products and services – perhaps a new camera, a car hire deal or a pair of jeans – and you’ll see the same items advertised when you visit other web sites.

Marketing technology company Pontis, based in the high-tech industrial zone of Ra'anana in central Israel, has a much more focussed perspective. It talks about a segment-of-one marketing approach… and it’s just started working with O2 in the UK.

CellEra, an Israeli company that is developing platinum-free fuel cell technology, has announced a $9.2 million investment round led by Vodafone Ventures and Carmel Ventures.

Vodafone Ventures is the global venture capital arm of Vodafone Group.

Mark Bridge writes:

Almost everyone in the mobile telecoms industry seems to be looking for a perfect payment system that'll transform their mobile phone into some kind of electronic wallet. Yet despite many trial schemes – and a few commercial launches – cards and cash are still favoured by consumers and retailers in much of the world.

MEF, the global trade association for companies engaged in mobile content and commerce, has revealed its mobile industry predictions for the next 12 months.

Its forecast combines insights from the group’s Global Board of Directors with research from the recent Global Mobile Consumer Survey.

Macario Namie writes:

As the connected car phenomenon gains pace, 2014 will see global automotive firms embracing LTE. Machina Research predicts 90% of cars sold in 2020 will have some form of embedded connectivity – that connectivity roll-out continues strong in 2014 and LTE is pivotal to its long-term success.

Mark Bridge writes:

HTC experienced a bit of Christmas cheer last week when the threat of a sales injunction against the HTC One mini smartphone and a number of other devices was lifted. Nokia had previously won a patent-related court case against HTC but it seems that a sales ban was deemed too harsh a penalty.

Jürgen Hase writes:

Machine-to-machine communication (M2M) and the Internet of Things (IoT) run through all areas of life and work. Cars, cargo containers, parking spaces or even wristwatches and coffee cups – everything around us is on the verge of being connected.

Mark Bridge writes:

It was a relatively quiet time for tech news last week, with many companies taking a day off to celebrate Thanksgiving in the USA and then planning for a present-buying retail frenzy on ‘Black Friday’. Today the focus on Christmas shopping moves online; a day that’s called either ‘Cyber Monday’ or ‘Mega Monday’ if you work for a news organisation.

Yet it wasn’t an entirely newsless week.

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.