Samsung has announced that it’s the first smartphone provider accredited for joyn ‘Blackbird’.

Blackbird is the latest version of the GSMA’s joyn service, which was launched in 2012.

Office stationery retailer Staples and mobile card payment provider payleven have set up a distribution agreement that’ll see the payleven Chip & PIN card reader made available in all Staples stores across the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

payleven offers a Chip & PIN card reader that can be used via Bluetooth with an Apple or Android smartphone. Businesses simply pay a 2.75% transaction fee whenever they use payleven to process a credit or debit card payment.

Consumers think mobile video calling services provided by mobile network operators would be better than those provided by third-party ‘over the top’ providers.

That’s according to a survey commissioned by telecoms software specialist OpenCloud and carried out by YouGov across the UK, France, Germany and the USA.

Vodafone is enabling customers to add loyalty cards and membership cards to its ‘mobile wallet’ app.

Although the application hasn’t yet been launched in the UK, it’s already available in a number of European countries.

Figures from Ofcom’s latest European Broadband Scorecard show that the UK leads the EU’s five biggest economies when it comes to mobile broadband coverage, mobile broadband take-up, mobile broadband choice and general internet usage.

The comparison rated the UK against the other countries in the ‘EU5’: France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Mark Bridge writes:

I was on the radio for a few minutes this morning. Nick Ferrari on LBC 97.3 FM was talking to me about a recent survey that noted a rise in blood pressure when people received calls on their mobile phones. As I waited to go on-air, a producer asked me what I thought. “Storm in a teacup”, I said. Well, it seemed better than “Makes my blood boil”.

Michael Scaturro of voanews.com writes:

A team of Americans and Kenyans has developed a new Internet router - and it's creating buzz. That's because it is an affordable, reliable solution for people without consistent Internet access. It can run while plugged in or on battery power, jump between networks at will, and become a mobile hotspot for multiple devices. The team presented the device - called the Brck [pronounced Brick] - at the Re:publica tech conference in Berlin.

Mark Bridge writes:

Nokia has had a busy few days. First came the Asha 501, a ‘smartphone lite’ that introduced developers to a new version of the company’s Asha platform. This was followed by the Lumia 928, which is a Windows Phone 8 handset exclusive to Verizon Wireless in the USA. It’s quite like the Nokia 920, so we’re not missing out too much.

Joe DeCapua of voanews.com writes:

Mobile phone use in Africa has spread far, wide and fast. By the end of last year, it was estimated that 70 percent of the population would have a mobile phone. Now, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says it’s using the technology to save lives.

Kate Woodsome of voanews.com writes:

When Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, died in 1922, the sound of his voice was lost to all but who knew him. Until now.

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.