Wireless communications trade organisation CTIA - The Wireless Association has named Meredith Attwell Baker as its new CEO.

She’ll replace Steve Largent, who is retiring after more than a decade in the role.

US-based mobile trade group CTIA-The Wireless Association says a national database for 3G and 4G smartphones is now in place.

It means that devices stolen within the USA can potentially be blocked from use even if they’re taken abroad.

CTIA-The Wireless Association, the US-based international wireless communications industry organisation, has announced its plans for a new annual mobile industry trade show from 2014.

The first of these shows, CTIA 2014, will take place at the Sands Expo Convention Centre in Las Vegas on 9th, 10th and 11th September next year.

Wireless communications trade organisation CTIA-The Wireless Association has found that mobile data usage exceeded 1.1 trillion MB from July 2011 to June 2012, a 104% increase from the previous 12 months.

There are now 321.7 million mobile connections in the USA, the equivalent of 101% mobile penetration.

Wireless communications trade organisation CTIA-The Wireless Association has announced that it’s been working with the US federal government, law enforcement agencies and a number of its members to help deter smartphone thefts and protect consumer data.

It’s introducing four voluntary industry commitments: implementing a database that’ll keep stolen phones offline, encouraging consumers to set up security on their new devices, informing users about ‘remote control’ security options and educating people about phone theft risks.

Mark Bridge writes:

New Apple products! New Android smart watches!

You’d be forgiven for not having noticed either of those news stories last week. Apple did indeed announce a new iPhone – but it was simply a new iPhone 5c with just 8MB of memory.

Noam Green of Flash Networks writes:

The introduction and deployment of LTE networks offers real promise for both subscribers and operators worldwide. It brings the potential for revolutionary improvements in quality of experience for mobile broadband, and even faster downloads and video streaming.

Mark Bridge writes:

As one show closes, so another show opens.

It’s now more than a week since we bid a sad farewell to Mobile World Congress 2014 – I imagine hotel rooms for 2nd to 5th March 2015 are already being booked – but there’s now CeBIT in Germany to look forward to. Prime Minister David Cameron kicked things off last night with a speech that talked about UK-German partnerships, more funding for research around the ‘Internet of Things’ and the development of 5G technology.

In this presentation, which was originally given as part of the ‘Multimedia Content Delivery onto Mobile Platforms’ session at Mobile World Congress 2014, Professor Andrew Nix from the University of Bristol explains many of the often-forgotten truths about WiFi service.

If you’re an IT manager, working in a mobile phone shop, looking at tech product design or simply want to get the most from your mobile phone, Professor Nix has plenty of practical advice in this 20-minute video clip.

The GSMA reported that 85,000 visitors attended Mobile World Congress this year, breaking all previous records for the show.

Andrew Skinner, Relationship Director of the Technology, Media & Telecoms team at Barclays, reflects on his time in Barcelona and some of the key themes to come out of this year’s show.

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.