App research specialist VisionMobile has published the latest version of its Developer Economics report, providing insights into mobile application development worldwide.

It estimates that 2.3 million people were mobile app developers in 2013, with 760,000 (32.9%) of them living in Asia and 680,000 (29.7%) in Europe.

HTML5 is often described as the shape of things to come; sometimes as the future of the web and sometimes as the nemesis of native mobile applications.

But exactly what is 'HTML 5' - and what does it mean to the mobile industry?

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s claimed there’s recently been some dodgy equine activity in the mobile industry. No, I’m not talking about the dancing pony that promoted Three UK. I’m not even making lasagne jokes. I’m talking about the ‘Trojan horse’ threatening to monopolise the mobile marketplace.

There’ll be 1.4 billion mobile devices with HTML5-compatible web browsers at the end of this year, according to a new forecast from ABI Research.

That would represent an annual increase of 87%.

Nokia has rebranded its mapping and location business as HERE, describing it as “the first location cloud to deliver the world’s best maps and location experiences across multiple screens and operating systems”.

One of the first HERE products for non-Nokia devices will be a free HTML5-based maps application for iOS, which is expected to be available in the next few weeks.

Mark Bridge writes:

A couple of weeks ago I was wandering through London, wondering whether mobile streaming could erode personal privacy… and whether anyone cared.

But there’s a positive site to the immediacy of streaming, as Bambuser reminded me today.

Mark Bridge writes:

James's recent trip down memory lane reminded me of a moment in 1998 when a major mobile phone manufacturer promised phones that 'gave you wings'. No, not Red Bull. No, not Red Bull Racing partner LG. It was Motorola.

James Rosewell writes:

Whilst flicking through my drawer full of old handsets I thought back to a time when Apple produced a new MP3 player, newspaper editors didn't know what a smart phone was, and Android was only a press release. A quick flick through YouTube threw up the following interview with Microsoft's Steve Balmer offering his thoughts.

Mark Bridge writes:

This sequence of recent events involving SAP, HP and Oracle – although unconnected – seemed deserving of a simple diagram.

Mark Bridge writes:

The Google Nexus S. Search for it online and you’ll find over a million web pages talking about it.

But I don’t care about the Google Nexus S. Or the Nexus Two or the Samsung i9020 or whatever else you call it. Quite frankly, it’s not any use to me. My current rapidly-aging HTC TyTn II has more features than the Nexus S.

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.