Mobile privacy and security company Whisper Systems, which is probably best known for creating encryption applications that were used by protesters in Egypt earlier this year, has been acquired by Twitter.

Country-specific versions of the RedPhone and TextSecure apps were created in February following the original US-only release.

This year’s Orange Exposure report, an independent study by TNS on behalf of Orange, has revealed a wide range of information about mobile media habits across the UK, France, Spain and Poland. Although this is the fourth annual report, it’s the first time tablet data has been included.

According to the research, smartphones are generally used to ‘kill time’ when access to other screens isn’t available, while tablets are used to ‘save time’ when using other screens would be less efficient.

Research In Motion has introduced a service called BlackBerry Mobile Fusion.

It marks RIM’s entry into the multi-platform Mobile Device Management marketplace and will help organisations simplify the management of smartphones and tablets running BlackBerry, Android and Apple iOS operating systems.

John Barratt, product lead for 2ergo, predicts what lies ahead within the mobile marketing arena for retailers in 2012:

1. Mobile search marketing spend to increase significantly in 2012.

According to a new PayPal report called ‘Money: The Digital Tipping Point’, 2016 will be the year when UK shoppers start using their mobile phones in earnest to pay for things on the high street with digital money rather than cash, cheques or cards.

UK mobile retail sales in five years’ time are expected to reach £2.5 billion with over 14 million adults regularly shopping via their mobiles.