Mark Bridge writes:

With all the excitement about the partnership between Nokia and Microsoft, it's easy to forget another partnership between a major online brand and the Finnish mobile giant.

Exactly a year ago, Yahoo! and Nokia announced a worldwide strategic alliance that would see Nokia providing Yahoo!'s maps and navigation services under the Ovi brand, while Yahoo! would power Nokia's Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat services. The two companies would also work on sharing log-in details across Yahoo! and Ovi services.

Qualcomm has announced that its Snapdragon MSM7x30 chipset can now support the Russian GLONASS satellite system and the US GPS location service simultaneously. The first phone with GLONASS and GPS support will be the MTS 945 from ZTE.

Working with both satellite networks offers more accurate location information and also has a potential commercial benefit.

Orange has announced a new UK partnership with online voucher site Vouchercloud, giving its mobile phone customers at least eight exclusive discount offers every month.

The discounts can be claimed through the Vouchercloud iPhone/Android app, as a premium-rate text message or via the Vouchercloud website.

The latest Ipsos MediaCT Technology Tracker survey shows that 31% of British adults own a smartphone, which is a dramatic increase from 13% at the beginning of last year.

The increase is highest amongst under 35s, where 48% of men and 40% of women now own smartphones.

Mark Bridge writes:

Don't get me wrong. I'm excited about the idea of mobile payments. But I think the Quick Tap launch and all this talk of a 'mobile wallet' is a little overhyped. And here are the three main reasons why.