Mark Bridge writes:

They were a proud race. Proud of their individuality. Proud of the simple yet high-tech environment they inhabited.

But their population wasn’t growing as quickly as it had. They weren’t dying out – far from it, because they were committed to the cause – but there weren’t as many bright new faces as there’d been before. And now the Others were moving closer.

Yes, they’d done their best to resist the Others. They’d tried moving into new areas; not running away but expanding. It seemed to work. A new generation – a new race, some said – had been born. Different, yet the same. So why did they still feel as though the Others were getting dangerously close?

That’s not the opening of the worst science-fiction novel of all time. It’s the place where some people think Apple finds itself at the moment.

Apple's "antennagate" press conference, Microsoft lets developers see Windows Phone 7, Motorola sells much of its network infrastructure business, Vodafone goes open source with sat-nav software, the Spanish go mad for SMS when they win the World Cup... and much more!

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Last year, around 2.6 billion applications were downloaded from 'app stores' to consumer mobile phones. In 2015, that figure is expected to be 25 billion.

It's the latest calculation from Juniper Research, which also notes that 'freemium' – free to download but with chargeable options later - is becoming the most popular business model for apps.

Premium-rate telephone regulator PhonepayPlus has just published its 2009/2010 annual report, highlighting a 52% decrease in consumer complaints.

The regulator also imposed a record £5.3 million of fines in 2009/10; double the amount levied in the previous year.