British Airways is launching a smartphone application that'll let customers check-in and board flights using their mobile phones, according to a report in New Media Age. The app, which is due to be revealed on Monday, will let Executive Club members generate an on-screen boarding pass for London to Edinburgh flights.

Chinese mobile phone manufacturer ZTE Corporation has launched its first Android-powered smartphone in the UK. It's co-branded by Three and is selling on 'pay as you go' tariffs for £99.99.

The ZTE Racer runs Android version 2.1 (Éclair) powered handset. It offers a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, 256MB of internal memory, Bluetooth and 7.2Mbps HSDPA connectivity.

WAUSAU Financial Systems and Mitek Systems – two US-based companies - have introduced a system to let banks accept cheques that are 'paid in' as a photo taken on a mobile phone.

The new service combines the payment processing experience of WAUSAU with document capture technology from Mitek.

Earlier this year, figures from RAJAR Ltd (Radio Joint Audience Research) showed that 13% of UK adults had listened to the radio via mobile phone. 54% of these selected the station using an FM preset, while 14% ran an app for a specific radio station.

Now, new research has revealed that 20% of smartphone owners - 1.4 million people – have downloaded a radio app, with over half of them (53%) using the application at least once a week. These figures are part of RAJAR's latest MIDAS (Measurement of Internet Delivered Audio Services) survey.

Mark Bridge writes:

Persuading mobile phone users not to hold their phone when they’re driving should be a simple task. It’s dangerous, it’s against the law and the penalties include a fine plus points on your licence.

But even then, there’s often an excuse about convenience and usability. Some people don’t like wearing headsets, some don’t like wires and some simply forget to charge the batteries.

That’s why a new hands-free Bluetooth loudspeaker from French company BeeWi caught my eye.