The British Retail Consortium and Google have launched a joint 'Online Retail Monitor' to provide insights into online shopping trends.

It reveals that the total volume of online retail-related searches in the UK grew by 29% in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the same quarter a year earlier. However, mobile retail search traffic rose by 181% over the same period. Overall, 11% of total retail searches in the first quarter of 2011 were made on a mobile device.

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications has published its results for the first quarter of 2011.

8.1 million devices were shipped in Q1 2011, compared with 10.5 million during the same quarter in 2010. However, the average selling price and gross margin were both up.

Last week we saw figures from Juniper Research that predicted almost 300 million NFC-capable smartphones by 2014, the equivalent of at least 1 in 5 worldwide.

This week Pyramid Research is also predicting a dramatic increase in NFC phones. By 2015, it reckons 28% of total smartphone sales - around 250 million units - will be NFC-enabled devices.

Juniper Research has published a new report that forecasts rapid adoption of Near Field Communication services over the next three years.

It expects there to be almost 300 million NFC-capable smartphones by 2014; the equivalent of at least 1 in 5 worldwide. Half all those NFC smartphones are expected to be in North America, followed by Western Europe.

Nokia has announced an update to the Symbian operating system, along with two new smartphone devices.

The new OS upgrade has a name rather than a number. It's called Symbian Anna and promises new icons, improved usability, a faster browser, better maps and an assortment of other tweaks.