The UK Foreign Office has launched a trial service with Vodafone to deliver emergency text messages to customers when they're abroad.

This service will be available to Vodafone UK subscribers and to customers on Vodafone-based virtual networks, including those using Asda Mobile, Lebara Mobile, Talkmobile, Talk Talk, BT Mobile, Gamma Telecom and Cognatel.

New research from Ofcom shows that 27% of adults (and 47% of teenagers) now own a smartphone. Most of these people have acquired their device in the last 12 months.

Ofcom's Communications Market Report also reveals that smartphone users make more calls and send more texts than regular mobile users, with 81% of smartphone users making calls every day compared with 53% of 'regular phone' users.

It's a match made in an odd kind of dictionary: Vringo and Zlango are getting together.

Vringo provides software platforms for mobile social and video applications - video ringtones, for example - while Zlango is a mobile messaging company that can add multimedia content to standard text-based messages.

The number of mobile payment users around the world will exceed 141.1 million this year, a 38% increase from 2010, according to new research from Gartner. In addition, the total volume of worldwide mobile payments is forecast to exceed $86 billion, up more than 75% from last year's figure.

Despite these projected increases, Gartner doesn't think the mobile payment market is growing as quickly as expected.

Hot on the heels of this month's changes to international 'roaming' charges - the cost of using a mobile phone when abroad - comes a new proposal from the European Commission. The new regulations, if voted into law, would allow customers to sign up for a separate roaming contract on their existing mobile phone number from July 2014.

In addition, there'd be a further reduction to maximum call costs and SMS costs in Europe, along with a new cap on the cost of using mobile data when abroad.