Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return with their first mobile industry podcast of 2014.

This week they're looking at new Samsung, Sony and ZTE products from CES, they're talking about Android embedded in cars, they're catching up with the latest news from BlackBerry, they're discussing cheque payments by smartphone, they're revealing complaint data from Ofcom and they're investigating quite a few other stories as well.

The newly-independent ZTE Mobile Devices division has used this week’s International CES electronics show to reveal a range of mobile-related equipment.

New smartphones from the company include the flagship ZTE Grand S II, which offers voice recognition unlocking and voice-activated photography.

Chinese telecoms equipment manufacturer ZTE Corporation has announced a number of organisational changes that are designed to “focus the company on key strategic operations and high-growth business opportunities”.

It says its three key businesses - operators, mobile devices and enterprise - will receive more resources this year, with the company also targeting the emerging market segments of metropolitan public IT systems, new energy technology and the mobile internet.

The consortium that acquired Nortel’s portfolio of around 4,000 tech patents is now putting those patents into battle.

Those patents were bought in March 2012 for $4.5 billion by the Rockstar Consortium, which included Apple, Microsoft, RIM (BlackBerry), Ericsson and Sony.

Figures from the International Data Corporation show that worldwide smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2013 reached a new record for the second consecutive month.

Total smartphone shipments were up 38.8% year-on-year and up 9% from the previous quarter to 258.4 million devices.