Figures from the International Data Corporation (IDC) show annual smartphone shipments passing the milestone of one billion units in 2013. A new report from the market intelligence company shows worldwide smartphone shipments reaching 1,004.2 million smartphones in 2013, up 38.4% from the 2012 total of 725.3 million units.

Smartphone shipments in 2011 were 494.4 million units, which means these shipments have doubled in the past two years.

0.1% of the world’s 4G users consumed more than half of all LTE downlink data in 2013, according to a new report. That makes these ‘extreme’ 4G users 10 times more data hungry than 3G customers, where 1% of users consume half of all 3G downlink data.

The figures come from the JDSU Location Intelligence Business Unit, which was known as Arieso until its acquisition last year.

In this week's podcast, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge talk about the new Zapp mobile payment scheme, Google's healthcare plans and an ultra-secure smartphone.

Also on the agenda are HP's new phablets, Jimmy Wales joining a UK MVNO, Apple's in-app purchases and plenty of research about tablets.

Analyst firm Ovum has published its mobile payment and mobile advertising predictions for this year.

Ovum expects continued technology and service innovation, notably around location-based applications, in the mobile payments space in 2014. However, there will be increasing complexity within the mobile payments ecosystem this year, and on-going challenges around the business model for digital wallet services.

The US government's Federal Trade Commission says Apple has agreed to pay at least $32.5 million in refunds to customers who paid for in-app purchases downloaded by children without their parents’ consent.

In addition, Apple is now required to ensure "that it has obtained express, informed consent from consumers" before charging them for items sold in mobile apps.