Mark Bridge writes:

At the beginning of last week, Facebook and Instagram were the talk of the mobile industry. Was this billion-dollar deal the sign of another tech bubble?  Facebook’s fast track into mobile?  Facebook moving to cement its dominance of online photography?  You, the jury, decide.

Wireless communications trade organisation CTIA-The Wireless Association has announced that it’s been working with the US federal government, law enforcement agencies and a number of its members to help deter smartphone thefts and protect consumer data.

It’s introducing four voluntary industry commitments: implementing a database that’ll keep stolen phones offline, encouraging consumers to set up security on their new devices, informing users about ‘remote control’ security options and educating people about phone theft risks.

A new report from Juniper Research reveals that the mobile telecommunications industry lost more than $58 billion last year due to inadequate Fraud Management and Revenue Assurance processes.

That’s over 6% of global industry revenue.

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s been a week of ups and downs for the mobile industry.

It started with good news as Apple – fresh from hitting 3 million new iPad sales – announced its plans to spend some of the $100 billion sitting in its decidedly non-mobile wallet. There’ll be a quarterly dividend and a share buy-back scheme.

NFC-equipped smartphones can be used to copy data from contactless credit cards, according to a report by Channel 4 News.

It showed security company ViaForensics successfully copying a cardholder’s name and card number from a Barclays Visa card. Attempts to access card information from other providers wasn’t successful.