The European Commission has worked with mobile handset manufacturers, operating system providers, internet service providers, broadcasters, social networks and mobile operators to form a new coalition that aims to make the internet better and safer for children.

There are 28 founding members of the ‘Coalition to make the Internet a better place for kids’.

Retrieva, the UK-based company that produces dog tracking collars with built-in GPS tracking, has announced a deal with specialist virtual mobile network Podsystem.

It’ll allow Retrieva to use Podsystem’s MultiNet Europe SIM cards for a premium roaming service that’ll simplify costs and will allow European owners to track their dogs across national borders.

Research company comScore has published details of mobile social media usage across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom; the ‘EU5’.

The information, which comes from comScore’s MobiLens service, shows that the number of people accessing social networks on mobile devices in the EU5 region grew by 44% in the last year.

Vodafone has published its half-year financial report for the six months that ended on 30th September 2011. It made £6.0 billion in operating profit and now expects to hit £11.4 - £11.8 billion for the full year, which is better than it anticipated six months ago.

Group revenue was up 4.1% year-on-year to £23.5 billion, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 2.3% to £7.5 billion.

France Télécom-Orange and the Publicis Groupe advertising business are planning to launch a new venture capital fund.

The fund - which is starting with a 150 million Euro investment from the two companies - will help budding entrepreneurs in Europe’s digital economy. Additional funding from other investors is expected to bring total funding to 300 million Euro.