Microsoft is replacing its instant messaging platform with Skype, the online telecom platform it took over in 2011.

Windows Live Messenger - originally known as MSN Messenger - is expected to be ‘retired’ in early 2013.

In this week's podcast we hear that Comet has gone into administration and that Japanese tech manufacturer Sharp is struggling to survive.

There's also concern about the security of some Android apps, some changes afoot at O2 and a new favourite device at WiFi hotspots.

A preliminary estimate from the IHS iSuppli Teardown Analysis Service suggests that Microsoft is making more money per unit with its new Surface RT tablet than Apple makes from a basic iPad.

After conducting a ‘teardown’ of the Surface RT model with 32GB of memory and an optional black ‘touch cover’, IHS iSuppli calculated that its components were worth $271 and the manufacturing cost was $13, resulting in a total cost of $284.

Smartphones have now overtaken laptops as the most-used device for connecting to WiFi hotspots. That’s the conclusion of a new survey compiled by research company Informa Telecoms & Media and published by the Wireless Broadband Alliance.

It says the trend is set to accelerate as new Next Generation Hotspots are deployed because this equipment allows a secure connection without needing usernames or passwords.

Age UK, the charity for older people formed from Age Concern and Help the Aged, has teamed up with virtual mobile network CyCell to launch its own mobile phone deal.

The Age UK My Phone is customised when it’s ordered, offering up to eight buttons programmed with the telephone numbers of important contacts. Rather than using numbers, the buttons show each person’s name.