O2 UK has announced plans to test a new service called O2 Connect. A number of consumer and business customers, along with attendees at Wired 2011, will be invited to join the trial.

O2 Connect will let customers with an iPhone or Android smartphone make UK calls and send text messages over WiFi using their regular mobile number.

Analyst firm Berg Insight says the number of mobile application downloads worldwide will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 56.6% between 2010 and 2015 to reach 98 billion.

In addition, ‘direct’ app store revenue from paid applications, in-app purchases and subscription services will grow at a CAGR of 40.7% from €1.6 billion last year to €8.8 billion in 2015.

Mark Bridge writes:

Apple’s evangelists will need to wait a little longer for the iPhone 5, it seems. Last night’s announcement of the Apple iPhone 4S by Apple CEO Tim Cook seems to have disappointed many people, although plenty of others had predicted the arrival of this faster and smarter sibling for the iPhone 4.

But that wasn’t the only news from Apple.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed the latest version of the company’s iPhone device.

The iPhone 4S has a faster processor than its predecessor, a new camera and a longer battery life but the appearance remains similar to the iPhone 4.

A new report from ABI Research calculates that the number of people accessing social networks from mobile phones will exceed 550 million this year.

By the end of 2016 the figure will treble to over 1.7 billion users worldwide, which means over two-thirds of all social network users will be using mobiles to access the services.