The UK government has arranged a series of mobile alert tests to make sure members of the public can receive information in an emergency. It’s running trials in North Yorkshire, Glasgow and Suffolk with EE, O2 and Vodafone.

Two different technologies are being tested: location-based SMS text messaging and cell broadcast messages.

The fixed penalty for using a hand-held mobile phone when driving in the UK has increased from £60 to £100 today. As before, there’ll also be three points added to the driver’s licence.

This follows a consultation in June last year and a government announcement about the changes two months ago.

It’s reported that British Airways will soon let passengers switch on their mobile phones as soon as a plane has landed and left the runway.

At the moment, passengers are required to keep electronic equipment switched off until the aircraft has stopped.

Samsung has put a 10x optical zoom lens on a smartphone, Google is acquiring navigation app Waze and the European Commission is getting ready to equip cars with an emergency call system.

We're also talking about a strike threat at O2, the risk of 'showrooming' to high-street retailers, the end of Symbian smartphones and plenty more as well.

The European Commission has adopted two proposals that would ensure cars could automatically call the emergency services after a serious accident.

Its ‘eCall’ system automatically calls the 112 emergency number via a mobile connection and passes the vehicle’s location to the emergency services, potentially saving up to 2,500 lives a year and cutting response times by up to 50%.