This week's edition of The Fonecast takes a look at mobile payments, OS updates, SMS revenue and Bing meeting BlackBerry.

We also turn the clock back a couple of years to 2009, when former Olympic athlete Steve Backley talked to us about his mobile phone business.

This week's mobile industry news headlines include m-payments, OS updates, SMS forecasts and BlackBerry meeting Bing. We also look back to 2009, when Iain spoke to former Olympic athlete Steve Backley about his mobile phone business.

Microsoft has agreed to acquire online telecom company Skype for $8.5 billion.

The two companies hope to complete the deal by the end of the year, subject to regulatory clearance. Skype will become a new business division within Microsoft, led by current Skype CEO Tony Bates who'll become President of the Microsoft Skype Division.

Millward Brown Optimor, part of the WPP group, has just published the 2011 edition of its BrandZ report. It's the sixth annual edition of the report, which details the world's "Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands".

It notes that the world’s best brands appear to have recovered from the recession at a faster rate than their competitors. The combined value of the Top 100 brands this year is calculated at $2.4 trillion, more than Great Britain's GDP.

Mark Bridge writes:

It's time for another round-up of the week's mobile industry news.

Two of the recurring themes we've encountered in the last few months are legal action and partnerships. This week's legal story involves a conflict between Huawei and ZTE, while the partnership news sees RIM working with Microsoft. Yes, you may well raise your eyebrows. It seems Nokia-loving Microsoft is also a friend of the BlackBerry.