A new iOS app that allows instant messaging without an internet connection is rapidly moving towards the top of the ‘free app’ charts.

FireChat, developed by San Francisco-based startup Open Garden, can be used on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch without WiFi or cellular connectivity.

In this presentation, which was originally given as part of the ‘Multimedia Content Delivery onto Mobile Platforms’ session at Mobile World Congress 2014, Professor Andrew Nix from the University of Bristol explains many of the often-forgotten truths about WiFi service.

If you’re an IT manager, working in a mobile phone shop, looking at tech product design or simply want to get the most from your mobile phone, Professor Nix has plenty of practical advice in this 20-minute video clip.

Figures from the USA show there were 10.4 million tablets using built-in cellular connections last year, which is a 46% increase from 2012.

However, sales of cellular-capable tablets fell from 16% of all tablet sales in 2012 to just 12% in 2013.

Dr Kevin Curran, Reader in Computer Science at the University of Ulster, joined us during Mobile World Congress to offer his well-informed opinion about trends in mobile technology.

We talked about a wide range of topics, including battery life, disposable tablets, wearables, m-health, 4G fragmentation, connected furniture, M2M security, the rise of video and the IEEE.

Huawei has revealed five new products in advance of Mobile World Congress 2014, which opens in Barcelona tomorrow.

Rumours of a ‘smartwatch’ were rewarded with the appearance of the Huawei TalkBand. This has the form factor of a flexible fitness tracker but also incorporates a removable Bluetooth headset with a built-in OLED display.