Mobile payment provider iZettle is introducing a free Chip & PIN card reader.

The device will plug into a smartphone or tablet, enabling the user to take payments via credit card or debit card.

Canonical, the company behind the Linux-based Ubuntu open-source platform, has announced what it’s calling “the world’s first Ubuntu phone”.

The Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is being produced in partnership with Spanish electronics and software company BQ.

Here’s an edited transcript of our new monthly podcast, broadcast on 30th January 2015.

[Iain Graham]: Hello, it's Friday 30th January 2015. Welcome to this month's edition of The Fonecast. That’s right, you heard correctly: we’ve temporarily moved to a monthly format. If you’d like to join 51Degrees in sponsoring the podcast and returning us to weekly programmes, please get in touch via our website. Now, on with the show.

We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

We also discuss Apple's record-breaking quarterly figures, the highlights of CES and the launch of Microsoft Windows 10, as well as saying farewell to the current version of Google Glass.

BlackBerry CEO John Chen has said he thinks ‘net neutrality’ - preventing telecoms networks from restricting or prioritising certain types of internet traffic - should go further than just network operators and service providers.

In a letter to the US government (later published as a blog post) he says that neutrality should also be mandated for content and applications.