Mark Bridge writes:

Every time a British citizen finds themselves in trouble abroad – whether the problem is pirates, police, having a drink or having a cuddle – it’s very likely someone somewhere will say “you should have checked first”.

That’s sensible advice when it comes to looking at the FCO website… but an extra reminder about checking the legality of your technology came this week when biofuel bus driver Andy Pag was arrested in India for using a satellite phone.

A new report from Gartner says consumers will spend $6.2 billion (just over £4 billion) in mobile application stores this year, up from last year's $4.2 billion. The total number of downloads – of which around 80% are expected to be free – will rise from 2.5 billion last year to 4.5 billion this year.

That figure will continue to grow, reaching 21.6 billion downloads worth $21 billion in 2013 – even though the proportion of free downloads is expected to increase.

Digicel, the largest mobile network operator in Haiti, says its service is now functioning well in the earthquake-stricken capital of Port-au-Prince.

All of Digicel’s three national switch sites are operational, with one damaged but using alternative equipment. 70% of the network’s cell sites are on air and 'roaming' is fully operational. The company adds that callers may experience some congestion on the network when making and receiving international calls.

Just six months after Vodafone launched its 'Vodafone Access Gateway' femtocell in the UK, the product has been renamed and relaunched as Vodafone Sure Signal. The price has been cut at the same time; Vodafone Sure Signal is now available for a one-off £50 if customers are on a mobile phone tariff of at over £25 a month. Alternatively, customers can choose a £5 monthly contract.

Vodafone Sure Signal will plug into any home or office broadband line with a download speed of at least 1 Mbps and works with all Vodafone UK 3G handsets.