Mobile payments hit the headlines again, with Orange and Barclays announcing 'Quick Tap' - and O2 also revealing its plans. In addition we discuss an OS update for Windows Phone, an even smaller SIM for iPhones and an appeal against mobile termination rates by almost everyone.

Ofcom's recent reduction of mobile termination rates is bearing fruit at BT. The company is cutting the cost of landline-to-mobile telephone calls from 28th May.

Evening calls will fall from 7p per minute to 5.3p when ringing major UK mobile networks from a BT line, which represents a 24% cut. Daytime calls are down 13% from 13p per minute to 11.3p.

Microsoft has officially previewed the next major release of the Windows Phone 7 platform. It's code-named 'Mango' and will include more than 500 new features.

This update will be available free to existing Windows Phone 7 customers and is expected to be included on new phones from the autumn. Those new phones will be produced by Microsoft's existing partners - including Nokia - and by new manufacturers including Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE.

Last year we reported the creation of a multi-million pound EC-sponsored development project centred on the Symbian operating system.

It was called SYMBEOSE - standing for 'Symbian – the Embedded Operating System for Europe' - and it's now been closed down without a single Euro being spent by the European Union.

A new report from the Consumer Electronics Association says the average US household spent $1,179 (around £732) on consumer electronics products in the past 12 months, a drop of $201 from the previous year.

American households were calculated to contain 24 separate consumer electronics products, down from 25 in 2010.