Instead of picking up the phone, we gloat about our holidays on Instagram. Juicy gossip spreads via WhatsApp, not text. What if we could eschew pricey contracts? Would it make that much difference? In New York, Cablevision’s WiFi-only service is ushering in a drastic change to how we get connected.

Gone are the days when 'unlimited texts' were an essential part of a monthly mobile phone contract. Instead, people are more likely to communicate with their friends using messaging apps. WhatsApp now handles 30 billion messages every day, making it 50% more popular than SMS.

The number of teens who voice call on their phones every day dropped 50% between 2009 and 2012. Just 3% of UK Millennials now use the function daily. With texts, iMessage and WhatsApp becoming the preferred method of communication, can audio message app Cord get us talking again?

From messaging to social media to a marketplace to browsing the internet, WeChat is the app the does everything. While Western companies and app developers race to unbundle their services into efficient single-purpose apps, WeChat continues to add feature after feature.

According to 'disruptive' new internet service provider FreedomPop, 'the internet is a right, not a privilege'. Starting with low-income Americans, can the company's 'freemium' super-fast broadband model challenge the internet's biggest players?

The explosion of interest in mobile messaging platforms has prompted heated competition to secure the largest and most loyal global user base. From LINE’s stickers to WeChat’s partnership with Lionel Messi, there’s a race to innovate, and fast.

Smartphones are no longer just a means of communicating. They wake us up, get us from A to B and even help us find love. We’ve almost forgotten their original purpose. Text trumps voicecalls and apps trump SMS – it’s a good time to ask – what’s the future of the mobile phone?

Will we continue to talk less and message more? Which social media platform will be a stand-out success? Will Line take over the West and how will the trend for unbundling develop?