It's already in place for online computer gaming. Can the government successfully impose a curfew on the one gadget people can’t live without?

For the growing number of Windows Phone users, Windows Phone 8 was a frustrating release. The major difference between Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows Phone 8 was invisible to end users: merely a kernel swap, going from Windows CE to Windows NT.

Amazon's hardware efforts will soon extend into the smartphone space, with the ecommerce giant debuting a new handset this fall, according to a report. Following years of rumors, supposed leaks and analyst speculation, The Wall Street Journal on Friday claimed that Amazon is planning to announce its own handset in June.

Remember Project Ara, Google's initiative to create a fully modular smartphone? Google has released a new video, primarily focused on the team behind the project, but also showing some interesting details about what could be the future of smartphones.

NEXT month Britons will have yet more smartphones to choose from, when devices from Wiko, a two-year-old French company, go on sale. Wiko will be hoping that its phones, which in France start at around €70 ($96), prove as popular across the Channel as at home. In 2013 nearly 7% of French first-time smartphone-buyers plumped for a Wiko, says Carolina Milanesi of Kantar Worldpanel, a research firm. In early 2014 the firm claims to have been the second-biggest vendor in France.

The Samsung Smart Home platform, announced at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, has started its global rollout and will first be made available in Korea, followed by the US, with other countries to follow. The platform enables users to easily manage their connected appliances and devices - including TVs and washing machines - from a single app as long as they are on the same Wi-Fi network.

HTC unveiled its new flagship HTC One, featuring a larger screen, updated design, software and camera.

Google's quest to bring Google Now over to its desktop Chrome browser has been years in the making, but today it's finally official. The latest version of Chrome will display many Google Now cards you'd normally see on your Android or iOS smartphone, including weather, sports scores, event reminders, and a preview of your commute to and from work.

Imagine it: a world where a SIM card is fully integrated with your device; no need to swap it out when you change carriers or travel overseas. In fact, SIM cards could be easily built into any number of devices, vastly expanding the Internet of Things. This would also end carrier-locked devices, allowing customers true freedom of choice: Any device could be used with any carrier the user chooses.

One of the more interesting devices here at Mobile World Congress is Blackphone: a pro-privacy handset being developed by Spanish startup Geeksphone, in partnership with U.S. security company Silent Circle using a “security-oriented” Android build called PrivatOS.

Sony has unveiled the Xperia Z2, the company's new flagship smartphone, a mere four months after introducing Xperia Z1 and one year after launching the first phone in the series, the Xperia Z. We mention the Xperia Z2's predecessors because all three devices share a nearly identical design: monolithic black rectangles with a silver wake up key and volume buttons on the right side.

It’s official: the Nokia X Android phone is here. Microsoft might be buying Nokia’s phone business shortly, but the Finnish smartphone maker is still pushing ahead with the launch of three Android-powered handsets today.

Mozilla has shown off a prototype for a $25 (£15) smartphone that is aimed at the developing world. The company, which is famed mostly for its Firefox browser, has partnered with Chinese low-cost chip maker Spreadtrum.

History really does repeat itself. Just like previous rumor seasons, Apple is reported to release two phones later this year. Except this time around, they will have larger screen. Citing people familiar with the matter, the WSJ reports that one iPhone model will sport a 4.5-inch display, and the other version will have a display larger than 5 inches. That’s on par with the screen size of the Galaxy S III and Galaxy S4, respectively.

An unexpected side effect of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy many companies are adopting is that smart device owners who either quit their jobs or are fired are finding that their former companies are wasting no time in wiping every last piece of data from their devices.

It may be your best friend, but your smartphone is also probably teeming with germs. As innovators descended on the Consumer Electronics Show, companies offering better sanitizing were also promoting the cause of cleanliness. The technology show has long had a focus on health, but makers of sanitizing devices said people need to look in their pockets and purses to the microbes on their personal gadgets.

It was with considerable excitement, then, I unwrapped the ZTE Open a month or so ago, ready to snort some Firefox OS and enjoy the rush of discovering a brand new mobile OS. Unfortunately, instead of weeks filled with psychedelic wonder, the Open was so unpleasant that it forced me to go cold turkey. Yes, I did the unthinkable. After a while I tried to avoid using the phone entirely.

AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless launched a database for stolen smartphones last year, and today the wireless industry says that database system is complete. CTIA president and CEO Steve Largent announced that the database now allows carriers to block activation of LTE smartphones as well as 3G devices, hopefully deterring their theft, and has been integrated with international databases so foreign carriers can assist the effort.

Indoor location technology brings Internet-style tracking to physical spaces.