What's the best app to use in a revolution? When pro-democracy protests erupted in Hong Kong and people feared the government would shut down the internet, thousands of demonstrators downloaded FireChat - an app that lets you chat without an internet connection.

In the same way Uber has transformed the taxi business by letting anyone become a driver, pCell is attempting to bring similar disruption to cellular networks. Currently being tested in San Francisco, this radical crowdsourced approach could even bypass traditional networks.

Cablevision specialises in TV and internet. It's not a mobile network. But with the likes of T-Mobile and Verizon collectively losing $386 billion to platforms such as Skype and WhatsApp, Cablevision has introduced a WiFi-only mobile contract with a competitive price tag. But is this really the future of mobile?

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?

Nearly 60% of Brazilians feel they aren't spending enough quality time with their family. Stories, fights and gossip were once shared around the dinner table, but now these interactions often happen over Facebook and email. Does the family that WhatsApps together stay together?

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.

How is tactile technology changing the way we communicate? Why has going off the grid never looked more appealling? Why do we want to speak to our doctors at the touch of a button? And have emoticons become a language that everyone can understand?