Samsung's latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, is the first phone to be certified as sustainable as part of an international smartphone certification scheme launched in April 2013. The TCO certification aims to make it easier for consumers, to whom sustainability is import, to make an informed choice when choosing a phone.

To earn this sustainable certification, the Galaxy S4 had to meet certain criteria, including avoiding the use of nickel in any surfaces that come into contact with users, making it free from beryllium (a known carcinogen) and minimising the phthalate content. Less technical criteria also apply, such as ensuring the battery can be removed to prolong handset life.

If you are a gamer, or even if you only take a passing interest in video games, the launch event for the new Microsoft Xbox console will probably be something on your radar. As a smartphone fanatic, the thing that interests me the most is how the new console will build on the Xbox SmartGlass technology. If you don't know already, SmartGlass is an app available for almost all of the main smartphone platforms which allows you to connect to your Xbox Live account, use your phone or tablet to control some of the console menus and even see added content in games.

The recent launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4, and the excitement surrounding it, has got me thinking about the way that people choose a new phone. I have bought dozens of handsets over the years, ranging from very simple feature phones to the latest smartphones, and I have to wonder how many of them were bought just because of a flashy commercial. Though it pains me to admit it, the answer is probably too many.

According to the research firm Informa, instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp have now overtaken traditional SMS services as a way of sending messages on smartphones. In 2012, an average of 19 billion messages were sent per day using chat apps, whilst SMS messages averaged at 17.6 billion per day. If predictions prove correct, that gap could grow even further in 2014, with an estimated 50 billion messages a day being sent via non-traditional message services.

So does this mean that SMS messages, along with their 160 character limits, are soon to become a thing of the past? Phones like the Samsung Galaxy S3 already come with different messaging options pre-installed, as do BlackBerry and newer Windows Phone 8 handsets. Will we now have to unlearn text-speak and the SMS abbreviations used so much today? Or do you think traditional SMS messages will remain useful as long as there are still cell phones around which can't use instant messaging apps?