Throughout the rest of the week, Microsoft will be rolling out a new security upgrade for its accounts, which will provide a new two-step verification process.

The accounts affected include Outlook, Skype, SkyDrive, Xbox, and anything else that used to fall under the old Windows Live ID banner.

With more than 700 million people using Microsoft accounts on various devices around the globe, that's a lot of potential users that will no doubt benefit from stronger security provided by the new two-step process.

The optional process has already been offered for services at commerce.microsoft.com and xbox.com, but is now being opened up to the rest of the Microsoft-using public.

Microsoft doubles down

While you can still use just the standard password to access any of your networking or email accounts, the voluntary second step requires a unique code to also be entered.

This code is activated and sent to secondary devices or email accounts once you decide to take the necessary action to activate this new dual-layer measure.

If you want to take advantage of the added layer of security, all you have to do is visit the Management page to get started.

Some Microsoft apps and devices, like the Xbox 360, don't allow for two-step security, however you can set up a specialized password specific to that device for added defense.

Once you have set the new level of security up on your devices (laptops, phones, etc.), you can arrange to have them set to be trusted, so you only have to enter the password/code combo the first time it's activated.

Other companies like Google and Facebook already use such security measures to provide as much of a barrier against hackers as possible.

Seeing Microsoft take the necessary steps to help its user base stay safe as well as it can bodes well for the foreseeable future, but such tactics will only work as long as the consumers make use of them.

An minor update to the Google Voice VoIP app for Android this week may hold a few clues regarding the Babel messaging service, the company is reported to be cooking up.

The app update only lists "Improved the reliability of SMS delivery" as its reason for being, but Android Police took a glance beneath the surface to find one particularly intriguing little detail.

It may not sound like much, but the APK teardown showed that Google Voice's configuration settings can now be read by other applications within the Android ecosystem.

Putting two-and-two together (perhaps to make five), some have concluded Google is intending for another app to take on Voice's settings. Could that be the rumoured all-encompassing Babel application?

Babel fishing?

Recent rumours and leaks have suggested that Babel will bring together G-Talk in Gmail and on Android, as well as a client for Chrome, Android and iOS.

According to a leaked Google memo, the service will run across synchronised devices (a la Apple's iMessage), while it'll also support 800 emoji and video based Google+ Hangouts.

Speculation has also pointed to the eventual integration (and replacement) of Google Voice, which brings us neatly back to today's reports.

"I think it all points to another app taking over Google Voice's duties," wrote Android Police's Ron Amadeo. "Google is either baking in special support for its own app, or they're going to start supporting a 3rd party Google Voice ecosystem about a million years too late. GV is, at least partially, readying to transfer data to something, we just aren't sure what."

An official announcement regarding Babel is expected for Google I/O less than a month from today.

The UK arm of T-Mobile is now forbidden from advertising 'unlimited' data with its top-of-the-shop Full Monty tariffs.

The Advertising Standards agency has ruled the company's practice of throttling customers peer-to-peer sharing activities from 8am to 2am does (surprise, surprise) constitute limiting data.

The practice leaves only a 6 hour period in the middle of the night when restrictions are not in place and that gave the ASA the excuse it needed to crack the whip.

According to The Inquirer, T-Mobile has already changed its Full Monty advertising to reflect the ruling.

It ain't just the amount of data

The verdict read: "We noted that the Full Monty plan was described as having 'unlimited' UK internet and that this was in the context of a mobile dataservice on a handset. We considered that 'unlimited' was a general claim about the whole service, rather than about a specific aspect of the service."

"We considered that consumers were likely to expect that services, or features of services, described as 'unlimited' were not unduly limited and that where policies existed, which limited speed of access, that the restrictions could reasonably be considered to be moderate only."

Is 4Mbps sufficient?

However, the ASA appeared to have no objections to the overall speed restrictions T-Mobile places on its Full Monty customers.

As The Inquirer also pointed out, the company limits download speeds over 3G to just 4Mbps, while uploads are only processed at 1Mbps, which T-Mobile says is "sufficient."

The company said in a statement: "Our customers should rest assured that the speeds available to them on our Full Monty plans are sufficient for all devices and users - including data downloaders with the latest smartphones, and data services such as video streaming, social networking, browsing, emailing, and music downloading."

Last year the company angered customers by halting free mobile tethering on its Full Monty plan.

LG will bring to an end its self-enforced exile from the UK smartphone market by launching the Optimus G2 in 2013, reports on Wednesday claimed.

Pocket-Lint has spoken with an LG insider, who claimed the device will be a flagship model to compete with Android big hitters like the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One and Sony Xperia Z.

According to the source, LG will give the device a full launch on British soil in Q3 or Q4 this year, but there was no information on potential tech specs.

Whether the Optimus G2 is the subject of LG's recently announced New York press event next month remains to be seen.

End the hiatus

While Brits were able to by the LG-made Google Nexus 4, through the search and mobile giant, the launch would mark LG's first official launch of an Optimus G branded device in the UK.

The first version of the device, launched in other territories last year, only became available SIM-free through the third-party retailer Expansys earlier this month.

It seems the company has no plans to launch the updated Optimus G Pro in the UK either.

LG has been tentative with its smartphone launches due to the youthful nature of the UK's 4G LTE infrastructure, meaning we've missed out on some big name devices. Hopefully the hiatus is about to come to a long overdue end.