Google is reportedly preparing to offer a bounty of 'rewards' for smartphone users willing to sign up for a scheme that'll track their web and app usage.

According to Engadget's sources, a so-called Mobile Meter app for Android and iOS devices will encourage folks to opt in for the initiative, which would see harvested data sent back to Google for analysis.

The report said Google will 'compensate' those users who take part in the voluntary program, but did not offer any insight into what participants might receive for their troubles.

Naturally, Google has so refused to comment on the report, calling it "rumour and speculation."

Do Not Track in reverse?

Giving users the opportunity to opt in for a tracking scheme, rather than requiring them to opt out, would be somewhat of a turn up given Google's recent history.

Users are required to wade through the Chrome web browser settings and make adjustments if they don't wish their activity to be tracked by advertisers. That's just one example.

Late last week the company also announced it was changing its terms of service, allowing it to use your face, name and reviews within Google ads, unless you go to the trouble of opting out.

We'll bring you more on this most novel and gracious of suggestions if and when it becomes official.

• Why is everyone on the internet turning into Eric Schmidt? Read on to find out.

BlackBerry today published an open letter to customers and partners in an attempt to shed the public perception that it's struggling to stick around.

"You've no doubt seen the headlines about BlackBerry," the letter opens.

"You're probably wondering what they mean for you as one of the tens of millions of users who count on BlackBerry every single day. we have one important message for you: You can continue to count on BlackBerry."

The letter continued to claim that BlackBerry has "extensive cash on hand and a balance sheet that is debt free," and that the company is restructuring to cut expenses by 50 percent "in order to run a very efficient, customer-oriented organization."

A lot of talk

BlackBerry's letter to customers and partners was published on social media today and will appear in 30 newspapers in nine countries, including the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, around the world starting on Tuesday.

The company has faced troubles recently as Android and iOS claim more and more market share. The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet was a failure, and BlackBerry 10 is seen by many as too little, far too late.

But it's not all bad; the company recently agreed to a deal to go private, and its original founders are reportedly considering buying it back.

"These are no doubt challenging times for us and we don't underestimate the situation or ignore the challenges. We are making the difficult changes necessary to strengthen BlackBerry," the letter reads.

"One thing we will never change is our commitment to those of you who helped build BlackBerry into the most trusted tool for the world's business professional."

It goes on to boast of BlackBerry's "best in class" productivity tools (BlackBerry 10), security, enterprise mobility management, and "mobile social network" in BBM for iOS and Android.

"We believe in BlackBerry," the letter says toward the end. But does anyone else?

• Here's what TechRadar thinks of the BlackBerry Z30, the most recently revealed high-end BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

Nokia has reached a deal with video streaming giant Netflix to offer a free annual subscription to anyone who snaps up the flagship Lumia 1020 handset, according to reports.

The Financial Times said that buyers will need to obtain the device from Vodafone in order to take advantage of the offer, which will apparently be promoted heavily in the weeks to come.

Nokia is looking to build on its slowly-but-surely increasing slice of the mobile market in the UK as shareholders ponder the sale of its devices and services business to Microsoft.

Vodafone is no stranger to this sort of promotion. In a bid to boost the uptake of its new 4G LTE network, the company is offering free subscriptions to either Sky Sports Mobile TV or Spotify Premium.

So, those who grab themselves a Lumia 1020 on a 4G contract in the next few months will have a formidable digital content locker to enjoy, at no extra cost.

41-megapixels of goodness

The Lumia 1020, launched in the UK last month, offers an interesting proposition for keen mobile photographers, thanks to its PureView 41-megapixel camera.

Despite the high-end imaging tech, it also manages to maintain a relatively slim profile (unlike rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom) and the latest Windows Phone 8 operating system.

Would you be willing to trade the inferior Windows Phone app ecosystem for gratis, all-you-can-eat Netflix? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

• In depth: Can the Lumia 1020 really take on a compact camera system?

I hate to disagree with my colleagues, but I think Phil Lavelle is being a little bit harsh on Samsung: in his analysis of the Samsung Galaxy Round, he says that "maybe one day we'll have a use for a phone with a curve in the screen."

Oh Phil. Phil, Phil, Phil. We have loads of uses for them already.

Here's my list: non-surgical buttock enhancement! Handy holders for street food! Effective protection for sporting gentlemen's unmentionables! Instant power shoulders for businesswomen!

Need more? It's a Shawshank Prison escape kit! It's a rocking chair for rodents! It's an emergency fascinator for weddings! It's a skateboard park for ants! It ensures accidental drops don't smash the screen! It gets publicity for a phone that wouldn't be newsworthy otherwise!

OK, OK, the penultimate point is the only sensible one and the very last item is the most likely explanation for the whole thing.

But while it's easy to mock, the problem isn't that Samsung has backed the wrong horse here: it's that Samsung's telling us that it has a horse when it's clearly pointing at a pony.

Love your curves

There are plenty of perfectly sound reasons for curved displays, and one of the soundest is that they can be lighter and thinner: for example, by making its forthcoming flexible displays from plastic substrates rather than glass, LG can reduce both the weight and the heft of smartphone screens.

That's not just relevant to smartphones, but to other smart devices too: imagine how sleek the Samsung Galaxy Gear would be if it swapped its flat sheet of glass for something much flimsier and more flexible.

Phones of the future

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There's the issue of ergonomics, too. You might find - as I do - that beyond a certain size, flat phone screens become uncomfortable for one-handed use, with the furthest corners too far away for your thumb.

Curved screens could address that, and of course banana-shaped phones would be a better fit on your head when you're making a call, assuming that you still use your phone for such old-fashioned tasks.

And then there's the potential for new and thrilling form factors. Phones are the shape they are because that's the shape we expect based on today's trends and manufacturing capabilities, but that doesn't mean there isn't a better way of doing it.

I can't help thinking that Samsung is doing with the Galaxy Round what it did with the Galaxy Gear: that is, take an idea it's been unsuccessful with before and present it again as a brand new thing.

Because of course, this isn't the first Samsung with a curved screen: that honour goes to the Nexus S, which was unveiled three years ago. Reviews said that it made the phone very slightly more comfortable to hold, but that the curvature certainly wasn't a killer feature.

Reviews of the Galaxy Round are likely to say the very same thing.

• More Marshall: What else is grinding Gary's gears?

Apple has cut the ribbon on its iPhone trade-in programme, whereby you can take an old iPhone to one of its high street stores and part-exchange it for a new handset.

This is good news for anyone who's been hanging fire on upgrading to the pricey iPhone 5S or cheaper-but-not-cheap iPhone 5C but not so great for those looking to leave Apple completely.

Depending on the condition and model of your handset, you'll get up to £175 of store credit on a gift card for your iPhone but it looks as though you can only put that towards a new iPhone.

Great value, great responsibility

"iPhones hold great value," Apple explained before going on to point out that the old handsets will be reused or recycled.

"In addition to helping support the environment, customers will be able to receive a credit for their returned phone that they can put toward the purchase of a new iPhone."

Or you can just put your old phone on eBay and buy whatever you like with the cash. Your choice.

• Should you upgrade to the new iPhones? Our iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C reviews can help you decide