Mobile phone use in Africa is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, according to a report backed by Vodafone and the Centre for Economic Policy Research.

Microsoft's boss Bill Gates is top of Forbes magazine’s billionaires' list for the 11th year in a row, with a net worth of $46.5bn.

A secondary school in Newport has banned pupils from bringing in mobile phones as a way of combating bullying via anonymous text message.

Attempts to hack into the online accounts of unsuspecting bank customers have more than trebled in the last six months, according to anti-virus firm Symantec.

Microsoft has paid out over $150 Million for MSN Search’s 1.4 Percent of market share according to AdWeek.

BT has connected over five million broadband customers, a year earlier than a target set by the company.

Tickets for Glastonbury sold out in 3 hours this year, with the aloud.com web site from where it sells tickets holding up to the extreme traffic.

It took just 15 minutes for the Vatican to alert the world's media of Pope John Paul's death - using SMS text messages and e-mail.

A broadband price war is expected to break out after UK Online became the first service provider to offer broadband for less than £10 a month.

Adobe Systems has bought multimedia software developer Macromedia for $3.4 billion in stock.

Islington Council has created a mile-long free wireless hotspot, dubbed the “Technology Mile” for wi-fi users in an effort to boost economic activity in the area, and to encourage local residents onto the Internet.

Music downloads have been included in the 50-year-old UK Singles Chart for the first time.

Top 5 browsers

1. IE 6 - 65%
2. Firefox - 20%
3. IE 5 - 4%
4. Mozilla - 4%
5. Netscape - 1%

New Media isn't new anymore

The recent Financial Times New Media and Broadcasting Conference in London has concluded that "new media" should now be considered as the norm.

This follows the high take-up of broadband and portable devices among British audiences which has led to digital broadcasting becoming mainstream entertainment in the UK.

Around 14 million households - 60% of the total - have digital TV, according to the UK regulator Ofcom. There are now over six million broadband connections and 1.4 million digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio sets in use across the UK too.

The next phase of development in broadcasting will be through the provision of what is being called "My Media". Broadcasters will have to adapt and provide more on-demand and niche content to audiences.

Several speakers at the conference suggested that 'Personalised Media' is set to be the model for the next 100 years, with broadcasters having to provide a mixture of content - some of which is traditional, linear and non-participatory - combined with more that allows increased audience participation, engagement and creativity.

.eu domain available in January 2006

The European Commission has announced that Europe's top-level-domain - .eu - will be live and available by the end of this year.

The announcement follows the appointment of EURid as the registry operator and the completion of final paperwork between EURid and ICANN in March this year.

This gave the go-ahead for the final technical preparations which will allow the domain to go live by year end. However, for the first four months of 2006, registrations will be limited to public bodies and registered trademarks, in an attempt to prevent cyber squatters from stealing domains.

Some companies are already offering to pre-register .eu domains, but the Commission has warned companies against pre-registration with the attendant risks of confusion and fraud. experience engine will keep our clients up to date with developments.

Nine year sentence for Spammer in US

A man has been sentenced to nine years in prison by a Virginia judge for sending millions of junk emails, or "spam". Jeremy Jaynes, 30, is the first person in the US to get a prison term under a spam law. He is said to have been the world's eighth most prolific spammer. He had been earning up to £398,000 per month.

Steady-cam technology aids accessibility

An anti-tremor mouse adaptor has been developed using video camera technology that allows people with hand tremors to control a computer mouse more easily.

The adapter uses the same steady-cam technology as found in domestic video cameras which automatically filters out camera shake to provide a more stable image. In this case however, the device filters out shaking hand movements.

At present people who suffer with hand tremors find it hard to complete tasks on a computer because of erratic movements of the cursor that makes it difficult to click on a specific point on screen. With this new technology, the erratic movement is filtered out, therefore aiding accuracy.

About three million people in the UK have some sort of hand tremor condition, according to the UK National Tremor Foundation. The condition not only affects the elderly but also younger users with Parkinson's disease, for example. The new adapter could now help open up computing and the Internet to people who have previously not been able to use a computer.

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About:

Esquared is a regular digest of news, opinion and developments within interactive communications which we find interesting and hope you will too. If you want more information about anything that we mention, or have any comments, please call us on 01992 500990 or e-mail esquared@experience-engine.co.uk.