More than 140 million mobile subscribers worldwide will use social networks on mobile devices by 2013, which bring in more than US$410 million in subscription revenues, according to ABI Research's "Mobile Social Networking" study, eMarketer reported.

ABI said the predictions are conservative.

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Google has released its beta version of Picasa 3.0, a desktop photo management software that will include new features, including a new facial recognition feature, ZDNet and Read Write Web have reported.

Other new additions to Picasa include online auto-synchronisation between desktop photos and the Web Albums, a movie maker mode and a retouch option for fixing photographs, according to ZDNet.

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Apple is scheduled to add interactive music albums to its iTunes Applications Store next month, with features like lyrics, behind-the-scenes images and exclusive artwork, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The move may further endanger the declining CD industry, since iTunes would be providing “extras already found on CDs.”

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Google has announced the launch of its Video for Business, a corporate video-sharing service that can be accessed through most browsers, including those available on the iPhone, ZDNet.co.uk reported Tuesday.

Google hopes the service will encourage firms to use video, especially if they may have avoided doing so in the past due to financial reasons.

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French network operator Orange, owned by the state's France Télécom, has sold 116,000 3G iPhones since the device launched in mid-July, surpassing the 100,000 first generation iPhones it sold previously, Silicon.fr reported.

The success of the phone may be due to the expansion of mobile phone distribution in the country, as stores like Fnac, Darty and Auchan has also began selling the device.

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From October onwards Comcast, a U.S. cable and broadband provider, announces that it would be limiting the quantity of data its subscribers can receive and send, with a maximum of 250GB each month. The initiative is meant to “improve overall performance for all of its broadband users”, reports MacObserver.com.

Comcast says that even though imposing a restriction may not please some users, nearly all of its customers use much less than 250GB, the norm being two to three GB per month.

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U.S. mobile Internet usage skewed to a male, younger demographic with a higher income, According to iCrossing’s study “How America Searches: Mobile” published in April 2007, World Digital Media Trends 2008 reported.

More than 30 percent of respondents under age 39 access the Internet on their mobiles, especially those ages 20 to 29, with more than 40 percent doing so. Of respondents over age 50, less than 20 percent have online access on their mobiles.

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U.S. Internet users who downloaded podcasts to watch or listen to later increased from 12 percent to 19 percent since last year, according to a study by The Pew Internet and American Life Project. In early 2006, only seven percent of Web users downloaded podcasts for later use.

The study showed that 22 percent of men download podcasts, as opposed to 16 percent for women.

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During February and March 2007, 71 percent of the U.S. population used the Internet, while 29 percent did not use the Internet at all, according to data from the Pew Internet Project, World Digital Media Trend 2008 reported.

Twenty-seven percent of the U.S. population does not use computers; they do not use computers at work, school, home or any other place, while another two percent do have access to a computer, but do not use the Internet or e-mail.

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After years of lagging behind European countries, U.S. is now to take the top spot for mobile Web usage by the end of this month, according to data collected by technology firm Bango, AdWeek reported.

In July, the U.K. topped on mobile Web usage, accounting for almost 19.4 percent of the worldwide total. U.S. followed with about 18.9-percent contribution. Other countries on the top-five list were India (10.8 percent), South Africa (8.8 percent) and Indonesia (4.1 percent).

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Interactive marketing spending in the United States will reach US$60 billion in 2012, growing from less than $20 billion in 2007, according to Forrester Research, Inc., World Digital Media Trends 2008 reported.

In 2007, spending was mostly dominated by search engine and online display, which contributed about $8 billion each, while online video, emerging channels and e-mail were niche groups.

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On Wednesday, American Airlines launched in-flight Internet access for long-haul domestic flights, making it the “first U.S. airline to offer full in-flight broadband,” the European Journalism Centre (EJC) reported.

Passengers flying on the Boeing 767-200 aircraft can pay US$12.95 for Internet access on direct flights from New York to San Francisco, New York to Los Angeles and New York to Miami.

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This year’s Beijing Olympic Games might become the most viewed Games in history, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced, stating that numbers of viewers in countries like the United States are “very promising,” and could lead to records being surpassed, the European Journalism Centre (EJC) reported.

The opening ceremony on August 8 earned the status of the “highest sports related broadcast event” in China, with 840 million viewers. That number is predicted to reach 1.2 billion once final numbers are counted, according to the EJC.

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Yahoo! and Intel have announced they are planning to create a widget-based media platform that unites television and Internet, and will allow for applications and ads to be embedded on High Definition TV (HDTV), PCMag.com reported Wednesday.

"Today we still spend five times as much money on television as we do on the Internet," said Irvin Gotleib, CEO of GroupM, a media investment company. "Fundamentally, however, everyone sees the same ad, which is not the best kind of targeting initiative, and there is a limited ability to delve into content. This changes the whole accountability."

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Telecom services revenue in Europe are expected to increase from €50.1 per inhabitant per month in 2005 to €52.6 in 2010, according to Exane BNP Paribas.

Revenues generated from voice services, including fixed and mobile, are both in decline. Fixed voice, which brought in €16.1 in 2005, is expected to drop €5.8 to €9.1 per month in 2010. Mobile voice is also dropping, but at a much slower rate, from €23.5 in 2005 to €22.4 in 2010, the group predicts.

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