This Week in Global Mobile | November 26, 2010

At times it's difficult to keep pace with the latest global mobile developments. I hope this selection of news stories from the past week will help you navigate the growing global network of connectivity:

  • On Tuesday FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and other leaders announced steps to revolutionize America’s 9-1-1 emergency system by harnessing mobile technologies such as text messaging.
  • Hylas-1, Europe’s first satellite dedicated to delivering broadband Internet to the continent, launched successfully on Friday.
  • Mobile web usage around the world is highest in Africa and Asia, according to research firm Royal Pingdom.
  • Broadband speeds in Europe rose sharply over the past year with 14 percent more lines serving at least 10Mbps connections, according to the latest European Commission figures.
  • Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) promised to delay a vote on a controversial Internet privacy bill he calls “a bunker-busting cluster bomb” that oversteps the government’s censorship power.
  • Coca-Cola is developing vending machines that support mobile payments using Near Field Communication, a new technology which will allow customers to swipe their mobile phone near a machine to make the purchase.
  • Android surpassed long-established leader Symbian as the most-used mobile operating system in Asia.
  • A new wireless armband monitors patients of dementia and Alzheimer’s, sending mobile warnings to caretakers as well as customized medication reminders and GPS coordinates.
  • 28 percent of the $127 billion spent during the Thanksgiving holiday break were expected to go towards mobile and social media products, reported an IDC Retail survey.
  • Integrated wi-fi systems will be sold in 7.2 million cars in 2017 -- up 40 times from the 174,000 wireless cars expected to hit the road this year -- according to research firm iSuppli.
  • According to Hitwise, Facebook accounts for 25 percent of all page views in the United States -- and one in five of those visitors’ news feeds is afflicted with malware.
  • Leading health care professionals believe that mHealth technologies will be administered through mainstream health care channels such as doctors and hospitals by 2015, according to a global survey released last week.
  • Last week the U.S. government censored 70 websites accused of facilitating copyright infringement -- but unlike in other cases around the world, the sites are blocked in all countries.
  • A new study reveals that 90 percent of corporate security breaches are made inadvertently by employees sharing information on social networking sites.
  • Former President George W. Bush announced that he will be answering user-submitted questions about his new book Decision Points live from Facebook headquarters this afternoon.
  • Media mogul Rupert Murdoch announced plans to create an iPad-only news outlet called The Daily. The beta launch is expected around Christmas at a cost of 99 cents per week.