Today’s stories cover a more ‘serious’ aspect of tech (the fact that texting has overtaken talking) and the more lighthearted (an ice cream cart that stays cool by using heat).
About that fact I mentioned a couple of words ago – a study by Ofcom (the independent communications watchdog in the UK) has found that 58% of people now communicate daily via SMS, compared to 47% who use their mobile phone to make a call. Somewhat predictably, the charge away from talking is being led by the youth sector (96% of them use a text-based application every day). The increase in smartphone ownership among adults is on the rise (see next story) and 42% of those ‘grown ups’ now primarily use their phones to access the internet. Excellent to hear, and great for those adults who are becoming more tech-savvy.
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The World Bank (in a brief moment when they weren’t bailing out failing economies) reported that 75% of the world’s population now has access to mobile phones. The vast majority (5/6) of the mobile subscriptions are in the developing world, fitting in well with Nokia’s drive for the next billion.
via Groovyfab
The Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank, Rachel Kyte, said
‘The challenge now is to enable people, businesses, and governments in developing countries to develop their own locally-relevant mobile applications so they can take full advantage of these opportunities.’
Sounds familiar, don’t you think?
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You learn pretty early on in life that the sun melts your ice cream. Usually resulting in sticky fingers and dripped-on shorts. But some clever people in the Netherlands have decided that to keep ice cream cold, you must place it in the sun. More precisely, you must place the solar-powered ice cream cart in the sun.
via Springtime
The solar panels charge the batteries, which keep the cooling system working, resulting in cold ice cream in the direct sun. Perfect for summer days.
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Any tech news caught your eye today? What’s been through your RSS feed that you think we should take a look at? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter and it could feature tomorrow.