A question has arisen again and again for a long time: How will old and new media converge? According to Karin von Abrams, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Web Television in Europe: An Expanding Scene, "Broadcasters have no choice but to embrace new technology and delivery channels, but they are desperate to ensure they can still monetise their content, even when they are no longer monopoly distributors."

By January 2007, about one-half of all broadband users in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK were already watching TV online over high-speed connections, according to a study by Motorola.

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In 2006, Western and Eastern Europe had the highest mobile density in the world, according to research firm IDATE.

In 2002, the leading regions with highest density were Western Europe and advanced Asian economies, with 79 percent and 68 percent penetration, respectively. Eastern Europe and North America, on the other hand, followed behind, both with mobile reach of about 50 percent.

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The global mobile customer base has grown from 945 million in 2001 to 2.6 billion in 2006, according to consulting and research firm IDATE.

In 2001, more than 60 percent of the base, or 576 million, came from industrialised countries, while 369 million were from developing countries. In 2006, however, those in developing countries have surpassed those in industrialised countries, with 1.7 billion, or 66 percent, versus the 886 million in industrialised countries.

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The online gaming market in Asia Pacific region is expected to bring in US$21.1 billion in 2013, according to a new report by In-Stat, "Online Gaming in Asia: Strong Potential for Growth".

According to the study, increased household Internet penetration and new content for online games are two of the key drivers.

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Pay-TV mobile subscribers prefer entertainment channels over news or sports, research group Telstra has announced, The Australian reported.

In Australia, mobile entertainment channels Fox8 and The Comedy Channel are the most watched, followed by music channels Channel V2 and Channel V.

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Although many New Zealanders do not have a broadband connection, those that do are spending much more time online than watching television, a new Cisco survey has found, The New Zealand Herald reported Thursday.

People with high-speed Internet access spend an average of 22 hours a week surfing the Internet, compared with 14 hours watching TV, the Cisco Connected Consumers survey shows.

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Digital media penetration in the United States will continue rising into 2011 from its 2000 levels, according to research firm MAGNA Global.

In 2000, almost all digital media reached less than 10 percent in the country, except for the mobile phone (about 40 percent) and digital cable/satellite and TelcoTV (about 20 percent).

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The U.S. blogosphere is booming into the mass market, according to the recent eMarketer study “The Blogosphere: A Mass Movement from Grass Roots."

The number of bloggers in the country will reach more than 35 million by 2012, representing about 16 percent of the online population, the study predicts.

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Google Health's test run has ended, and the site launched officially Monday, paidContent reported.

The site requires users to agree to its terms of service before registering for free, stating that “When you provide your information through Google Health, you give Google a license to use and distribute it in connection with Google Health and other Google services.

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The Lancashire Evening Post will soon celebrate the one-year anniversary of its special Talking Newspaper Service, serving visually-impaired visitors to its Web site, according to the Post.

The audio version of selected top stories, posted on lep.co.uk, launched June 4 last year.

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Google has replaced Yahoo for the first time as the most popular Web site in the United States, according to comScore's rankings based on the number of monthly visitors in April.

Google has been the online search leader for a long time, but its audience has trailed Yahoo's when counting all other services including e-mail and photo sharing.

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Journalism.co.uk launched a new press release distribution service through Twitter to mobile devices, the site reported Wednesday.

Journalists and bloggers can sign up to receive free SMS alerts to their mobile phones when a press release in their area of focus is published on Journalism.co.uk.

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Chilean newspaper publisher La Tercera will use mobile content and services delivery platform Viigo Inc. to distribute content to its readers, Business Wire reported Wednesday.

The free, branded version of Viigo will be offered for readers to download, aiming to make La Tercera news and information more easily accessible via smartphone.

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More than six out of 10 consumers in France ages 11 and older said they had gone online within the past 30 days, according to a survey conducted by Médiamétrie in March 2008.

The figure is up nearly nine percent compared to the same period one year ago.

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Reuters is making its news content more available to developers through a non-commercial API offering, available through Reuters Labs, Mashable reported Monday.

This will enable developers to create applications around Reuters news, or make the content fit better on existing sites or applications.

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According to a new survey by Prospectiv, about 87 percent of people feel that very few (58 percent) or none (29 percent) of the ads offered on social networking sites match their specific interests and preferences.

Fifty-six percent polled said their online experience would be improved if social networking sites offered more advertisements tailored to their specific interests and preferences.

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Even as U.S. newspapers are going through a tough time of change and financial woes, they are investing in online, beefing up their video operations, a pleasant and encouraging surprise, according to the Newspaper Association of America's online video survey report, out this month.

The report, part of the NAA's Development and Growth Guide for Newspaper Web sites, aims to give newspapers information on hardware and software, as well as expert advice, case studies and articles about online video. The survey was conducted in February and March 2008.

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Social network users in Europe will reach 107.4 million in 2012, up from 41.7 million in 2007, according to Datamonitor.

The UK is expected to be the biggest grower in social networking over the next five years, up from 9.6 million users in 2007 to 27.1 million in 2012.

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Homes in Singapore will be wired with a fibre optic link, hooking them up to broadband, the Straits Times reported Friday.

In as early as two years, the Fibre To The Home (FTTH) technology promises faster broadband access for all homes in Singapore.

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China will own the biggest share of broadband per household in Asia throughout 2010, while Japan and South Korea are expected to lose shares gradually, consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has forecast.

In 2004, China owned 40 percent of overall broadband households in Asia Pacific, while Japan and South Korea accounted for 27 percent and 21 percent, respectively.

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Google is considering running illustrated advertisements with the results of Web image-queries, a step beyond its text-based ad business, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

“Matching graphical-display ads with image searches represents a large opportunity, and there's lot of potential for advertising revenue there,” Marissa Mayer, a Google vice president, told Bloomberg Radio Wednesday. She added that the company at the same time must ensure such ads don't drive users away.

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The United States took the lead in terms of time spent online in January 2008, according to the data from Nielsen Online.

The data was derived from nine countries, including the United States, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Australia and Switzerland during January 2008.

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Most newspaper editors around the world no longer think of their product as “print-only,” and are optimistic about the future of newspapers and their place in the multi-media revolution, according to the Newsroom Barometer, an annual survey of editors around the world, released Tuesday.

The second annual survey of 704 editors and senior news executives from 120 countries was conducted by Zogby International in March, and commissioned by Reuters and the World Editors Forum, a partner of the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project and also part of the World Association of Newspapers.

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Online advertising in Australia continued to march ahead in the first quarter this year, albeit at a slower pace than over the previous four years, The Australian reported.

The total Internet ad market grew 30.8 percent to AU$385 million in the first three months. Compared with the same period last year, it dropped from a 51-percent increase in 2007.

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As of Q1 2008, 31 percent of Britons ages 15 and older listened to the radio via a digital platform every week, including a digital audio broadcast on the radio, cable television or personal computer, according to the Radio Joint Audience Research estimates.

The growing audience also spent more time on digital radio. Weekly listening hours increased nine percent to reach 184 million in the first quarter, and digital radio now makes up 17.8 percent of all radio listening in the UK.

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Mobile instant messaging (MIM) will replace text messaging (SMS) and eventually e-mail as the most popular mobile non-voice communication application, according to a recent global survey by TNS Global.

Currently, only eight percent of global mobile phone users surveyed use MIM. However, the study found that once users adopt MIM, it becomes the primary communications method and replaces other messaging tools.

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The Associated Press and more than 100 of the news agency's member newspapers on Monday launched a service aimed at making news stories available on Apple's iPhone and other mobile devices, the AP reported.

Currently 107 newspapers are participating in the Mobile News Network, including the San Francisco Chronicle and The Miami Herald.

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