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Worldwide sales of mobile phones reached 294.3 million units in the first quarter of 2008, a 13.6 per cent increase over the first quarter of 2007, according to Gartner Inc.



Sales of mobile phones in Western Europe decreased 16.4 percent from the first quarter of 2007, the first decline in this region since Gartner began tracking the mobile devices market in 2001.

"While sales in emerging markets continued to be driven by strong net new subscribers' growth, mature markets felt the pressure of an uncertain economic environment," said Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner, based in Egham, UK.

Nokia sold 115.2 million mobile phones in the first quarter of 2008, as its market share slipped slightly to 39.1 per cent (see Table 1). Sales in the ultra-low-cost segment remained strong due to Nokia's distribution strategy, economies of scale and brand power. However, competition in this segment and at the high end is increasing. To stay ahead, Nokia will have to continue to integrate new technologies in its handsets and improve usability and design.

Engineers have created a way to use cell phone Bluetooth signals to determine how long it takes vehicles and pedestrians to travel from one point to another. The method envisioned by engineers at the Indiana Department of Transportation offers a low-cost solution for everything from the speed of the morning commutes to the sluggishness of airport security lines.


"This is incredibly valuable information that could be used for many purposes, including better traffic signal timing and management of construction work zones to reduce congestion, as well as real-time traffic information for motorists," said Darcy Bullock, a professor of civil engineering at Purdue University. "Now we have a way to measure how slow traffic is on a given stretch of road or how long it's taking people to get through airport security at a given concourse and time of day."

Bullock is developing the method with Jason S. Wasson and James R. Sturdevant, engineers from the Indiana Department of Transportation.

"We came up with the idea at INDOT and developed the prototype this year from off-the-shelf hardware," Wasson said.

The method picks up the identifying "addresses" from Bluetooth devices in consumer electronics. Because each device has its own distinct digital signature, its travel time can be tracked by detectors installed at intersections or along highways and other locations.

Travelers could access the travel-time information using the same portable electronic devices that make the system possible.

"Information is a commodity people are aggressively seeking, and this method promises to cost effectively provide information that has never been widely available to travelers," Bullock said.

Research findings will be detailed in a paper appearing in the June issue of the ITE Journal, published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers. The paper was written by Wasson, Sturdevant and Bullock.

Bluetooth technology connects and exchanges information for cell phone hands-free headsets, wireless keyboards, Internet access for personal digital assistants, and wireless networks for laptops and personal computers. The new travel-time estimation procedures detect and record "media access control," or MAC identification signals, every time a Bluetooth device passes a detector.

"It gives you quantitative 24-hour feedback on traffic flow, information we can use for design and operation decisions," Wasson said. "Agencies need quantitative data so they can make informed decisions about how to allocate resources and how well design changes are working."

Data from such a system would provide not only information about short-term factors such as congestion from construction work zones, but also long-term trends requiring design changes, Sturdevant said.

The researchers tested the method on sections of Interstate 65, Interstate 465 and roads in and around Indianapolis, tracking 1.2 percent of the average daily traffic on specific routes.

"That's important because it means basically every hundredth vehicle is tracked, so the travel-time information is accurate and updated," Bullock said. "With improved antenna mounting we expect to do even better."

Pedestrian walking speeds also could be tracked to learn how long it takes people to negotiate airports and other facilities.

Future work may involve expanding the research to additional sections of roadways. The researchers have filed a patent on the method, and the basic technology is available commercially to create the tracking system, Bullock said.

BOISE - Minor league baseball fans in St. Paul, Minnesota are hoping to put a little extra cash in their pocket – with a promotional gimmick inspired by Idaho Senator Larry Craig.
The St. Paul Saints gave out 2500 so-called “bobblefoot” toys – which feature a bathroom stall with two feet poking out of the bottom. When the toy is shaken, one of the spring-loaded feet taps. The side of the toy says "For a good time call" - followed by the team's ticket sales hotline.
Craig was arrested in a bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport last summer, after police say he attempted to solicit gay sex from an undercover officer by tapping his foot in the bathroom stall.
Now many of the toys have popped up on eBay – with bidding as high as $152. More than 50 of the bobblefoot toys are available for sale – some even include extras like the ticket stub from Sunday’s Saints game.
(Related: See the listings on eBay)
The promotional gimmick isn’t just netting some extra income for fans – it might have helped lift the Saints. The team broke a four game losing streak with a win over the Fort Worth Cats Sunday.

Four fifth-grade girls at Ballwin Elementary have been rewarded for toying around.
Student inventors Kathryn Boulware, Anchal Sama, Samantha Seidel and Chase Woodley were on a team led by Ballwin fourth-grade teacher David Mathys that appeared May 17 at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C., to compete in the TOYchallenge, a national toy-design challenge for students in fifth through eighth grades.
There, they received medals at the national competition for having one of the top three designs - out of more than 100 teams at the event."They had to qualify through preliminary rounds that were held in March," Mathys said. "The girls created a Pyramid of Learning toy, designed for kids ages 2 through 6, and they were looking for something to double as a room decoration and learning device."
The pyramid is a 4-foot-tall toy, with an Egyptian theme, that can fold flat on the floor, he said.
Mathys said the challenge was a chance for teams of children to create a new toy or game. The program encourages students to learn about science, engineering and the design process in a fun, creative, collaborative process relevant to everyday life.
A team consists of three to six members, at least half of whom must be girls, Mathys said. Sponsored by Sally Ride Science, TOYchallenge is designed to inspire, motivate and encourage learning basic design principles and problem-solving skills among all students with an interest. Through their TOYchallenge experience, girls and boys also learn about planning, research, collaboration, mentorship and teamwork.
For more information about the TOYchallenge, visit www.sallyridescience.com/toychallenge.
"This is the first time anyone from our school entered," Mathys said. "I wanted to get involved because I'm interested in keeping girls interested in science. Research shows that middle school age is when many girls often lose interest in science.
"This competition was a way for the girls to see relevance of science. More than getting the medals they received, it was important to me to see the girls so happy. The pride in their faces, and that of their parents, made it worthwhile for me."
The Pyramid of Learning is made of lightweight plywood.
"The girls were given a maximum of $200 to spend on their toy," Mathys said. "Plastic would have been lighter and easier to use, but it didn't fit into our budget. The girls designed and measured everything, put on hinges, designed and painted the games themselves. All adults did for them was to cut the plywood."
Mathys said games on each of the three sides of the pyramid were determined by the girls, by interviewing a Ballwin kindergarten teacher on skills needed to enter kindergarten.
Kathryn said the girls were asked by Mathys to do the project, "and we thought it would be a lot of fun."
"The pyramid is 4 feet tall and has activities on three sides, to teach little kids, which is why we called it the Pyramid of Learning," Kathryn said. "This project was so much fun to do. It would be great to enter the contest again. We all worked together pretty good."
Anchal said the girls started on the project at the end of March and finished by early May.
"We had some challenges," she said. "We first started out with a barnyard walk, a totally different toy, but we found out it would be too tall and heavy. So we started brainstorming on other shapes, and we came up with a pyramid that worked great. Also it was fun to go to Washington and meet other teams and see everybody else's toys."
Samantha said the painting of the outside of the pyramid was the most fun for her.
"I enjoyed working with the other girls," she said. "They're all my friends. It felt really good to win the award. Though there were a lot of teams, the people in charge of the contest really liked our toy. Afterward, everyone at school asked if we won, and they were all congratulating us."
Chase said each girl won a medal.
"The pyramid had three games for little kids," she said. "One was the Imagination Station, a whiteboard to draw on, with markers; a Touch Map, where there's a number on a card and you have to put it with the right number of dots on a felt piece, with cards to stick it on; and a Shape Game, where an outline of a shape is on the board and there are foam pieces to stick on to match the shape. My family was really supportive and really proud of us."
So was Ballwin Elementary principal Julie Gay.
"This was a wonderful honor and recognition for them," Gay said. "The whole idea of the project is that students use problem solving to create inventions, with the goal to think about innovation. This team was incredible, they wowed the judges, and I was so very proud of my girls."

LONDON (AFP) — An ancient gold cup mysteriously acquired by an English scrap metal dealer is expected to fetch close to a million dollars at auction after languishing for years in a shoe box under its current owner's bed.
Owner John Webber says his grandfather gave him the 5.5-inch (14-centimetre) high mug to play with when he was a child, back in 1945.
He assumed the golden cup, which is decorated with the heads of two women facing in opposite directions, their foreheads garlanded with two knotted snakes, was made from brass.
But he decided to get it valued when he was moving house last year and was told it was actually a rare piece of ancient Persian treasure, beaten out of a single sheet of gold hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
Experts said the method of manufacture and the composition of the gold was "consistent with Achaemenid gold and gold smithing" dating back to the third or fourth century BC.
The Achaemenid empire, the first of the Persian empires to rule over significant portions of Greater Iran, was wiped out by Alexander the Great in 330 BC.
Auction house Duke's, in Dorchester, south-west England, will put the cup under the hammer on June 5, with an estimate of 500,000 pounds (630,000-euro, 988,000-dollars).
Webber, 70, told The Guardian newspaper that his grandfather had a "good eye" for antiques and picked up "all sorts" as he plied his trade in the town of Taunton in south-west England.
"Heaven knows where he got this, he never said," he added, revealing that as a child, he used the cup for target practice with his air gun.

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Wednesday that the Miami-based Kids Station Toys International is recalling one million toy cell phones that pose a choking hazard to children.
The Kids Station's Little Tikes brand Chit 'N Chat flip phone was found to have a detachable hinge cover. One incident of a child choking on the part had been reported.
Covered by the voluntary recall are models sold in department, juvenile product, and drug stores nationwide from June 2006 through March 2008. The colored cell phones have buttons that produce sounds. They were sold for about $8 individually or about $20 in a set.
Consumers were also advised take the phones away from young children immediately and contact Kids Station to get a free replacement

BEIJING—China's toy exports, while still growing, slowed significantly in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the corresponding period of 2007.
Citing China’s Xinhua News Agency, the Associated Press said China’s toy exports from January through March grew 3 percent, down from a nearly 24 percent growth rate in the first quarter of 2007.
The decline was blamed on higher production costs, the negative impact of China’s increasingly strong currency compared to the U.S. dollar, and continuing product safety concerns.
Total toy exports during the quarter were worth $1.5 billion, the Xinhua said, citing China's customs agency. Toy exports to the United States fell 5.8 percent to $590 million during the period, according to Xinhua.
Toy sales to Hong Kong—generally assumed to be a weigh point for further shipping to the U.S. and other international markets—fell 26.8 percent to $110 million, AP reported

(NewDesignWorld Press Release Center) -- May 28,2008.Hong Kong.Gotoymall online Babies & Kids Toy store debuts. The new enterprise Gotoymall.Ltd formed one month ago recently reveals its online retail store under the domain name www.gotoymall.com with a full preparation of over 1000 different toys and crafts classed over 20 catalogs.
“ As you can see our online store mainly are targeted on parents who want to buy toys for their babies and kids” said Tom Jackson, one of executives of Gotoymall Ltd, “for babies, we can provide their parents with baby stools, baby dolls, lovely animal toys and animated music dolls; for kids we offer radio controlled mini cars, submarines and helicopters, educational DIY puzzles and models, Chess & Sudoku players and Robot toys”, “As kids safe are the main concern to parents when chose toys, Gotoymall.com make sure all listings are complied with parental safe degree, no harmful materials” added Tom.
Take one key catalog for further report. RC toys (remote control toys) are featured on gotoymall.com. Currently there are over 3 hundreds of different types and styles of RC toys sorted into four main kinds – they are RC cars, trucks, vessels and aircrafts. Based on real object, these battery operated models are highly enjoyable to kids and also easy operated. Every child can find her/his favorite toys in this catalog. Visit http://www.gotoymall.com/gotoymall-Cars-Electronic-cars-cid-1-list.html for more informations.
About gotoymall.com:
Gotoymall is a new online toy retailer who focus on fun baby toys and kids educational toys. Their main catalogs covers RC Toys, learning toys, tradition toys and DIY toys. The goal of gotoymall is bringing customers the best and reliable toys, make their shopping experience as easy and enjoyable as possible.

Teflon Pipe ALTON - The completion of the riverfront amphitheater may be delayed for months after engineers discovered steel pipes to be used in the roofing frame were not welded according to the city's specifications."What was delivered was not acceptable because of the welding and other deficiencies," said Phil Roggio, Alton director of development and housing. "We informed RCS Construction Inc. that we are not accepting what's out there. RCS is working with Birdair and local contractors. We hope to have this refabricated and done right. We are working on a solution, so it is going to be done right."RCS of Wood River is general contractor of the project, considered Phase 6 of the Riverfront Park development plan. Its contract with Alton is for $4,398,528.Birdair Inc. of Amherst, N.Y., is a subcontractor building the amphitheater roof support and topping it with a thin, translucent, Teflon-treated fabric that allows sunlight to flow through. The company Web site says the material is low-maintenance and durable, with a life span of 30 years.Roggio said engineers with Geo Technology Inc. of Collinsville, working on behalf of the city, discovered the inadequate welding about two weeks ago through ultrasound and electro-magnetic testing. The welds were supposed to be "full penetration welds," but some of them only had the solder partially penetrate the pipe connections.He stressed that RCS is not at fault."The contractor had been ready to lift the structures and put them in place," said Dan Bockert, project coordinator and principal architect at Planning Design Studio of St. Louis. "It does not mean it is a bad weld," but it does not meet contract specifications."It is steel pipe, like an erector set that you put together to meet a structural design with specific kinds of welds," Bockert said."The specifications called for the city to provide testing to see the structure follows the contract documents," he said. "It did not meet specifications; they were not the type of welds specified. We wanted to make sure the city gets what it pays for. The company (Birdair) is aware they did not meet the specifications. We have discovered a number of welds below standard."We have asked Birdair, through RCS, to prepare a plan to fix the welds," Bockert said.Kevin Mayer, Birdair vice president of business development and marketing, did not return a reporter's telephone message last week. Christen Stroh, of Larson O'Brien Advertising and Public Relations of Pittsburgh, Pa., represents Birdair. She said Friday she was unaware of the Alton situation and would try to obtain a comment from Mayer on Friday, but she did not.Roggio admitted the planned dismantling and rewelding of the pipes would delay the project, perhaps by a couple months into the summer or early fall."It's definitely going to delay it, but what's there is unacceptable," he said. "We expect it to be done right. The workmanship is not acceptable."Roggio said the work that must be done to remedy the problems would not increase the cost of the project for the city."The vast majority of the structure has not been paid for, and it won't be paid for unless it's done right," he said.A news release on Birdair's Web site says the company built its 70,000-square-foot Birdair SA de CV manufacturing facility in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1998, and employs 40 people. Last August, Birdair consolidated its Latin American sales division to that location."The main advantage for us is that there are more resources in place in Tijuana to take care of the client's architectural, engineering and design needs and inquiries," said Alfredo Davila, director of business development for Birdair in Latin America, the release says.The metal roof supports in the Alton project will sit on four concrete columns already in place. The stage will have more than 7,000 square feet.Birdair has constructed a number of notable structures many times larger than the Alton amphitheater using its tensile architecture techniques with metal frames and fabric. Among its larger projects are the Chicago Navy Pier, Denver International Airport, San Diego Convention Center, Chene Park Amphitheater in Detroit and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.Bockert said welders could do remedial work on site, but he suggests moving the roof sections to an indoor steel fabrication shop within a few miles from the park. Both Bockert and Roggio said the white steel pipes meet specifications, just not some of the welds.He said Birdair would be providing revised drawings in about a week to correct the insufficient welds, with RCS, Bockert and city representatives to check them over and come up with a repair schedule."The system is working the way it should," Bockert said. "The city had the opportunity to do (check) it. They caught it before it was hanging in the air. It was very fortunate the city was on its toes to catch it when it arrived, but I would have preferred it not to have happened. Everybody is pulling together. Everybody knows their reputation is on the line. Even though it is a delay in schedule, it is a good way to do this."

Agricultural Machine The administration of Governor Joseph C. Cua is making good on its promised support for greater agricultural productivity, with the Caramoran tiger grass processors receiving three "lasa" seed removers to be paid back without interest within five years. Last May 21, the governor brought the depollenating machines costing P20,000 each to barangay Hitoma where he and Caramoran Lasa Processors Association president Sanny Barra signed a memorandum of agreement covering the assistance. The signing of the agreement was witnessed by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) provincial director Ireneo Panti, Jr., PASO-OIC Wilfredo Talay, Provincial Agricultural Support Officer Herbert Evangelista, Sugbo Movers Association president Crispin Lopez, Rev. Fr. Joseph Rey Villamartin, lasa processors and farmers, Hitoma barangay officials headed by chairman Noel Brizo and residents. The association earlier requested the provincial government to provide the tiger grass seed remover to improve productivity and introduce mechanization to the industry, which is the chosen One-Town-One-Product (OTOP) for Caramoran town. The making of "walis-tambo" or tiger grass brooms, dusters and novelty items is mostly done through manual labor. Under the agreement, the provincial government procured the depollenating machines, the cost of which will be paid by CPLA within five years, with a one-year grace period. Amortizations of P3,750 each will be paid by CPLA to the province every March, April, May and June during the peak of the lasa harvest season from 2009 to 2012. In case of non-payment within 15 days after harvest, the province will serve a default notice to CLPA requiring payment of the overdue amortization within 15 days, after which the government will have the option to pull out the machines. The project will be monitored by PASO, with DTI joining in to provide technical assistance to tiger grass processors. According to Gov. Cua, the machine, which can be bought for P15,000 each but without the required motor, can be converted to a rice thresher via installation of some attachments. He added that with the use of the depollenating machines, farmers can reduce the time needed to remove seeds from one "bulto" of lasa to just an hour, instead of eight hours of manual labor using children to pound the lasa stalks against pavement. He said that 18 barangays in Caramoran are requesting the same machines but the provincial government wants the cost charged directly to the barangay’s Internal Revenue Allotment through P1,000 monthly amortizations. If realized, the acquisition of the machines would allow lasa-producing barangays to earn rental income from its use by broom makers and farmers.