In today's Mobile Minute: The UN released a report on mobile penetration around the world and how mobiles can be used to fight poverty, Business Insider charted U.S. texting habits by age group, an Islamist group in Somalia banned mobile money transfers, Zimbabwe's first mobile money program prepares to launch, and the research group Akamai released data on the growth of the mobile web around the world.
- Last week, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development covered the topic of mobiles for development, looking at worldwide penetration (over 100% in developed countries, 58 per 100 people in developing countries) and how mobiles can be used for economic improvements of the lives of people in developing countries.
- Nielsen reports that "teens sent or received 3,339 texts per month on average for the second quarter of 2010." Business Insider charted the results, breaking down text usage by age, showing that texting for all age groups has risen in comparison to the same quarter in 2009, but ages 13-17 still comprise the bulk of U.S. text messaging.
- The BBC reports that "Somali Islamist group al-Shabab has ordered mobile phone companies to stop their popular money transfer services, saying they are "'unIslamic.'" The three mobile companies that currently offer mobile banking services have been ordered to stop within three months.
- Starting in November, Zimbabwe is set to launch its first mobile banking service. It will be run by Mikemusa Ltd and is designed to work across all carriers and handset providers.
- The content distribution network Akamai released its State of the Internet Report, much of which tracked how the mobile web is gaining popularity around the world. Gigaom broke down some of the data including mobile broadband speed and worldwide accessibility rates.
[Mobile Minute Disclaimer: The Mobile Minute is a quick round-up of interesting stories that have come across our RSS and Twitter feeds to keep you informed of the rapid pace of innovation. Read them and enjoy them, but know that we have not deeply investigated these news items. For more in-depth information about the ever-growing field of mobile tech for social change, check out our blog posts, white papers and research, how-tos, and case studies.
Image courtesy Flickr user QiFei
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