This week the carnival looks at a range of mobile issues from mobile web site performance, top 10 mobile sites, mobile mash-ups from Nokia, mobile payments, QR codes, mobile TV and a piece from this blog about Blyk's use of "relevancy and dialogue" that has helped propel them to their 100,000th user.   more »

I noticed today in the Daily Telegraph and also the Financial Times here in London that Blyk has reached a milestone of 100,000 users five months ahead of schedule.

Blyk has an interesting business model and target segment, 16-24 year olds who receive 43 minutes and 217 texts free per month in return for consenting to receive targeted advertising on their mobile.   more »

This week's instalment of the carnival is bursting with mobile news and views. Head over to skydeck where you can read posts from Sascha Konietzke from funkfeuer, Krisse from All About Symbian, Ajit from Open Gardens, John Puterbaugh from Nellymoser, Matt Davies from Taptu, Igor Faletski from mobscure, Jamie Wells at mobilestance, Peggy Salz from MSearch Groove, James Cooper of mjelly, Dennis at WAP Review, Ray at Money Blue Book, Bena Roberts from GoMo News, Barbara Ballard at Little Springs Design, and yours truly.   more »

I found a fascinating article in a recent edition of Newsweek called Emotional Connections. The article describes an installation at the New York Museum of Modern Art called New York Talk Exchange. Here, MIT have been provided with real time phone records   more »

This year I was not able to attend Oxford University's Forum Oxford Conference, but the next best thing - having my friend and fellow blogger Martin Sauter write up a comprehensive review over at wireless moves has allowed me to catch up with what transpired at the conference last week. I also had the opportunity to lunch with Martin over the weekend (and share some local travel tips), and hear first hand how the conference went.   more »

It is always a pleasure to spend some time with Bena Roberts from GoMo news, and I was able to have lunch with her last week during the MMA Event in London.  I also caught up with Richard Saggers who is the current MMA Chair for EMEA and is also the head of Mobile Advertising for Vodafone Group.

I have known Bena since last year, and we first met in person at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last February where we shared a brief discussion about location based advertising. This time, I was able to get a better perspective of Bena's involvement in the Mobile Advertising space (which is substantial), and also hear that she has conducted her own mobile search campaigns with ALL the mobile search providers, so she really does understand what works, and what provides a return to the advertiser.  When next you speak with Bena, I would encourage you to ask her about this (my guess as to which company provided the best return was way off), and she can also devise a campaign for you.

Bena is probably best known as the Chief Editor of GoMo News, providing a roundup of what's happening and who's who in the mobile advertising and content space. Her site is one of the few I subscribe to via RSS, and I would advise you to visit the site, sign up for the newsletter or grab the feed.

In her own words, her writing style is "edgy" and her perspective on what's hot in the world of mobile (and what's not) is both appreciated and welcome. Why not click over to www.gomonews.com right now and have a look!

Looking through this week's Economist, my eye was drawn to a full page ad, promoting the naming rights for the Dubai Metro - to be completed in 2009. The print ad directs you to the Road and Traffic Authority's website for the Government of Dubai, which then points to a special website www.metronamingrights.com.   more »

Over at mobileljones.com you will find this week's Carnival of the Mobilists, where you will see a reflection of mobile’s push to data and multimedia in 2008, and how handset companies, former handset companies, internet companies, new entrants and social networking giants are all involved in mashups of services.

Once again, the mobile world's finest provide their unique view on the week in wireless.

This week's carnival comes from the CTIA conference in Las Vegas, where correspondent Paul Ruppert seems to have been typing from the card tables during his report - which is filled with a range of views from within CTIA and beyond. Head over to mobile pointview to enjoy all the Carnival has to offer this week.

Andrew will be speaking at the Navigation and Location Europe 2008 conference, organised by Telematics Update magazine on June 4th - 5th at the Marriott Hotel in Amsterdam. Built on the long running success of 4 years of navigation conferences, Navigation and Location Europe 2008 represents the next step forward for the industry. Joining Nokia, TomTom, Jaguar, Garmin, Orange, O2, Motorola, Delphi, Clarion, Navigon, T-Traffic, Panasonic will be location experts exploring both the application and business development of new location based services. Navigation and Location Europe strives to keep one step ahead of the market by providing the most up to date business information.   more »