13% of us rely on mobiles to find the way

In a Nokia press release that's full of comedy facts - more people get lost in London than anywhere else in the world, one in three Londoners deliberately gives people the wrong directions, 10% of Spaniards consider a sense of direction matures with age, the average person wastes 13 minutes when they get lost - there's some mobile-related stuff as well. Apparently 13% of people now use a mobile phone as their main navigation tool. [Press release]

UK leads the world in mobile music

Although the USA is the world's largest retail market for music, the UK leads the mobile music market in Europe. eMarketer says mobile music revenue in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain is expected to reach over £700 million by 2012, up from £134 million in 2007. In addition, advertising-supported mobile music in these five countries is expected to reach £85 million in 2012, up from less than £2½ million in 2007. [Press release]

Blyk expands again

Ad-funded virtual network Blyk has said it’ll be expanding into Germany, Spain and Belgium in 2009. The mobile network, which offers free calls and texts for 16-24 year-olds, already operates in the UK and has previously announced plans to launch in the Netherlands. [Press release]

O2 trials femtocells in UK

O2 is working with NEC Europe to test the use of femtocells in the UK. Femtocells are low-powered base stations that connect to a home broadband service, offering improved coverage indoors. Testing started this month, with plans for expansion this summer and a commercial launch in 2009. NEC says up to 70-80% of 3G voice and services are used indoors, making femtocells a practical solution to coverage problems. Vodafone has announced a similar trial, working with Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei in Spain. [O2 press release; Vodafone press release]