Peter Jones CBE

Peter Jones, now better known for his role on BBC TV's Dragons' Den than for his ownership of the Phones International Group, has been awarded a CBE in the New Year's Honours List. [Source: Mobile News]

Mobile internet increasingly popular

Researchers at Nielsen say the number of British people accessing the internet via their mobile phones has increased 25% from Q2 to Q3 2008, rising from 5.8 million to 7.3 million. In contrast, PC-based internet use increased 3% from 34.3 million to 35.3 million. Google is the most popular PC-based web site, while the most popular mobile internet site is BBC News, with 1.7 million British visitors (24% of mobile internet consumers) every month. [Sources: PDF press release; Telecoms.com; TotalTele.com]

BBC iPlayer on Nokia N96

The BBC's 'on demand' iPlayer service will be available on the Nokia N96 from next month. The iPlayer is already available for 'streaming' programmes on the Apple iPhone, although the N96 will also permit downloads. [Source: BBC News]

Condom ringtone

Visit www.condomcondom.org for a free ringtone that sings "condom", courtesy of the BBC World Service Trust. It's part of an Indian campaign to prevent the transmission of HIV.

BBC Trust launches consultation about mobile TV

The BBC Trust has asked for comments about the BBC's plans to make its TV and radio channels available to UK mobile phone users on 3G networks. A trial earlier this year, which offered BBC TV on Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and 3, attracted peak usage of just 580 views in June 2007 and an average 13 minutes watched per month. [BBC Trust consultation; PDF document]

iPlayer for iPhone

A beta version of the BBC iPlayer is now available for the Apple iPhone. [Source: BBC blog]

Man reports mobile phone 'theft' with phone still in pocket

The BBC has an amusing story from South Africa. Police in Pretoria say that a man walked into a police station to report that his mobile phone had been stolen at gunpoint. He gave the make, model and mobile number of the phone to a detective, who called the number of the phone at the end of the interview. The phone then rang in the man's pocket.