Nokia’s MeraNokia (Majha Nokia in Marathi) is actually a Nokia Life Tools (NLT) application coded into the 2300 and 2323 handsets being used in the pilot. Farmers and villagers pay around Rs 2 per day, every 10 days, for the latest on crop pricing, weather, farming tips, among other things. All this is freely available on the net for those with PCs and Internet access. For the farmers, the mobile is the PC. “Across India, the mobile revolution is passé by now and is just a matter of tracking the millions. (By the time you will be reading this, the number of mobile subscribers in India will have crossed 400 million, making it the world’s second-largest market.) But this very growth has put the fear of commoditisation into the hearts of the players. They need a differentiator. That differentiator is services.” Read full story (via Open Gardens)

The Financial Times has published a special report on connectivity, analysing the implications of a connected planet. My preferred pieces: Skills: Business must learn from the new tribe So-called ‘digital natives’ are bringing down the barriers to collaborative working, finds Jessica Twentyman (If you read one article only, this is the one.) Mobility: Flexibility is driven from the bottom up But organisations must ensure employees are not slaves to mobile devices, notes Stephen Pritchard Overcoming the fear of connectivity Some organisations, fearful of untoward consequences such as reputational damage, ban social networking websites. Others embrace them enthusiastically and try to persuade others to do likewise. Developing world: ‘Have-nots’ no closer to catching the ‘haves Cellphones are nearly ubiquitous but internet access is still very patchy, says Paul Taylor Case study: Text messages give shopkeepers the power to bulk buy Stroll through South Africa’s villages – as steeped in ancestral tradition as they are deprived of basic services – and you will come across the convenience store, writes Tom Burgis. Opinion: IT makes poverty a ‘curable affliction’ Olav Kjorven of the UNDP argues that innovative programmes in developing nations have helped people increase their choices and opportunities Donor programmes: Sponsors can now view benefits online Non-governmental organisations and government bodies can see exactly how their money is being spent, writes Danny Bradbury Developed world: Those with no access miss out on opportunities Jessica Twentyman examines the evidence that digital exclusion and social disadvantage go hand in hand Connecting the world: Ubiquity will be a hard state to reach Network access for all requires money but there are also significant technical hurdles, writes Stephen Pritchard

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The blog series on New Media Practices in International Contexts, which I announced in January, is now complete. It covers the unique characteristics of digital media user behaviours in very different socio-cultural contexts of China, Korea, India, Brazil, Japan and Ghana, with a particular interest in the intersection of youth, new media and learning.
The authors, a group of people around Mimi Ito, believe that examining new media practices from an international (and, in some cases, transnational) perspective will enhance their current efforts to theorise youth, new media and learning, a wider MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Initiative. China (by Cara Wallis): introduction - mobile phones - gaming - internet - new media production - conclusion Korea (by HyeRyoung Ok): introduction - internet - gaming - mobile phones - new media production - conclusion India (by Anke Schwittay): introduction - mobile phones - gaming - internet - new media production - conclusion Brazil (by Heather Horst): introduction - internet - new media production - games - mobile phones - conclusion Japan (by Mimi Ito and Daisuke Okabe): introduction - internet - mobile phones - new media production - gaming - conclusion Ghana (by Araba Sey): introduction - mobile phones - internet - new media production - gaming - conclusion Each case study focuses upon the telecommunications landscape, internet and mobile phone practices, gaming, and new media production, and provides a unique perspective on the ways in which infrastructure, institutions and culture (among other factors) shape contemporary new media practices.