How does mobile Internet access change the lives of the poor? This is the subject of a just-published exploratory study by the University of Cape Town. While far from being a comprehensive piece of work, it does highlight some of the potential and the pitfalls of providing mobile Internet services to poor people in developing countries, such as South Africa.Tellingly, the researchers struggled to find people in low-paid jobs that had a mobile phone capable of more than just voice calls and text

Apple is close to launching a portable computer controlled via a large touch-screen, otherwise known as a tablet computer, a Wall Street Journal report, published today, suggests. The article cites "a person familiar with the situation" as saying that Steve Jobs is intensely scrutinising the work of those on the project, particularly with regard to the product's advertising and marketing strategy. That will only add to the widespread speculation that Apple is gearing up to launch the tablet gizm