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CCS Insight claims that the UK’s "obsession" with Facebook and Twitter is helping mobile Internet use to grow at a phenomenal rate.

Hutchison Whampoa's mobile handset subsidiary INQ Mobile today unveiled two new low-cost devices, both of which incorporate Twitter and are aimed at bringing mobile social networking to the mass market. The INQ Chat 3G is the company's first Qwerty phone and includes free push Gmail.

Twitter's path to profitability lies in charging for mobile use, according to one of its venture capital investors. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Joi Ito - chief executive of Creative Commons - said that mobile was likely to become an increasingly important focus for the social-networking trailblazer.

The popular microblogging service Twitter yesterday launched a Japan-based mobile version, hoping to penetrate a country where other US social networking sites including Facebook and MySpace have failed to capture much ground, according to an AP report.

Reuters notes that Twitter nabbed US$100 million in funding and a US$1 billion valuation on Friday from five firms including mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price, as investors bet that the firms explosive growth will yield actual revenue or a lucrative deal.