Mobile Roundup: Netbooks flood the zone, Verizon plans app store, mobile Ugandans

July 13, 2009 | Paul Boutin | Comments | |

Is streaming really replacing downloading? An article in the Guardian UK says illegal file sharing has collapsed and been replaced by YouTube, Spotify and the like.

No, it’s not — Techdirt pores over the Guardian’s article with the Comb of Skepticism. Most important, key numbers in the report were estimated by geeks rather than measured by even geekier geeks.

Verizon wants to build its own app store — This means a program to woo developers. GigaOm lays out Verizon’s plan.

netbook1Netbooks headed for 20 percent of market — Mobile Tech Today explains the connection between display size and market share.

The Space Internet moves forward in testing — Yeah, we could run this topic every week and you’d click. It’s not just far away, it’s freaking cold up there.

Ugandans look to mobile coverage for areas without electricity — More than a third of Ugandans own cellphones. In some areas, “cellphones could outnumber light bulbs.” Is that really true?

Study measures the chatter of the news cycle — The New York Times notes with dry surprise that traditional news media are ahead of blogs on news buzz.

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About the Author, Paul Boutin

Paul (paul@venturebeat.com) covers Apple & the iPhone, social networks & social media, digital music & video, and any crazy Internet story. Paul wrote and edited for Valleywag from 2006-2008, after several years with Wired magazine and Slate. He writes regularly for The New York Times' technology section and sometimes for Wired and The Wall Street Journal. He studied computer science at MIT in the early 1980s, and worked as a software developer and network administrator for 15 years before becoming a professional writer. Follow him on Twitter at @paulboutin, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • Roy1983
    It is not sure now.We should learn more.
  • As an investor working in the mobile and software development space, here in Uganda, I can tell you first-hand that the above statement is absolutely true. In 2007 only between 5% and 6% of Ugandans had electricity (demand is growing at roughly 6% per year). Meanwhile in 2007, .52% had landlines while mobile penetration was 13%. Demand is much higher in the mobile space than in electricity although progress is obviously correlated.