Worldwide mobile phone sales grew by 30% to 674m units in 2004, according to Gartner research. This was well ahead of the 560m units Gartner predicted a year ago. Nokia remained the market leader, selling 207.2m handsets, but its market share fell by four points to 30.7%. This was followed by Motorola (15.4%), Samsung (12.6%), Siemens (7.2%), LG (6.3%) and Sony Ericsson (6.2%). Gartner expects growth to continue, and predicts sales of 730m units this year. http://tinyurl.com/58fb4

Visual radio

Finland's Kiss FM has become the first radio station to start broadcasting Visual Radio. The system, developed by Nokia, provides visual information on the song being played, including artist and album details. It also enables listeners to take part in polls and competitions, buy ringtones and wallpapers, and book concert tickets. The Visual Radio software runs on Nokia 7710, 6230i, and 3230 mobile phones.

Nokia, MTV, Sonera, YLE (The Finnish Broadcasting Company) and others have also started testing mobile TV with 500 mobile phone users in the Helsinki region. The pilot service delivers live TV and radio to a Nokia 7710 smart phone, using IP Data-casting (IPDC), which conforms with the DVB-H standard. A UK trial is planned for Oxford, with Nokia, O2 and NTL. www.visualradio.comwww.finnishmobiletv.com

Keep pressure on

The deadline for European companies to comply with a major section of the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act is being extended by a year. Section 404 of the act requires auditors to certify that IT systems are capable of documenting and evaluating all controls deemed significant to the financial reporting process. Mark Strauch from Business Engine, an IT/business alignment specialist, says this does not mean companies can slacken their efforts because the need to improve the transparency of reporting process is critical for upcoming legislation, such as the Companies Bill, which is due to bring in changes on April 6. http://tinyurl.com/5pbx2

E-gov speed trap

The e-government initiative is entering a second phase as local authorities analyse the success of their implementations. The Society of Information Management (SocITM) is monitoring the performance of six sites using software from Speed-Trap. The tests examine the pathways visitors follow, popular search words and phrases, and whether visitors find what they need. Merely testing the response times of web servers was ruled out because the user experience depends on other factors, such as the speed of their computer and their internet connection. The six local authorities taking part are the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, the Isle of Wight, Stroud, South Tyneside, Kirklees and Durham. www.speed-trap.com

Citizen software

Goss has launched Citizen Transact software, which it claims is the first shopping-basket type application aimed at the public sector in the UK. The company says it will enable citizens to make payments and request services throughout a local authority's website. Citizen Transact is based on Goss's content management software, iCM. http://tinyurl.com/6v2r9

Broadband quality

Tiscali is claiming to be the first broadband supplier to offer prioritised bandwidth for small businesses and home office users. The company is offering measurable service levels under its guaranteed Quality of Service DSL (QoDSL) option, which is based on controls built into its Cisco Systems hardware. QoDSL enables technologies such as Voice over IP (VoIP) phones, teleworking, video-conferencing and virtualised call centre services to be offered on a par with leased line services but at a much lower cost. http://tinyurl.com/3qjk7

Moving speech

Microsoft is bringing voice control to Windows-powered mobile phones and Pocket PCs through its Voice Command software. This has been available in the US but now encompasses 13 UK dialects. According to Microsoft, "anyone in the UK" will be able to use the application to dial numbers, phone friends by name, retrieve calendar information, or control other applications. The software does not require training to attune it to its user's voice, says Microsoft. The software costs £19.99 and can be bought online from Handango. www.handango.com

Condemned cell

Nokia is shelving plans to use methanol-based fuel cells in its mobile phone equipment. Although the technology is approaching market readiness, the fuel is a problem because airlines have regulations forbidding the carriage of toxic inflammables such as methanol unless suitably packaged. Nokia is waiting until such issues are resolved, possibly with the development of ethanol-based cells, but not abandoning its plans to introduce fuel cells in the future. Fuel cells oxidise a small amount of methanol in the presence of water to produce electricity. http://tinyurl.com/6qotm