Swedish developer Twin Factor® won the Best Mobile Entertainment category at this month's Ericsson's Mobile Application Awards. The application behind the prize is built on a fun idea, a strong business model and flexible technology.

Mobile TV is on its way. Trials are currently taking place in South Korea, Europe and the US and, by 2006, TV-capable handsets should be available in several market areas.

Consumers in China are a tempting target market for the telecom industry. The country has millions of telecom users and a good number of them want the best and the brightest in telecom products and applications. However, the market also poses risks: a centrally planned economy, government control of content and requirements for licenses, a shaky bank sector, and a growing number of domestic mobile phone makers.

The location-based game Treasure Hunt won first prize in Excitera Charon, Ericsson's mobile application award for students.

The Java 2 Programmer Exam Cram is designed to help programmers brush up on Java basics in order to advance in Sun's Java certification program.

It's well known that Japan is way ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to mobile usage. The market in Japan differs from its Western counterparts in that mobile operators drive the market, not handset or network manufacturers. Mobile operators have learned what it takes to create a market: an understanding of the mobile customer and getting volumes in usage, which means having people use mobile services every day. Simplicity is the key, and content is king.

This year's Developer Days event in Taiwan on November 30 put mobile multimedia and marketing in the spotlight. James Sha, head of Ericsson Mobility World Taiwan, says there is great interest in this area from all parties: operators, content providers and application developers.

The market for mobile telecommunications in India is booming in terms of subscriber growth and huge infrastructure investments. In November this year, the number of people with mobile subscriptions passed the number with fixed service.

About 200 developers, operators and media people attended the Ericsson Mobility World Developer Days in Malaysia on November 25 and 26. The theme for the event was mobile media and mobile marketing, generating interest in MMS and streaming-based applications.

Want a virtual girlfriend, an optical scanner, a location finder and even a celebrity who looks the most like you on your phone? Then talk to the winners of this year's Ericsson Mobile Application Awards. The gala awards ceremony took place in Zurich, Switzerland, on December 1.