"Welcome to the age of 'digital ubiquity.' Soon consumers will have digital devices pressed against their ears, jangling in their pockets, carried in their bags, and littered about their homes. At least that's the view presented by one analyst speaking at Jupiter Media Metrix's Media Forum in New York earlier this week, who argued that the lack of new, compelling PC applications will turn the spotlight on digital devices.

'Over the next few months we will see devices with any combination of features, such as digital cameras and MP3 players,' said Jupiter Research Director Michael Gartenberg. Eventually, most people won't carry more than three devices, Gartenberg said, and the kind of devices they carry will be dependent on what users want....

Gartenberg foresees a future where consumers will have multiple information devices boasting Web and application services with both wireless and wired connectivity....

'What's the killer app of digital ubiquity?' he asked. 'The ubiquity itself.' " [IDG InfoWorld]

Or not, if the CBDTPA is passed.

"Electronic Commerce Conducted via mobile devices such as phones and PDAs will take off over the next few years to become a $25 billion market worldwide by 2006, according to a study released by Frost & Sullivan.

By that time, mobile electronic commerce (m-commerce) will account for 15 percent of the world's online commerce, according to a summary of the study.

According to Frost & Sullivan, several different market sectors will make up m-commerce, including: automated point-of-sale payments such as vending machines, parking meters and ticket machines; attended point-of-sale payments including shop counters, and taxis; mobile-accessed Internet payments such as merchant WAP sites; mobile-assisted Internet payments, for instance fixed Internet sites using phone instead of credit card; and peer-to-peer payments between individuals.

Of these, mobile-assisted Internet payments will account for 39 percent of m-commerce spending and peer-to-peer payments between individuals will account for 34 percent, the company said." [IDG InfoWorld]

"The total number of Internet users will be more than 1.1 billion by the end of 2005, according to the study by Computer Industry Almanac. The number of users will reach almost 1.5 billion worldwide by 2007, with almost 59 percent of those users having wireless access.

In the U.S., Internet penetration will increase from about 149 million in 2001 to 236 million in 2007. However, only about 46.3 percent of U.S. users having wireless access by the end of 2007, the study claims. The highest level of wireless access will be in Western Europe, where 67 percent of those with Net access will have wireless access, according to the report." [allNetDevices Wireless News]