New data from Northwestern University in Qatar, Harris Interactive and the Pan Arab Research Center (PARC), as reported by eMarketer, has shown that 93% of internet users in the Middle East and Africa use their mobile phones to go online.

The countries surveyed were Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and Egypt, and compared to the 93% who use mobile, only 73% access the internet on desktop or laptop computers.

The survey also shows that internet users, despite being mobile-first, spend more time online than TV viewers spend watching TV, and radio listeners spend listening to radio.

On average, internet users in the countries surveyed spend 26 hours per week online, with Qatar leading the way with 32 hours, Saudi Arabia holding up the pack with 20 hours.

TV viewers in the countries surveyed watch 19 hours per week, radio listeners listen to 19 hours, readers read books for 5 hours, newspapers for 4 hours and magazines for 2 hours.

Of all the activities used online in the regions, social media and communication is the most popular. Nearly 80% of surveyed users use social media or mobile messaging at least once a day.

Gamers in particular are used to the act of pre-ordering an upcoming software release, in-fact pre-download is becoming the norm as games grow in size.  This isn't such an issue with mobile software, but with the amount of releases coming out daily it's easy for users to miss-out on something they've been looking forward to.

If your users are on Android, they can now pre-register their interest for an upcoming release to be notified when it's ready to go. Users are also not committed to buying it after release, allowing them to be alerted but retain the ability to cancel if they change their mind.

The first game to take advantage of Google's new feature isTerminator Genisys: Revolution from hit developer Glu Mobile - who recently took significant investment from China's Tencent. In order for users to register their interest, a new icon is shown where the 'Download' button would usually be located.

Of course most developers want to get their apps out-the-door as soon as they're created to start monetising from their hard work, but it's a feature which could be useful to those who wish to drum up hype or to time with another release (as is the case with the Terminator game which is set to tie-in with the movie release.)

In the run-up to I/O, Google has been implementing a few new features to their Play Store which are useful to developers. Last week we reported that Google has started to implement A/B testing for app store pages to see which version performs better with users and leads to higher engagement.

We're sure to see most of the biggest new features at Google's annual developer conference later this month - including the announcement of Android M. I/O runs between May 28 - 29th and we will keep you updated with all important developments during the event.

Eloise specialises in digitising anyone's handwriting to merge the benefits of digital with the personal touch of an individual's handwriting. Through creating a custom style, you can type your message and Eloise will recreate your own handwriting with an insane amount of accuracy.

Furthermore, every message is individual thanks to small differences each time in lettering and spacing. If like me your handwriting skills aren't something you wish to show-off; Eloise offers tools to enhance your scribbles a bit and provide a touch of elegance (at least it's not as deceiving as re-touching photos in Photoshop!) 

Last year I picked-up Samsung's Galaxy Note 4 and quickly realised I'd all but lost the ability to physically write. In this digital world there is less need to put pen to paper - which is a shame because there is little that is more personal than handwriting.

There is of course a valid reason as to why we are going digital, and that's mainly for time-saving reasons. Our increasing workloads leave us little time for our personal lives as it is; so penning a message by hand each time we need to send one to someone just isn't a feasible option.

Instead of creating a consumer product, Eloise is going the API route and targeting developers to add their abilities to various applications. An early-focus for the team is for gift registries, greeting cards, ecommerce, CRM, direct mail, and Instant Messaging. 

Gracious Eloise has received $3 million in Series A funding from investors like BBG Ventures, Broadway Angels, Female Founders Fund, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Montage Ventures and Valley Girls Ventures, along with existing investors. 

To get started with Eloise's handwriting API, head here for more information. 

Wiese has spent the past 12 years at Cisco Systems Inc., initially heading advanced technology sales and later Cisco’s collaboration-product sales efforts. At BlackBerry, he replaces John Sims as global head of sales. BlackBerry did not provide any reasons for the departure of Sims, who was at the company for about 18 months.

Although software revenue more than doubled year-over-year to some $137-million in the latest quarter, much of the growth came from two patent cross-licensing deals. This spooked many analysts, who were disappointed by the weaker-than-expected core software growth. BlackBerry shares tumbled to a 13-month low on the Nasdaq last week.

BlackBerry shares were up 1.7 per cent at $7.82 on Monday morning.

The company has also backed away from a separate $100-million target for revenue from its BlackBerry Messenger service, leading to further concern about its ability to increase sales.

Some analysts have long been skeptical about the viability of BlackBerry’s software revenue targets. When Chen went over the sales targets at an analysts’ event in San Francisco last November and received pushback from some analysts, he smiled and stated that if targets are not met he’d still be around next year, though some of his team might not.

The company declined to comment on whether Sims’ departure was tied to weaker-than-expected software revenue growth.

Chen indicated last month that he remains comfortable with the $500-million revenue target, and noted that some of that growth is set to come from acquisitions.

The company is also widely expected to debut a new Android-based smartphone before the end of the year to try to boost its hardware sales.

Six years after starting a dot-com business in his apartment, Vancouver’s Markus Frind hadn’t hired anyone or raised a dime of venture capital. In the startup world, that’s usually a bad sign. However, by May, 2009, his site Plentyoffish.com was getting 2.2 billion page views a month and generating millions of dollars in revenues. “Somehow I still managed to create the largest dating site in the world without a single employee and travel the world!” Mr. Frind wrote on his blog last year.

On Monday, Mr. Frind, 37, cemented his status as one of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs, selling his online dating company to rival Match Group, part of Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp., for $575-million (U.S.) in cash. He plans to stay on until at least next year.

Mr. Frind said in an interview that Match has been trying to buy the company for at least a decade, but he never considered selling out until after his daughter Ava was born last year and he decided to “get some work-life balance back. Having a 10-month old daughter, you start measuring time in different increments. Every day you see something’s different – she’s trying to take her first step, or she’s crawling around. Whereas before you measured the company in milestones in terms of the revenue or user growth or some kind of company target.”

The deal is the latest in a series of successful exits for Vancouver startups, including the recent takeovers of online eye-wear seller Coastal Contacts Inc. and smartglasses maker Recon Instruments, but it stands apart for one reason: Because Mr. Frind “bootstrapped” his company all the way – never taking any investments from venture financiers despite repeated entreaties – he doesn’t have to share the proceeds with outsiders, except with the taxman. Asked what he would do with his bounty, Mr. Frind said the company had been generating considerable cash for years, “so anything I could have possibly wanted to buy I’ve already bought.”

Now, there’s hope that Mr. Frind, already an active investor in several local startups, could use some of his bonanza to provide a much-needed boost in a city where there are few active venture-capital funds to help the emerging tech scene. “I think he will invest a lot more and help a lot of businesses,” said Arash Fasihi, founder of Vancouver-based Cymax Stores Inc., an online furniture retailer that recently took an $18-million investment from Mr. Frind and made him a director. Boris Wertz, a prominent Vancouver venture capitalist who counts Mr. Frind among his backers, added: “He’s a smart guy and he knows how to deploy money, and hopefully some of that will flow back into the tech ecosystem.”

Mr. Frind, the son of German immigrants to Canada, launched Plentyoffish in February, 2003, four years after earning a diploma in computer systems from the B.C. Institute of Technology. He started with a rudimentary website, no advertising budget, no business plan and little experience. But his site was free and his dedication to one goal – ensuring people found what they were looking for – made the site a hit almost immediately. “If no one’s successful on your site, no one is going to use it,” Mr. Frind told Vancouver executives in a speech last year. He grew the business on his own, teaching himself about marketing, business development and product, and was still running it out of his apartment when he hired his first developer in 2009. By then, he had 10 million users.

“He was profitable almost from the beginning,” Mr. Wertz said. “He just didn’t need the money.”

At the core of Plentyoffish was an algorithm that Mr. Frind constantly tweaked that used “behavioural match-making” to predict successful relationships. “We can tell exactly who entered a relationship with who and we can use that data to predict who will enter into a relationship with who” – and even predict which couples will break up, Mr. Frind said last year. He constantly monitored traffic, analyzing how many people visited the site, logged on, what they did and whether they came back. “Markus is a machine,” said fellow Vancouver entrepreneur Andrew Reid, founder of Vision Critical. “A lot of his success can be attributed to his drive and focus on data and predictive analytics.”

Plentyoffish, which makes money by selling advertising, now boasts more than 100 million registered users globally and takes credit for bringing together one million couples a year.

E-commerce company eBay Inc said it was selling its enterprise business to a consortium led by private equity firm Permira for $925-million, as it streamlines its operations ahead of the separation from PayPal Holdings Inc.

Shares of eBay, which also reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit and boosted its share buyback plan by $1-billion, rose as much as 5 per cent in early trading. PayPal was up 4.5 per cent on a “when issued” basis.

Analysts, however, were bullish on eBay’s prospects as a standalone company.The deal leaves eBay with its slow-growing marketplace business, which faces stiff competition from rivals such as Amazon.com Inc.

“Ebay will not grow nearly as fast as PayPal but it is a very profitable business that generates tremendous amount of cash – some of which they will be able to return to shareholders,” Wedbush Securities analyst Gil Luria told Reuters.

EBay’s enterprise business, the company’s smallest, was formerly known as GSI Commerce. The business, which eBay purchased in 2011 for $2.4-billion, helps retailers strengthen their online presence and e-commerce capabilities.

The business has since lost customers and seen sluggish growth in the past few years as retailers increasingly move their online operations in-house.

The unit suffered a blow this month when ToysRUs Inc, one of its largest customers, ended a near decade-long contract to launch its own online platform.

The Permira-led consortium of buyers includes Sterling Partners, Longview Asset Management, Innotrac Corp and companies owned by Permira funds.

LAST BOOST FROM PAYPAL

The sale was announced alongside eBay’s second-quarter results, where it reported a 7 per cent jump in net revenue.

Sales were driven by higher demand in the PayPal business it plans to spin off on Friday.

PayPal is slated to begin trading separately on the Nasdaq on July 20, creating a new company that some analysts say will be worth $40-billion.

Revenue in the company’s marketplace business fell 3 per cent, hurt by a strong dollar. Excluding the impact of currency, revenue rose 5 per cent.

Based on proceeds from the enterprise business sale, the company recorded an impairment of goodwill of about $786-million. It said it expected the deal to close later this year.

Excluding items, eBay earned 76 cents per share in the quarter. Net revenue rose to $4.38-billion from $4.10-billion.

EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager added Qualcomm Inc. to her growing list of fights with U.S. technology companies, saying the chipmaker may be abusing its market power to undercut competitors.

Qualcomm, the maker of chips that power most of the world’s smartphones, may have deployed predatory pricing practices for certain chipsets and offered unfair rebates to customers in a bid to thwart competitors, the European Commission said Thursday as it started two probes into the company.

“We want to be sure that high-tech suppliers can compete on the merits of their products,” Vestager said in a statement. “Many customers use electronic devices such as a mobile phone or a tablet and we want to ensure that they ultimately get value for money.”

The commission, the antitrust agency for the 28-nation European Union, in 2009 dropped a four-year probe into the company that started after competitors complained the chipmaker was charging excessive royalties on patents.

“While we were disappointed to hear this, we have been cooperating and will continue to cooperate with the commission, and we continue to believe that any concerns are without merit,” San Diego-based Qualcomm said in an e-mailed statement.

The investigations add to a growing list of EU cases targeting U.S. companies including Amazon.com Inc., Google Inc., Apple Inc., MasterCard Inc. as well as Hollywood studios.

No Waiting Vestager told EU lawmakers, minutes after announcing the Qualcomm probes, that she sees no need to wait to finish her current case against Google before filing new antitrust complaints against the search engine giant.

“If you operate in Europe, you have to play by European competition rules, whether you are European or foreign,” Ricardo Cardoso, Vestager’s spokesman, said at a press briefing in Brussels.

Pat Treacy, a competition lawyer specializing in intellectual property at Bristows LLP in London, said that the focus on rebates in the Qualcomm case harkens back to a case involving Intel Corp., which resulted in a record 1.06 billion– euro ($1.15-billion) fine in 2009.

“The proximity to the Intel judgment is particularly interesting, given that one of the limbs of the commission’s investigating is the possibility of some form of loyalty or fidelity rebate,” Treacy said. “This was the issue at the heart of the Intel case.”

Graphics Chips Icera Inc., a maker of wireless chips, filed a complaint in 2010 against Qualcomm that’s since been pending. Nvidia Corp., a maker of graphics chips, in 2011 bought Icera for $367-million to add radio processors needed in phones and tablets.

Nvidia said in May it will give up trying to make modem chips for mobile devices, abandoning a key element of its attempt to break into the smartphone market.

Nvidia is open to selling its Icera unit and will stop development of its modems, or chips that connect phones to cellular networks. The “wind-down” of the unit will be completed by the second quarter of fiscal 2016.

The commission has no deadline to finish such investigations and said the opening of the probes means it will “examine the cases as a matter of priority.”

With nine days left for the D-day, Microsoft has raised hundreds of Windows 10 banners across its Redmond campus, including streets and alleys.

The message is loud and clear: Windows 10 is coming and we’re very proud of it, so let’s just all make everyone aware of it. Blue banners featuring slogans such as From Redmond with love, Pride, and All in adorn the entire campus including elevators.

And talking loud are none other than senior Microsoft executive who have taken to the social media. For instance, Brandon LeBlanc, Senior Marketing Communications, Manager, Microsoft, writes on Twitter, Elevators have also been covered in Windows 10 banners with the message “pride,” while others feature Xbox ads for upcoming games.

The Twitterati is also abuzz with constant feeds from the software major. Shares LeBlanc, “We’re excited to share more details on our new global advertising campaign, which will air in the US today and in other markets around the world on July 29th. The campaign tells the Windows 10 story through the lens of the newest generation, inviting people to join a new era with us.”