According to the latest figures and statistics form calls and lines giant BT, the UK has actually moved ahead in the broadband adoption stakes!

The UK, many of us were dismayed to hear, was lagging behind other European countries when it came to broadband uptake but now BT says that the UK is coming out ahead of the United States, Germany and France.

According to the statistics – from broadband providers like Virgin Media as well as BT – 71% of UK households now have broadband. Well done Britain!

According to some industry experts, the new VoIP (voice over internet protocol) product from Skype which allows businesses to connect to Skype via their phone system or unified communications phone system, may have a negative impact on larger telcos.

Providing free VoIP and video conferencing through a phone system means that large, complex phone systems are no longer really needed. Extras such as call recording and call queuing will become obsolete as free applications become available online. So although Skype is good for the majority, for telcos, it’s bad news.

Microsoft, the software giant and unified communications provider, has announced that it is looking for a partner in China in order to enter the internet search engine market and play a large role in it.

According to the Chief Executive of Microsoft in China, Simon Leung, the company will be investing around $100 million (approximately £65 million) in companies in China.

Although Leung gave no timeframe for Microsoft’s move into the internet search market, he did say that the company will invest in sectors such as cloud computing, gaming and software.

Mobile phone maker Samsung has proudly announced that it has shipped one million Galaxy S smartphones to the United States since July.

At the minute, the mobiles are being sold by Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile and AT&T and next week the Galaxy S will also be provided by Sprint Nextel. However, one million mobiles since mid-July might seem like quite a heft amount but when you compare it to the 8.4 million iPhones sold by Apple between April and June…well, you can do the math.

Despite mobile phone companies bringing out ever more exotic smartphones and operating systems, the race seems to be solely between Apple and the Android platform.

The largest contract electronics maker in the world by revenue, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. has reported strong profits, mainly due to the fact that demand for Apple products has risen. Hon Hai produces the Apple iPad and iPhones and has benefited from a surge in sales.

However things aren’t all roses for the electronics maker. The Foxconn International Holdings arm of Hon Hai has reported a dip in profits. Foxconn manufactures mobile handsets for companies such as Dell and Nokia and low sales means low profits for the manufacturer. Of course, the recent stories about worker suicides and poor working conditions may not have helped profits either.

Google is on a spending spree of epic proportions at the minute. Far from an acquisition a month, the internet company seems to be heading for one or more a week and its latest is start-up company SocialDeck Inc.

SocialDeck Inc. is a social games company which has already produced several Facebook games which are known for simultaneous play over multiple devices. The company has also produced games for the Apple iPhone and BlackBerry mobile devices.

This latest Google acquisition highlights what we’ve already come to suspect – that Google will very soon be a serious contender of global phenomenon Facebook.

Although Project Canvas has been given the green light that may change to a red light in the near future as companies keep on popping up to complain about it.

Project Canvas is something of a cartel between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, TalkTalk, Channel 5, BT and Arqiva. However, the companies claim that the Project to bring internet to the TV and video-on-demand to customers is not a cartel. A rose by any other name etc etc…

The latest company to complain about Project Canvas is Six TV, which lodged its complaint with Ofcom on Tuesday. Virgin Media has also complained.

The lawmakers of Jordan temporarily approved a new law last week on cybercrime, after journalists in the country complained that the previous law allowed the government to have massive control over the news.

The cybercrime law, in its previous form, allowed the police and security forces to raid offices where websites were published – all without a warrant or approval from the higher ups.

The new law – temporary until something more permanent can be written – means that court permission needs to be attained before offices can be searched. And, for court permission, the authorities need strong evidence of internet crimes.

You can say what you like about Google, but when it comes to having a social conscience, the internet company is hard to beat.

Not only does the internet giant provide information, it also invests in renewable energy such as wind power – not only invests, but actually uses it! Now Google has gone one step further and invested $86 million (around £55.8 million) in a tax credit fund to finance 480 low income houses.

The construction project and the money will be entrusted to U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp. which will manage the project. U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp., or USBCDC is a community projects division of the Bancorp bank.

Quite a social conscience – I wonder what cause Google will look to next.

The Department of Telecommunications in India is apparently trying to figure out ways that it can consolidate the telecoms industry. The DoT is trying to think of ways to let telecoms companies with licences from 2007 sell out so that the industry can unite.

The DoT is considering its options due to some telecoms companies recently applying for licence refunds. Apparently, in some certain service areas out of India’s twenty-two telecoms service areas, telecoms services can’t be launched due to restrictions – such as funding restrictions.

So, rather than leaving piecemeal companies with useless licences, the DoT is considering certain options such as shortening the lock-in period and allowing mergers.