UK Internet sales rose 29% in 2006 compared to 2005, accounting for 6.5% of all nonfinancial sales. Internet sales totaled 130.4 bln pounds ($270 bln) in 2006, compared with 101 bln pounds in 2005, the Office for National Statistics said. Total internet sales as a share of all sales was up from 5.4% in 2005 and 1.1% in 2002. The proportion of businesses selling over the Internet rose only from 13.3% to 13.9%.

Compete published its findings on total time spent online. From October 2006 to October 2007 the total time spent online by US online users is up 24.3%.

24% of Internet users currently use reviews, and 97%% of them say they find reviews to be at least somewhat accurate, according to ComScore.

Global shipments of mobile handsets equipped with GPS capability are expected to more than quadruple from 2006 to 2011 due to the US government’s mandate for E911 capability as well as wireless operators’ initiatives to offer Location-Based Services (LBSs), according to iSuppli. GPS-equipped mobile handset shipments will increase to 444 mln units by 2011, rising from 109.6 mln units in 2006. By 2011, 29.6% of all mobile phones shipped will have GPS capability, up from 11.1% in 2006.

Worldwide mobile telephone subscriptions reached 3.3 bln, or 50% of world’s population, Informa said. 59 countries have mobile penetration of over 100%.

Factory revenue in the worldwide server market grew 0.5% in Q3 2007 to $13.1 bln. It’s the slowest rate since Q1 2006, according to IDC. Server unit shipments rose 6.3%, a decrease from 7.8% growth reported in Q3 2006. IBM had 30% of the server market in Q3 2007, down from 33% a year earlier. Hewlett-Packard held 28.6% of the market, up from 26.1% in 2006. Dell was third, and Sun Microsystems came in fourth, the same as in 2006.

NHL Network experienced a flood of traffic, growing 44% to nearly 4 mln Internet visitors, making it the top-gaining property in Canada in October 2007. Propelled by growth at video site Crackle.com, Sony Online jumped 27% to 2.6 mln visitors. Video-sharing site Dailymotion also saw gains, growing 14% to nearly 2 mln visitors. Glam Media, which has experienced strong growth throughout the year in both Canada and the US, continued its upward trend with a 19-percent increase to 3.3 mln visitors.

42% of US employers told Constant Contact they would give holiday bonuses to employees, up from 39% in 2006.

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports a 50% increase in the number of kids aged 10 to 17 who said they were harassed online - from 6% in 2000 to 9% in 2005.

The market for semiconductor packaging materials, including thermal interface materials, is expected to reach $15.5 bln in 2007 and grow to $20.2 bln by 2011, according to a new study by SEMI and TechSearch International. Laminate substrates remain the largest segment of the market, worth an estimated $6.2 bln globally in 2007, and on a unit basis are projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 12% over the next five years.

Microsoft Sites captured the top position in Canada with 22.2 mln visitors, followed closely by Google Sites with 22 mln visitors. Yahoo! Sites, with 16.8 mln visitors, ranked third for the month. Social networking site Facebook.com continued to grow, gaining 4% to reach 14.4 mln of the 23.7 mln Canadians online.

4% of American adults were victims of identity theft in 2005, but half of them did not incur any out-of-pocket expenses, FTC said. Identity information was stolen from 8.3 mln US adults and most commonly used to access or open accounts for credit cards, bank checking, telephone service, e-mail, and medical insurance.

Loans on Prosper.com and LendingClub have risen to $100 mln in 2007 from $27 mln in 2006, according to Online Banking Report. By 2010, the report forecasts $1 bln in peer-to-peer loan originations.

Eurostat said that in 2006 18% of European households had only mobile phone access. European wireless penetration soared to 95% in 2005 from 8% in 1996.

Only 31% of website decision makers have deployed multivariate or A/B testing programs, JupiterResearch says. Among this group, however, 79% have increased registrations per visit, 74% have improved customers’ satisfaction, and 68% have increased conversion rates. Although the majority of multivariate testing programs so far have been implemented by companies with annual revenues of less than $1 bln, larger companies are taking notice of testing benefits and will represent the fastest growing segment to adopt testing programs; some 53% of budget decision makers planning to deploy testing within the next 12 months come from companies with annual revenue of $1 bln or more.

Unix server shipments fell 6.4% to 103,267 units. Sun led the pack, shipping 52,038 units, 12% down YTY, Gartner says. IBM shipped 27,904 units to come in 2nd place, representing a 12.9% drop in volume. 3rd was HP, which saw a 29.4% increase in shipments. Apple, in fourth place, shipped 4,098 units, a 33.4% increase. Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens was in fifth place.

Total shipments for Q3 2007 were 97.85 mln GPU units, up 20% in over Q2 2007. Compared to Q2 2006 shipments were up 18.2%. On the desktop, Nvidia held its first place position claiming 37.8% against Intel’s 33.5%, while AMD had a modest loss to 17.5%. In the mobile market Intel held its dominant position but slipped slightly to 50.9%, with AMD taking back the number two position at 23.4% and Nvidia coming in at 22.8%. Mobile chips continued their growth in units with 25.8 mln units (up less than 1% over Q2 2007), to claim 26.4% of the market, down from 31.5% in Q2 2007. The desktop saw market share growth from 68.5% in Q2 2007 to 73.6% in Q3 2007, or 72 mln units, Jon Peddie Research reports.

46% of working Americans expect to shop for bargains online on Monday while they are at work. Although more than 11% said they had been caught shopping by their boss while on the job, the survey showed that the temptation to find a great bargain is so strong, they would spend nearly an hour on average shopping online this Monday instead of working, Decision Analyst reports.