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The trendspotters at JWT are predicting: - The mobile device as everything hub: Mobile rules. If you're a marketer, take note, made-for-PC sites don't make the cut for a mobile experience. - Customizable mobile: Apple's iPhone made mobile applications all the rage and other smartphone makers are having to follow suit. JWT says watch for more open mobile systems and an "onslaught" of mobile apps. - Decline of email: If you've tried emailing a teen lately you may have noticed that's considered only slightly less old-school than two tin cans and a string when it comes to communications. Text messaging, social networks like Facebook and Twitter are increasingly preferred by email recipients who are ready to cry uncle under the weight of their inboxes. According to JWT, after a decade of dominance, email will gradually be eclipsed by more efficient, manageable solutions. Hear, hear. - Cloud Computing: Software, storage -- everything we needed in our desktop computers or carried around in our laptops is now in the 'cloud.' Wikipedia calls the cloud a metaphor for the Internet, an explanation that is difficult to convey to new users. I found myself trying to explain this to a friend as I was helping her set up a netbook she received as a Christmas present. She wanted to know: Was it on the computer? On a disk? On a USB drive? I just waved my hands in the air and said 'it's all on the Internet now.' That, plus the appearance of 600 of her holiday photos on an online photo site seemed to convince her. - Social networking for jobseekers: With companies handing out more pink slips than Christmas bonuses in the past month or so, jobseekers who know how to maximize the benefits of such sites as LinkedIn and others will find those social networking skills could come in handy. - Web/TV convergence: This prediction has been paraded out in one form or another for quite a while and no telling if 2009 will be its year. The convergence of entertainment media on one viewing device

The $1.5 billion expansion of Alcoa's Wagerup alumina refinery is under a cloud after an environmental report released yesterday found the industrial giant would have to review its airmonitoring practices to address emissions and odours from the facility.

The lab has a lofty vision: "Enable one person to invent and run the next revolutionary IT service, operationally expressing a new business idea as a multi-million-user service over the course of a long weekend."

German renewable energy companies and bankers will meet officials in Berlin on Monday to discuss ways of preventing the financial crisis from casting a storm cloud over a vital domestic growth industry. Up to 30 companies and organisations are expected to outline the problems facing the renewables sector, whose bullish projections have been overshadowed by concerns about project finance, falling prices and delayed orders.

The falling oil prices may have varied effects on the investment strategies adopted by the petro-states and also on the various markets being analyzed in this study. The level of petrodollar investments is bound to increase. However, if the trend of falling oil prices continue, the quantum of investments made is also likely to fall. On the whole, dramatic growth is expected in the level of domestic investments in 2009. However, international investments are likely to continue growing in a few key sectors of the economy. The following are the various international sectors that can be expected to attract maximum petrodollar investments in 2009 * Real estate * Healthcare * Industrial The following are the various domestic sectors that can be expected to attract maximum petrodollar investments in 2009 * Banking and financial services * Aerospace and defense * Industrial * Education