I think I have seen the future on online audio when I see that Apple has agreed to offering the Spotify music-streaming application for the iPhone in its app store.
But when will I see the future of online voice telephony?
See also: Our LED Lighting blog - LED Luminaries
I have praised Germany's proactive stance on more energy-efficient LED street-lighting on more than one occasion in this blog.
So I more than a little surprised to read over a breakfast a story in the Financial Times which said that German consumers were hoarding conventional incandescent lights bulbs in advance of an EU ban which starts next month.
Farnell is adding "consumer-style" features such as "customers also bought" to its website.
Is the recession over? We won't know for sure for another few weeks.
But business confidence in the manufacturing and engineering sector jumped in that last three months, as a business confidence survey carried out by the Institute of Chartered Accountants indicates that the recession may be over.
Good news coming out of Germany seems to be getting better.
Last week's news that Europe's largest industrial economy had come out of recession in Q2 has been followed by encouraging news of new orders in the industrial sector, which is so important to the electronics supply chain.
The distribution channel is becoming evermore important for test equipment firms.
The latest evidence come from RS Components which is adding new Agilent Technologies multimeters, oscilloscopes, function generators and bench power supplies to its catalogue.
Can the industrial semiconductor market recover next year? Well, maybe it can.
Hitachi Europe's displays group has named MSC Vertriebs as its European distributor of the year.
Steatite has won a supply contract worth in excess of £100,000 to supply batteries to the Ministry Of Defence.
German manufacturer Q-Cells has given an indication of how falling prices are impacting the solar cell market.
I previously identified three reasons why the upturn in the distribution market, when it comes later this year, will be faster than in the recovery to previous downturns.
Now there is a fourth.
ACW Technology has been visited by a delegation of six senior government officials from China.
There is new hope for a recovery in Europe's largest industrial market with figures indicating a rise in German exports.
Kemet has restructured its UK sales organisation and appointed a new sales manager for UK and Ireland, Neal Goddard.
Could Android-based touch-screen phones be bought for less than £60 next year?
Bookings and billings in the European electronic component distribution market both declined in Q2, according to figures from IDEA (International Distribution of Electronics Association).
Billings declined by 13% and bookings by 7% when compared to the previous quarter, so the result was an improvement in the book-to-bill ratio which moved to close to unity.
Will external power supplies be affected by the upcoming EuP regulations in Europe?
Yes, as long as they have an output of less than 250W and supply just one output voltage at a time.
Digi-Key has taken on Skyworks Solutions' analogue and mixed signal semiconductor lines.
Dengrove has signed a distribution agreement with Elec & Eltek.
Catalogue houses remain a key tool in the suppliers' bid to find new customers, evidence Farnell picking up a demand creation award from Panasonic for its passive components.
Murata have signed an agreement to distribute the fingerprint sensors of AuthenTec in Japan and to specific mobile customers around the world.
