Today, atThe Next Web Conferencein Amsterdam, mobile and media trends expertRudy de Waeleleft the crowd literally speechless. His 20-minute presentation provided us with a glimpse of the future and real hope of a connected, safer and better world that lies ahead. His latest project “Mobile Trends Africa 2020” a mobile trends project he launched last year, which collected the opinions of 50 visionaries in the mobile industry. Significantly narrowing his focus, and likely heightening his impact, Mobile Trends Africa brings together the predictions of 30+ industry professionals and local entrepreneurs in Africa....

Mobile devices won’t just change how we consume music but also how it is produced. With roughly23,000 music applicationsalready available on the Apple App Store alone, mobile device owners will be able to create, edit and publish their own works as well as enjoy content from more established music acts. Music labels and advertisers may find new ways to monetize the mobile music market but it shouldn’t take away from the experiences that consumers will enjoy on their mobile devices....

You may have read reports that Apple was about to make its MobileMe service available exclusively online – today that rumour has been confirmed after an Apple Genius employee leaked a screenshot from Apple Retail’s internal systems. The leaked screenshot, sent in to9to5mac.com, confirms that retail boxes were pulled from the Apple website yesterday with the view to an official online-only roll-out on the same day. The associated blurb states that one retail stores sell their remaining retail boxes, they will ask customers to sign-up online atapple....

MobileMinderis a new service that has just launched, designed to help parents keep an eye on their children via a Web app that works in conjunction with a child’s phone to keep a watch on what they’re up to in a number of innovative ways. Beyond simply showing the child on a map, MobileMinder offers a feature that allows a child to send a call for help when they’re lost. This sends the child’s location on a map to the parent or an older sibling’s phone so they can help the child get to safetly....

Mobility startups and industry watchdogs need each other to succeed It’s a bit of a chicken or the egg situation, who goes first: regulators or startups? Escooters and dawdling regulations The VBB is a public service, with close ties to the government, which develops and “strategizes public transport services, is responsible for public tenders, and common fares and ticketing.” It also runs public information systems about transport services and distributes revenue among the actual operators that drive the buses and trains in the region....