Why not get off on the right foot this fall? Gone are the vacation days of sleeping in and basking in the sun. Now it’s back to school and work as the autumn days grow shorter…

Luckily, for those of us who want our summer energy to last a while, Philips in France has come out with a new alarm clock that’s actually therapeutic. No longer do you have to wake up to a radio drone of bad news or to awful, piercing beeps. The Philips Wake-up Light actually energizes you as it gently rouses you from your sleep!

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This Special Report on Europe contains the European Innovation Scoreboard results (France is keeping pace) and a progress report on the future European Digital Library (EDL).

- How many Europeans have triple play (broadband internet access, VoIP telephone and IPTV)?
- What are the desires and practices of today’s internet users?
- You want to go study and/or work in Europe but don’t know where to start?
- Will Germany get fiber optics?

This Special Europe Report provides answers.

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With its i2010 project, the European Commission hopes to establish an open and competitive, single information and communication market in Europe. It is therefore trying to battle against any kind of competition-hampering national or European monopolistic situation liable to stymie universal access to new technologies and paralyze the market. Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s telecommunications leader, recently experienced being the object of this scrutiny.

Already in financial difficulty and having just recently revised downward its 2006 and 2007 targets, the company was then hit by new tribulations that shake its leading position: On Monday August 21st, the European Commission endorsed a proposal submitted by the German telecom regulator Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) that requires Deutsche Telekom to immediately open up its ultra-high-speed network to competitors.

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What is the status of Internet usage in Europe? Are we on par with respect to new technologies? To find out, the European Commission recently commissioned a special survey of 25,000 households between December 7, 2005 and January 11, 2006. The results of this Eurobarometer survey, published on August 25, reveal certain facts about our usage of the Internet and other consumer communication devices. They also expose several disparities.

One key finding is that most households with Internet access use a high-speed connection: 23% of users—nearly one out of every four households—now have broadband, while 16% still have narrowband or dial-up. Of those with high-speed Internet, 80% have an ADSL line, while only 17% use cable.

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On August 2, 2006, Sony (sony.com) announced the launch of a new product that enables its digital camcorders and cameras to plot the location where every image is taken. The external, stand-alone GPS device, called GPS-CS1, is a compact 87 x 36 x 36 mm (about 3.4 x 1.4 x 1.4 inches), weighs only 55 g (2 ounces), and is designed so its center of gravity will keep the GPS antenna pointed skyward whenever possible.

The device is easy to use: just have it on when shooting. It will automatically record the geographical coordinates along with a date and time stamp. Later, when you connect your camera to a computer to transfer your photos, simply connect the SPS-CS1 at the same time with the supplied USB cable.

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How can British views on VoIP be assessed when most people in England don’t know what it is? What makes IPTV so promising even though some European countries are lagging behind, and which countries will take the lead? How can you confidently find the nearest free Wi-Fi access point? With the launch of Google Maps and Google Earth in Europe, should their competitors be worried? This special report provides answers.

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It’s finally here! With the launch of Google Maps France and Europe, the area covered by Google satellite images now reaches beyond North America. The first European versions of the search engine’s mapping and directions tool, Google Maps, are now available online.

Until now, the only Europeans to benefit from the Mountain View company’s mapping and satellite services were subjects of Queen Elizabeth. But the inquisitive eye of satellites has recently focused on certain swaths of France. Google Maps services work in metropolitan France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

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Free-hotspot.com indexes all free Wi-Fi access points. In addition to their free hotline, the service now features new technology that makes it possible to know in real time which access points are available and which are not.

The technology is based on a heartbeat control that transmits the hotspot’s status to the service every two minutes 24 hours a day. When a user calls to request the location of the nearest free access point, Free-hotspot can thus ensure that it won’t be down when the person gets there.

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According to the Gartner research company, Europeans could be early adopters when it comes to Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). Gartner estimates the current number of IPTV service subscribers to be 3.3 million. By 2010, the number could be 16.7 million.

More and more providers are offering triple play service because of scenarios like the one in France where nearly one million households have gone with third-party providers for certain services.

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One essential difference between U.S. and European Internet demographics and those of China is that more than half of all Chinese Internet users are under 25 years old. That’s the largest community of young websurfers in the world, outranking even the United States.

Marketing specialists and advertisers have it right: The best way to reach the much coveted market of young Chinese consumers is through the Net. Companies specialized in such matters, like U.S.‑based Market China Inc.(www.marketchinainc.com), describe it as “a gateway to China’s youth market.”

For hot content, young Chinese Web hipsters go to general entertainment Yahoo‑type portals that are community focused. Top sites include Sina.com, Sohu, and Netease (www.163.com/). All three are listed on the Nasdaq.

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