CAMBRIDGE, England, February 17 /PRNewswire/ -- It has been a tough 12 months, with the credit crunch turning into a full-blown recession, but it hasn't stopped the broadband market's continued growth. According to telecoms regulator Ofcom there were almost 17 million broadband connections in the UK by the end of September 2008, and the number is still rising.

But as purse strings are drawn tighter and competition for customers hots up between the broadband providers, there is plenty of good news out there for cash-strapped broadband bargain hunters. There are some great recession-busting deals out there; Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling looks at some of the best ways to save when you're looking to get online for less.

Lose the landline

SAO PAULO, Brazil and LONDON, February 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Claro mobile customers will now have access to breaking news and other valuable information as the Brazilian carrier launches Canal Ideas, which broadcasts free information on various subjects to the idle screen of mobile phones.

Operated by Celltick's LiveScreen(TM) Media platform, the new service broadcasts adverts, entertainment, sports and news content directly to the idle screens of Claro Brazil's mobile subscribers. Customers responding to messages are diverted to a WAP page or receive an SMS response depending on the handset type and capabilities. The service also offers purchase of premium content and participation in polls and quizzes.

NEW YORK, February 17 /PRNewswire/ --

- Light Reading Asia, a new regional Website covering the Asian communications market, will debut in April. In addition, a new Light Reading China office is announced in Beijing, headed by Sam Song, a China telco market veteran

Light Reading (www.lightreading.com), the leading research-led media and events company covering the worldwide communications market, announced today that it will be launching Light Reading Asia in April and that it has established Light Reading China, a new office in Beijing that will drive events, media, and research products for the Chinese telecommunications market.

ROANOKE, Virginia, February 17 /PRNewswire/ --

PixelOptics, Inc. (Pixel) of Roanoke, Virginia has announced the start of wearer trials for its dynamic electronic eyeglasses with changeable dynamic focus. The world's first composite ophthalmic lens company, PixelOptics is developing and will market both static (fixed focus) and dynamic (changeable focus) lenses. Pixel launched its first static composite lens, the atLast!(R) Enhanced Multifocal, in October 2008 and with the assistance of select eye care professionals has now begun limited and controlled trials of its dynamic electronic eyewear with consumers.

LONDON, February 17 /PRNewswire/ --

Cancer may well surpass cardiovascular diseases as the primary case of death in Europe by 2012. To prevent this from happening, cancer therapeutics have to shift in focus from the treatment of symptoms to offering a total cure, despite the complex, multifactorial nature of cancer indications.

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa, February 17 /PRNewswire/ --

The African ICT industry has been quite sheltered from the global economic downturn. Despite the disruptions in markets around the world, African ICT industries have remained fairly robust and should witness continued growth.

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Frost Sullivan (http://www.ict.frost.com) believes there are several reasons for this. Like Latin America, Africa offers investors opportunities that counteract the negative global climate.

PHILADELPHIA, February 17 /PRNewswire/ --

- Awards Confirm Elsevier's Leadership in Medical E-Products and Books in Clinical Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health

- Elsevier's Procedures Consult Named Top E-Product

Elsevier, the leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced that it has won four major awards from the Professional and Scholarly Publishing (PSP) Division of the Association of American Publishers (AAP).

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS, BARCELONA and LULEÅ, Sweden, February 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Oricane presents two applications for mobile phones; a contact database, and a caller id application. The contact database is capable of storing over 200 million name and number entries in a mobile phone. The caller id application translates an incoming phone number into a name, enabling the user to always see who is calling. Oricane's applications make it possible to carry an entire national telephone directory in a mobile phone.

The applications are built on Oricane's BioDEXTM mobile, a patented solution for compressing, storing and searching information in mobile phones and other small devices.

LONDON, February 17 /PRNewswire/ -- In this year of economic downturn and reduced consumer spending the Harvard Business Review, in its 2009 survey of ideas and trends that will have an impact on business, include social pressure and persuasion as important factors. These ideas, and more, come from the International bestselling book Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion.

Understanding persuasion research and how it can be easily and often costlessly applied by businesses can dramatically improve sales revenues, marketing success and even improve effectiveness in areas such as leadership and negotiation, says Steve Martin one of the book's authors. http://www.scienceofyes.com

Other research from the book shows

ELMSHORN, Germany, February 17 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Heatpipe-Cooling Technology With Vapor-Chamber / SX58H7 for the First Time With 500 Watt Power Supply

Shuttle Inc., the market leader in the Mini-PC segment and manufacturer of Multi-Form-Factor solutions today announces a new model for Intel Core i7 processors based on the socket 1366. The Shuttle XPC Barebone SX58H7 uses the high-performance Intel X58 Express chipset with ICH10R Southbridge.

This new flagship targets gamers and enthusiasts and thus spearheads Shuttle's squad of high-performance Mini-PCs. Its highly polished surfaces and high-quality finishes measure only 32.5 x 20.8 x 19 cm (LWH) in size.