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The projects include: The Spoken Web - Voice-enabled mobile commerce; Instant Translation - Real-time communication between multiple languages through mobile devices; SoulPad - Enabling any portable device to carry computing applications in your pocket; BuddyComm - Social networking on-the-go and Good Samaritan -- Mobile healthcare information made available in any emergency situation.

According to the report, in many regions, mobile devices are becoming an increasingly viable alternative to PCs and "are capable of delivering more types of data, applications and services through advanced wireless networks. This, coupled with the openness and convergence of Web applications, is making a major impact on the global mobile market".

The company says much of the world's population is looking to mobile devices to tap into online resources to fulfill basic economic needs -- in banking, e-commerce, education, transportation and government, although the company notes that apart from basic voice communication, many people cannot exploit the benefits of information and services available to all WWW users".

And, says the article, for the first time ever, "more people will have a mobile phone than a regular telephone and mobile devices outnumber PCs by three to one, credit cards by two to one and TVs by two to one".

IBM's Institute for Business Value predicts the number of mobile Web users will grow by 191 per cent from 2006 to 2011 to reach one billion. This proliferation of mobile devices and mobile Web users says the company "signals an incredibly lucrative growth opportunity for businesses".