divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/72797?ns=guardianpageName=Environment%3A+Why+bees+are+the+most+invaluable+speciesch=Environmentc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Wildlife+%28Environment%29%2CEndangered+species+%28Environment%29%2CConservation+%28Environment%29%2CEnvironmentc5=Environment+Conservation%2CClimate+Change%2CEthical+Livingc6=Alison+Benjaminc7=2008_11_21c8=1122033c9=articlec10=GUc11=Environmentc12=blogc13=c14=Environment+blogh2=GU%2FEnvironment%2Fblog%2FEnvironment+blog" width="1" height="1" //divpBees were last night declared the most invaluable species on the planet at the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2008/nov/14/endangeredspecies-conservation"annual Earthwatch debate/a. The audience heard from five eminent scientists who battled it out for fungi, bats, plankton, primates and bees. /ppWhile of course all species are invaluable for our ecosystem, the debate is designed to raise awareness about conservation by asking the audience to vote for just one of the species to receive a fictitious cheque for one trillion pounds to be spent on their conservation./ppIt comes us no surprise that the audience voted to save the bees. Who would want a world without honey, flowers, and third of everything we eat including chocolate and coffee? Not me./ppSome 250,000 species of flowering plants depend on bees for pollination. Many of these are crucial to world agriculture. a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/14/conservation.pollution"Bees increase the yields of around 90 crops/a, such as apples, blueberries and cucumbers by up to 30%, so many fruits and vegetables would become scarce and prohibitively expensive. /ppIn addition, many of our medicines, both conventional and alternative remedies, come from flowering plants. And cotton is another essential product pollinated by the bee, so we could say goodbye to cheap T-shirts and jeans./ppBut it's not just the human race that would suffer. Spare a thought for the poor birds and small mammals that feed off the berries and seeds that rely on bee pollination. They would die of hunger and in turn their predators – the omnivores or carnivores that continue the food chain would also starve. We could survive on wind-pollinated grains and fish, but there would be wars for control of dwindling food supplies. South America's ancient Mayan civilisation is thought to have died of starvation. /ppAlthough other insects and animals do pollinate – such as bats, butterflies and even wasps – none is designed like the bee as a pollinator machine. br /There are 20,000 bee species around the world including solitary bees, bumblebees and honeybees. Many are monoletic – pollinate one plant – others like bumblebees and honeybees are polylectic. While bumblebees live in colonies of a few hundred, the sheer number of honeybees in a hive – up to 50,000 in the summer - and their ability to be managed, manipulated and transported by man makes them the most valuable pollinator. /ppUnfortunately all bees are already under serious Industrialised farming with its monocultures and pesticides has destroyed biodiversity and robbed the majority of bees of their habitat and food. While across the globe, the western honeybee – bred for its gentle nature and prolific honey making and pollination – is plagued by parasites and viruses, and also jeopardised by modern agricultural practices. More than a third of honeybees were wiped out in the US this year by Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious disease which is thought to be a combination of these assailants./ppAs Dr George McGavin, who was batting for the bees said: "Bee populations are in freefall. A world without bees would be totally catastrophic."/ppThe Earthwatch audience should be applauded for heading his call and voting to save them, and itself as well./pp· Alison Benjamin is co-author of a href="http://www.guardianbooks.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10401_25501_128593_?cm_mmc=Guardian%20Home-_-Product%20Sell-_-Bottom%20Flash-_-A%20World%20Without%20Bees%205VJG"A World without Bees/a/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/wildlife"Wildlife/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/endangeredspecies"Endangered species/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/"Conservation/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Environmentcountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227288015027112117240433070"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Environmentcountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227288015027112117240433070" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

At the Mobia Asia Congress, in Macau, Nokia reaffirmed its commitment to TD-SCDMA (also known as Chinese 3G) and said it was working on an TD-SCDMA enabled S60 handset for release in 2009. This follows on from the news that Digia has integrated TD-SCDMA into S60. China is one of the key emerging markets for mobile and China Mobile is one of the world's biggest operators (by customer numbers).
Nokia will be competing with ZTE who recently unveiled the TD-SCDMA enabled U990, which runs on Windows Mobile 6.0. Other manufacturers have been slower to develop high end handsets for TD-SCDMA. TD-SCDMA is still a relatively young technology - the first commercial trials, in eight cities, launched in April 2008, but it is likely to be the 3G technology of choice in the Chinese market.

Press release extract:
Mr. Colin Giles, President of Nokia China, said at the event: "Nokia firmly supports the development of TD-SCDMA. Our goal is to not only develop TD-SCDMA products that can deliver outstanding user experiences to consumers, but also to work with operators, chipset providers, developers and all parties along the value chain to support the creation of a vibrant TD-SCDMA ecosystem in China."
Nokia has started the development of a TD-SCDMA device based on S60 on Symbian OS, and plans to launch the product before the end of 2009.
Nokia's S60 TD-SCDMA device will enrich the TD-SCDMA device portfolio for Chinese consumers, and promote the development of TD-SCDMA in China.
"We are very excited to hear Nokia's announcement today. Symbian OS is a mature and leading global mobile device platform, and we believe that the Nokia TD-SCDMA device will enhance our application offerings and user experiences," said Mr. Wang Jianzhou, Chairman and CEO of China Mobile. "We look forward to working together with Nokia to further drive TD-SCDMA development in China."



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The economy is affecting players all over the web video ecosystem, and companies both large and small. Here’s the latest carnage. Content delivery giant Akamai laid off 110 employees today, or 7 percent of its staff. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company described the layoffs as “cost-cutting measures.”

Also, TechCrunch reports that recommendation startup Strands laid off 14 people, or 10 percent of its company, and mobile live video startup Qik also laid off 10 percent, or five people.