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The news from across the Atlantic is looking grim for Palm, with sales well down on initial estimates, and a profit warning issued – and if things are bad there, it’s hard to imagine how much worse they must be in the UK.

Put bluntly, you’re more likely to see a juggling polar bear unicycling down the High Street than see a Palm Pre being used in the UK.

So what happened? Why did such a great phone not get the attention it deserved in the UK?

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Accompanied by a flurry of flapping flipcharts and clicking ballpoint pens, tech stat fiends Gartner have just unleashed their annual figures for worldwide mobile phone sales to end users.

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Google have announced what they’re describing as “the next generation of ad serving technology for online publishers,” and are calling it DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP).

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Telefonica – owners of the O2 mobile network – says it has shifted 2 million Apple iPhones in Britain and reckons the future’s bright with good Palm Pre sales keeping the cashtills kerchinging.

Apple’s original mobile phone partner in the UK, O2 lost its exclusivity on the iconic smartphone last year, which it first offered for sale in November 2007.

The iPhone is now available on Orange, Vodafone and Tesco Mobile in Britain.

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Despite being number one in mobile global sales for an eternity, Nokia have been through something of a rocky patch recently, but their latest financial results sees the Finnish phone maker fighting back with gusto.

Figures for the the last quarter of 2009 show the company returning a 38% growth in smartphone shipments over the past year, shifting over 20 million smartphones in the fourth quarter – a hefty increase on the the 15 million sold the year before.

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The Apple brand may be near-ubiquitous on Britain’s streets thanks to the success of the iPhone, but it seems that the company’s head honcho remains something of a mystery to many of this island’s inhabitants.

According to a recent survey of 1,000 Brits from across the country, twenty per cent had no idea who Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs was, with ten per cent thinking he was a Trade Union worker and double that figure believing he was a footballer.

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An illuminating graphic (below) posted on 9gag.com using stats sourced from several agencies reveals that 43% of all internet users view pornographic material and 35% of all web downloads are pornographic.

‘Sex’ and ‘porn’ are among the top 5 search terms for kids under 18, and one in three porn users are women.

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According to new figures released by NetApplications, mobile browsing now accounts for 1.3% of all web browsing, with Android surfers being the fastest growing bunch.

The stats show all the main mobile operating systems turning in large percentage gains over the November – December 2009 period, with Android streaking miles ahead to bag twice the gains of the competition.

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We reported back in October that the Finnish mobile giant was suing its rival Apple for infringing their mobile phone technology patents with the iPhone, and things seem to be heating up to a true Battle Royale.

Apple slammed Nokia’s claim right back into their quid pro quos, swiftly firing off a countersuit claiming that Nokia was infringing 13 of their patents.

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Once one of the UK’s biggest booksellers, Borders (UK) is closing its doors for good today after administrators MCR failed to find any buyers for the newspaper, book, magazine, DVD and CD retailer.

Both Borders and partner company Books Etc (which it owns) will disappear from High Streets forever, with the company blaming their demise on increased competition from online sales and supermarkets, compounded by a struggling retail market.

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We can remember attending the celeb-loaded launch for this swanky London store in February 2008, but Nokia’s flagship store in Regent Street isn’t even going to make it to its 2nd anniversary.

The reason for the closure is simple: it’s not making a profit. It’s a flop. A failure. Well, that’s how we’d describe it, but a Nokia spokeswomen liked to spin it rather differently, declaring that the store, “has not been as efficient or as profitable” as they hoped.

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Majestic Swindon – birthplace of 70s prog rockers Supertramp, the handsomely proportioned Diana Dors and ace 80s post punksters XTC – will soon have another accolade to add to its rather slim list of achievements as it becomes the first town in the UK to offer free public wireless internet access to its entire population.

Swindon Borough Council has pledged that its 186,000 citizens will enjoy blanket coverage via a  “Wi-Fi mesh”  at no cost to users.

Set to be installed by April  2010, there’ll be no line rental or connection charges to pay, letting freeloaders access the internet and download emails for nowt,  but usage will be limited.

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It looks like there’s not much festive spirit being generated by Verizon towards their neighbours, as the US network launches a TV offensive on rival network AT&T.

A set of 30 second video adverts have focussed on AT&T’s allegedly dreadful 3G network coverage, and take a fairly hefty swipe at the iPhone in the bargain.

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A new survey of market shares for smartphones conducted last month showed that Blackberry (RIM) continues to be the numero uno choice among consumers in the US , with Apple’s iPhone snapping wildly at its heels like a terrier on meth.

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File under: “Gordon Bennett, who’s woulda thought it!” Analysts DFC Intelligence have declared that the iPhone and iPod touch will prove to be key players in the mobile gaming market.

Although you may think that this was fairly obvious to anyone who hasn’t been sleeping under a tree for the last two years, DFC have compiled a nice shiny report to remind us all.

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