Some research in India, quoted in today’s Telegraph points out that mobile phone usage prompted a demonstrable decline in the population of a honey bee hive.

Now researchers from Chandigarh’s Punjab University claim they have found the cause which could be the first step in reversing the decline: They have established that radiation from mobile telephones is a key factor in the phenomenon and say that it probably interfering with the bee’s navigation senses.

Not good at all. Would you give up your mobile to save the honey bees?

The location based app market has been popular for quite some time now, with its major players becoming household names. Foursquare, Gowalla, and upstarts like Booyah’s MyTown are showing impressive user numbers and gaining traction among mobile users. Yet at TechCrunch Disrupt last week, two new startups showed promising twists on location-based services (LBS). DeHood aims to create a new community vibe through its iPhone app and website, each of which pulls in information about their local area. Yet possibly more disruptive is SCVNGR, which takes the game dynamics present in Foursquare and makes them the center of the service, instead of placing them on the periphery as Foursquare does.

Making Checking in Fun Again
Foursquare is designed to one day become a social and local utility, with social gaming mechanics designed to encourage checkins and to get people to use the platform more frequently. With SCVNGR, going to somewhere and checking in isn’t enough. Instead, they make the entire world a scavenger hunt. At Disrupt, challenges included “Double Down,” with users suggesting companies for venture capitalists to invest in, or “Give me a ‘T’,” wherein users had to spell out TCD with random scraps they found at the conference.

SCVNGR has spent the past couple of months working with institutions like colleges and museums to build “treks,” which are essentially scavenger hunts. These are designed to drive more traffic and interactivity with the institutions. One could theoretically travel through the Metropolitan Museum of Art doing a trek, a highlights tour of sorts that was designed with SVNGR. The app includes social features as well, allowing users to see where they rank against their friends and the treks their friends had previously completed.

SCVNGR has clearly caught on. After the launch of their 3.0 iPhone app at Disrupt, they’ve seen a steep increase in traffic and use of their app. Download their iPhone app today to get in on the fun!

[ SCVNGR Brings Innovation to Location-Based Gaming is a post from 148Apps ]

Looks like the big holiday sales aren’t just for used cars and mattresses anymore. In a move that we’ve seen repeated the past few holiday weekend, many of the app and game developers are putting their wares on sale this weekend.

There are sales from the big guys like EA, Gameloft, Glu, Handmark and more below. With Glu putting nearly all of their games down to $0.99, EA marking most of their games a huge amount, and lots of Indie developers dropping prices, it’s a great time to pick up a few new games.

Here are some of the more notable apps on sale — or at least the ones we’ve noticed so far. But we can’t list all of them here, you can check out our full list of all of the iPhone app sales on our price drops page.

See one of your favorite apps or games on sale but not on our list? Leave a comment below and let us know.

There are really just too many to list on the front page. Hit the jump for the full list or check out our price drops page.

Still not enough for you? There are thousands more on our price drops page. You can even filter by device type or price.

[ photo credit: Flickr user timparkinson ]

[ Huge Memorial Day Weekend Sale – Not Just for Used Cars Anymore! is a post from 148Apps ]

Welcome to the first in the series of videos exploring the Future of Voicemail, supported by visual voicemail experts HulloMail.

I got my first mobile phone in September 1996. I purchased it from a hovel opposite the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street, London. After I got the handset home, the first thing I did with it was set my voicemail. I’m willing to bet it’s one of the first things you do too, whenever you’ve activated a new phone connection or joined a new company and been assigned a phone. Voicemail is an entirely ubiquitous service, provided free or inclusive for many.

Voicemail sits in the background. The vast majority of users don’t think twice about it. We use the word daily. We receive and send voicemails daily. Yet its one of the most overlooked essential requirements of today’s mobile (and landline) telephone functionality. Ever been annoyed when you’ve tried to leave a voicemail and got a ‘mailbox full’ error? Yeah. Or when you call someone and the line just rings-and-rings because, for whatever reason, voicemail isn’t active? Have you ever been abroad and phoned your friend/partner only to get their voicemail and realise that even though the call didn’t complete, you’ve been charged a pretty penny for the privilege?

And from a commercial viewpoint, what does it take to deliver voicemail services to 20 million customers on a daily basis? Why do we still need voicemail? Is a voicemail box with 10 slots simply ridiculous or a necessary restriction ? And what’s coming next? What innovation should we expect to see in the near term and beyond?

It’s these issues, questions — and more — that I intend exploring with this series.

Our first thought leader is Olivier Sichel, Partner at well-known European Venture Capital firm, Sofinnova Partners. I was particularly interested to see what he’d have to say, given his tremendous fixed and mobile experience. Prior to joining Sofinnova, Olivier was Chariman of Wanadoo, the 6.5 billion internet and directory giant. So he knows a thing or two.

Over to Olivier — here’s the video:

Thank you for taking the time, Olivier!

I hope you enjoyed the first episode! I aim to bring you the next video in the series — Tim Rea of ePlanet Ventures — next week.

HulloMail’s support has enabled me to produce this series and to help toward keeping the lights on here at Mobile Industry Review. Therefore I would very much appreciate it if you’d take the time to familiarise yourself with the company’s services and perhaps download their app and check out their services. Their app available on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry — but it’ll also work on any handset at all.