Thank goodness! Now we can tweet from the world’s tallest peak.

How does this sound for a Facebook status: “About to scale Mt. Everest.”

All of these activities and more are now possible. Should they have time, climbers attempting to scale Mount Everest can now surf the internet and make video calls through 3G coverage provided by Ncell, a subsidiary of Swedish telecom company TeliaSonera.

TeliaSonera said the network will operate up to its 17,000 square-foot base camp, which is the last gathering stop before the final ascent to the top of mountain. The seven 3G base stations scattered throughout the region, will then allow the trekkers to use wireless Internet and to make video calls.

Before, climbers trying to get to the top of 29,029-foot-peak, relied on expensive satellite equipment they had to carry. Now, trekkers can make calls and check for bad weather, increasing the safety of climbers.

This development in telecommunications opens up a new frontier for 3G coverage that is very exciting. Now, this type of communication is made possible from literally, the top of the world. Now, it’s just a matter of time before Sherpa’s stop at the nearest Starbucks before making their trek up the mountain.

Dublin pledges $400K to TechStart. [Tech Life Ohio]

Ohio Third Frontier and Supporting Programs Win Top Tech Awards for Economic Development. [PR Newswire]

Google Ultra-High Speed Broadband Closer to Reality. [Gov Tech]

Wi-Fi Direct Launches Today. [Daily Tech]

High-speed Internet at Everest base camp. [Dayton Daily News]

A look at telecom-industry earnings for 3Q. [Dayton Daily News]

According to the Nielsen Company, mobile web banking in the U.S. has grown to more than 13 million mobile subscribers, up 129 % in just two years. Mobile banking is a simple easy-to-use feature banks can provide customers the ability to track balances, set up alerts, and have much greater and immediate control of their finances. Now mobile banking is ready to level the playing field with online banking. According to Nielsen’s survey conducted in June 2010, the most likely persons who use their mobile phone for web-based banking tend to be younger, male and more ethnically diverse than their online banking counterparts.

Here are a few percentages from the survey to help paint the picture more vividly. Users between the ages of 25-34 are more likely to use mobile banking at 53% versus the 18% from the same age group that use online banking. Males represent 53 % of this “mobile banking” population versus 43 % online. Furthermore, 30 % are Hispanic while this same user group represents only 11 % of the online banking population

The largest groups of mobile bankers also are frequent users of SMS texting. This is not surprising given the growing popularity of texting in general: As of July 2010, two out of three U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging.

Mobile banking SMS users vary demographically from mobile web users. This group is slightly older than their mobile web banking counterparts, as 48 % of these users are over the age of 35.

According to David Gill, Senior Director of Mobile Marketing at The Nielsen Company, people who are comfortable using their mobile phones for mobile banking, check their mobile bank site twice a week. The customers, who participate in online banking, are already highly engaged and eager for fast solutions for their foreseeable needs.

Firm creates ‘open source’ tech portal in Dayton region to improve IT labor pool. [Dayton Business Journal]

Ohio Supercomputer Center, PolymerOhio Receive $355K in New Funding. [HPCwire]

Officials Push to Bolster Law on Wiretapping. [The New York Times]

G7: CIOs From Seven Big-Cities Work Together to Develop Open-Source IT Solutions. [Government Tech]

ProjectOne to pump 10,000 jobs, $1.7 billion into Ohio economy. [Tech Life Ohio]

A look at recent tech-industry earnings. [Dayton Daily News]

Family-owned recycler Coll adding plant in Southwest. [Plastics News]

There’s no shocker to parents all around the country paying the cell phone bill, that teens are more likely to text than any age demographic in the U.S. While there’s no shock that teens are the group that text the most, a recent study by Nielson described the volume of and changes of texting trends.

On average, American teens (ages 13-17) are sending or receiving 3,339 texts a month. That’s more than six per every hour they’re awake, an 8% jump from last year. According to Nielson, teen females send and receive an average of 4,050 texts per month. Teen males also outpace other male age groups, sending and receiving an average of 2,539 texts. Young adults (age 18-24) come in a distant second, exchanging 1,630 texts per month (a comparatively meager three texts per hour). Overall, the younger female teens are the group with the greatest texting averages.

Also, reasons for purchasing a phone have changed according to Nielson. Safety was the main reason for getting a phone in 2008, but is now less important. It is secondary among girls and less so among boys. Now texting is currently the centerpiece of mobile teen behavior and 43% of teens claim it is their primary reason for getting a cellphone.

While there is all this activity for texting, it has come at the expense of voicemail. Last year, teens texted instead of calling because it was fun. Now, 78 % of teens recognize the functionality and convenience of SMS, considering it easier and faster than voicemail. Therefore, voicemail activity has decreased 14 % among teens.

The undeniable area of growth is in data usage. 94 % of teen subscribers self-identify as advanced data users, turning to their cellphones for messaging, Internet, multimedia, gaming, and other activities like downloads. Teens are not only using more data, but they are also downloading a wider range of applications. Also, software downloads among teen subscribers who use apps enjoyed a solid 12 % increase in activity versus last year, from 26 to 38%. This includes popular apps such as Facebook, Pandora or YouTube.

*This information was taken from a study done by Nielson http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/u-s-teen-mobile-report-calling-yesterday-texting-today-using-apps-tomorrow/