Friday’s Pick and Mix #13

GLOBAL – Friday afternoon can only mean one thing: it’s time for our weekly liquorice dip into the sherbert bag that is the mobile blogosphere. We can only skim the surface, but hopefully you’ll find something useful here that matches your own interests. As ever, let us know what you’ve found yourselves in the comments.

* Among the many questions being asked about the forthcoming Nokia N8 is the issue of how durable it is. Via Nokia Users, we spotted an impromptu drop test of a preview model: three meters from a balcony onto concrete. How well did the device fare? Find out here.
* Shane Richmond on the Daily Telegraph website notes that mobile phones nowadays are moving to being used for anything apart from phone calls, the popularity of which has dropped dramatically over the last ten years.
* Arstechnica takes a look at phone etiquette guides from yesteryear. ”Keep [your] moustache out of the opening” is still pretty sound advice for mobile users today.
* You may have heard of Ushahidi – software that allows disaster response workers to record on-the-ground data using mobiles to help build a complete picture quickly. Now comes Crowdmap which aims to make setting up such information hubs a bit easier. (Via New York Times).
* The Nokia Beta Labs have this week released Nokia Listings. It’s a tool to allow people within a specific vicinity to advertise and respond to job adverts and item listings. Currently, it only works fully in India.
* And finally, Tomi Ahonen discusses the next stage of mobile growth as the numbers of users of services continues to grow towards 100 per cent, and beyond.