SUMMARY OF EASTERN-EUROPE - market for the general purpose software is in the infant state, and there is little hope it will develop into something more developed in the near future. There are some business opportunities for expensive, vertical-market applications (like specialized accounting software for enterprises), but such customers prefer buying such software from local producers.

LANGUAGE - Russian is the official language in Russia, Ukrainian in Ukraine, etc. Most people from the neighborhood countries (former USSR republics) understand Russian as well, and can use it, if needed. Most people working with computers understand common English terms used in software, and can read English manuals and Help files.

CURRENCY - US Dollars is the preferred currency to keep and save money. It is not accepted in shops, though, so you have to convert US dollars into the local currency before shopping. The currency exchanges are available at almost every street corner.

HOLIDAYS -

Russian Full Holidays:

January 1 - New Year
January 7 - Christmas
March 8 - Women's Day
May 1,2
May 9 -Victory Day
June 12 - Independence Day
November 7,8 - Reconcilation Day

COMMON FORMS OF ACCEPTED PAYMENT - Cash. Credit/Debit cards begin to take off, too. Checks are used almost exclusively for inter-business operations. Wire transfers are possible, too. Purchase orders are unheard of.

SOFTWARE PIRACY - is a common way to acquire software. Pirated discs are sold at supermarkets and bookstores. For example, you can buy a disc with MS Office for about $10.

SHAREWARE SITES - There are typically two kinds of shareware sites Upload vs. Traditional, below are examples and the pros and cons of each.

Russian Registration and Shareware Services

Examples of traditional and registration sites:

http://www.download.ru (will only list russian titles)
http://www.tfmik.ru (Feelix Moochnik)

DOMAINS - Below are the most common domain extensions

.ru (russia) - a popular extension for Russian sites
.ua (ukraine) - extension for Ukrainian Sites
.yu (yugoslavia)

The worlds top cellphone maker Nokia said it has agreed to buy social networking start-up Plazes as part of its major push into offering Internet services. Plazes provides location-aware services that people can use to plan, record, and share their social activities.

The disposal of massive numbers of unwanted mobile phones will be a key focus of a five-day meeting on waste management which started Monday in Indonesia, organisers said.

The fate of the more than three billion of the gadgets in use today will be discussed by more than 1,000 delegates from 170 countries at the meeting on the Basel Convention in Bali, a statement said.

Cellular Disposal

Virgin Mobile USA is introducing a plan with unlimited calling for $79.99 per month, helping feed the price-cutting frenzy that has washed over the cellular carriers this year.

The prepaid plan will be available July 1, the carrier said. Virgin was charging $99.99 for 1000 minutes per month with no limit on night and weekend calls.

Verizon Wireless introduced a plan with unlimited nationwide calling in February for $99.99 per month that was quickly matched by its competitors.

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Associated Press on Monday unveiled an iPhone program for accessing its newly launched service that delivers news, photos and video to mobile phones.  

The APs Mobile News Network was launched May 5 for a variety of smart phones, including the iPhone. The service displays advertising-supported local news stories from more than 100 participating newspapers as well as national and international news from AP. The reports are organized by ZIP code.

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Targeting inexperienced motorists, several states have passed laws during the past five years restricting cell phone use by teenage drivers.
But an insurance industry study being released Monday that looked at whether teens are ignoring such restrictions contends enforcement and parental influence are just as important as new laws.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety studied North Carolinas law, enacted in 2006, which fines motorists under age 18 who are caught using a cell phone.
Researchers who watched as high school students left school found that teenage drivers used their cell phones at about the same rate both before and after the law took effect. In South Carolina, which does not have a similar restriction, cell phone use by teenage drivers was about the same for both periods studied.

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After years of go-go growth, the number of people signing up for cellphone service in the USA is finally slowing.

That could spell good news for consumers as carriers turn up the marketing heat, says Craig Moffett, a senior analyst at Bernstein Research and author of a report documenting the trend.

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