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Australians have decided on the next race a marathon runner will compete in by texting a premium rate SMS voting line.

Peter Wilson, affectionately known as "that crazy guy who runs marathons to help sick kids", is to run the 125km Canadian Death Race, the Australian Associated Press reports.

After previously completing challenges across China's Gobi Desert and the Atacame Desert in Chile, Mr Wilson decided to let the public decide where he went next in SMS vote.

All proceeds from the vote were sent to the Sydney Children's Hospital and funds raised from his new challenge will also be sent to the institution.

The run will involve crossing the Canadian Rockies of Grande Cache, Alberta and climbing three mountain summits.

Mr Wilson told the news source: "The physical pain is nothing compared to what the children at Sydney Children's Hospital go through every day.

"If my running can inspire others to give to the hospital, even if it's just for a laugh to send me somewhere mad, I feel like I have won already."

The mobile retail market will become a $12 billion (£8 billion) industry by 2014 due to mobile marketing and smartphone uptake, according to a new report.

Juniper Research has found in its 'mobile marketing and retail strategies report' that these factors will be key players in the future of the industry.

It predicted that digital marketing would eventually fully transfer onto the mobile sphere and that the retail industry is becoming increasingly aware of this and could use it to their advantage.

Howard Wilcox, co-author of the report, said: "Retailers have recognised that, even ahead of their wallets, people will usually make sure they do not leave home without their mobile device.

"The mobile channel offers merchants the opportunity to differentiate from their competition and acquire customers that become loyal."

Retailers and marketers could use mobiles to quickly change advertising and they could access young people much faster and easier than with regular handsets.

Businesses may have more mobile marketing opportunities in the future as industry professionals predict that smartphones will eventually replace desktop PCs.

John Herlihy, vice president of global ad operations at Google, said recently, that by 2013, the desktop PC will be irrelevant as more people take up and utilise smartphones.

In support of these predictions is Leigh Geary, webmaster of CoolSmartPhone.com. He explained that smartphones are still relatively expensive. However, he said: "When you find yourself slumped in front of the TV replying to emails, sending Tweets, browsing the web and reading PDF [Portable Document Format] documents then it's suddenly value for money."

According to research by Gartner, smartphone sales in 2009 reached 172.4 million units, a 23.8 per cent increase from 2008.

With the rise in smartphones, including Google's new Android phones, the industry predicts that one day people will cease to use desktop PCs, opening up a wide range of new markets for businesses to target users with mobile marketing.

Christopher Biggins is to become a judge on the Dancing on Ice UK tour from April.

The panto star will join TV judges Karen Barber and Nicky Slater and provide critique each night on the skaters' performances.

Ice skating golden couple Torvill and Dean will also be on hand to offer up tips and advice to the celebrities.

Already taking to the ice for the 25-date tour is Hayley Tamaddon, who last week earned a perfect score, recent evictees Emily Atack and Boyzone's Mikey Graham, as well as former winners Gaynor Faye and Ray Quinn.

Mr Biggins won the premium phone vote reality show I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2007.

Audiences at the show will be able to recreate the TV series by texting a premium rate SMS number to choose their favourite dance of the night, which can change with each show.

Money raised from the votes will be sent to charity. So far over £80,000 has been raised from the previous tours.

Viewers will get to decide which act to put through for this year's Eurovision Song Contest in a premium rate phone vote.

On March 12th BBC1 will show Your Country Needs You, hosted by Graham Norton.

The show will return to last year's format where Jade Ewen won the public vote and went on to win fifth place in the competition.

Six finalists will sing for the viewer vote and the final three chosen will perform the UK Eurovision song, produced by Pete Waterman, before the act with the most votes will be travelling to Oslo for the event on May 29th.

Jade will make an appearance on the show as the new member of the Sugababes. The band will perform their new single Wear My Kiss, while last year's Eurovision winner, Scandinavian Alexander Rybak, will also perform.

One of the six acts performing for the public vote will be the Miss Fitz. Viewers might recognise the threesome for getting through to the second round of the X Factor. The girls were forced to withdraw due to scheduling difficulties.

An internet micropayment system allowing users to download music from multiple sites is one way that might help to eradicate illegal music file sharing, one industry watchdog has claimed.

Consumer Focus has said that the music industry is not doing enough to solve the problem of illegal downloads, despite the IFPI trade body estimating that 95 per cent of music downloads are illegal.

Jill Johnstone, international director of the watchdog, said: "The music industry is shooting itself in the foot by not promoting legal online music services.

"If file sharing is causing the damage the music industry claims, why aren't they putting more effort in to promoting the legal alternatives?"

This comes as a report by the body found that four in ten people are unable to name a single online music service and 85 per cent of those who are aware of services can only name two – iTunes and Amazon.

Ms Johnstone argued that before the Digital Economy Bill becomes law, the music industry should do more towards promoting legal services.

People in Europe spend more time using the internet on their mobile than reading newspapers, according to The European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA).

This may come as good news to businesses looking to increase their mobile marketing investments as companies can now target 71 million Europeans using the technology.

Philip Bates, a senior manager with IT market advice service Analysys Mason, said: "The growing importance of the mobile internet is indisputable."

Mr Bates said that Apple had led the way for consumers, not just business users, to utilise mobile internet and this in turn has led firms to provide applications and marketing for the new audience.

The EIAA report, released last week, showed that 24 per cent of 16 to 24 year-olds use mobile internet, highlighting a key demographic to businesses for marketing and introducing internet micropayments for downloadable applications on smartphones.

However, this report also comes at a time when the EU press portal, Europa has suggested that there should be clearer information or caps on mobile internet charges.

Early-morning news programme GMTV has launched a premium rate phone competition this week offering viewers the chance to win a 14-day cruise.

Viewers have until Friday March 12th to enter and answer the question announced during each morning's show.

One winner will be offered three other tickets to take his or her friends along with them to tour the Caribbean islands.

In addition to the cruise, the winners will be given free flights, £3,000 of on-board spending money for their trip, free on-board main meals and access to the gym.

Celebrity Cruises is a luxury liner, which offers world-class entertainment and luxury.

The daily news show offers viewers a large cash prize or holiday every week and last week one member of the public had the chance to win a Peugeot 3008 and £1,000.

Presenters Kate Garraway and Richard Arnold will be limbering up this week as they prepare to perform in next weekend's grand final of Let's Dance for Sports Relief.

The British public have been asked to choose their favourite model by texting a premium rate SMS line, as GMTV hosts the finals of this year's Face of 2010 competition.

Six finalists are eagerly awaiting the public vote, which will close on March 15th. The winner will get to star in their own fashion shoot for magazine Now and could become the face of a new Toni & Guy advertising campaign.

On top of that, she will be introduced to modelling agency Storm for the chance to get signed. Storm is known for having discovered Kate Moss and Lily Cole.

The judges, who include Karen Buglass, fashion director of Now magazine, have short-listed the 9,000 amateur models who applied for the competition through the TV show, but it is now up the viewers to decide who wins.

Syria Edghill, a 17-year-old from Edmonton told her local paper the Enfield Independent: "I would definitely like to [model] professionally. I like the lifestyle and the glamour. I can picture myself walking down the catwalk with the rich and famous."

Google smartphone Nexus One was launched as an additional platform for the company's mobile marketing tools, an IT expert has claimed.

James Atkinson, editor of Mobile, has said that Google's "end-game" when launching any future smartphone is to increase their mobile advertising.

"For Google it's never going to be about the phone itself. It's all about getting you to look at more ads," he said.

"All they want to do is boost their ad revenues, and that's the end-game for them, rather than being a real competitor in the handset market."

However, Mr Atkinson did not say that this was necessarily a bad prospect for the company.

He said that Google, in the same way as Apple, could "suddenly change direction" and launch a real contender to the iPhone.

"You wouldn't want to bet against Google trying to do something like that," he warned.

Although the Nexus One had initial poor sales on its launch, IT stock analysis service Trefis has estimated that five million handsets will be sold this year.

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