· Mobile email has become simpler thanks to a free service from Orange, "Mobile Mail Made Simple", available through its retail shops. Anyone in business entering the shop with a mobile phone and a PDA (personal digital assistant) will be advised on how they can be made to work together to pick up emails while you're on the move. If you have neither, the company will happily sell you a top-of-the-range iPaq and Ericsson mobile phone combination for £499 including VAT and a very fast connection based on Bluetooth technologies to network the devices together, as well as GPRS for fast pick-up of emails. The main idea though, the company swears, is to get people using the technology they've already paid for more efficiently.

Vodafone is also beefing up its business services, with more business advisers in its own branches around the UK and extra business services on the way through its internet portal and its call centre - more details will be published as the services emerge.

· People over 40 years old who are either in small businesses of less than 250 employees, or are self-employed are being offered free IT training by MaP>IT, initially in the London area. E-Skills, formerly E-Skills NTO, is part of the management consortium behind the £2m project, which will offer European Computer Driving Licence, Cad/Cam, PC usage, eBusiness and Digital Entrepreneurship and networking, with most courses leading to a formal qualification. For more information, ring 020-8231 2210 or email mapit@tvu.ac.uk

· High-profile entrepreneur Sir John Harvey-Jones is lending his name to a new campaign to get British companies growing and using technology more efficiently. The former BBC Troubleshooter will be touring the country in a series of seminars entitled "IT for Profit", which will aim to put the technology firmly into a business context. Sponsored by Microsoft, Compaq, BTOpenworld and Access Accounting, the tour kicks off in June and further details are at www.itforprofit.com

· People with storage problems on their computers, particularly when they're on the move, will welcome the introduction of Amacom's Flip2disk portable hard drive. Connecting to computers through USB, PCMCIA for laptops or a number of other means (cables cost extra), the units hold up to 40Gb of data (think of about 60 CDs worth of music, for example) and fit into a shirt pocket. Taking advantage of the low price of storage at the moment, pricing starts at £159 for 10Gb although the 40Gb version, available in October, will look like a better buy for many at £385.

· The Department of Trade and Industry has launched a new website to keep businesses abreast of new technology developments. To be found at globalwatchonline.com, it will offer reports from overseas, thanks to the Foreign Office, plus IT information taken from 600 websites around the world and contacts with the DTI's International Technology Promoters, who aim to foster relationships with overseas partners.

· Do you know how much accidents and ill health at work are costing your business? Consultancy CMG thinks it can help you assess the position with its online calculator of the cost of these elements, which is now live at hse.gov.uk/costs. The total cost of illness and injury is estimated at £6.5bn per year in the UK, so it's not a trivial issue; the ready reckoner will help work out an individual company's exposure and the other information on the health and safety site should help businesses plan around reducing it.

· E-commerce software supplier Actinic has published its annual research on the state of e-business among the small business community. It concludes that e-commerce is gaining acceptance as an effective sales medium, with 26% of the sample selling electronically in 2002 as opposed to 25% in 2001. A further 11% plan to develop electronic trading over the next 12 months but most significantly, the rate of profitable websites has moved from 59% last year to 72%this time around. Further details can be found at actinicftp.co.uk/docs/ecreport02.pdf.

· The government's Ukonlineforbusiness website (ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk) is offering a series of publications on electronic business. Subjects covered include Cad/Cam (Computer-aided design/Computer-aided manufacturing); CRM (Customer relationship management); C-commerce (that's Collaborative commerce); EPOS (Electronic point of sale); EDI (Electronic data interchange); Extranets; Forecasting & planning; Hosted applications; Integrated business systems; JIT (Just-in-time compiler); Online auctions; Order tracking; Outsourcing; Personalisation; Supply chain integration tools and supply chain trust and security. All of the publications can be downloaded from the website or ordered free of charge in hard copy form.