When things in 2008 unfolded to worsening conditions, with oil prices rocketing to a peak of $140 a barrel, followed by the largest financial crisis since the great depression. Automakers begin to collapse under the weight of an old world order, even as they scramble to cut operating costs, pulling out from luxurious sporting events like the F1. While they begin to develop major plans serious for fuel-efficient and electric hybrid vehicles. It would seem that even their loftier ‘green’ pursuits would have to be scaled back and the Zero Rally Africa has been postponed indefinitely.

“As opposed to the car in all its forms, we always want to prove the viability of our electric bicycles as a solution for more sensible future, although disappointed that we cannot participate this year under the ZRA banner, we’re not going to let that hold us back,” said W W Ching. “This is far too important … and fun to wait.”

So W W Ching, inventor and entrepreneur of eZee bikes and Rupert Nanni (cyclist, trail guide and keen environmentalist) have planned a grueling route on their own.

With their eZee Torq trekking bike, they will travel across 3,000 kms of Africa, starting from Katima Mulilo by the eastern Caprivi Strip, climbing hills, rough roads and the Namibian desert, roll alongside the Orange river and head down to their destination in Cape Town. Averaging some 200 kms per day, they will boldly go where no ‘green’ vehicle has gone.

“Unlike other vehicles, electric bikes adds to but does replace the human movement, while I’ll enjoy all the benefits of the electric assistance and conventional cycle, a cycle ride like this still requires physical and mental training,” said Rupert Nanni who spent 3 weeks over Christmas preparing for the event. “I also searched all over also for an electric bike that will meet the rigors of this ride and it seems that the Torq will be best for the job.”

“We’ve done several events in the past, including the length of the Mississippi river, across Australia and even across China. When the going gets tough, the tough go eZee,” quips Ching.

About the Event:
Katima to Cape Town will start on the 26th of Jan and end on the 2th of Feb in Cape Town, where the bikes will be auctioned off for charity. More information and updates can be found on http://www.ezeebike.co.za/

About the Company:
Since 2001, eZee Kinetics Technology Co. Ltd has been specializing in the design, development and manufacturing of its own brand of electric bicycles. Today eZee bikes are sold around the world in over 30 cities.

Contact Information:
www.ezeebike.com
kenching (at) ezeebike (dot) com

Abphone, the leading mobile search provider for entertainment and multimedia, announced today that their search engine is currently the only one available on the three French mobile operators’ decks. With over a hundred million page views every month, abphone is the leading search engine for mobile content discovery.

Abphone keeps growing their audience worldwide, thanks to their vertical search service, helping users find and access multimedia content: images, wallpapers, videos and games.

The future is bright for abphone because vertical search is ideally suited for the mobile web. In 2009, we look forward to extending our search offer to address new verticals, such as music and news. We also plan to increase the viral spread of abphone, and we aim at appearing on an increasing number of operator portals, to repeat in other countries the success we met in France.

In 2008, the global abphone audience increased by 30% in major countries such as the USA, UK, France and India, and saw its advertising revenue increase by 40%.
Abphone has become one of the most popular mobile services in the world, surpassing the threshold of half a billion searches last year!

The latest report Mediatech 100, from Library House, ranks abphone among the 100 most promising companies in the medias and technology industry!
In 2008, abphone maintained innovation with the launch of original concepts such as mobile game search, indexing the catalogue of leading game publishers, including world-leader Gameloft, and by introducing Contextual Content Advertising.
In 2009, abphone plans to launch new vertical search services, which will be presented on the French Pavilion, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from 16 to 19 February.

Pierre Scokaert, CEO of abphone declared: “The future is bright for abphone because vertical search is ideally suited for the mobile web. In 2009, we look forward to extending our search offer to address new verticals, such as music and news. We also plan to increase the viral spread of abphone, and we aim at appearing on an increasing number of operator portals, to repeat in other countries the success we met in France.”

Olivier Laury, Director of Contents at Bouygues Telecom declared about abphone’s search engine: “abphone delivers good results thanks to the relevance of the photos and videos it gives to our subscribers, who regularly and repeatedly use this mobile search service.» The speed and relevance of results abphone returns gives a high level of loyalty with an average of 15 sessions per active user per month.

About abphone:
Abphone is the first mobile multimedia search service (photos, videos and games). Launched in 2005, abphone allows worldwide access to entertainment content from m.abphone.com mobile website or from the website www.abphone.com