MasterCard reports e-business surge.

MasterCard Worldwide says the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region has seen a 38% year-on-year increase in the number of transactions processed through its e-commerce platform, the MasterCard Gateway Service, writes The Philippine Star.

In terms of gross dollar volume, these transactions represented a corresponding 66% increase for the first half of the year.

With 764 million Internet users in the Asia-Pacific region and 1.8 billion Internet users worldwide, e-commerce has become one of the world's most significant trading channels.

A survey by the Post Office in the UK found that 91% of those aged over 60 had 'no idea' that they could be able to get cut-price shopping and higher bank interest rates online, states the Telegraph.

The Post Office said a single person could save at least £300 a year by taking up online offers, meaning that the nine million who did not have access to the Internet were paying £2.7 billion a year extra.

The survey revealed that 33% of over-60s would love to get connected to the Web - but were 'terrified of computers'.

Amazon revealed that it will instigate a category in the Kindle Store called 'Kindle Singles' that features works longer than a typical magazine article, says CNet.

The company says this shorter art form will be offered at lower prices than full-length books. Authors will now have a place to funnel those types of creations, and Amazon is calling on "serious writers, thinkers, scientists, business leaders, historians, politicians and publishers to join Amazon in making such works available to readers around the world."

There's no word on when the new service will be available, exactly how much 'Singles' will cost, or whether they'll be uploaded via Amazon's do-it-yourself DTP.