A new study from the United States shows that multitasking with mobile devices is a popular activity when watching television.

Around 40% of tablet and smartphone owners in the USA used their devices daily while watching TV, according to a study from Nielsen. This contrasts with the 14% of eBook reader owners who watched TV while using their device every day.

Following legal action by Apple, Australia’s Federal Court has ordered an interim injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. As a result, the Samsung device is unlikely ever to be launched in Australia.

It’s claimed that the Galaxy Tab infringes two patents affecting touchscreen operation.

Berg Insight has calculated that the number of smart electricity meters installed across the USA and Canada will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22.5% between 2010 and 2016, reaching 87.4 million in five years.

This means that smart meter penetration among residential electricity customers in North America will have increased from around 20% now to more than 50% by the end of 2016. By 2020, approaching 100% smart meter penetration is expected.

Following problems with BlackBerry online services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa since Monday, RIM has now confirmed that users in the Americas are also suffering delays.

Email, web access and BlackBerry Messenger have all been affected.

O2 UK has announced plans to test a new service called O2 Connect. A number of consumer and business customers, along with attendees at Wired 2011, will be invited to join the trial.

O2 Connect will let customers with an iPhone or Android smartphone make UK calls and send text messages over WiFi using their regular mobile number.