By Sue Zeidler 1 hour, 47 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Herbie Hancock won the coveted album of the year Grammy on Sunday, becoming the first jazz instrumentalist to win the honor in more than 40 years and causing Hancock to remark "it's a new day" at the Grammys.

Hancock's "River: The Joni Letters," an all-star tribute to Canadian singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell was a surprise victory at the 50th annual Grammys, beating out other nominees Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black," Kanye West's "Graduation," rock band the Foo Fighters' "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" and country singer Vince Gill's "These Days."

"Joni Mitchell, Joni Mitchell, Joni Mitchell, thank you so much," said Hancock, in accepting the trophy. He also thanked the Grammy voters for "courageously breaking the mold."

"It's been 43 years since the first and only time that a jazz artist got an album of the year award," he said, referring to 1964's "Getz/Gilberto," an album released by the American saxophonist Stan Getz and Brazilian guitarist Joao Gilberto.

That album, featuring composer and musician Antonio Carlos Jobim, helped create a bossa nova craze. It not only became one of the best-selling jazz albums of all times, but it also transformed singer Astrud Gilberto, who sang on the track of "The Girl from Ipanema" and "Corcovado," into an international sensation.

"I know in the past, there have been several jazz musicians who unquestionably deserved to win or be nominated for album of the year, but that was then and this is now. It's a new day," said Hancock, who also won best contemporary jazz album.

Jazz pianist and composer Hancock, 67, is credited with blending elements of rock, funk, and soul into jazz.

Hailed as an architect of the "post-bop" sound, Hancock's music has often crossed over to success with pop audiences, although "River: The Joni Letters" has sold only 50,000 units in the United States, according to his representative.

Hancock's best-known solo works include "Cantaloupe Island," "Watermelon Man," "Maiden Voyage" and "Chameleon."

Backstage, Hancock said he hadn't yet had a chance to speak with Mitchell.

By Dean Goodman 2 hours, 50 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Tina Turner took a break from retirement in Europe to perform a duet with R&B singer Beyonce at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, the soul legend's first concert performance in more than seven years.

Turner, a sprightly 68, and 26-year-old Beyonce got the crowd on their feet with a lively version of "Proud Mary," for which Turner won a Grammy in 1972. Among the fans tapping their feet were veteran rocker John Fogerty, who wrote the song.

By the end, Beyonce looked exhausted, but Turner seemed ready for more.

Sporting a skin-tight silver bustier and matching capri pants, Turner warmed up for the duet with a medley of "What's Love Got To Do With It" and "Better Be Good To Me."

She stopped touring in 2000, saying she did not want to get to the point where her stage antics were no longer dignified.

She resumed her comfortable life in Europe, shuttling between homes in Zurich and the south of France with her German-born boyfriend Erwin Bach. Apart from some promotion in 2005 for a greatest hits album and an appearance later that year at the Kennedy Center Honors, she has kept a low profile.

Turner won seven Grammys — all but one in recognition of one of the greatest comebacks in music history. After enjoying huge success in the late 1960s and early 1970s performing in a soul revue with her abusive husband, Ike Turner, the diva was destitute by 1976.

In 1981, she emerged from obscurity to land a few opening slots on the North American tour of the Rolling Stones, a combo that had idolized her and toured with her in the 1960s. By 1984, she was on top of the world again with the album "Private Dancer," which yielded five hit singles and three Grammys.

Her subsequent albums sold well, although she was always much bigger in Europe, where she was one of the handful of acts who could sell out big football stadiums. She bade farewell to her fans with a 100-plus date world tour that ended in California in December 2000.

Ike Turner, with whom she shared the Grammy for "Proud Mary," died of a cocaine overdose in December. Tina Turner said at the time she had not had any contact with the R&B pioneer in over 30 years.

Reuters/Nielsen

By JILL ZEMAN, Associated Press Writer 49 minutes ago

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Roy Scheider, a one-time boxer whose broken nose and pugnacious acting style made him a star in “The French Connection” and who later uttered one of cinematic history’s most memorable lines in “Jaws,” has died. He was 75.

Scheider died Sunday at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock, hospital spokesman David Robinson said.

The hospital did not release a cause of death, but Scheider had been treated for multiple myeloma at the hospital’s Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy for the past two years.

Scheider earned two Academy Award nominations — a best-supporting nod for 1971’s “The French Connection” in which he played the police partner of Oscar winner Gene Hackman, and a best-actor nomination for 1979’s “All That Jazz,” the semi-autobiographical Bob Fosse film.

But he was perhaps best known for his role as a small-town police chief in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film “Jaws,” about a killer shark terrorizing beachgoers — as well as millions of moviegoers.

In 2005, one of Scheider’s most famous lines in the movie — “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” — was voted No. 35 on the American Film Institute’s list of best quotes from U.S. movies.

Widely hailed as the film that launched the era of the Hollywood blockbuster, “Jaws” was the first movie to earn $100 million at the box office.

“I’ve been fortunate to do what I consider three landmark films,” he told The Associated Press in 1986. “‘The French Connection’ spawned a whole era of the relationship between two policemen, based on an enormous amount of truth about working on the job.”

‘”Jaws’ was the first big, blockbuster outdoor-adventure film. And certainly ‘All That Jazz’ is not like any old MGM musical. Each one of these films is unique, and I consider myself fortunate to be associated with them.”

Born into a working class family in Orange, N.J., he was stricken with rheumatic fever at 6. He spent long periods in bed, becoming a voracious reader. Except for a slight heart murmur, he was pronounced cured at 17. He acquired the distinctive shape of his nose in an amateur boxing match.

After three years in the Air Force, Scheider sought a New York theater career in 1960. His debut came a year later as Mercutio in the New York Shakespeare Festival’s production of “Romeo and Juliet.” He also played minor roles in such films as “Paper Lion” and “Stiletto.” Then he made a breakthrough in 1971 as Jane Fonda’s pimp in “Klute.”

“He was a wonderful guy. He was what I call ‘a knockaround actor,’” Richard Dreyfuss, who co-starred with Scheider and Robert Shaw in “Jaws,” told The Associated Press on Sunday.

“A ‘knockaround actor’ to me is a compliment that means a professional that lives the life of a professional actor and doesn’t’ yell and scream at the fates and does his job and does it as well as he can,” Dreyfuss said.

He also appeared in the films “Marathon Man” as Dustin Hoffman’s brother and “Naked Lunch,” David Cronenberg’s adaptation of William S. Burroughs’s novel. He starred in “Jaws 2,” which turned out not to be as successful as the original.

TV roles included “SeaQuest DSV” and “Third Watch.”

More recently, he played the slick CEO of an insurance company that denies coverage to a young man dying of leukemia in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Rainmaker,” and appeared in the direct-to-video “Dracula II: Ascension” and “Dracula III: Legacy.”

Scheider was also politically active. He participated in rallies protesting U.S. military action in Iraq, including a massive New York demonstration in March 2003 that police said drew 125,000 chanting activists.

Scheider had a home built for him and his family in 1994 in Sagaponack in the Hamptons on New York’s Long Island, where he was active in community issues. Last summer, Scheider announced that he was selling the home for about $18.75 million and moving to the nearby village of Sag Harbor.

Although “Jaws” frightened some moviegoers out of the water for years, Scheider told the AP in 1986 that he considered his role somewhat comedic.

“If you go back and look at the way it’s developed and built, that is really a funny character,” he said. “He’s a fumbler with all kinds of inhibitions and fears — that’s the way we built that character.”

___

Associated Press writer Jacob Adelman in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Gina Serpe Mon Feb 11, 3:25 AM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - The long and winding divorce of Paul McCartney and Heather Mills McCartney may finally be coming to an end.

The high-profile duo began the first day of what's expected to be a weeklong proceeding to hash out terms for their long-pending divorce settlement, a payout from McCartney to Mills McCartney that could be the largest in U.K. legal history.

The 40-year-old anti-mine campaigner was the first to arrive to the hearing Monday at the Family Division of London's High Court. She wore a grey and black pinstripe skirt suit and a pink blouse, and refused to speak to reporters on her way in. The court warded off the more brazen members of the press corps with a sign warning "No Admittance—Strictly Private." The windows of the courthouse were also blacked out.

The 65-year-old former Beatle arrived shortly after his soon-to-be ex-wife, also donning a grey pinstripe suit, bidding a quick "good morning" to the news media, though refusing to comment on the proceedings.

McCartney was accompanied by his attorney, Fiona Shackleton, who famously represented Prince Charles in his divorce from Princess Diana; Mills McCartney was solo.

The onetime model announced she would be representing herself in the case after firing her legal team (who, coincidentally had repped Diana her aforementioned split) last November. The termination came after several PR-misfire interviews on both British and U.S. television in which she railed against the alleged indifference of McCartney to her constant stream of death threats and thoughts of suicide, saying he failed both her and their daughter.

During this week's faceoff, Mills McCartney would be able to cross-examine her ex in front of the courld, should he take to the stand, just one of the perks of representing herself.

However, as the entire session is taking place in closed court, it's unlikely exact terms of any would-be settlement will ever be made public. The only way for the payout to become public knowledge would be if either McCartney or Mills McCartney blab to the press themselves (unlikely in the advent of confidentiality clauses) or if one of them contests the judgment in a court of appeals, in which case all proceedings would be made open to the public.

Any financial settlement itself will be rendered by High Court Judge Hugh Bennett, who will likely hold off on making a final judgment Friday and instead issue his ruling in a written statement.

Both sides have kept mum on any monetary offers in the two years since they separated, save for Mills McCartney's adamant denial of reports that she's holding out for more money. She's expected to rake in a minimum of $50 million in the deal—not bad for just four years of marriage. The couple share custody of four-year-old daughter Beatrice.

More generous estimates have claimed Mills McCartney may even see a payout of upwards of $100 million.

Although payout seems like massive bank, it would barely dent McCartney's estimated fortune of $1.6 billion.

In May 2006, the former twosome announced that they were amicably ending their four-year marriage. It didn't take long, however, before all semblance of amicability fell by the wayside, replaced by exceeding amounts of acrimony that played out in the headlines. The negative campaigning came to a head last October, when Mills McCartney revealed on Britain's GMTV that she had received "worse press than a pedophile or a murderer" and had at one point contemplated thoughts of suicide.

Her media manager resigned in the wake of the ill-advised press tour, and Mills McCartney was forced to fire her legal team, claiming she had gone into debt and could no longer afford to shell out for the attorneys.

Since the split, neither party has formally stepped out with a new partner, though McCartney has been linked with a string of women, most recently the actress Rosanna Arquette. (Both McCartney and Arquette said they were just friends.)

Meanwhile, McCartney's morning court date explains his absence from Sunday's Los Angeles-held Grammy Awards. The 50th anniversary ceremony featured a major tribute to the Fab Four, courtesy of performances from Love, the Cirque de Soleil show based on the Beatles' canon, and Across the Universe, the Julie Taymor film set to reworked Beatles' tunes.

In his stead, fellow former Beatle Ringo Starr pardoned his bandmate's absence and accepted the Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack for the Love on behalf of McCartney, himself and the two late Beatles, George Harrison and John Lennon.

By SOLVEJ SCHOU, Associated Press Writer 48 minutes ago

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Two years ago, Kanye West’s Grammy after-party was a booze-filled, late-night affair with 3,000 screaming guests, bikini-clad women — and his mother, Donde, was in the house.

He was more subdued at this year’s party, celebrating four Grammy wins Sunday night in tribute to Donde West, who died last year, and he even left earlier than most — but it was still a boozy, celeb-filled event.

The rapper, with his black jacket stitched with stripes of gleaming blue lights, accepted a steady stream of hugs and congrats at the packed Entertainment Weekly bash at West Hollywood club STK honoring Antonio “L.A.” Reid, chairman and CEO of Island Def Jam Music Group.

“This is a new day, a new era and a new me,” West told the VIP crowd, which included his father, as he introduced the debut of his new Spike Jonze-directed video for “Flashing Lights,” a single off last year’s “Graduation.”

Other parties around town drew the likes of Kid Rock, Aretha Franklin and Cyndi Lauper.

West’s album snagged an award for best rap album at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, with West also picking up wins for best solo performance, best rap song and best rap performance by a duo or group for his collaboration with Common.

West and his sizable entourage left at 12:30 a.m., but the champagne flowed freely and the partyers kept going.

Beyonce Knowles, who lost out to Amy Winehouse for record of the year, stayed past 1 a.m. Decked out in a gorgeous yellow gown with a plunging back, she sat laughing and sipping bubbly next to her former Destiny’s Child bandmate Michelle Williams, a few feet from her beau Jay-Z. R&B heartthrob Usher joined the mix, hugging Reid and Quincy Jones.

Nearby was Rihanna, who also lost out to Winehouse for record of the year, plus song of the year, but did snag a win with Jay-Z for rap/sung collaboration for her ubiquitous hit “Umbrella.”

Other celebrities at the party included Janet Jackson, her boyfriend Jermaine Dupri, new parents Joel Madden and Nicole Richie, and Star Jones.

Even actor Owen Wilson, who has mostly stayed away from the spotlight since his hospitalization for a reported suicide attempt last August, showed up, seated in a booth next to tennis star Serena Williams.

Across town, at the posh Sony BMG soiree at the Beverly Hills Hotel, floor-to-ceiling white drapes showcased photos from the Sony archives, from a wailing Janis Joplin to a guitar-playing John Mayer.

Attendees included Grammy winners Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood and Chaka Khan.

With its heat lamps and airy cabanas, an outdoor patio housed the likes of Tony Bennett and Mayer, who was noticeably alone, save for handlers, unlike last year’s appearance with then girlfriend Jessica Simpson.

But the party’s biggest draw was Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, who settled onto a divan in the middle of the room and nibbled on mini burgers, bopping her head to a spot-on cover band pumping out tunes such as Winehouse’s Grammy hit “Rehab” and Knowles’ “Crazy in Love.”

Celebrity admirers, from rapper Lil Mama to singer and voracious dancer Chris Brown, flocked to Franklin.

“I have a camera in my bag, so I’m going to take a lot of pictures,” said wide-eyed singer Brandy.

Others gushed about their own idols.

“The ultimate icon for me is Tina Turner,” said Knowles, who performed with Turner at Sunday’s awards show.

Knowles was gracious when asked about Winehouse’s Grammy wins: “I thought she was wonderful. It was a great year for her.”

Earlier in the evening, Warner Music Group’s after-party drew revelers including Kid Rock and Cindy Crawford to former cathedral Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles.

At the official Recording Academy Grammy celebration at the Los Angeles Convention Center, red and gold curtains and dangling crystal chandeliers lent an elegant air while fire dancers performed on elevated platforms. Cyndi Lauper took the stage for an animated set.

Not all guests felt fully at home within the resplendent venues.

“I feel like a plumber in a flower convention,” Glen Hansard, star of Oscar-nominated alt-musical “Once,” joked at the Sony bash.

___

Associated Press writers Alex Veiga and Sandy Cohen contributed to this report.

42 minutes ago

LONDON - Paul McCartney and Heather Mills returned to court on Monday in an attempt to agree on terms for their divorce.

The fight over the wealth of the former Beatle, who is estimated to have as much as $1.6 billion, could produce Britain’s largest ever divorce settlement.

Mills was the first to arrive at the court for the hearing.

The hearing before Justice Hugh Bennett will proceed behind closed doors, and the terms of any settlement would not become public record unless it moved to the Court of Appeal, or either of the parties chooses to reveal details.

“Current estimates suggest that Heather is likely to receive anything from 50 million to 100 million pounds ($100-200 million) as her final settlement,” said Suzanne Kingston, a family law expert.

“The fact that this has been a short marriage will be taken into account and this could involve looking at the wealth that has been generated during the course of the marriage as distinct from premarital wealth,” Kingston added.

Mills intends to represent herself. She fired her lawyers in November after a series of interviews in which she accused McCartney of failing to protect her and their child from abuse, which she says ranges from lies and slander to death threats.

“We’ve had death threats, I’ve been close to suicide. I’m so upset about this,” she said in one of her November interviews. “I’ve had worse press than a pedophile or a murderer, and I’ve done nothing but charity for 20 years.”

“I am the one that is abused daily,” she added.

“I have protected Paul for this long and I am trying to protect him but I am being pushed to the edge and I don’t want my daughter when she is 12 going on the Internet and reading this totally one-sided story.”

Mills’ left leg was amputated below the knee after a motorcycle accident in 1993, and she became active in campaigning against land mines, as patron of Adopt-A-Minefield.

The couple married in June 2002, and their daughter, Beatrice, was born in October the following year. They announced their separation in 2006.

By Dean Goodman 2 hours, 51 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two bluesmen in their 90s won the first Grammys of their colorful careers on Sunday, a reminder that there's more to the music industry than fresh-faced youngsters.

Pianist Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, 94, and guitarist David "Honeyboy" Edwards, 92, won the traditional blues Grammy for their appropriately titled album "Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas."

They recorded the project with Henry James Townsend and Robert Lockwood Jr., who both died in 2006. Townsend, who was 96 when he died, was represented at the ceremony by his 21-year-old son, Alonzo.

Perkins, a former sideman with Muddy Waters, was nominated in the traditional blues category with another album, "Pinetop Perkins on the '88's — Live in Chicago."

As an indication of their extraordinary reach into the annals of music, Edwards recalled that he played with Robert Johnson, the fabled "King of the Delta Blues," in 1937.

Johnson, who wrote and recorded such blues staples as "Crossroads" and "Sweet Home Chicago," is considered one of the most influential figures in rock music, with artists from Muddy Waters to the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton owing their careers to him.

According to legend, Johnson sold his soul to the devil in order to play guitar. "I don't know about that. He told me that, but I didn't believe him," Edwards said.

He also recalled the day that Johnson died in 1938, at the age of 27, possibly poisoned by a lover's jealous husband.

He was buried the day he died, on a Wednesday, Edwards said, "but his sister come on the Thursday and had him dug up, and put him in a casket, and put him back in the ground … And I was there the same time when that happened."

(Editing by Steve Gorman)

By Dean Goodman 56 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Kanye West, the leading nominee at the Grammy Awards, won three prizes during early proceedings on Sunday, while another top contender, Amy Winehouse, won a pair of statuettes.

Veteran rocker Bruce Springsteen also won three Grammys, helping to make up for his surprise omission from the coveted roster of candidates for album of the year.

Winners in all but 10 of the 110 categories were announced during a non-televised ceremony that preceded the main event. The live CBS telecast, which will be dominated by performances, begins at 8 p.m. EST/0100 GMT Monday) at the Staples Center.

West led the field going into the ceremony with eight nominations in six categories. He was honored for rap solo performance ("Stronger"), rap performance by a duo or group with vocals ("Southside"), and rap song ("Good Life"). He competed against himself in the latter two categories.

The Chicago rapper was the favorite to win two more races — rap album and rap/song collaboration — during the telecast. Along with Winehouse, he also is competing for album of the year.

Winehouse, scheduled to perform live via satellite from London, received six nominations. She won for female pop vocal solo performance for her signature hit, "Rehab," and pop vocal album for "Back to Black."

In addition to album of the year, she will compete for both record and song of the year, and best new artist. No performer has won all top four awards since Christopher Cross in 1981.

Winehouse, who is undergoing rehab for a drug problem that has devastated her career, was unable to secure a U.S. work visa until Friday, by which time she had already made plans to perform from a London recording studio.

STATUETTES FOR SPRINGSTEEN, ARETHA AND MADONNA

It is perhaps one of the most keenly anticipated appearances in the 50-year history of the music industry's top awards show — and not just because she will likely sing her big hit, "Rehab."

Just three weeks ago, she was filmed while appearing to be smoking crack cocaine at a party in London. Her misadventures last year included an arrest in Norway for marijuana possession, bloody self-mutilation, hospitalization for "severe exhaustion," canceled concerts, and a late-night stroll dressed only in jeans and bra.

Now, the brassy singer with the beehive bouffant and heavy eyeliner must try to remind fans why she was considered one of the most promising artists in the music industry last year.

Springsteen, meanwhile, won Grammys for solo rock vocal performance ("Radio Nowhere"), rock instrumental performance ("Once Upon a Time in the West") and best rock song ("Radio Nowhere"). His career haul now stands at 18 statuettes. His acclaimed album, "Magic," will compete for best rock album during the main ceremony.

"Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin also has 18 Grammys now, thanks to a win in the gospel category with R&B singer Mary J. Blige on "Never Gonna Break My Faith." For Franklin, the daughter of late gospel superstar the Rev. C.L. Franklin, it marked the third gospel Grammy of her career.

Blige was one of several two-time winners on Sunday. Others included R&B veteran Chaka Khan, late jazz soloist Michael Brecker, pop star Justin Timberlake, and rock band the White Stripes.

Madonna won her first Grammy in eight years — and the sixth of her career — in the long-form music video category for her "Confessions Tour" DVD.

The video for the late Johnny Cash's gospel song "God's Gonna Cut You Down" won the short-form race. Since it is a posthumous clip, his career tally stays at 12.

Beatles producer Sir George Martin won his fifth Grammy, for an album of remixed Beatles tunes, "Love." The recording, which he produced with his son, Giles, picked up the award for best surround sound. The disc was released in conjunction with the Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil stage show of the same name.

Reuters/Nielsen

33 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse won the Grammy for best new artist on Sunday, bringing her tally for the ceremony to three statuettes.

The 24-year-old artist, whose promising career has been derailed by drug and legal problems, was the favorite to the win the coveted award.

The beehive-coiffed singer earlier won Grammys for pop vocal album and female pop vocal performance, and remains in contention for the key awards of album, song and record of the year, which will be handed out later during the ceremony.

Winehouse accepted her award at a London recording studio, from which she is scheduled to perform via satellite feed during the Grammy telecast. She checked into a rehab clinic last month and was unable to secure a work visa to travel to the United States until late Friday. By that stage, it was too late to change her plans.

Winehouse's old-school blend of soul, jazz and R&B turned her into a major star last year. Her second album, "Back to Black," was the year's top-selling release in Britain. It also peaked at No. 6 on the American charts.

However, she has garnered more headlines for her drug habits and erratic behavior.

She becomes the first British artist to win the best new artist Grammy since Nigerian-born R&B singer Sade in 1986.

The other nominees for the category this year were Canadian singer-songwriter Feist, R&B singer Ledisi, rock band Paramore, and country singer Taylor Swift.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Philip Barbara)

By Nicola Leske 32 minutes ago

BARCELONA (Reuters) - More than a third of mobile phone owners in China, the world's largest mobile market, use their handsets to listen to music, more than in Britain or the United States, a study showed.

Some 34.8 percent reported they listened to mobile music every month compared with 20 percent in Spain, 18.9 percent in Britain and 5.7 percent in the United States, according to M:Metrics, a research firm that monitors mobile media usage.

M:Metrics, which was founded in 2004, collects data from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The December benchmark study on Chinese usage was the first of its kind, the company said.

It surveyed 5,163 Chinese mobile subscribers aged 13-54 via telephone in seven major cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Chengdu, Wuhan and Xi'an.

Compared with users in the United States and Europe, Chinese consumers use their phones much less to check on their email or to send photos and videos.

Over 30 percent in Italy, Spain and Britain use their phones to send or receive photos and videos, and only half as many do so in China.

Users in the United States lead the poll in email usage with 11.6 percent compared with nine percent in Spain and Britain, but only 2.5 percent in China.

The firm also found that while some 30 percent of those polled owned Nokia handsets, giving the company a substantial lead in the Chinese market, owners of Sony Ericsson handsets were a driving force in using mobile media.

M:Metrics said global handset brands such as Motorola, Nokia and Samsung significantly surpassed native brands such as China Mobile in terms of being used to get mobile content.

"These companies are well positioned in a market where operators are seeking to grow mobile content in preparation for the rollout of 3G networks," the company said.

China is expected to issue 3G licenses before the Olympics this year, but some predict licenses will not be handed out until 2009, as kinks in its homegrown 3G standard, TD-SCDMA, are smoothed out.

Just like in the European and U.S. markets, 18-34 year-olds are the biggest consumers of mobile content in China, accounting for 64.6 percent of those who accessed news and information via their mobile browser, M:Metrics said.

(Editing by Tomasz Janowski)