IBM launches new acronym

IBM has announced the release of a new acronym.

FOAK, which stands for "first-of-a-kind", was launched on Wednesday.

According to a statement from Big Blue, "IBM's FOAK program pairs IBM's scientists with clients to explore how emerging technologies can solve real world business problems".

The statement also referred to a "FOAK solution", but the problem had not, at the time of writing, been identified.

In the same statement, IBM said its Institute for Business Value reckons the number of mobile users will "reach approximately one billion users" by 2011.

The International Telecommunication Union reckons there are already more than four billion mobile subscriptions worldwide. IBM has yet to explain why billions will abandon their handsets over the next two years.