According to Gartner Inc., 2010 is expected to be a big year in mobile application downloads with a forecasted $6.2 billion worth of downloads. Compared to the $4.2 billion spent in 2009, mobile app downloads are on an obvious incline.

The question is: what is everyone downloading? A statement by Stephanie Baghdassarian, Research Director at Gartner, answers this question well:

“Games remain the number one application, and mobile shopping, social networking, utilities and productivity tools continue to grow and attract increasing amounts of money.”

Increasing amounts of money for whom? According to Gartner, Apple practically owned the market in 2009 and if the forecasted numbers for 2010 are accurate, Apple should hold on to a minimum of two-thirds of the growing market this year.

Whether mobile app downloads is a passing fad or not, can be answered by looking at the forecasted numbers. Gartner further predicts that 2013 will see app downloads in the 21.6 range for a total of $29.5 billion in revenue. At least 25% of this revenue will be generated from free download versions, supported by advertising.

“Growth in smart phone sales will not necessarily mean that consumers will spend more money, but it will widen the addressable market for an offering that will be advertising-funded,” explains Baghdassarian.

It seems that our mobile turned world has revolutionized the whole concept of advertising.

However, the challenge ahead for mobile application developers are the new fees the carriers are going to charge consumers for the usage of these apps. Currently consumers are hogging a lot of resources over the wireless networks. Since the iPhone came on the market data consumption has gone through the roof. The carriers may have no other choice than to up prices or put caps on usage. One thing is for certain is that the days of fixed data plans are over.

The innovative culture at Apple will continue to test the mettle of the carrier network. The iPhone 4 along with the HTC Evo 46 are going to turn consumers on with amazing video viewing on their new high resolution screens.

The next-generation of mobile customer may very well be known as the “network hog generation”.

Driven by a new generation of consoles and sophisticated handsets, and by increased penetration of broadband and wireless technologies, the global video game industry is expected to grow from its reported 31 billion in 2006 to 48.9 billion by 2011 according to Price Waterhouse Coopers in their released report “Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2007-2011″

Demographic information provided by the NPD Group indicates 65% of North American Households play computer or video games. 49% of gamers are 18-49 years old, 25% under 18, and 26% are 50+ in years. The average age of a gamer is 35 years. 60% of gamers are male, and 40% are female. Almost 60% of gamers play with other gamers in-person. 36% of North Americans play games on their mobile devices – which is up from 20% in 2002.

As more people spend time playing video games advertisers are discovering innovative ways to reach their target audience through Advergaming – an in-game,high quality, engaging user experience. This next big thing in digital marketing is fast becoming an effective way to sell a product, create brand awareness or increase existing value in a brand. And, the community of game developers understand this is the way to fund their creative passions.

Advergaming has replaced the more traditional in-game advertising of billboards, posters, and other 2D/3D representational ads because it is more engaging to interact with your target by creating an experience with the brand within the game. Mountain Dew did this in a skateboard game creating a thirsty avatar who was empowered to greater heights in activity by drinking or “dewing” a Mountain Dew. A brilliant example where branding takes place by creating better user experience through “exclusivity”.

But brand marketers are not the only ones to take advantage of emerging in-game advertising opportunities, insurance and finance companies, and even the U.S. military, who traditionally were very conservative, have jumped into giving video game advertising a whirl. From recruiting to training these companies are having success. In fact, the American Army indicated that in-game advertising was the best recruitment tool they had ever used and the Pentagon indicated they planned on spending 100 million on Advergaming.

Brace yourselves…. According to Comscore smartphone users play a wider variety of games and three times as often so with 60% growth reported in smartphone sales Advergaming is going mobile. What a challenge the digital revolution is for us marketers. To compete effectively we must deploy our deep creativity and imagination, strategic and analytic thinking, decision-making, excellence in planning and execution, and still maintain flexibility to adapt on a dime to rapid change.

When searching for products, places and people the internet has become the ‘go to’ media of choice. In fact, according to a recent Nielsen study, in a little over 6,000 days this media has amassed a whopping 500 million searches a day.

For merchants wanting to cash in on the online search and buy trend, having a functional web site that is search engine friendly along with a strategic search marketing program is a must in the race to be ‘found’. But it is also equally important to have a mobile friendly web site to meet the needs of the rising trend of on-the-go mobile searchers. With approximately 2 billion mobile devices worldwide mobile search is an indispensable tool.

According to a comScore study, the month of June 2009 saw 20.8 million mobile search users in the U.S. alone. This was a 68% increase from the same month in the previous year. Alistair Hill, a comScore analyst, observed that, “. . . as we see the number of mobile search users increase, the frequency of activity is also growing.”

The difference between internet searchers and mobile searchers is mainly in the type of information they seek.

Computer internet searchers seek comprehensive information such as background information on a company or subject, research material, or facts on subjects of personal interest

Mobile searchers seek up-to-the-minute and actionable information such as: sports scores, movie times, and restaurant locations. As well, due to the quick accessibility and instant gratification, mobile searchers are more inclined to act on impulse buys. A good example is in the ability to instantly download a song immediately after hearing it on the radio.

The Kelsey Group released research statistics that revealed a 130.5% mobile search growth rate is expected between 2008 and 2013, with an 81.2% increase in mobile ad revenues for the same time frame.

Even with these numbers, many companies are still reluctant to exploit the marketing opportunities presented by mobile search. This is simply due to the fact that search platforms and strategies need to be modified in order to accommodate the specific requirements of handheld devices.

But with OgilvyOne’s recent report stating that mobile search will offer a way to very specifically target consumers with personal ads – even as close as by the year 2020 – it’s safe to say that advertisers’ reluctance will soon dissipate.

The impact of mobile and portable computing devices is changing not only the way we communicate ‘on-the-go’ but it is driving the future of search and stimulating a flurry of new product developments and upgrades. These include increased processing power, enhanced voice and visual applications, and location aware search technologies. It’s all about faster search with fewer key strokes.

The days of dialing “411” and asking for a number are over. Voice search is handled by an automated “Stepford” woman who responds to queries without losing her melodious tone and who shows no sign of dismay when connecting you to the Tanning Factory (for animal hides) instead of the Tanning Salon (for a suntan appointment). You will notice the days of “411″ refunds are also over. Supervisors are impossible to locate.

But, as we grapple trying to find the holy grail of voice recognition we have to consider that the semantics of search over a mobile device are very different from those of an internet search. Mobile search is more focused on navigation, weather, direction and local search. Mobile searchers are more ready-to-buy and they want fast, accurate, information that can be acted on immediately. Scrolling is “out”. For one thing, the screen is too small. Mobile search is also special. A mobile phone is always with you and it knows where you and your friends are.

So if voice-enabled search is destined to be “big” (perhaps even a game changer), why are we doing such a poor job with developing the technology?

Well, according to Melvin Hunt, co-founder of Novartis Technologies, one of the biggest challenges facing the future of voice search are the idiosyncrasies of differing pronunciations and accents making voice recognition difficult at best. Only 30% of stored speech is repeated which means results are not delivered the first time. Users also show only a 10% click thru which is a dismal statistic to report.

However, in spite of the challenges Google has made inroads as have Vlingo and Dragon Naturally Speaking. These speech-to-text innovators are committed to breaking through these past barriers to entry.

Google’s Nexus One allows you to Tweet, Text or send an email via voice while driving. Vlingo lets you control your mobile phone with the power of your voice allowing you to voice search dial, to search the web, or send a text message as well. Then there is Dragon Naturally Speaking which is a cool application that creates a voice profile of you to better understand your vocal idiosyncrasies. It’s known for its accurate dictation, simple navigation commands, numbered commands, and fast response time. It also boasts a 300,000 word dictionary.

The Apple Tablet will be unveiled at the end of this month after many months of rumours and speculation. Pinpointed as an “iPod on steroids” with web browsing capabilities, enhanced video, gaming, music and e-book applications this integrated media experience further builds on Apple’s reputation as an innovator in portable computing devices.

So where is the market for this new device? Apple says it is a family device to be shared and they want every household to have one. They are estimating 3 billion in sales a year and they may be lucky with the market timing of this product.

Consumers have become increasingly drawn to smart phones. 41 million were sold in the US last year, representing 30% of mobile phone users. According to Forrester Research iPhone users represent a large portion and these consumers are well educated, have higher than average incomes, and are more engaged online. Over 78% in the research study indicated they surf the net from their device.

Apart from providing an integrated media device Apple is also after the lucrative 55 million education market which would position them up against Amazon. To combat this Amazon has opened up the Kindle to developers looking to spur innovation in the education application development market.

The hype surrounding Apple’s latest and greatest has generated so much buzz that it’s almost immaculate in its pre-existent state. But where does that leave us with our very real and tangible businesses? I’ll tell you: it leaves us not only looking forward, but looking for the opportunity; the integrated marketing opportunity to be precise. And we just have to look back at very recent history to learn that there will be lots of integrated marketing opportunities to take advantage of on this new device.

Pepsi ran a very powerful branded experience on the iPhone and iPod touch with its “Drink Up, Rock Out” promotion. They took something that was already there (the market) and combined it with a marketing medium that was practically begging for the attention, added a little dash of creativity, and ta-dum –a powerful branded experience.

The success (and ingenuity) of this campaign can be explained by Cindy Spodek Dickey, vice president of marketing at Zumobi, “IPhone and iPod Touch users represent the most engaged users of mobile browsing and mobile applications.”

So ..looking for a new way to maximize your business presence in our mobile world? Stay tuned!