Mobile Trends In 2009

Issue 13 of SoHotRightNow!

Even though 2008 was an exciting year for anything mobile, it was however a springboard to what will be an even bigger 2009: primarily due to the breakthrough of Mobile 2.0. Mobile 2.0 refers to "a perceived next generation of mobile internet services that leverage the social web" (Wikipedia). Many would suggest that the Apple iPhone is largely responsible for the convergence of web and mobile applications and services, which I believe will continue to dominate in 2009 through products like the Google Android. In addition, mobile social media such as Facebook, MySpace and YouTube have brought social networking to a new level. I have gathered short list of mobile trends that I believe will be prominent during 2009. They are in no particular order.

1. Mobile Access & Confidence (Australia Focused)

This is a huge factor in the evolution of mobile use and their users. In Australia at least, 2G phones still exist and are generally limited in their functionality with Mobile 2.0, and to be honest, even 3G is still poor at times. Sure, the phones might be getting smarter and customers are still buying them, but ultimately mobile access and confidence depends on a larger scale, like a fast and stable mobile network, which Australian's have yet to experience. Once achieved, Australian's will become more confident in adopting services like mobile internet packs etc. Although, in my opinion, customer confidence with using content is still significantly low, I think 2009 will see all Telcos pushing mobile content to increase ARPU from existing customers in a mobile market that is saturated and because of how popular sites like Facebook and YouTube have become over the past year.

2. Staying Connected & Getting Educated.

With mobile subscribers reaching 3.3 billion in November 2007, it is no question that we are addicted with being connected. Staying connected is now more accessible than ever before. Mobile phones are becoming cheaper and more advanced with features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and inbuilt GPS systems; and due to online social networking sites like Facebook (yes, I’ve mentioned it a few times now) staying connected via a mobile device will continue to be a prominent trend in 2009.

As staying connected becomes easier, the demand for receiving and sending information faster increases. This will continue to be an issue for TV, press and radio to overcome in 2009, as services like Twitter offer the ability to deliver news at an instant via a mobile phone.

Through all of this mobile communication lies the opportunity to educate those who have limited resources and live in remote locations. The great vision behind OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) will continue to progress, but will perhaps trail behind the exponential growth of mobile phones reaching the globe. Many of the children that the OLPC concept targets already have access to a mobile and are connected to receive education. View the ad below from !DEA Mobile, which highlights the power of mobile telephony to address the socially relevant theme of education.

3. Location

Location-based advertising will be popular in 2009, like augmented reality functionality (as described in Issue 8 of SoHotRightNow!), but the real emerging trend is believed to be around discovering services around a location. Applications such as Loopt, Rummble and perhaps even the new Google Latitude that allow users to discover recommended places, like restaurants etc, by their connected friends will be popular this year.

Loopt

Google Latitude

4. Consumption Of Virtual Goods

When mobile phones were invented over 15 years ago, spend on mobile phones was negligible. Now, we spend billions or if not trillions of dollars each year! We have consciously chosen to spend that “extra” money each month on our mobile phone and consequently less on other products. Does this mean we are now “users” or “consumers”?

Well, in the Virtual Economy alone, these “consumers” are predicted to spend more on games, songs, applications and virtual gifts in 2009 while products like wallpapers and ringtones will die out. This may not come as a surprise, but it is interesting to know that the Virtual Economy is already worth $1.2 billion and will reach a staggering $6 billion by 2010.

The Outtake

Although this is just a short list of possible mobile trends in 2009, the main outtake of this that mobile connectivity is and will continue to be a growing market. I remember 10 years ago I had very little need for a mobile phone, but now I think it'd be hard to live without one. The bottom line is that people want to be connected with one another, and mobile phones have provided the solution. The future of mobile phones will be an interesting area to watch evolve, and it will certainly be one difficult to avoid.

Thanks for visiting SoHotRightNow! and reading this post. Feel free to post any comments you may have and social bookmark this blog if you would like to share the love. Its all very much appreciated.

Cheers!
Greg Beazley

Related articles by Zemanta

• Social networking boom for mobiles (guardian.co.uk)
• Did Google Just Kill All the Other Mobile Social Networks? (readwriteweb.com)
• Trends to Watch For at Mobile World Congress (gigaom.com)
• "Facebook Phone" Is Already Nearby (talkingmobile.com)
• Loopt Announces Android-Compatible Apps (appscout.com)