By Steve Leonard, General Manager for off-deck, Motricity

CNN’s Rick Sanchez stands before you on television, encouraging you to text-in your feedback during his interactive news program. Feeling inspired to contribute, you send your two cents to short code 44546: “Mickelson’s got this one in the bag.”

The cable network then thanks you for your contribution and offers to deliver you breaking mobile news alerts from its fellow Time Warner Inc.-owned sibling magazine, Entertainment Weekly.

By Mayur Pitamber, Product Marketing Strategist for Openwave®.

One of the major talking points this year at Mobile World Congress was how Western consumers’ mobile phone usage patterns are shifting from text and voice, to data. Mobile internet, mobile applications, email and location-based services are no longer just add-on services, but a core part of many operators’ and handset manufacturers’ strategies.

By Steen Andersson, 5th Finger

Think about the way you feel when you forget your phone or PDA at home for the day. Alone? Disconnected? Unprepared? That’s the true test right there. Mobile is more than just cool. Frankly, it’s a necessity. Mobile has gone from novelty to true utility for the 4 billion people who use it.

By Kimberly Obremski
Vice President, Velti North America

According to Juniper Research, the number of active users of mobile social networking sites will rise from 54 million in 2008 to nearly 730 million in 2013. Analyst house Informa has predicted mobile social networking will generate revenues in excess of $50 billion by 2012.

By Eric Holmen, SmartReply

After the changes and mammoth upheavals in 2008 – everything from job security, to consumer spending, to the reorganization of K Street and beyond – we’d be forgiven for thinking that 2009 will be the end of the world as we know it – and it just might be.

The mobile channel is no longer just a support channel to Internet and other media. Mobile websites (mobisites) now stand on their own as tools to interact directly with people who have access to the Internet and those who do not in South Africa.

Mobile technology is providing effective answers to companies and consumers trying to find their way through the information age, says CEO of Multimedia Solutions Eddie Groenewald, who also reckons that with the rise of cyberspace, companies wanting to communicate to consumers have a huge challenge in trying to do so.

A number of retailers have begun moving into the mobile sphere, offering mobile websites (mobisites) as part of their service offering to consumers. It's a significant win for mobile technology in this country and retailers are starting to reap the benefits of being accessible from the mobile phone, says Eddie Groenewald, CEO of Multimedia Solutions.

A mobile-able feast: even in lean times, this emerging marketing channel is looking healthy
By Eric Holmen, President, SmartReply