Thanks to everyone who has followed us through the mobile apps industry for the last few months. It’s been a great time, but your blogger, Sonya Smith, is off covering resort news at the Around Disney blog.

But there’s still tech news on the Register: check out the Gadgetress’ Orange County technology blog, Colin Stewart’s Orange County tech innovation blog and the Register’s technology page.

ABI Research released a prediction today that by 2013 one in every three phones sold will be a smartphone.

The smartphone market will grow from 10 percent of the total handset market in 2007 to 31 percent of the market in 2013, according to ABI. The study suggests that growth will come from a push by cell carriers wanting to make more money from data plans.

The report also predicts that iPhone features will continue to spread across handsets, those include: touchscreens, touchpads and accelerometers for sensing phone movement.

In case you’re wondering about the definition of a smartphone, here are two attempts to answer that question:
ABI’s definition is explained by Prinicipal Analyst Philip Solis: “a smartphone is a cellular handset that uses an open, commercial operating system. The middleware and UI layers are associated with the OS. Linux feature phones using Java or BREW do not count, but Linux phones that can accommodate Linux applications do count.”

If you’re as confused as we are, here’s the Wikipedia definition: “a smartphone is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities beyond a typical mobile phone, often with PC-like functionality. There is no industry standard definition of a smartphone. For some, a smartphone is a phone that runs complete operating system software providing a standardized interface and platform for application developers. For others, a smartphone is simply a phone with advanced features.”

Related posts:

• GPS to grow on demand for local information, directions
• T-Mobile up on increased data use, texting and phone calls
• EA’s growth tied to cell phone games as new Tetris debuts
• Mobile applications to grow in ‘08, but not as much as in ‘07

On a tweet tip from A.C. in Barcelona, we take a quick look at AT&T Wireless’ latest mobile news - a redesigned mobile store.

While the new store has not launched yet, we had a quick look around (screenshot at left, click to enlarge) at the preview site that takes people on a tour of a 3D “media mall.” Perhaps the most interesting bit of this announcement is how the company is stressing that customers have “choices” with AT&T.

The press release stresses that Media Mall 2.0 “will feature more than 90,000 choices from more than 115 different content providers, including the new top-selling game, Guitar Hero 3. … The storefront will be expanded on an ongoing basis, giving more developers an opportunity to reach the 70.1 million customers…”

Also, AT&T recently talked about how open it is to third-party application developers.

That news came one day before Verizon Wireless unveiled more of its plans for creating an open development process that will “allow new wireless devices to work on its “Any Device, Any App” network.

Still, all these “open” pledges from cell carriers fall short of what Carlo Longino wants to see. He wrote yesterday on his MobHappy blog that his prediction about “open” being the buzzword for 2008 is coming true.

Related posts:

• Jason Devitt: 700 mHZ spectrum helps consumers
• FindMe tracks you, even without GPS
• iPhone beats Nokia, other smart phones in Web usage
• A round-up of who’s developing for the iPhone and Android
• Nokia listed as No. 1 smart phone maker
• Boost Mobile brings opt-out ads to mobile site

Bidding closed Tuesday on a government auction of airwaves and SkyDeck CEO and co-founder Jason Devitt says consumers will be the main beneficiary of the new 700 mHz wireless spectrum.

Devitt got his start in mobile by co-founding Vindigo, one of the first companies to publish content and applications for mobile phones in the U.S. Devitt has talked about wanting greater customer freedom in the cell phone industry in the past on his personal and work blogs, and when he testified before Congress in July of last year. He says the 700 mHz auction is a step in that direction. Devitt typed this response to share his views on the significance of the 700 mHz auction:

“No matter who wins this auction, consumers will be able to use any wireless device they like on the new network, and run any application on that device, with a few perfectly reasonable restrictions. Previously, consumers had to choose from a handful of phones sold by their carrier. Even if it was theoretically possible to buy a phone somewhere else, most retailers were reluctant to stock them. This is not just about geeks who can afford $1,000 phones or who want to build a wireless refrigerator. The biggest beneficiaries will be consumers who don’t want a fancy new device at all, they just want to bring their old phone to a new network that offers a better deal.”

Devitt says it will take the airwaves winner several years to build out a network using the new spectrum. But, he is still excited that the bidding price for the spectrum went above the $4.6 billion threshold in January — setting in stone that the winner must keep the spectrum open to all devices.

The only downside Devitt found in the spectrum is that consumers may find it more difficult in the future to choose between devices, service plans and applications as more options will be available in the future. Addressing that problem, Devitt said, is a mission of his company, SkyDeck.

(Photo of Jason Devitt from Skydeck’s Web site)

Related posts:

• U.S. tops Western use of mobile programs
• GPS to grow on demand for local information, directions
• Mobile applications to grow in ‘08, but not as much as in ‘07
• Google Trends ranks Android lowest

A medieval-themed MMORPG game that uses GPS is being developed for both Google’s Android and for Apple’s iPhone.

Earlier this week we unveiled lists tracking both Android apps and iPhone apps under development, and CEO and Director Justin Beck let us know about this knightly game called “Parallel Kingdom” from his Madison, Wisconsin-based company with the same name as the game.

Parallel Kingdom (demo screenshot from company at right) is a medieval role-playing game that allows people to play in a virtual world that is overlaid on top of the real world. Beck has said that GPS or other positioning technology, locates a player and intertwines the virtual and real worlds — although it’s a little unclear exactly how the two worlds interact.

Players can attack, trade, mingle with nearby people or pick on friends, build kingdoms, go on raids, wage wars or establish economic empires.

The game is in a beta stage and is only for Android, but Beck says they will be developing a version to run natively on the iPhone. He also explained why his company is developing for both the iPhone and Android:

“The iPhone and Android are doing something quite unique; they are opening up development platform for phones that target broad demographics, not just businesses. This is huge, because now you have a variety of applications that are wanted and millions of people around the world who want them. Couple that with technology innovations, like giving phones an internet connection, good horsepower, and the ability to know it’s location, you have a killer platform. But the platform is just the first step, software innovation is the key. There now exists an opportunity to innovate in pretty much every domain of mobile applications, search, document management, blogging, photos, scheduling, education, games, you name it.”

That sentiment about the the iPhone platform was echoed and this mobile MMO was pointed to by WoW Insider and Massively “co-lead” Mike Schramm when he mentioned Parallel Kingdom in an article about what the iPhone SDK means to MMOs.

“Games like Parallel Kingdom depend on mobility, and that makes the iPhone (which will not only give an application its real-world location, but also stay connected to the internet via Edge) the perfect kind of platform for that development.”

Related posts:

• Will top iPhone web apps benefit from the SDK?
• Guitar Hero now available for shredding on AT&T and Verizon phones
• EA’s growth tied to cell phone games as new Tetris debuts
• MTV says World of Warcraft coming to cell phones
• Hasbro plans modern Monopoly and Yahtzee for mobile phones

Irvine’s Boost Mobile announced today the addition of ads to the web homepage customers see on their phones. This is the first step in Boost’s partnership with mobile advertising company, Amobee based in Redwood City, after the two firms joined together last summer.

One ad per page will appear on the BoostLIVE portal and Web home page. The first ads (example at left, larger ad example is shown at right), expected to appear starting today, are for Fox Searchlight Pictures’ April 11 release of “Street Kings.” Other slated ads are for Acura’s 2009 TSX. The ads don’t incur any additional charges and customers can opt out of receiving the ads by calling Boost customer service at 888-266-7848 (888-Boost-4u).

Boost’s Director of Emerging Products, Lowell Winer said that the main idea is to make mobile ads non-intrusive and to go after advertisers that fit in with Boost subscribers.

Winer said the ads will be interactive - meaning that a click on the ad will bring up more information about the product. In the future, he said Boost may include ads in text and multimedia messages and possibly in applications. Amobee’s site boasts that it can provide completely-ad-funded apps that customers can use or play for free.

“Mobile advertising is an excellent vehicle for reaching a growing segment of younger consumers who are drifting away from traditional mediums such as TV and print,” said Neil Lindsay, vice president of product development, Boost Mobile. And, according to data released March 4 by research firm Nielsen, 14 percent of people are “open to mobile advertising so long as it is relevant to their interests.”

That Nielsen study talked to cell users who used at least one non-voice mobile service during the fourth quarter of 2007. The study also found that:

• 58 million people recalled seeing a mobile ad during 4Q 2007 (up from 42 million during Q2 2007).
• 26 percent of those who saw an ad responded at least once via text message; 9 percent clicked to call a phone number on an ad.
• 13 percent of people said they are open to mobile ads if it improves the media content currently available.

Related p0sts:

• Can Google-DoubleClick deal help solve mobile advertising challenges?
• Greenlight partners with MIVA for mobile advertising
• AT&T and T-Mobile sites don’t promote new unlimited plans
• Analyst unsure what Microsoft can bring to Yahoo! mobile

Finding friends and family is now available on your mobile phone, thanks to a new application unveiled Tuesday by United Kingdom’s Electric Pocket.

The FindMe app lets people tag their favorite locations on a map and tell other people where they are on Windows Mobile and BlackBerry phones. The difference between this service and others out there is that FindMe locates the user by triangulating position between nearby cell towers, meaning a user does not need GPS on the device.

“Social networking sites such as Facebook are removing geographic barriers to keeping friends connected, and FindMe adds a great new dimension by sharing locations among friends when and how they want to be seen,” said Steve Bennett, Electric Pocket’s Chief Executive Officer.

Also Tuesday, iPhone Atlas found that a forthcoming iPhone operating system release, already in the hands of a few people, includes a new feature that logs a user’s location based on cell tower triangulation. Will at IntoMobile says the “location logging opens the door to some interesting features in the future. On the other hand, the fact that your iPhone could track your current position as well as your whereabouts throughout the day is a potential security and privacy issue.”

Related posts:

• PocketFinder kid-finding gadget signs deal for final component
• GPS to grow on demand for local information, directions
• Networks in Motion given patent for location-based searching

AT&T Wireless announced today a Web site and special events at the upcoming CTIA wireless conference all created to lure in companies and individuals wishing to build mobile software. While the developer site is absent from AT&T’s main wireless page, this is one of the first times a carrier is making moves to lure mobile app developers.

The cell carrier will host three events called “Enterprise Developers Summit, Fast Pitch and Open Call” at the April 1-3 CTIA event in Las Vegas. The new site tells developers to “choose your strategy” and offers some tools and explanation of how to develop and market apps for AT&T customers, including a “Wireless Reference Architecture” guide available at developer.att.com/wra.

“The driving force of our business is our commitment to be open to innovation and to offer our customers more choices than any other wireless company,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T’s wireless unit. “That means choices in applications, choices in handsets, choices in operating systems, choices in how to shop and pay for service, plus much more.”

While doing a quick visit to other carrier sites, AT&T is the only with a developer-only apps page. But, here’s what I did find:

• Verizon Wireless’ site has no mobile app developer page. The closest thing is this Flash Lite page on Adobe’s site that explains how to develop apps for Verizon.
• Helio’s site has a cool-looking mobile apps page.
• MetroPCS also has a hip apps page.
• T-Mobile also has a cool apps page: T-Mobile.
• Sprint also has a page, but the highlight is text messaging.

Related posts:

• AT&T sets up site, CTIA events to attract mobile developer
• Guitar Hero now available for shredding on AT&T and Verizon phones
• AT&T and T-Mobile sites don’t promote new unlimited plans

While ABI Research ranked Nokia as the top smart phone manufacturer, m:metrics released data today that shows Apple’s iPhone was used for viewing the Web, videos and listening to music more than any other smart phone.

“While the demographics of iPhone users are very similar to all smartphone owners, the iPhone is outpacing other smartphones in driving mobile content consumption by a significant margin,” said Mark Donovan, a senior analyst with M:Metrics.

M:Metrics found that 30.9 percent of iPhone owners watched mobile TV or video, versus a 4.6 market average, and more than double the rate for all smart phone users. Usage of social networking is also popular among iPhone users: 49.7 percent accessed a social networking site in January, nearly 12 times the market average. Twenty percent of iPhone owners accessed Facebook, one of the first Web sites to customize its content for the iPhone, versus 1.5 percent of the total mobile market.Two widgets, YouTube and Google Maps, are popular among iPhone users: 30.4 percent accessed YouTube and 36 percent used Google Maps. In comparison, only one percent of all mobile subscribers accessed YouTube and 2.6 percent checked out Google Maps.”

We reported before about how the iPhone is used to view the Web more than double that of all Windows Mobile phones.

Share in comments why you think the iPhone is used to access the Web so much, and if you think that new iPhone native applications in June will cut down on Web traffic because of a lower use of Web applications.

Related posts:

• Nokia listed as No. 1 smart phone maker
• Parallel Kingdom MMORPG coming to iPhone and Android
• A round-up of who’s developing for the iPhone and Android
• Maiffret calls iPhone app distribution ‘ridiculous,’ ‘monopolistic’
• iPhone news not enough for O.C. companies to switch
• Will top iPhone web apps benefit from the SDK?

Nokia takes the top spot in an ABI Research ranking of smart phone manufacturers. ABI said it ranks the smart phone vendors by innovation and implementation.

Here’s ABI’s top 10:

1. Nokia
2. Research in Motion
3. Samsung
4. Motorola Inc.
5. Sony Ericsson
6. High Tech Corp. (HTC)
7. Palm
8. LG
9. Sharp Corp.
10. Hewlett Packard

“Nokia’s commitment to driving smart OS into a wider range of devices, and the success of its N series devices, especially the N95, gives it a huge market presence. Looking to the future, this segment will become increasingly crowded as Linux-based new entrants try to erode Nokia’s position,” said ABI’s Vice President and Research Director, Stuart Carlaw.

ABI judged innovation by: customer wins, contract awards, global reach, market share, patents, R&D spending, time to market, and first movers. Implementation was evaluated by: smart phone shipments, brand equity, the number of smart phone models in the range, choice of OS, the company’s first-to-market status, its smart phone market share, its smart phone average selling prices (ASP), its distribution network, operator relationships, manufacturing facilities, ODM partnerships, overall handset ASP, and overall handset market share.

Now that you’ve heard from the analysts, share your pick for the No. 1 smart phone vendor.

Related posts:

• iPhone beats Nokia, other smart phones in Web usage
• A round-up of who’s developing for the iPhone and Android
• Maiffret calls iPhone app distribution ‘ridiculous,’ ‘monopolistic’
• iPhone used to browse Web twice as much as Windows Mobile