Mobile phone market recovery continues with almost 22 percent growth in Q1 2010 – fuelled by increased demand for smartphones and the global economic recovery.

According to IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 294.9 million units in the first quarter of 2010 compared to 242.4 million units in the first quarter of 2009.

Growing demand for smartphones also saw Research In Motion (RIM) replace Motorola in the top 5 vendor rankings for the first time. The rankings are as follows:

1. Nokia
2. Samsung
3. LG Electronics
4. Research In Motion
5. Sony Ericsson

“The entrance of RIM into the top 5 underscores the sustained smartphone growth trend that is driving the global mobile phone market recovery,” commented Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst, IDC. “This is also the first time a vendor has dropped out of the top 5 since the second quarter of 2005…”

Is it me, or is there one vendor that the media continually fawn over missing from that top 5 ranking?

i’ve been ad

The big A could charge close to $1 million for ads on its mobile devices this year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Dubbed ‘iAd’, Apple is reportedly looking to charge marketers up to $10 million to be part of an exclusive launch of its mobile-device advertising capability, which comprises a software system to offer ads in the applications available in the App Store. App developers will receive 60% of the revenue; Apple gets the other 40%. Ad executives say they currently pay between $100,000 and $200,000 for similar mobile deals.

Online ads surge

The latest quarterly earnings reports from Yahoo, Microsoft and Google [or ‘GYM’ as they are sometimes referred to] indicate that online and display advertising is surging again, says the Online Publishers Association (OPA).

Yahoo led the pack, with a profit that nearly tripled to $310 million – although gross revenues were fairly flat. Microsoft saw an increase of 19% in its online ad revenues, prompted by a boost in search-related ads on Bing. Google’s profits rose 37% to $1.96 billion, with revenues up 23%, although the company’s stock ‘dropped’ 4.6% - with analysts suggesting that its performance had not quite lived up to expectations.

Shopping for mobile

The mobile marketing and retail sector (comprising mobile advertising, coupons and smart posters) will exceed $8 billion by 2012 globally.

According to market watcher, Juniper Research, location-aware technologies will play a key part, with companies like Google and IBM seeking to exploit knowledge of a user’s location to enable retailers to offer in-store shoppers a rich set of capabilities such as personalised special offers. However, the company also warns that failure to use targeted, location-based advertising, particularly SMS advertising, may cause mobile users to regard such advertising as little better than spam.

Money for nothing

Zong, which lets Facebook users buy virtual goods via their mobile phones, is to receive $15 million in venture funding from Matrix Partners.

Business Week says that Matrix’ general partner Dana Stalder, a former executive at PayPal and eBay, will join Zong's board of directors, whilst Zong will use the cash to market its brand and seek new online markets, such as video and music. Funding terms, including what value investors are placing on the company, were not disclosed.

Eat my shorts

Yahoo! ceo, Carol Bartz, received a $47.2 million compensation package in 2009, her first year on the job.

The Associated Press reports that Bartz’s pay consisted mostly of stock incentives, the ultimate value of which will hinge on how much Yahoo’s market value rises under Bartz’s leadership.

Er, just one more thing…

Grammar police target Twitter – A small but vocal subculture has emerged on Twitter, comprising grammar and taste vigilantes who spend their time policing other people’s tweets.

According to The New York Times, the vigilantes build their own algorithms to sniff out Twitter messages that are distasteful to them – e.g. tweets with typos or flawed grammar, or written in ALLCAPS [yes, I hate that too] – and then send scolding notes to the offenders.

Provoking an irate reaction seems to be largely the point.

When you don't know what you are looking for…

Microsoft unveiled the new version of its search engine at The Wall Street Journal's seventh 'D:All Things Digital' conference held May 26-28 2009 in the US. Branded 'Bing', the software giant believes that consumers are ready to move beyond search and is thus positioning Bing as a 'decision engine'.

Bing is reported to feature a number of enhancements in core search areas - including entity extraction and expansion, query intent recognition and document summarisation, as well as a 'new user experience model that  dynamically adapts to the type of query to provide 'relevant and intuitive decision-making tools'.

While this is an interesting approach, whether Bing will enable Microsoft to boost its share of the search engine market remains to be seen. According to number cruncher comScore, Google Sites led the US core search market in April with 64.2 percent of the searches conducted, followed by Yahoo! Sites (20.4 percent), then Microsoft Sites (8.2 percent).

However, European-based digital marketing agency Bigmouthmedia has hailed the new service as a potentially crucial landmark in the online search sector's development. Citing Microsoft's pan-European approach and collaboration with key agencies in advance of the launch, bigmouthmedia believes that Bing could add a refreshing new dynamic to the industry.

"It has been some time since the search industry had a realistic alternative to Google, and if Microsoft's new engine can provide that then it will be of obvious benefit to both digital marketers and consumers alike," said bigmouthmedia CEO Steve Leach.

Perhaps Bing will appeal more to 'Wilfers' (those that aimlessly wander the Web) than those that search for something in particular. Or perhaps Librans such as myself that have trouble making a decision when there are too many options to weigh up. Then again, it sounds perfect for those that simply want Microsoft's new search algorithms to make the decision for them…

MNOs beware the smartphone surge in data

In other news from the D Conference, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson admitted that the operator needs to do something to boost speeds before the arrival of 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) cellular networks in 2012. "Between now and then is a long time," he is reported to have said.

According to Stephenson, US wireless networks are not prepared for the surge in smart phones use that has already shown signs of choking their networks. Smart phones such as the BlackBerry and the iPhone have significantly ramped up the amount of wireless Internet surfing, and MNOs (mobile network operators) have come under fire for being unprepared.

AT&T has announced plans to upgrade its 3G network with High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), as it paves the way for a roll out of LTE in 2011. Stephenson also said that AT&T's fixed-line business has taken the biggest hit as a result of the global economic downturn.

HP to axe 5,700 Europe jobs (read full story)

The latest victim of the downturn is hardware giant HP, which has announced plans to axe up to 5,700 employees, in addition to previously  announced losses.

According to reports, the countries especially affected will be Scotland and Germany, where HP has its EMEA Enterprise, Storage and Servers production facilities. These factories are slated to be closed in 2010 and production moved to the Czech Republic.

What's a social media friend worth? (read full story)

Digital friendships speak volumes about us as consumers and workers, and decoding the data can lead to profitable insights, it is claimed. As social media companies grapple with the increasingly perplexing challenge posed by monetising the success of social networking sites, Business Week reports that companies are working fast to figure out how to make money from the wealth of data they're beginning to have about our online friendships.

Marketers are said to be leading the way and finding that if our friends buy something, there's a better-than-average chance we'll buy it too. It's a simple insight, says Business Week, but one that could lead to targeted messaging in an age of growing media clutter. However, it concedes that, for all its popularity, Facebook has yet to prove itself as an advertising platform, with visitors focusing on their friends and paying scant attention to ads, with few click on them, while advertisers pay pennies for page views. Consequently, Facebook, with its estimated revenue of $300 million this year, is said to bring in scarcely a dime a month per member.

The hope is that if marketers manage to track the 'paths of influence' amongst social Web communities, they might be able to offer more effective and lucrative advertisements and promotions. Corporations are also said to be exploring how social Web relationships might benefit their business processes such as recruitment.

Gamers get fit with 'Gym in a Box'

High street retailer GAME has put EA's latest offering 'Sports Active' to the test to determine whether it is a real alternative to the gym. After a two-week trial, GAME's results are claimed to show that regular high tempo EA Sports Active sessions can have beneficial health and fitness effects, as within a week the weight loss target of the experiment had been met.

Competing against existing popular titles such as Wii Fit, EA Sports Active is said to offer a range of traditional cardio-vascular and targeted exercises allowing users to 'experience the variety and challenge of a gym workout in their own living room'. Corrinne Garstang, Online Content Manger at GAME, who engaged in the experiment intensively for two weeks, lost 3lbs at the half-way mark of her two week challenge.

"I think I represent a large part of the population who want to incorporate exercise into their lives, but simply don't have the time or money to join a gym. With so many fitness titles on the market, EA Sports Active really stood out because it had a more 'grown up' feel compared to other titles on the market. And after months of feeling increasingly unhappy about my burgeoning waistline I was desperate to see if it really worked".

One has to ask why the results of the second week were not included in the press release. Perhaps Corrinne spent too much time playing 'Cooking Mama 2 - Dinner with Friends (DS)'?

Gaming and mobile getting closer

With some predicting that gaming console giants will at some point have a massive impact in the mobile domain, convergence between the two has taken a step closer with Sony Ericsson's new phone, the 'Aino', which includes connectivity to the Sony Playstation.

According to the handset maker (read full release), the Aino allows users to control their PLAYSTATION 3 and access its media content anywhere, anytime, using 'Remote Play with PLAYSTATION®3'. Initially developed for PSP, this application enables users to control and access media content from their phone and can be done via a local network or using the Internet. For TV lovers in Italy, France, Spain, Germany and UK, users can also watch, pause and record live TV from a range of free channels.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has added a touch screen and Web browser to the next-generation of its Zune music player. The new device, called the 'Zune HD', will also carry a high-definition video output allowing users to play files through a docking station on HD televisions.

According to reports, the new features ramp up Microsoft's effort to compete with Apple Inc. products such as the iPod Touch, and highlight the company's push to integrate different platforms, from PCs and mobile phones to the Xbox.

Er, just one more thing…

TREAT YOUR DAD TO A PORSCHE FOR FATHER’S DAY (read full release)

A wireless mouse based on the Porsche 911 has been released by Motormouse. Featuring three sensitivity settings and including the smallest 2.4G wireless receiver in the world, this latest Motormouse comes with its own super-glide mouse mat and soft carrying pouch for easy travelling.

Apparently, this 'must have gadget' is the ideal gift for your dad this Father's Day.

I would be inclined to agree, if I could just get my technophobe father to grips with syncing this wireless wonder to his laptop.