Mobile phone evangelism

The potential for mobile devices and cell phones

The wish to be in touch with people and information 24/7 has led to the huge growth in the use of mobile phones and other devices. 80% of the world’s population already lives within a mobile reception area, [www.picturebusinessmag.com/story/story.bsp?sid=40913&var=story] a figure projected to increase to 90% by 2010. There were 2 billion mobile users (in 2007) and many are in the non-western or developing world. The mobile systems in Korea and Japan are more advanced than almost anywhere. Japan in particular is a major missed opportunity for both mobile and conventioanl web outreach.

There has been increasing convergence between the capabilities of different types of mobile devices. Although simple base-level phones are still available, devices increasingly offer a range of functions beyond phone-calls and text-messaging:

• email
• web browsing
• MP3/video player
• global positioning and maps, buddy location and parental child monitoring
• radio/TV reception
• book reading
• still/video camera
• games console

These features will soon become the norm, and new developments are being launched constantly. We are only beginning to see the impact and potential of the mobile platform

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