Mobile Industry News 12/1/09

Quattro Wireless' daily take on interesting and important news for the mobile industry. See something today that we missed? Post it in the comments or send it our way on twitter @intheq

Black Friday Sees Mobile Shopping Explosion
Mobile Marketing Watch
Looking at the data of Black Friday purchases over mobile phones, one would wonder if we’re recovering from a deep recession. On Black Friday 2009, mobile online payments through PayPal were up nearly 650 percent year-over-year, according to the eBay-owned payment company, in data reviewed by Dow Jones

How did mobile effect Black Friday shopping?
Mobile Marketer Homepage 
While actual mobile payments are still nascent, more consumers shopped on Black Friday using their mobile phone than ever before. Many consumers used their handset to search for specific products and retailers, compare price points and download mobile coupons via the mobile Web and applications. Retailers even saw a surge in mobile commerce—for example, eBay’s PayPal saw mobile payments increase almost 650 percent from last year’s Black Friday.

Knocking app lets you see through your friend’s iPhone camera
VentureBeat
Knocking, a new application for the iPhone, got a pretty big “wow” out of me — it lets you share footage from your iPhone camera with friends who have the app. Let’s say you’re at a store and you want to ask your spouse which product they like better. You could turn on Knocking, “knock” on their phone, then they would get a message saying you want to share.

The Future Of Mobile Augmented Reality
Mobile Marketing Watch
The concept of augmented reality (AR) is still very much in its infancy, but the opportunities it presents in the areas of mobile marketing, commerce and gaming is more than plentiful.  How far have we come in bringing AR to fruition and what does the future hold for the concept?

Cyber Monday or Mobile Monday?
Mobile Marketing Watch
Are you shopping on your mobile phone today for Cyber Monday deals? Mobile phones are predicted to make an impact on retail sales this year. Cyber Monday shoppers are more frequently using their phones to make a purchase. The rise of Cyber Monday and growth of mobile shopping is significant for mobile marketers. With more consumers turning to online and their mobile devices to shop and purchase items, there is a greater opportunity to target customers with marketing and advertising messages via mobile devices.

AT&T launches 1 GHz LG smartphone
FierceWireless
AT&T Mobility launched a new LG smartphone it is touting as the nation's first to sport a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, which powers the phone's computing functions. Most of today's smartphones feature processors in the range of 600 MHz. The device, called the eXpo, also supports an optional, integrated pico projector and has a fingerprint sensor, features intended for enterprise users.

Young Latinos, Blacks Answer Call Of Mobile Devices
About a third of Americans have gone online using a cell phone or other hand-held device. And an increasing number of people are using the devices for activities such as texting, sending e-mails, playing music and instant messaging.

Path/Presence: IKEA's "Augmented Reality" App
If you build it, they won't come. Every good mobile marketing campaign includes not only a "mobile presence" (e.g., an app or a mobile site) but just as importantly, a "mobile path" to discover it. For example, this path could be a keyword/short code, a QR code, image recognition, a "send to a friend" option, even a link on a Facebook page.