Mobile Industry News 12/4/09

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

Home Depot holiday mobile ads help consumers with gift giving
Mobile Marketer
The Home Depot is running expandable ad units within The Weather Channel iPhone application as part of its Tool Gift Guide holiday initiative. The ads ask consumers to click to “take the guesswork out of gift-giving.” The banner is an expandable ad unit, so a user can touch the ad and it expands out to take up a majority of the screen on the device.

MMO Games To Get Mobile, Social Treatment From Good Game Productions
paidContent
In some ways, popular social games like Mafia Wars and Sorority Life are already massively-multiplayer online (MMO) games—they’re played online, there are millions of people playing, and players need to work together to get ahead. But people hungry for high-quality, World of Warcraft-style games on their phones and social networks currently have limited options. Companies like ngmoco and Playdom are working to change that, and so is a new startup called Good Game Productions. 

Yahoo's Schneider: We Expect 'Exponential' Growth In Mobile Ad Spending
mocoNews
So will 2010 finally be the year that mobile ad spending lives up to the hype? Depends on who you talk to. Third-party researchers like Juniper Research, and agencies like OgilvyOne say there are still major hurdles to clear. But there’s a reason that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) spent $750 million on AdMob ... and now Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) is making some bullish statements about mobile advertising, too.

24 Hour Fitness pumps up mobile initiatives
Mobile Marketer
24 Hour Fitness, which claims to be the largest privately owned U.S. fitness chain of health clubs, has gone mobile with the My24 iPhone application and a mobile Web site. The new offerings bring fitness management features directly to club members’ mobile devices. Users can now locate clubs while on the move, review club amenities, look up class schedules and access a variety of fitness tools.  

Toyota, Pizza Hut, NBA, Fandango, and More Reveal Their Brand Success Secrets with Mobile and Social Apps! (advertisement)
digiday:DAILY Stories Feed:
Toyota, Pizza Hut, NBA, Fandango, and More Reveal Their Brand Success Secrets with Mobile and Social Apps! Please join us for digiday:APPS on December 10th, in Los Angeles. During this high-level event, Top Brand Marketers, Agency Executives, Publishers, and App Developers will come together to discuss and explore how brands can harness the power of the billion dollar app boom. The event will dive deeply into the challenges and success stories of the explosive mobile and social app market. This is an event you can't afford to miss!

Yahoo reveals consumer 2009 mobile search habits
Mobile Marketer
Consumers’ search habits are different across PC and mobile, according to Yahoo Inc. In 2009, one in four Americans used a mobile device to access the Internet every month. That's roughly 77 million people looking to discover new things, stay connected and keep informed while on the go.
 
9 unpredictions: What's not going to happen with mobile in 2010
Mobile Marketer
Instead of producing an annual predictions list that many analysts and forecasters will be doing, I am producing a series of "What's not going to happen in 2010" forecasts. As the precursor to predictions, I have become weary of the retrospective look back at a year to think about what did not happen. A year riddled with missed targets and dashed expectations. And particularly this year, a year that was almost destined for failure – if we were to believe the 2009 predictions – before it even began.
 
Interview: CBS's New Mobile Exec Rob Gelick Explains What's Working And What's Next For Wireless
mocoNews
CBS Interactive (NYSE: CBS) announced on Wednesday that Rob Gelick will be heading the company’s mobile division. We caught up with him to get an idea of what the fast-paced job entails, which spans a number of CBS properties, including CBS.com, CBSSports.com, GameSpot, and TV.com, as well as brands, like CW, Chow and CNet.