IDC research reports that SMS and text messaging remains the most popular mobile data application among users in the Asia Pacific region. Increased adaptation of mobile devices with penetration rates of over 90% in some areas especially for higher end 3G color screen phones along with shortened replacement cycles led to greater usage of SMS and related functions. See excerpts below:

The BBC World Service recently broadcast a two part series on mobile phones in todays society. Topics covered the history and cultural aspects of these devices along with commentary on how they are changing human interaction across world cultures. Grab the audio links below:

Krusell the Swedish company specializing in cases and carying accessories for mobile devices has published its monthly report for top mobile phones, pda's and smartphones based on it's sales volume for the period in question. The QTek 9100 topped the list while the Palm One Tungsten E2 was last. PDANews.com reported how this implies a sharp drop for the Palm Treo communicator line. See statistics below:

Smartphones' premium prices and "supersized" form factors have historically combined with a limited demand for advanced data services to restrict them to niche market status, but 2006 will bring a growth spurt in the smartphone market that will see worldwide shipments more than double, according to an ABI Research forecast.

Our previous post on Cyworld , mentioned how the service aims to bring South Korean mobile blogging culture to the United States. But could networking based around virtual rooms or "minihompy's"  have further reaching consequences? Well, according to OnTheCommons.org   guest Johnathan Rowe the service and others like it  might just be the "savior" to our consumer obsessed societies by offering a virtual escape - and a badly needed one at that.

Handango a leading mobile content provider released a series of reports for mobile content in 2005. Broken down by operating systems such as Symbian and Windows mobile, the report also mentions most profitable units and popular search terms.

The most sophisticated and advanced mobile consumers account for a disproportionately high share of streaming TV, online game play, video calling and full-track music download users, as compared to the overall mobile population in the UK, according to market research by Telephia.

 Worldwide personal digital assistant (PDA) shipments totaled a record 14.9 million units in 2005, a 19 percent increase from 2004, according to Gartner, Inc. The 2005 results topped the previous record of 13.2 million PDAs shipped worldwide in 2001.

Forrester Research has published a series of reports which predict the expected drivers for the IT market in the year ahead. Growth of 3G services and mobile internet and awareness of security threats are some of the highlighted findings as found on TMCnet.

Author Sumanth Gopinath a Professor of Music Theory in the University of Minnesota, talks about the development and possible future of the mobile ringtone. What started out almost as a "novelty" has developed into a cultural phenomenon with simple tunes advancing to polyphonic and full mp3 stereo playback. In some ways the modern ringtone can also be used to chart the development on the mobile industry itself. His paper "Ringtones or the Auditory Logic of Globalization" appeared in First Monday late last year.