Norwegian browser maker Opera Software today announced it will acquire mobile ad exchange AdMarvel for what TechCrunch is reporting to be $8 million in cash plus a $15 million earnout. As an ad exchange, AdMarvel has transparency across many ad…
In what is an ongoing humanitarian and mobile story, mobile donations made to Haiti earthquake aftermath relief have exceeded $22 million. This has been a quickly accelerating total, as news reports mid-last week were boasting $7 million. More importantly, the $22 million…
We're hearing a lot about Google's Nexus One, failed expectations and enraged customers. Complaints have reverberated throughout the blogosphere that Google's direct-to-consumer approach leaves many Nexus One owners without the ability to see and handle the device before purchasing. Worse…
There's been lots of talk about how the newly minted SuperMedia (formerly Idearc) is repositioning itself as it emerges from bankruptcy. Some of this is about branding but a great deal of it also involves the longstanding evolution of how…
As we enter the smartphone generation, directory listings may only be a starting point for consumer information needs. In terms of revenue opportunities, they may only be scratching the surface. CallSpark, which calls itself the “call experience company,” seeks to…
I've had more time to digest some of the possibilities for Apple's $275 million acquisition of mobile ad network Quattro. As discussed, it follows closely behind Google’s AdMob acquisition and both will be harbingers of more M&A activity in the mobile…
I got in a discussion yesterday about visual search. It was in response to BIA/Kelsey's year-end analyst webinar, in which we outlined the up-and-coming mobile bar code scanning apps. Essentially, visual search comes in a few different flavors including: QR…
Later this week, we'll publish reports across BIA/Kelsey's coverage areas that predict market trends and events of the coming year. Part of that involved looking back on past predictions to calibrate our handicapping abilities. There was one nugget I remembered…
After hearing whispers from a reporter last week that Yahoo was eyeing mobile ad network Quattro, we started hearing similar rumors over the past 24 hours that Apple would be the suitor. Kara Swisher at WSJ then scooped the story…
We all knew it was coming: Google's Nexus One "super phone" was just unveiled at its press event at the Googleplex. Thanks to the company's famous "dogfooding" strategy, many of the device specs were previously leaked. It looks to be…
In the spirit of top-ten lists flying at us this time of year, voice search provider Vlingo has revealed the top searches across its mobile apps (via TechCrunch). The list affirms much of what we know about mobile search behavior,…
Ford has announced that it will include iTunes tagging technology in some new car models starting next year. This will allow users to press a button to indicate interest in a song playing from their HD radio receiver, then download…
Mobile bar code scanning app Red Laser has reached the elusive feat of being among the iPhone's top five paid apps for three consecutive months (via MobileCrunch). Oh yeah, and the $1.99 app has brought in $1 million in subscription…
Millennial Media, in the spirit of its monthly SMART reports, is one of the first to join the requisite torrent of year-end predictions. According to the mobile ad network, we'll see over the next year: 1. The U.S. Mobile Web…
During an online mapping panel at our Interactive Local Media conference last week, we discussed how feature rollouts have slowed from their frenetic pace of a few years ago. This includes street-level imagery, satellite, multi-point directions and a number of…
Kicking off this afternoon's Mobile SuperForum, BIA/Kelsey analyst Mike Boland walked through a number of key trends he sees affecting the development of mobile local search. These include rapid hardware improvement, the increasing local focus of mobile, the growing appreciate…
Mobile social app Foursquare is getting lots of attention and growing quickly into new cities throughout the U.S. and Europe. For those unfamiliar, the app lets you check in at local establishments to alert friends where you are. The value…
Jumptap took an evolutionary step today with the launch of its tapMatch mobile ad targeting platform. The company has traditionally provided a range of mobile products, including a white-label search platform for publishers and carriers like AT&T and Virgin Mobile.…
Superpages today officially launched its iPhone application. This joins iPhone apps from all the major U.S. Yellow Pages publishers, as they each try to solidify brands and build traffic levels on the quickly growing mobile Web. Some of the features…
TechCrunch's Sarah Lacy poses the specialist vs. generalist question, as it relates to mobile devices. It's an issue we've raised here before: Despite improving smartphone market penetration and quality standards, are they hybrid plays that lose quality in the many…
