Mobile IM will become a mass-market application

As the popularity of mobile messaging services continue to grow, IT research company Gartner is forecasting that Mobile IM will become a mass-market application similar to mobile e-mail in developed markets, initially being adopted by PC-based IM users, who are now able to access their service on their mobile phones, due to partnerships between the operators and the IM providers.

The report, “Market Trends: Mobile Messaging, Worldwide, 2006-201”, estimate that 2.3 trillion messages will be sent across major markets worldwide in 2008, a 19.6% increase from the 2007 total of 1.9 trillion messages. Mobile messaging revenue across major markets will grow 15.7% in 2008 to $60.2 billion, up from $52 billion in 2007.

Mobile messaging usage has increased in all Western European countries, and the growth in the number of messages sent is projected to continue until 2010. A total of 202 billion mobile messages were sent in 2007 in Western Europe, and this is forecast to reach 215 billion in 2008. In North America there were 189 billion mobile messages sent in 2007, and this is forecast to reach 301 billion in 2008.

“Carriers should plan for a future of much reduced margins on messaging services. They should develop messaging platforms, services portfolios and pricing plans that support the broader objectives of customer acquisition and retention, rather than short-term margin enhancements," said Nick Ingelbrecht, research director for Gartner.

Mobile IM will supplant SMS as the mainstream messaging service by 2011

Mobile instant messaging (MIM), especially in markets such as North America, will supplant SMS as the mainstream messaging service by 2011, as smartphones and wireless Internet proliferate. According to a new report from Portio Research.

The report, Mobile Messaging Futures 2007-2012, concluded that mobile messaging is an integral and vital part of the mobile industry and contributes significantly to worldwide total mobile service revenues.

Current and future prospects of the SMS industry, is still looking bright, as SMS continues to be a phenomenal success as the cheapest, quickest and easiest to use form of peer-to-peer mobile communication. Although the growth of SMS revenues will not be as aggressive as the growth of SMS volumes due to declining prices, by 2012 global SMS revenues are expected to reach $67 billion, driven by 3.7 trillion messages.

Although revenues from voice calls still comprise 80 percent of worldwide total mobile revenues, operators globally are focusing on data services for increasing their average revenue per user (ARPU). Apart from SMS and MMS, mobile e-mail and mobile IM are showing strong future growth prospects in some geographic regions.

Aside from North America and Europe, mobile e-mail is expected to grow significantly in the mobile markets of the Asia Pacific region. The success of mobile e-mail is largely driven by the growth of more advanced handheld devices, such as PDAs and smartphones, so obviously growth of these services will be broadly restricted to the wealthier, more advanced markets for the immediate future.

Tjat Presents First IMS Based IM for Mobile & Web Communities

After extensive joint development work, Tjat and Comneon (an Infineon subsidiary) have successfully launched a seamless IMS/SIP access solution to web based instant messaging (IM) communities such as ICQ and MSN. The solution is IMS/SIP compliant, taking advantage of Comneon’s SIP framework, an integral part of hundreds of millions of newly-produced handsets over the coming years, making the Tjat solution ready for immediate and future IMS network deployments and migrations.

Our innovative solution, demonstrated at the Mobile World Asia Congress in Macau, drew excitement from all participants, both technical and business oriented. VAS and Network experts, together with IMS infrastructure vendors and Mobile Handset Manufacturers, were especially interested.

The Tjat/Comneon solution enables subscribers to access all Tjat services (IM, Email and Storage) with a rich and native feature set while allowing Operators to offer their subscribers Tjat services, instantly deploying Tjat in IMS or Legacy networks.

The growing popularity of Mobile IM in US

The proliferation of mobile phones with full keyboards has made it easier to send mobile instant messages and drive many IM users to spend more time instant messaging from their cell phones. The AP-AOL Instant Messaging Trends Survey revealed that 25% of IM user in US send IMs from their cell phones, including one in three (32%) teens.

The survey, which examined instant messaging trends and usage habits among 1,246 IM users (836 adults aged 19 and older and 410 teens aged 13-18), shows that nearly three in four teens (70 percent) and one in four adults (24 percent) send more instant messages than emails.

“Instant messaging has made its way into so many areas of our lives and we can now take our buddies with us wherever we go. Whether on our mobile phones, our social profiles or on the desktop at work, our friends, family and co-workers are right there letting us know when they’re free for a question or just to chat,” said David Liu, Senior Vice President, AOL.

Instant messaging is not only popular at home and on-the-go, but workplace use is becoming commonplace. 79% at-work IM users say they have used instant messaging in the office to take care of personal matters. And 19% of IM users say they send more instant messages than emails to their co-workers and colleagues.

Tjat at GSMA Mobile Asia Congress in Macau

142 operators from 91 countries will attend the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress from 12 to 15 November 2007 at the Venetian® Hotel in Macau. Tjat cannot afford to miss this important congress!

Tjat therefore will attend the Mobile Asia Congress, using it as a launch pad for the introduction of exciting new mobile instant messaging (MIM) products. Visitors to our booth also will learn about the successful results of our on going partnerships with leading players in the Asia-Pacific mobile industry.

Most Teens "absolutely could not live without" their Mobile phones

Mobile phone is the teen favorite of all the gadgets and devices available today, and text messaging is their preferred feature. That’s the finding of a new OTX Teen Topix study.

The survey, taps into the lives of the 13-17 year old set in the US, found that 51% of teens said they "absolutely could not live without" their cell phones. And text messaging was overwhelmingly cited as the feature they use most (72%), followed by the ability to customize wall paper (72%), take digital pictures (63%), play games (56%), and use (40%) Instant Message or IM, through AOL, Yahoo, MSN.

Features teens have and use on their cell phones

• 72% Text Message (SMS)
• 72% Customize my phone with wallpapers
• 63% Take digital photos/videos
• 56% Play games (which come with the phone)
• 51% Picture Message (MMS)
• 51% Download ringtones
• 41% Download graphics such as screensavers, wallpapers or pictures
• 40% Instant Message or IM (through AOL, Yahoo, MSN, etc)
• 36% Download music
• 33% Download games
• 30% Surf the internet / view websites
• 22% Download videos (long and short form)
• 19% Listen to FM Radio
• 18% Get sports scores
• 16% GPS (Global Positioning System)
• 12% Watch regular TV

Which of the following cell phone features do you want most?

• 45% Text Message (SMS)
• 29% Take digital photos/videos
• 24% Surf the internet / view websites
• 24% Download music
• 21% Watch regular TV
• 19% Instant Message or IM (through AOL, Yahoo, MSN, etc)
• 19% Download videos (long and short form)
• 16% Listen to FM Radio
• 15% Picture Message (MMS)
• 14% GPS (Global Positioning System)
• 13% Download ringtones
• 4% Customize my phone with wallpapers or pictures of my favorite TV stars, cartoon characters or sports stars
• 7% Play games (which come with the phone)
• 4% Download games
• 4% Get sports scores
• 3% Download graphics such as screensavers, wallpapers or pictures

The Teen Topix survey and is done in conjunction with eCRUSH, a PG-13 social networking site. 750 teens across the United States were surveyed about their mobile phone preferences and behavior.

IM - young people preferred communication tool

Instant messaging (IM) is viewed as a tool that enables constant connectivity, allowing young people to feel connected with their friends and keeping them from feeling ‘left out’, according to the latest research from the Circuits of Cool youth project, conducted by Microsoft and MTV.

IM is the preferred communication method used by young people to catch up with someone they don’t know well, and is seen as being a light-hearted medium to communicate with friends, both individually and as a group.

Globally, young people on average have 78 IM buddies, with Brazil, India and New Zealand having the highest with 136, 135 and 115 respectively.

The IM features that driving popularity are:

§ Free to use

§ Private form of communication

§ Youths feeling they have more control over the conversation

§ Safe method for communication

§ Instant but not too instant – allowing them to express themselves better

§ Forward – youths can be braver on IM than in face to face communication

Many of the 14-24s surveyed said that instant messaging communication enabled them to talk about more intimate subjects than they would have otherwise done. Over half said that they could talk about more things on IM than face-to-face.

Nearly 70% said the first thing they did after turning on their computer was to check IM. The top IM conversations topics for 14-24s were: gossiping (62%), making arrangements (57%), talking about the opposite sex (57%) and flirting (55%), work or school (54%) and TV and music (52%).