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In brief: A run down of some significant mobile search stats and studies in the run up to Exploring the Future of Mobile Search, an exploratory expert workshop organized by the European Commission, where MSG will give the keynote address.

It's encouraging to see a much sharper focus on mobile search and a growing realization among mobile operators, content providers and publishers/developers that there is a lot more to mobile search than the universal model we know from the online Internet. Mobile phone form factors push companies to develop new mobile search services that deliver us relevant results in tune with our intent and context. All the better if these services make use of features and functions such as voice recognition, image recognition, location-awareness and Augmented Reality.

Another development that makes search essential is the avalanche of apps and app stores, and the drive by all the players in the ecosystem to make these content and services storefronts a commercial success. Case in point: Apple's decision to snap up Siri, a voice-activated digital personal assist that takes the concept of search to a new level (allowing us to find not search!)

Today MSG concludes its three-part series dissecting the mobile developments impacting the mobile industry and our society at all levels, as documented in the Netsize Guide.

The focus is expansion and what it means when Web goes mobile and mobile gets real.

At one end of the spectrum, Web giants such as Facebook, Google and Amazon have advanced into mobile. At the other end, mobile is becoming the remote control of our collective lives, blurring the barriers between our virtual and physical worlds.

Who are the players to watch and what are their strategies? Why is mobile different? And what are the requirements for a good mobile experience in this age of divergence?

In brief: An analysis of what Blyk's partnership with Vodafone Netherlands really means, an exclusive Q&A with Blyk co-founder and CEO, Pekka Ala-Pietilä, and some big questions mobile operators can't ignore: Why is advertising the major revenue source for every mass media except mobile? And how do operators plan to compete with media and Internet companies to capture the most value in mobile media? It's been a bit quiet at MSG as I finalize the plans and partnerships that will transform MSG into a media company and lay the groundwork for an ambitious mobile marketing publishing project that has already earned the endorsement of several major industry organizations. (More in a press release soon via RealWire, a global news release distribution service and MSG partner that, like the online media industry that is its focus, is always-on, always-connected and always professional, which is why I can recommend them so highly.) But I couldn't end the week without posting an analysis of the exciting (but not unexpected) news from Blyk, combination mobile engagement media company, mobile advertising startup and MVNO, that it had signed an deal with to roll out its branded service in partnership with Vodafone Netherlands and to share revenues with the operator. Connect the dots, and Blyk has executed on the game-changing strategy that Antti Öhling, Blyk co-founder and CEO U.K., outlined in May in this exclusive Q&A. In it he provides solid logic for "making the switch" from MVNO (a model he called a "proof of concept") to youth engagement media. The reasons range from scale and speed (both accelerated through partnership with operators) to the ones that matter most to advertisers: reach and engagement.

SMARTPHONES ACCOUNTED FOR ALMOST THREE TIMES more usage than their relative market share, according to AdMob's April 2009 Mobile Metrics Report.The report compared usage of mobile websites to usage of HTML sites on mobile devices and found the relative usage of both to be highest on Apple and Android devices. The iPhone's OS had 8 percent of the smartphone market, yet generated 43 percent of mobile web requests and 65 percent of HTML usage. Ad requests from applications are said to have contributed to this heavy usage. Source The bottom line: As illustrated numerous times within this section, the data dominance and superior browsing experience allowed by smartphones is undeniable. Making mobile Web user experience smooth, easy, and compelling - as these handsets often do - is shown to consistently drive mobile data traffic. That many consumers probably can't tell and don't care about the difference between mobile websites and HTML sites is also testament to technical developments. *** GARTNER SAYS THE NUMBER OF MOBILE PAYMENT users will increase by 70 percent this year. Its report claims that 73.4 million users of mpayment in 2009 would represent a leap of 70.4 percent from 2008. By 2012, it says mobile payment will reach more than 190 million, more than 3 percent of total mobile users worldwide, attaining a level at which it will be considered "mainstream." Gartner defines a mobile payment as paying for a product or service using mobile technology such as a short message service (SMS), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), and Near Field Communication (NFC). It includes transactions that use cash, bank accounts or debit and credit cards, as well as non-carrier stored value accounts, such as travel cards, gift cards or PayPal. It does not include transactions that use mobile operators' billing systems, such as purchase of mobile content or telebanking by mobile to the service center via an interactive voice response (IVR) system. Source The bottom line: Although the definition of mobile payment is ambiguous here, these figures demonstrate that the mass market is slowly growing confident in using their mobile to pay for and transfer money. Much effort has been made to foster consumer confidence in the micropayment mobile payment space, and the adoption of mobile banking technologies still varies drastically from region to region. There are regulatory and security challenges to overcome, particularly with the emergence of NFC technologies, but these figures give strong reason for hope. *** SPEECH APPLICATIONS ARE TO TRIPLE by 2014 according to a new Datamonitor report. The report claims that as we get used to using mobile computing devices in 'hands-busy', 'eyes-busy' environments, speech recognition technologies are expected to gain considerable traction. The global market for advanced

Fresh from Mobile World Congress (MWC), and energized with ideas, insights, and a slew of exclusive interviews. I'm also inspired by the positive response to the Netsize Guide 2009, a comprehensive mobile almanac I wrote that has already been downloaded a whopping 2,000+ times since it formally launched last Tuesday during MWC. Some of you twittered that you had difficulty downloading the 360-page tome, but those issues have since been resolved. It seems that no one expected so many people to access the guide over such a short period of time. Another surprise, numerous requests during the launch party for me to autograph copies. We captured it all on film as the MSG team - coordinated by our own Stuart Willett - was on-location conducting interviews with a who's who of attendees including Blinck, Irdeto, T-Mobile Hungary, Universal McCann, Velti, YouTube, and Zed. A special treat for me: Connecting with Thomas Husson, Forrester Senior Analyst, and a colleague whom I highly respect.