• ABI Research has released a new study that predicts a new architecture based on software running in the cloud will drastically change the way mobile applications are developed, acquired and used. Calling the development “profoundly disruptive,” the firm says cloud-based applications could eclipse the current mobile application model by 2014, delivering revenue of nearly $20 billion annually by the end of that year. Most applications currently on the market run on handsets with robust computing power. The use of cloud computing would let applications run on servers instead of locally, reducing handset requirements and allowing developers to create just one version of an application.
• CTIA has announced a holiday consumer electronics contest for its CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2009 convention. The “Hot for the Holidays” awards has several different categories, including best mobile consumer application, best mobile Internet device or netbook and best camera phone. Winners will be announced during CTIA’s fall convention in San Diego, and all entries will be displayed in a showcase during the event. The submission deadline is Aug. 17.
• The Mobile Marketing Association has elected Herve Le Jouan, managing director of the comScore Census Solutions Group, to its Global Board of Directors. Le Jouan will also sit as chair on the board’s European committee.
• mKhoj, a global mobile advertising network, has released metrics for South Africa. The report indicates that Nokia made up 39 percent of network traffic, a decline from its 46 percent market share in January. Samsung currently holds 33 percent of the country’s network traffic, a rise from its 20 percent market share in January. The iPhone, a new entrant to the market, only contributes 0.06 percent of the total network traffic. Handset penetration in South Africa is over 100 percent, according to mKhoj, with Samsung and Nokia devices dominating the market. The country’s top three carriers by mobile ad impressions are MTN Group, Cell C and Vodacom.
• China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC) has chosen Bytemobile’s Unison mobile internet platform for the first phase of its nationwide effort to deliver Internet browsing on handsets over its new 3G TD-SCDMA network. CMCC has a 70 percent market share of China’s mainland wireless market, serving nearly 500 million subscribers in 31 Chinese provinces. The carrier has been a customer of Bytemobile since 2004.
• Goodman Networks, a telecommunications services company, has secured a $62 million equity investment from The Stephens Group and finalized a line of credit with financial services firm PNC. The capital will be used for Goodman Networks’ expansion efforts. As part of the transaction, Goodman Networks has named Sorrells and Jeff Fox, chief executive officer of The Circumference Group and former COO of Alltel Corporation, to its board of directors.
• Novatel Wireless has signed an agreement to distribute its personal Wi-Fi hot spot to the Mobilx reseller channel throughout Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The MiFi 2352 is equipped with internal (ROM) storage, up to 16 GB of expandable memory via MicroSD and on-board GPS capabilities. It does not require any type of installation or previously installed software and can support up to five separate devices at once.
• USA Technologies, a wireless non-cash transactions networking company, announced that the registration statement for its previously announced rights offering was declared effective on July 6 by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The deal will allow its shareholders to purchase up to an aggregate of $15,000,000 worth of new shares of common stock and warrants. The company intends to use the proceeds of the rights offering primarily to support working capital and financing for purchasers participating in the company’s Quick Start Program.