Year In Review: Search Goes Mobile by Greg Sterling, Search Engine Land (Dec 30)
iPhone has been in the United States since mid-2007 (and reached Canada in 2009).
"The big mobile story of 2009, however, is the rise of smartphone adoption and in particular the iPhone 3GS, which became the top-selling handset in the US this year. However Android also came into its own in 2009, with a massive ad campaign from Verizon on behalf of the Motorola Droid that boosted public awareness of the operating system, as well as the arrival of a dozen (or more) devices in 26 countries from more than 30 carriers."
Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft are all active in the mobile market with new services with Google leading in the search area.
Much more to come:
"We will see search evolve rapidly on mobile devices in new and interesting ways that employ voice and the camera, as well as location awareness, to deliver content and information other than through text links on a SERP. In many cases today apps take the place of a search query by delivering specialized information to the user, often combined with location (e.g., using Yelp’s app to find a nearby restaurant) — all without entering a query per se."
Also - looking forward, the next decade could be the mobile decade.
Making way for the mobile decade by Matt Hartley, Globe and Mail (May 2009)
"Web-enabled smart phones are allowing users to skip the PC experience and get access to content whenever, wherever, they want"
Has a multimedia timeline showing the evolution of the hand-held devices since the Palm Pilot in March 1996.
This was Part 5 of a series on the Download Decade that reviewed Napster, the iPod, piracy, new media, and copyright.
Posted by Gwen at December 31, 2009 07:30 PM