Bidding passes the $4.6 billion threshold

The wireless spectrum auction is reaching an interesting stage: After 18 rounds of bidding that began one week ago, bids for the “C block” of nationwide spectrum reached $4.7 billion today. This means that the FCC’s open access rules for part of the spectrum will now come into play, something Google (NSDQ: GOOG) had been pushing for.

Fellow Blogger MobHappy calls it a "Big Day for Mobile in the US" and we couldn't agree more.

We all knew Open Access was going to come, the big question has always been; When? Now, granted, this is not going to happen overnight, but the next few years are going to very exciting in the mobile space.

And to back up this point, you need to look no further than a couple of news items today involving Garmin and Dell.

Garmin (NSDQ: GRMN) announced its entrance into the mobile phone market with the nuvifone, an all-in-one, sleek and slim, touchscreen device that combines a premium phone, mobile web-browser, and cutting-edge personal navigator.

Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), on the other hand, has not made any formal announcements but they are likely building their own mobile phone as well.

The impact to you and me, of course, is as the walls come down, consumers will have a better selection of products, lower prices and increased functionality as more and more manufacturers enter the mobile space.

2008 - The Year of the Mobile Game

The Mobile Phone Blog, powered by Movaya, predicts 2008 will be the Year of the Mobile Game.

Here at the MPB, we pay close attention to the daily barrage of blog posts, industry analysis, insider rumors, and of course to our business at Movaya. And everything we know adds up to 2008 being the year that the Mobile Game busts out of the shadows and into the hand of the average American.

Some of the reasons why:

• Mobile gaming growth rate stronger than console (XBOX, PS, Wii) and handheld (think portable playstation) games; trails only casual games today (MobileIndustry article)
• Mobile game publishers are embracing off-deck solutions, as witnessed by the GLU financial statements, EA's quarterly statements and the general traction Movaya is getting from game publisher sign ups (including Capcom, Com2uS, Machineworks Northwest, PlayerX, Superscape and more).
  
• Verizon opens up: Introduces 'Any app, Any Device'. No off-deck yet, but it is on the way, and Verizon is clearly starting to think outside 'the walls'. Read more here
  
• iPhone users are proving that games matter, since 6 out of the top 10 applications used today are games (Apple iPhone Apps Countdown) - this says a lot about the usefulness of advanced devices and their ability to play games.
  
• Google releases Android, the open-source mobile OS, suggesting a future of customer-centric devices made for advanced gaming
• Overall, the mobile-game market in the United States is worth more than $675 million a year - and has grown 24 percent in the past 12 months, according to Nielsen Media Research. Some analysts expect it to double in revenue next year, thanks to shows like Top Chef Challenge that target new demographics.
• The international market is also projected to double - topping $10 billion by the end of next year, with 920 million mobile users downloading games, according to a report issued last month by Jupiter Research, a global leader in high-tech communications research.

Help Movaya make 2008 a great year in Mobile Gaming and Applications, and let us help you by making our platform better, send us your ideas for the new year: Email the team

Happy New Year Everyone.