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Worldwide mobile messaging volume increased close to 10 percent in the third quarter according to Internet infrastructure services provider VeriSign, which notes the period also witnessed the emergence of several new trends including messaging initiatives tied to social and political change and marketing, mobile messaging for charitable donations and a significant growth in mobile messaging by enterprises and financial institutions. In all, VeriSign's mobile messaging networks enabled more than 58.3 billion messages in Q3, up from 52 billion in the previous quarter . VeriSign facilitated an average of 634 million messages per day during the third quarter, compared to 572 million messages per day the previous quarter and 280 million messages per day in Q3 2007. VeriSign adds it remains on track to enable close to 200 billion total messages during 2008, which equates to operator revenues of more than $7 billion. From Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, VeriSign's combined mobile messaging networks delivered 153 billion total messages, representing a 142 percent increase year-over-year and on pace to more than double last year's total of 95.9 billion mobile messages. In addition, on Sept. 5 VeriSign posted a single-day record by enabling 702 million texts over a 24-hour period and a one-hour record of 48 million messages. The firm attributes the surge in part to growing interest from enterprises and financial institutions: From Q3 2007 to Q3 2008, the total volume of messages rose from 129 to 227 million, a 115 percent jump. In addition, VeriSign's Mobile Banking platform enjoyed a 35 percent increase in messaging traffic from the second quarter of 2008 to the third quarter. Person-to-Person/Application-to-Person messages like news alerts, ringtones, promotional video clips and enterprise messages also grew from approximately 572 million messages in Q2 2008 to about 634 million messages in Q3, an increase of nearly 10 percent. For more on VeriSign's Q3 messaging...

Although more than 67 percent of mobile subscribers under the age of 30 use text messaging services, 29 percent of under-30 consumers also desire the ability to send and receive email via wireless device according to a new customer research from Sprint. The operator also reports 55 percent of subscribers under 30 (the largest demographic in terms of text messaging and photo sharing use) currently use mobile email services, a percentage that's more than tripled since 2006. Sprint adds that more than half of survey respondents under 30 believe mobile email capabilities help or would help them stay in touch with friends and family--40 percent of subscribers age 30 and below agree mobile email alternatives do help or would help them accomplish more each day. The mobile user experience nevertheless remains a huge stumbling block to mobile email adoption, Sprint concludes. "While people clearly understand the value of having email access on their mobile device, we've found they also perceive it as one of the most difficult functions to use," said Sprint senior vice president of retail Kim Dixon in a prepared statement. "In fact, nearly one in four respondents (22 percent) across all groups said they have never tried to activate their phone's email capability because it was too difficult' to figure out. Most surprising, however, is that the youngest age group, 18-24, which we typically assume is the most tech-savvy, was twice as likely as someone over 30 to have tried to activate the email function on their mobile phone but couldn't successfully complete the task." For more on the Sprint mobile email survey: - read this release Related articles: Forecast: Messaging revenues to rise despite economic slump Study: Users addicted to mobile messaging

Mobile messaging traffic experienced an unprecedented surge Tuesday evening in the 10 minutes immediately following the official confirmation of Barack Obama's election as U.S. president, according to mobile messaging and content management firm Sybase 365. The volume of mobile messages grew to three times the average between 11 p.m. and 11:10 p.m. EST Tuesday--in addition, SMS traffic between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m . EST increased 9 percent compared to the same hour a day earlier. According to Sybase 365, U.S. subscribers transmitted more than 1.2 billion text messages between 7 p.m. and midnight EST Tuesday, coinciding with the close of polling stations across the nation. In total, the number of text messages sent Tuesday was about 10 percent higher than the previous day. For more on the election night SMS surge: - read this release Related articles: Obama mobile content outsells McCain 9-to-1 Obama dominates mobile web searches Obama wins Virgin Mobile USA text poll

Concurrent with the announcement that it will cut hundreds of jobs, reorganize its Nokia Research Center and shutter its Turku, Finland office, handset giant Nokia said it will introduce a range of affordable mobile devices and new web services targeting consumers in emerging markets. Citing demand based on customer feedback, Nokia said it will initially focus on email, agriculture and education: Mail on Ovi, enabled on Nokia Series 40 devices, offers users email accounts directly on the mobile phone sans PC access. Mail on Ovi trials will launch in select markets by the end of November, with a global rollout planned across all currently shipping Nokia Series 40 devices by the end of 2008. Nokia will also introduce Nokia Life Tools, a series of agriculture information and education applications created especially for rural and small town communities in emerging markets. The services boast an icon-based, graphically rich user interface complete with tables that can display information simultaneously in two languages. Nokia adds that related SMS-based services will guarantee Life Tools services work anywhere within network range, without the complexities of additional settings or the need for GPRS coverage. Nokia plans to launch the service in the first half of 2009. In addition, Nokia announced the launch of seven new budget-priced mobile phones, including the Nokia 7100 Supernova and the Nokia 5130 XpressMusic. For more on Nokia's emerging markets efforts: - read this release Related articles: Nokia adds advertising to MOSH Nokia launches mobile TV channel Ghostwire wins Nokia 's Mobile Games Innovation Challenge

The Mobile Marketing Association has released an updated version of its global Mobile Advertising Guidelines, first released in April. The guidelines provide a roadmap for mobile advertising initiatives and offer suggestions for a variety of mobile media channels including the web, mobile messaging, downloadable applications and video. In particular, the guidelines offer recommendations for automatic resizing of mobile Web banners and updated suggestions for multimedia messaging, mobile video and mobile TV. Laura Marriott, president of the MMA, told FierceMobileContent in an interview yesterday that these guidelines are designed to create a simplified system for brands and agencies and will continue to be updated every six months. In other MMA news, Marriott said that the association is responding to the recent revelation Verizon Wireless and other operators may start charging a 3-cent fee for all mobile terminated messages delivered across its network. Marriott said the MMA is going to assess the business models of the various players--carriers, aggregators, content providers--and look at ways to ensure this is a healthy industry. Marriott, who announced in June she was resigning from the association this year, also said the MMA will be shuttering its Denver office and will be operating primarily out of its New York office, where the majority of its staff currently is located. For more: See this release Related articles: MMA releases Mobile Advertising Guidelines MMA president Laura Marriott to resign

Google introduced Gmail for mobile 2.0, promising faster, more reliable email services across J2ME and BlackBerry devices including the Nokia N95, Sony Ericsson W910i and BlackBerry Curve. According to the Google Mobile Blog, Gmail for mobile 2.0 boasts a completely rearchitected client that pushes all processing chores to the background, improving the client-side caching scheme--the new version enables users to access multiple Gmail or Google Apps email accounts from the same application as well as save multiple mobile email drafts. Improved offline support means users may also compose and read emails even out of network coverage range, with any outgoing messages saved in the outbox for automatic transmission when the signal is restored. Google also introduced new shortcut keys for devices with Qwerty keyboards. The web services giant adds that Gmail for mobile 2.0 is available in 35 languages. For more on Gmail for mobile 2.0: - read this Google Mobile Blog entry and check out this demo video Related articles: Google developing mobile ad network for iPhone Google continues to dominate mobile search