ReadWriteWeb

This week ReadWriteWeb is running a series of posts analyzing the five biggest Web trends of 2009. So far we've explored these trends: Structured Data, The Real-Time Web, Personalization. The fourth part of our series is on Mobile Web. We're including Augmented Reality in this category, as we think it's a key element of where the Mobile Web is heading circa 2009.

In April we reported statistics from browser company Opera showing large growth on the Mobile Web. According to Opera, there was a 157% increase in usage of their Opera Mini web browser from March 2008 to March 2009. What's driving that growth is devices like the iPhone, new mobile operating systems like Android, and hot applications like Augmented Reality.

Earlier this week, electronics retailer Best Buy announced a new mobile backup service called mIQ. Designed to compete with similar services like Apple's MobileMe or Microsoft's My Phone, mIQ offers up to 1 GB of storage space in the cloud for photos, video, contact and calendar information, SMS messages, and more. However, unlike its competitors, mIQ has a couple of distinct advantages: it's 100% free and anyone can sign up to use it.

GetJar, a large cross-platform mobile application store, has today launched a new service called the "App Download Page." Designed for companies distributing mobile applications, this page is essentially a mobile-ready web page which automatically detects the make and model of a website visitor's mobile phone in order to identify the correct version of the mobile app they had wanted to download. This makes mobile downloads much easier on consumers who no longer have to try and remember their phone's model number when looking through a download list - the identification is automatic. All the user has to do is click a link.

InMobi, which is the largest mobile ad network in Asia, Africa, and Indonesia, just released some interesting data regarding mobile web usage which shows that RIM's BlackBerry is leading the pack ahead of Apple's iPhone in Indonesia. Indonesia is one of the world's fastest growing mobile consumer markets and will become the third largest mobile market by 2010. Apple, however, is currently losing the race against BlackBerry in this market. While InMobi saw requests from BlackBerry devices increase by 842% in the first half of 2009, requests from iPhones only increased by 205%.

If you're a smart shopper (and these days, who isn't?), then you probably check the weekly circular for deals and clip out coupons so you can save at the store. Or maybe your coupons arrive digitally, through emails and text messages. But wouldn't it be better if your phone itself could function as the coupon? That's the promise of MoLo Rewards, a wireless coupon application which lets you scan your phone at the point of sale to instantly redeem all your coupons or loyalty rewards using either Near Field Communication (NFC) or Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

Adobe just announced the launch of Flash Platform Services for Distribution. These new services will allow developers to make their applications more sharable on a variety of platforms, including a wide range of mobile devices. Adobe will give developers the ability to enable their users to embed applications on over 70 destination sites. In order to provide this service, Adobe has partnered with Gigya, a company that already has a lot of experience in giving publishers the ability to make their content sharable through social widgets.

This week ReadWriteWeb is running a series of posts analyzing the 5 biggest Web trends of 2009. So far we've explored these trends: Structured Data, The Real-Time Web, Personalization. The fourth part of our series is on Mobile Web. We're including Augmented Reality in this category, as we think it's a key element of where the Mobile Web is heading circa 2009.

In April we reported statistics from browser company Opera showing large growth on the Mobile Web. According to Opera, there was a 157% increase in usage of their Opera Mini web browser from March 2008 to March 2009. What's driving that growth is devices like the iPhone, new mobile operating systems like Android, and hot applications like Augmented Reality.

Google today announced that Google Maps can now display live traffic data for more roads. Until now, Google only showed data from major highways. That data came directly from local highway authorities, but now, Google will also tap into data it receives from GPS-enabled phones that use Google Maps with the My Location feature. As users move around a city, Google can see how well traffic is flowing along any road and will update its live traffic data accordingly.

Mobile analyst firm MSearchGroove has just published the results of a series of tests which show that the mobile search service ChaCha beat out two other voice-enabled search applications on the iPhone when it comes to search query accuracy. [Update, Ed: a commenter points out that the report was actually sponsored by ChaCha] To test this, the researchers used Google's own mobile application and Vlingo for iPhone, an app that lets you search both Google or Yahoo. Oddly, they ignored Yahoo's mobile app, which also has voice search built in.

The results of their study aren't entirely shocking: if you want to be understood, ask a human, not a computer.

Mobile startup Aloqa launched earlier this week at the MobileBeat conference, revealing their innovative interface for location-aware search. Their new application proactively seeks out nearby businesses, services, events, and even Facebook friends and presents them to you in a colorful yet streamlined interface. The app essentially lists everything that's nearby - with no need for you to perform map-based searches or launch a browser. Instead, all you have to do is look at your phone.