FierceMobileContent started its Top Application Awards last year.  Within a year, the industry has shifted from entertainment to content creation to social networking, shopping and searching.

Here’s your 5-minute capsule of the 2007 winners:

1. 3jam SMS 2.0

3jam SMS 2.0 application allows you multi-party text messaging at the same time.  Funded by NEA, Andy Jagoe and Enlai Chu started this venture (3jam) in 2005.  Recently, they partnered with Virgin Mobile to access their 4.8 million young users.  You can also send text messages to your friends from Facebook, using the 3jam Facebook app.  A list of their competitors is here.

2. Anthem

This is a mobile social networking platform from Intercasting Corp.  It provides access to multiple social networking sites through a simple interface to mobile customers.  Founded by Shawn Conahan and Derrick Oien, it received its Series B funding ($12 million) from Venrock, Avalon and Masthead.  The company was also selected by AlwaysOn as an AO100 Top Private Company Award winner in July 2007.  It has signed on deals with Sprint and Virgin Mobile USA.

3. Digby

Digby is a mobile shopping service from 30 Second Software for BlackBerry users.  It provides access to over a million products from many top vendors.  Relying on the approach that a mobile user should complete his/her shopping transaction within 30 seconds or less, it has a flourishing base for its free service.

4. ESPN MVP

This is a mobile sports news, video and fantasy application from ESPN, available only to Verizon customers.  It also provides the ESPN Mobile TV - a 24 hour V Cast channel for sports junkies.  Gizmodo calls it “.. not too shabby ..”.  It costs $15 and does not offer smartphone or roaming support.

5. Fast Flirting

As implied, this application is a combo of speed dating, online matchmaking in the mobile world in 10 minutes.  It is available across 22 cariiers in US, UK, Australia/NZ and Canada.  Jumbuck Entertainment, the (public) company behind this app, is headquartered in Australa.  It also offers chat and gaming services.

6. GetMobio

Mobio Networks offers the GetMobio Lifestyle portal, which is a mishmash of more than 50 widgets and applications ranging from map service, entertainment guide and RSS feeders.  Perhaps the most useful app to prep your attention is to find the cheapest gas in your vicinity.  It was founded by Ramneek Bhasin in 2005 and has so far raised $10.6 Million in VC money.

7. Live Search

Microsoft acquired Tellme Networks in Mar 2007.  Now, they have rolled out the mobile Live Search with Sprint to help subscribers access to national directory and voice-enabled mobile search services.  Of course, phones with Windows Mobile get more bang for the buck (actually, this is a free service), in terms of more localized information such as show timings, traffic conditions, etc.

8. MC Notify

MC Notify is an application from Mobile Campus that connects university students to the people, information, content and offers that matter most to them while providing universities with real-time, interactive access to their students via text messaging.  Through an opt-in service, students can also get advertisements and coupons from various big names.  More than a dozen universities have signed up to become part of this offering.

9. MyCorner

MyCorner is a free mobile User Generated Content solution that makes it the YouTube of mobile world.  It is offered by Nexage a Seattle based wireless and multimedia software and services company focused on developing and implementing Mobile Video Solutions.  PhoneCast allows content providers and media companies to post video on mobile sites. Though that service, Nexage created a click-to-video mobile advertising solution.

10. ZenZui 

This is a mobile browsing app (Zen + Zooming User Interface) that gives you an interactive UI, allowing users to zoom in, out and across mobile-optimized versions of popular web sites and services.   Coming out of Microsoft Research, ZenZui the company was announced in March of 2007.

Lightreading is reporting that wireless funding has soared in September.  The latest report from Rutberg & Co has revealed that $690.0 million has been invested which bodes well for this sector. 

Some important points are:

• $41 million for rural broadband transport carrier Conterra Ultra Broadband from DukeNet Communications
• $36.8 million for yoof-focused operator kajeet Inc which offers a pay-as-you-go mobile service for kids.
• $19.5 million for mobile entertainment startup Twistbox from undisclosed investors.
• $15 million from Accel Partners and others for WiMax service gateway play WiChorus Inc
• 15 companies which receiving funding totaling $153 million, are developing products and services around mobile devices.
• Handango got the biggest single chunk, followed by the $25 million that Air2Web got for its mobile-marketing work.

Further Reading:

Lightreading: September Funding Flows Toward Mobile
Lightreading: Wireless Funding Soars in September

Google is on track to launch Gphone as per the digitimes market rumors. Google is most likely to launch its own OS for the Gphone, in contrast to the popular mobile phone OSes in the marketplace which are Symbian and Windows Mobile. Apple has opted the custom route as well launching iPhone with its own custom OS and controlling all aspects of user experience.

Here are the things to keep in mind for coming Gphone:

1. Google launches Gphone with custom OS, and also makes Gphone OS available to mobile handset and mobile device providers.

2. Google decides not to use inferior 2.5G (Edge) technology to Gphone (unlike iPhone) and ships 3G, this will instantly put Apple under pressure and will make Gphone a superior product winning over customers.

3. A 3G phone will take longer to develop and launch and will likely push the launch of the Gphone into 2008.

Further Reading: Gphone rumors at Mashable

Apple will introduce 3G version of iPhone in 2008 (pocket-lint report), though we do not know what time to expect the new iphone next year.

As per Stuart Miles of Pocket-lint site:

Making the comments at the “Mum is no longer the word” press conference at the Regent Street Apple store in London, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple said: “You can expect a 3G iPhone later next year”.

David Berlind at ZDNet says:

If the report is true, this could be worse news for Apple given that the price drop had to have come so soon to stimulate demand. There’s nothing that kills demand for the current generation of a product like an announcement that the next generation won’t be stillborn with obsolete networking technology the way the currently available generation was. Even if the report of Jobs saying this isn’t true, my guess is that a 3G iPhone in 2008 is pretty much a sure bet.

Currently the iPhone available in US is crippled 2.5G (Edge). Apple has cited the currently available power hungry 3G chips as reason to stick with power efficient 2.5G chips. Apple had also recently alienated iPhone early adopters and fans by dropping the price of iPhone by $200 in a few weeks after the launch, though later they announced $100 back in form of Apple store credit.

See also: Coverage at Mashable , The Street and Yahoo Tech

In his post, the always interesting Paul Golding asked the question “Is personalization that important?” especially in the mobile sector.

In my opinion, Personalization is a vital part of this equation.

Personalization of mobile devices allows the creation of a unique user experience and a user-statement. Padmashree Warrior (Motorola) stated this as:

… user expectations in the mobile world revolve around Personalization, Mobilization and Socialization. Personalization is about reducing digital clutter, and making a world of exploding digital content increasingly relevant to you. Tomorrow’s personalization engines need to learn your preference and work with location and presence to deliver an experience tailored to you.

I think Personalization goes beyond that. It transcends the device, to include user-interaction, content, context and services. Device makers, service providers and the customers need to realize that they are part of a learning, adapting and evolving ecosystem. In such a system, the user should not only be able to customize, choose, create, distribute and control content, but this entire process, should in itself create additional value. When done correctly, everybody in the food chain gets a slice of this additional revenue.

Ringtones are one of the simplest examples that come to mind. They are a rage in Asia and Europe and catching up here. Third-party moblogging, location and presence based services focus on the ‘context’ aspect. This is the ‘Who Effect’ that Tony Fish referred to in his illuminating post.

To do this correctly, an open standards based approach has to be agreed upon and followed by all the stakeholders. Organizations such as W3C, Open Mobile Alliance and 3GPP have still a long way to go before Personalization standards are in place.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia’s chief executive has said, “Devices alone are not enough anymore. Consumers want a complete experience.”

Steve jobs just announced the availability of new iPod Touch. In fact the whole iPod product line is refreshed. The new introductions are iPod Nano (fatty!) -Video for everybody on a small 2” QVGA screen with new UI. A slightly thicker iPod with 160GB capacity is now available for $349 allowing you to carry 40,000 songs in your pocket.

For the iPhone lovers, the new iPod Touch is only 8 mm thick, with the same touch screen functionality of iPhone. Think of it as iPhone - phone, and a lot thinner. Wi-Fi has been missing in the iPod line-up for a long time, iPod Touch brings this much wanted feature to the iPod fans along with the very familiar Safari Browser, but no built-in speakers. Now you can watch your favorite YouTube videos while on the move.

With the built in browser in iPod Touch, now you don’t need to be at a computer to buy music. Now you can directly browse the iTunes store customized for Wi-Fi access using iPod Touch and preview or buy music to your hearts content. This new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store will also be available via iPhone.

Apple is offering some interesting Wi-Fi and music mash-ups. One of the official mash-up feature is Starbucks Music integration through Wi-Fi. So next time you are getting your cup of Latte and like the music which is playing at Starbucks, with a dedicated button on your iPod Touch you can now buy that track instantly from iTunes store. In case you want to buy this track latter, your iPod Touch remembers the track which was playing when you visited Starbucks. We expect lot of open source hacks and applications in coming days from the creative folks.

This is great as Apple is making music more discoverable and tapping into the long tail of the market. What better place to sell music when customer is ready to buy it. True Web 2.0 customer experience and integration - When you want it - how you want it. Starbucks has 5800 WiFi enable stores nationwide, all of which allow free Wi-Fi access to iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store by 2009 in a phased roll-out plan.

My guess is that iPod Touch is going to become new status symbol however storage capacity offered is tiny as compared to normal iPod line-up. Probably apple is betting that the folks would use iPod Touch mostly for consuming online content through Wi-Fi. iPod Touch’s pricing is way too high for it to become a mass market product - you have to shell out $299 for 8GB version and $399 for 16GB version. This may be due to the expensive touch screen parts, but we may expect price drop or more capacity from Apple in next 4 to 6 months.

For more detailed live coverage of todays iPod Touch Launch, head over to Engadget.

Crunchgear is also covering the event live.

Update 1:

Zoli makes an interesting point, “iPhone without AT&T baggage”

And Dave Winer is not impressed

Jaiku is the leader of the Micro-blogging pack: ‘The Presence Messenger’. Jaiku says that its “main goal is to bring people closer together by enabling them to share their presence. Jaiku is a phone book that lets you share your real-time rich presence from the phone”. The shared short messages are called Jaikus.

Though Jaiku was the first to allow threaded comments, there are still some rough edges. As of now, you cannot comment on somebody’s Jaiku through the mobile phone. Jaiku only allows short text messages, limiting the message length to 140 characters; so the funny part is that the comments can be longer than the post.

Of the two Jaiku founders, Jyri Engestrom and Petteri Koponen, Jyri worked at Nokia as a Senior Product Manager and brings Sociology background to the team while Petteri focuses on Bizdev and core technology. High profile Jaiku converts from Twitter include celebrities like Leo Laporte.

Jaiku believes in a federated model. For example, I can import my Twitter on Jaiku. Like Facebook - Jaiku and Twitter have both opened up the API, while Pownce is working on announcing their official API.

You can find my previous post on Twitter here. More on micro blogging in my next post.

Further Reading:

Marko Ahtisaari does a great job to convince you why he uses Jaiku
Duncan Riley makes a case for switching from Twitter to Jaiku
Kristen Nicole announces the iPhone version of Jaiku on Mashable
Robert Scoble interviews the Jaiku team in this interesting video
Emily Turrettini’s announces the start of Jaiku service on her blog

Update 1:

Here is another good post comparing mini blogging solutions

I read this morning on Read/writeweb that Yahoo has released its Ajax version of the Yahoo Mail, and it is no more beta.

One of the coolest feature is the ability to send and receive SMS messages to any phone number directly from email interface. You enjoy unlimited storage and integrated Instant Messaging in Yahoo Mail, but you still have to shell out money if you want to enjoy email forwarding and pop access. I

Om Malik points out that globally 3 trillion SMS messages are sent by mobile users, and unlike email for which you need a computer or a terminal to access your account, any mobile user can send and receive SMS messages, bringing social equilibrium and breaking class barrier.

The popularity of SMS parallels that of email: It is simple, easy and doesn’t need any expensive gear to send or receive. Like email, it is socialist in its usage — a cheap $50 phone can send and receive SMS messages from a luxury model, Nokia N95 and even more snobbish iPhone.

Gmail however still remains Techcrunch’s favorite, even though Yahoo is offering unlimited storage for email and Gmail charges beyond a certain point. Read Mike’s thorough writeup here.