The Mobile 30

23 September 2009

Photo credit: Anthony Geernaert

It’s hard not to notice that internet-capable smartphones have become incredibly popular. But you may not know about the diverse range of business opportunities they represent or the large number of Australian companies leading the world in creating innovative mobile applications.

The mobile internet provides myriad opportunities for small companies.

It starts with making your site more friendly to customers using mobile devices and ends with entirely new business models based around mobile advertising, information, transactions and location-based services.

We spoke to mobile industry associations, device vendors, telcos and technology gurus, to come up with this list of the 30 hottest Australian mobile internet companies. You’ll meet 30 innovative Australian small businesses (OK, a couple aren’t that small) achieving huge things in the mobile space.

The categories are:

Directory and social. Need to find it in a hurry? Want to know what everyone else thinks about it? These applications combine the crowdsourcing power of social networks with the location-based advantage of a mobile device with a built-in GPS device. With all this data at your fingertips immediately, you’ll never be stuck for suggestions for a good night out.
News, information and utilities. Definitely the most popular category in this roundup, these diverse companies represent the spectrum of Australia’s mobile talent, from one-man bands to the country’s largest digital agencies.
Games and entertainment. Let’s face it, sometimes you just want to sit down and chill out for a while, or kill some time between appointments. Developing games can be big business and Australian firms are among the world’s most innovative.
Business, productivity and mobile marketing. Imagine if your mobile device could save time instead of sucking it up. That’s the vision behind productivity applications, even if the final result isn’t always quite as imagined. Also in this category, companies using the mobile device as a business platform, to deliver advertising, marketing and other business services.
Mobilising field workers. This is where mobile becomes serious business for many Nett readers – the ability to take payments, track vehicles and mobile staff, dispatch jobs and generate invoices on the road. This can save time, travel and trouble, and provide the opportunity to get more work done, or go home early!