Carnival of the Mobilists

This week the Carnival comes via the personal blog belonging to Terence Eden, mobile enthusiast and Vodafone manager. COM #212 features a broad mix of posts, ranging from a new VOIP white paper available for download to the definitive list of mobile’s top 25 giants. What is high on the mobile agenda? Read on and find out!

Among the highlights:

• Tomi Ahonen connects the dots and adds up the revenues to provide us with an “Ahonen Index” that lists these giants (ranked according to the amount of money they make in mobile only).

• Over at MobHappy Russell Buckley provides us with an in-depth look at Mob4Hire and their unique app testing service that taps the wisdom of crowds.
• Holly Kolman at MobiEnthusiast.mobi – a blog for mobile website owners, developers, marketers and end-users – looks at the recent acquisition of .mobi by Affilias.
• An excellent and insightful post from esteemed colleague John Puterbaugh (also Nellymoser Founder & CEO) sheds important light on the emergence of an app ecosystem and what it means for major players – and the rest of us.

The inimitable Tomi Ahonen (turned Wayne’s World J) gets us into party-mode when he hosts COM #211 at Communities Dominate Brands. The line-up of topics is almost exciting as the Mobile World Congress taking place as we speak.

Among the posts you shouldn’t miss:

• Dennis Bournique at WAP Review reviews the Opera Mini browser and asks why many developers/designers appear to be ignorant of its reach and impact.
• Over at Open Gardens Ajit Jaokar walks us through a scenario where Twitter could indeed be the platform that connects everyone and everything everywhere.
• A thought-provoking post from Francisco Kattan explains Dynamic Cell ID and ways operators might use dynamic Cell-ID to stop Google from “stealing” their location data.
• Russell Buckley over at MobHappy uses a great new video about the downside of Augmented Reality (AR) to make a meaningful case for serious guidelines.
• MSG uses the opportunity to showcase a recent column contribution from Antti Ohrling, Co-Founder of Blyk, the messaging media that works with mobile operators to link young people with brands and other stuff they like. Read on and find out why Tomi made this his pick of the week!

Martin Wilson over at Indigo 102 hosts the Carnival for the first time. Martin’s summary (one of the best written I’ve seen) expertly outlines the posts and their key takeaways. From mobile metrics in the UK to Alcatel Lucent’s developer platform to Nokia’s smart move – it’s all at COM #210.

Among the highlights:

• Tomi Ahonen is back with more stats and more energy (and perhaps more coffee J). His post includes a breakdown of market share according to handset maker, as well as operating systems.
• Mobile strategist and esteemed colleague Carl Martin cuts through some of the mobile hype and urges us to get the basics right FIRST.
• Mark Westling of Sigma makes a strong case for involving the operators and asks why more mobile operators aren’t in on the action.

What are the hot topics in mobile this week? Read on and find out!

Many thanks to Dennis Bournique at WAP Review for jumping in to host COM #209. He had a flood of submissions – including a post from a Carnival newcomer (always welcome!). Here are some good reasons to go back and check it out. From new white papers to a look at the iPad launch to MiFi to a hot-off-the-presses app attitude survey – it’s all here.

Among the highlights:

• Michael Mace (post of the week!) asks whether Apple might really after Microsoft and the PC market.
• Over at Mobile Mandala Mark Jaffe uses convincing stats to show why mobile and media companies need to work together.
• James Coops at Mjelly takes the wraps of his new venture ap(p)tly titled Mobyaffiliates. No pun intended.