• Mobile augmented reality apps to reach 1.4B downloads by 2015: study

Mobile augmented reality apps are on a rapid rise, according to the latest report from Juniper Research, which reveals that the increased interest will lead to nearly 1.4 billion worldwide downloads by 2015.

Mobile Marketer reported in February on Juniper’s research that global revenues in the space will reach $1.5 billion by 2015. Paired with the download data, the overall findings suggest that augmented reality is gearing up to have a solid place in the mobile sphere.

“Over the past 12 months the number of handsets that have the [mobile augmented reality] enabling technologies has risen from about 8 million to just over 100 million,” said Windsor Holden, principal analyst at Juniper Research, Basingstoke, England. “So there’s a significantly bigger potential audience for application developers to aim at.”

• One Third of Adults Actively Play Games via Mobile Phone

The results of this particular study are derived from 2,425 online surveys completed in the United States and United Kingdom between January 25 and January 31, 2011.

The findings show that “smartphone” owners (the fastest-growing mobile segment) are by far the most avid consumers of mobile phone games. “These and other purchase and consumption trends identified in the survey suggest significant growth in the mobile games sector will continue for the foreseeable future,” PopCap Games revealed.

Overall, more than half (52%) of the 2,425 survey respondents said they had played a game on a mobile phone at some time in the past; 73% of U.K. respondents said they had played a mobile phone game at least once, compared to 44% of U.S. residents surveyed.

• Miami Dolphins and Txtstation Mobile Marketing Announce Partnership 

The Miami Dolphins and Txtstation Mobile Marketing have announced an innovative partnership for the upcoming 2011-12 football season designed to help the team foster closer relationships with their fanbase by harnessing the instant interaction that mobile marketing provides. The comprehensive campaign involves a dedicated vanity short code exclusive to the Dolphins, in-stadium graphics and mobile tactics, online interaction and a variety of mobile text clubs for ongoing communication.

"Our fans are incredibly tech savvy and always thirsty for new and unique content. Our partnership with Txtstation will allow us to reach our fans through their most personal device, their cell phones," said Wayne Partello, Senior Director of Content and Creative with the Miami Dolphins. "We're ecstatic that our fans will have the opportunity to engage in a two-way dialogue with us. They can now send us messages in addition to receiving the instant news, offers and videos we have offered in the past." 

• Pharmacy vending machine offers location-based specials through Foursquare

With nine vending machines in three Swedish cities, Green Cross sells a wide variety of non-prescription goods, from aspirin to condoms. Aiming to increase awareness of its offerings, the company just launched what may well be the world’s first Foursquare special for a vending machine. Specifically, when users check into a location on Foursquare that's near a Green Cross machine, they automatically get alerted to any specials that are currently available there.