A little over a week ago I attended a marketing and technology conference, hoping to  A) see what the competition is up to and B) maybe learn a few things. As it turns out, I got to do both. We work very hard to stay current on social media marketing, and as a rabid iPhone user I’m already quite familiar with the mobile data hog trend that’s sweeping the tech world (as is my wife, she pays the AT&T bill). What did open my eyes were some numbers presented by Famous Rhodes, Director of eBay Motors.

Some facts Famous bright to light:

• Mobile phone internet commerce is fastest growing commerce sector
  • Smart phones went from 0% to 20% of mobile market in 8 years
  • Over 100 MILLION iPhones have been sold worldwide
  • 160,000 Google phones are activated every DAY
  • By 2013, 40% of internet traffic will be mobile
  • Apple sold 1.7 million iPhone 4 models in the first weekend it went on sale
  • iTunes already has over 225,000 apps
  • Google’s Android has over 70,000 apps in less than one year

Those are BIG numbers. As a communications professional, my goal is to make sure as many qualified eyeballs as possible see my client’s message. The tough part is keeping a finger in a LOT of pies, from Facebook fan pages and YouTube video channels to forums, print PR, TV, newspapers, Twitter and more. The key to conglomerating all this info into a single channel isn’t the computer or TV like everyone predicted 20 years ago – it’s the phone. As it stands I check my email, twitter, facebook and website on my phone constantly. I think most consumers under 40 do the same.

That said, the key moving forward is to obtain an M-Commerce leadership position now, while the field is still young and growing. The video game and fashion industries have already taken a foothold, automotive is lagging behind. We have several new projects in development that will help clients put all data into a single channel available on any phone, and that’s the key to streamlining all the communication strategies into a single stream of information. Of course the info has to be fun and entertaining, otherwise what’s the point?

I’ll have more exciting news regarding these programs soon, in the meantime enjoy Pete, Roger and Keith doing their thing.

For those of you who didn’t see the cover of January’s Entrepreneur Magazine, they ran a major feature on a NYC startup called Animoto. The company is run by four friends: two software geeks, a music major and a film student.

Together they cooked up a sweet little piece of software that allows users to upload photos, pick from a pretty wide list pre-licensed music (or upload their own) and hit the GO button. Then Animoto takes over, analyzing the images and music and creating a slide show with slick transitions that match the visuals and sound. Then it gives you a code to upload to YouTube. The entire process takes about 30 seconds.

The process is pretty cool, particularly for those who don’t always want to spend time in iMovie cutting videos and would rather post a quick slide show. I did one about a car show a client sponsored just for fun. Check it out:

This was accomplished with the free version of the software. Upgrade to the Pro version (about $250) and you can use higher-resolution photo, make shows as long as you want (the free version is limited to 30 seconds) and it’s fully licensed to use commercially. Imagine the promotional possibilities for real estate agents, restaurants, photographers, even car dealers! Just upload your shots, pick some music and BAM, you’ve got a slick little video to post on your site.