Recent years have brought digital communications far away from the desktop, and a growing number of users are slowly replacing immovable and chunky PC’s with their sleeker, smaller, and startlingly powerful siblings. Tablets, mobile phones, e-book readers, and other innovations will promote a constant and information-rich stream of data that surrounds every aspect of daily life, and with that data stream comes accessibility to consumers that was never before imagined.

News, information, friends, and entertainment have gained something else in common, besides being forms of information; they are instantly available in virtually any part of the globe, and they are available at any time. In the USA alone, 85% of the population owns mobile phones, with about 95% of the market aged 18-29 owning a mobile phone of some kind.

Information has always been powerful, but in a wired world it’s more true than ever before. The environment of selling has been carried over from physical locations with sales staff and inventory, to a virtual experience that is very much real, from the perspective of the user. Although this kind of interaction has been reduced to fit into the palm of the hand, online sales represent a dynamic and fast-moving thought process that requires modern approaches to addressing the needs of customers who are more savvy, less patient, and easily informed about anything, since they can simply – and instantly – research products and services, compare prices, and get opinions from friends from the same device they use to make the actual purchase.

Even the simple act of listening to music has become a channel for sales to become part of the experience. The introduction of the popular Mp3 player made it possible to bring a new level of portability to audio collections, but the evolution of the standalone player to a handheld device with Internet access makes the same device a tool for promotions of new music, and recommendations based upon the listener’s current playlist, or even their browsing history.

E-book readers have the same versatility behind them as well, with the same instantaneous market research made possible from every reader that is online. Although devices such as the Kindle and tablet computers such as the iPad are relatively new on the scene, and owned by a rather small number of Americans, they currently have one interesting characteristic: market research is already showing that the majority of users are affluent, well-educated consumers with incomes of $75,000 or more, leading many marketers to view this emerging area’s potential for making bigger sales on high-end goods.

According to forecasts, the budgets for video, display, and search ad spending on mobile platforms will increase by roughly 200% this year.

However, one thing remains the same over recent developments in technology, and that is the continued dominance of the mobile phone market. Currently, SMS is still the biggest format, with an estimated  $327 million for 2010. Predicted growth of other types of ads backed by increasing smartphone usage will contribute to new ad formats and ad networks, though. The anticipated outcome is continued dominance of the mobile phone, although for non-SMS text messaging advertising.