Mobile Gaming

In the last year, the technology behind mobile gaming has made radical leaps. Developers are using the better processors of new handsets to create games that are more detailed graphically and more robust in gameplay. New interface technologies make gameplay much more natural, while compression technology facilitates easier downloads. Perhaps most exciting is the introduction of more real-time multiplayer gaming, thanks to improvements in capacity and latency of over-the-air connections. The industry is likely to be rewarded for its innovations. While mobile gaming was merely a $100 million industry in 2003, InStat/MDR expects it to grow into an industry generating $1.8 billion in 2009.

Sorrent

A game developer and publisher developed solely for wireless, Sorrent is dispelling the notions that handset games are boring, slow low-resolution counterparts to their PC equivalents. Its Fox Sports Football game, designed for BREW and Java handsets, features everything from detailed play animation to changing weather conditions.

Atrua Technologies

The buttons and interfaces on mobile phones often make dialing phone numbers difficult, much less playing games. Atrua is developing a touch-based “haptic” user interface, which converts intuitive finger movements into commands that could not only guide a small car across a tiny handset screen but could also dial a number or initiate a secure password.