Adoption of mobile VoIP phones to rocket

Take up of mobileIP telephony solutions could soar in 2010 as the year is anticipated to be a big one for mobile application downloads.

Technology market research company ABI Research has forecast that six billion mobile applications will be downloaded in 2010, up from around 2.4 billion in 2009.

This rise will be driven by speedy smartphone uptake and the growing range of applications stores available - both factors that could make mobile VoIP solutions more accessible.

The arrival of two new smartphone platforms later this year - Samsung's Bada OS and Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Series - is also expected to bolster mobile application downloads.

These platforms are expected to market themselves via the range of applications available from their own application stores, echoing the model used by Apple's iPhone.

The iPhone is still the leading application platform, according to Bhavya Khanna, wireless research associate at ABI Research, with other platforms "still playing catch-up" - Google's Android is "the fastest gainer".

By 2012, mobile applications such as those that emulate VoIP phones will be generating more income than CDs, apps store GetJar said recently.