Recession or not, for good reason there is no shortage of innovation in the mobile media industry (e.g. iPhone 3.0, the upcoming Palm Pre). The bottom line: consumers still want more! According to recent research across the U.S. and Western Europe conducted by The Nielsen Company on behalf of Tellabs, consumers are still bullish on the use of the mobile device beyond voice calling services and plan on continuing to adopt and use mobile data services. Of the 200 million current users of advanced mobile data services across the U.S. and Europe, almost 60% intend to use mobile data services more in the next 24 months, and of the millions of non-users, more than 25% intent to adopt mobile data services in the next 24 months.

Not only are U.S. users leading in their expectation of use of the mobile internet, but also in their frequency of use. Seventy one percent of current users expect to use the mobile internet daily, if not several times a day, whereas 41% of Europeans expect to have such a high frequency of use.

What’s driving this trend is consumer’s expectation of how using mobile data services will add convenience and improve their lifestyle, and how this aligns with current capabilities of the mobile platform. Making consumer’s lives easier is the most important factor driving increased use in the U.S.

When conducting the research, we also looked at other lifestyle factors including work, entertainment and socializing. The “work” lifestyle was also a big factor in boosting use of select mobile data services in the U.S. These differences emerge even in the use of software/applications – entertainment was more of a driving factor for use in France, Germany and Spain, but was not as relevant in the U.S.

Given the current capability of the mobile platform and consumer’s current perception of how they would use it, keep your eyes on mobile marketing applications focused on convenience (shopping, coupons, and commerce) first and pure entertainment down the road.

Both stories noted that 46% of U.S. tweens use cellphones, but only 26% own them, according to Nielsen Mobile.

Instead, tweens are more likely to borrow their parents’ phones — when they go out with friends or take short trips.  The borrowing typically starts at age eight-and-a-half; by age 10 or 11, many tweens have their own phones, according to Nielsen.

Nearly all parents (92%) say they restrict their tweens’ phone usage in some way, and 68% prohibit their tweens from downloading content that incurs charges, according to Nielsen.

Still, tweens manage to use their phone for more than just talking.  About 55% of tweens who own cell phones send text messages, and 21% download ringtones.

Those are exactly the kinds of trends that interest cell phone operators.

“Our clients want to understand tweens’ attitudes and mobile behavior in the context of their daily life and media consumption,” Richard Wood, vice president, Nielsen Mobile, told CNET.

With cellular phone companies targeting more of their advertising at younger children, and parents worried about children’s safety and ability to communicate in an emergency, the upsurge in mobile phones for younger children is no surprise, the Tribune noted.

On average, each phone adds $28 to a family’s monthly cellular bill, the Tribune reported, citing data from Nielsen Mobile.

Nielsen research also suggests that children are more receptive to advertising delivered via their mobile phones, Nic Covey of Nielsen Mobile told the Tribune.

Get more “tween” mobile use information and back-to-school shopping data from Nielsen Mobile.

Ferguson argued that four essential components needed to take mobile advertising mainstream — advanced consumer devices, high-speed networks, reasonable data packages, and compelling content — are now in place, paving the way for growth. 

“In the UK, about 10 million people have recalled seeing a mobile ad; in the US, that number is almost 60 million,” Ferguson told Media Week.  “As more countries lay down the groundwork for an effective mobile advertising channel, mobile’s share of the ad-spend pie will grow.”

Ferguson’s fellow panelists mostly agreed that mobile advertising has a bright future — only Peter Markey, head of marketing at RSA, offered a dissenting opinion.

“Mobile can play a role, but it will not become a major [advertising] channel, and you won’t see clients pulling spend from radio or TV, for example, and putting it into mobile,” Markey argued.