The benefits of mobile technology are apparent in nearly all facets of society and if Software Advice's Chris Thorman's prediction proves correct, it could very well change the way real estate transactions are done as well.

Through the combination of geo-fencing, mobile phones and GPS technology, real estate and property management companies capitalize on business that may otherwise slip through the cracks. Imagine if a potential property buyer simply created an alert based on square footage, number of bedrooms, pet friendliness, special amenities, and zip code, to name just a few of the myriad of options available. All they would have to do is carry their phone with them to receive notifications that match their criteria.

While we don't suspect this unique use of mobile marketing will be installed in every real estate and property management office tomorrow, the technology all exists right now to make this happen.

To read more, check out his post on the subject by clicking here.

While we like to think that most smart phone users are involved in checking stock quotes, putting together Powerpoint presentations, and exchanging emails with the "higher ups", a new study concludes that mobile users are doing a whole lot socializing!

comScore, Inc., a company that measures activity in the digital world, released the results to its study on social networking access via mobile browsers.

The study found that 30.8 percent of smartphone users accessed social networking sites via their mobile browser in January 2010, up 8.3 points from 22.5 percent one year ago. Access to Facebook via mobile browser grew 112 percent in the past year, while Twitter experienced a 347-percent jump!

In January 2010, 25.1 million mobile users accessed Facebook via their mobile browser. MySpace attracted 11.4 million users (approximately half that of Facebook) while Twitter attracted 4.7 million mobile users in January.

Even more unbelievable is that these figures do not include access of the social networking services by the nearly 6 million mobile phone owners who do so through mobile applications.

We're not here to debate the level of annoyance coming from the ringing cell phone from across the crowded restaurant, but we do know that when it comes time to update our own, 100% free ringtones is always in style.

Users looking for the latest, hottest music to pop into their mobile phone, whatever their taste, can access free ringtones at Brinked. Their featured listings are updated weekly to include the week's top charted hits.

Best of all, they support any phone or carrier that supports media files including but not limited to Sprint, T-mobile, Verizon Wireless, ATT and iphone.

Smartphone users getting revved up for the new Windows Mobile 7 operating system may be surprised to discover that they will not be able to upgrade to the new platform- even if they're currently running Windows Mobile.

Windows Mobile 6 and the previous Mobile systems provided device makers a whole host of options, but this next version is a major departure from the previous strategies as in Microsoft is enacting some rigid hardware requirements. Requirements that just so happen to exclude every model on the market today!

So just what kind of specs are we talking here? Devices hoping to run Windows Mobile 7 will demand a capacitive multi-touch display, Wi-Fi, a 5-megapixel camera , a GPS receiver, and FM radio, and a set number and arrangement of physical buttons on the unit.

Further alienating Windows Mobile 7 from previous versions is the fact that it apparently won't run applications written for the earlier versions either.

Sometimes the wireless industry manages to pull feats that defy logic. Case in point: T-Mobile has reported a decrease in earnings, despite adding 371,000 new customers in the last quarter! To figure how in the world this is possible, T-Mobile says that it's because many of these new customers are getting involved in the lower-profit prepaid segment.

The company went on to say that it signed 488,000 prepaid customers, but lost 117,000 more-valuable contract users in the same period. Obviously this is a major concern as postpaid consumers are increasingly turning to rival providers who offer more robust data services for smartphones.

The company said its net income slid to $306 million from $483 million in the fourth quarter, with revenue dropping to $5.41 billion from $5.72 billion, due mainly to intensified price cuts in voice and text-messaging services.

T-Mobile, the fourth-largest U.S. wireless operator, owns merely 14 percent of the market, which is well behind leaders AT&T, Verizon and Sprint respectively.