The Corpse Princess has set her sights on smart phones.

The anime series of the same name is coming out on DVD September 14, and distributor FUNimation Entertainment is using the mobile advertising network iVdopia to get the word out. It’s all about engaging fans of anime, a genre of animation with roots in Japanese manga, or comics.

Something called the Viper Ad lets users swipe away an entire screen-takeover with a fingertip, unearthing the next image. With mobile social media, users will be able to share Corpse Princess videos with friends on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Fans will also be able to view multiple clips from the series on their phones.

The campaign for the DVD release of the show, titled Shikabane Hime in the original Japanese, is a natural progression for a business that has long understood–and even encouraged–fan sharing. For example, the Internet is rife with fan-translated chapters of popular manga long before they’re released in English–which copyright owners allow to remain out there, knowing that these translations increase consumers’ interest for a book’s official release. While other video content owners fear allowing copyrighted material to be viewed on mobiles, the anime/manga industry gets it.

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Spring may be when a young man’s fancy turns to love, but this summer has been when they used their cell phones to do something about it.

The mobile intelligence firm Ground Truth reports today that the number of unique visitors to mobile dating websites rose 92 percent between the first week of June and the last week of July. The mobile-optimized site Flirtomatic saw 65 percent of mobile daters for the week that ended August 8–a much bigger audience than those for online dating stalwarts eHarmony and Match.com, which ranked 17 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

While it also has a PC version of its site, Flirtomatic seems especially able to tap into the go-go-go mindset of a mobile consumer. Users can send instant messages and images to fellow networkers, in keeping with the immediate gratification afforded by the mobile platform. Meanwhile, part of its $9 million third-round funding will reportedly be used to develop a GPS feature, allowing users to “flirt” with people immediately nearby.

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A London fashion design company has created a dress that doubles as a cell phone. Or is it a phone that doubles as a dress?

Regardless, CuteCircuit hopes to corner the market on people who have much trouble answering their phones before the caller is directed to voicemail. The black, longsleeved, knee-length M-dress has a SIM card and an antenna embedded within. To answer the phone, the wearer lifts her wrist up to her ear. To hang up, she drops her arm down again.

Think of the mobile fashion merchandising possibilities! Well, there aren’t really many, at least not in the M-dress’ current form. The phone frock only allows one pre-programmed number, with no apparent keyboard or screen with which the wearer can engage in any activity other than talking. Although I’m thinking that so few people will buy these, due either to practicality or to price (it will cost the same as both a phone and a dress, the company has said), it may be easy for a clothing designer to gather all M-dress phone numbers and launch voice campaigns inviting them to, say, a trunk show or sample sale or another exclusive event.

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Mischievous Tom Sawyer got the other boys to paint a fence for him because he was able to convince them, “It’s fun!” AT&T is doing something similar while, laudably, attempting to get mobile barcodes more widely accepted by American consumers.

Today Big Blue announced AT&T Mobile Barcode Services, which works across multiple platforms. For businesses, as to be expected, there’s a code management platform to create, manage, and measure mobile barcodes campaign experiences. But more interesting is how the barcode offerings target consumers directly.

First, there’s an app that lets consumers scan 2D and 1D barcodes in print, on store signage, and at online sites, “unlocking new ways to experience the world,” as the company phrases it. Then there’s the Create-a-Code service, which allows consumes to create mobile barcodes and share them online or on printed material. When someone scans the code with a phone, he or she will be linked directly to content that the consumer placed within the code, such as websites or business cards.

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It’s a texting contest! It’s a text-message marketing campaign! Once again, handset maker LG is holding its U.S. National Texting Championship–and the competition is a study in SMS, or text-message, marketing.

The fourth annual LG U.S. National Texting Championship will test each player’s texting speed, accuracy, and dexterity when the Final Four contestants  face off for three days in mid-September in New York City. The winner gets $100,000 after proving herself/himself in challenges like typing phrases on LG handsets exactly as they appear on LG plasma screens, while distracted by blind folds, the complexity of the phrases, and marathon game play.

To get to NYC, contestants must take part in LG’s various SMS campaigns. It’s a great opportunity for LG, and other companies involved with putting on the contest, to interact with consumers while adding to their database of opt-in contacts–fueling further interaction and relations between marketer and consumer.

The phone maker has already started running commercials on MTV enticing entrants to text game-play phrases to designated short codes. During certain weeks leading up to the Final Four challenge, Wild Card participants will receive a text with a short phrase and the first person to reply with the exact phrase (spelling and punctuation count) will qualify for the Online Finals. Wild Card Week dates and times are a surprise–so hopefuls must text “LG” to 28683 to sign up for game play alerts.

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2010 is shaping up to be the year of local in all things mobile.

It’s a reality that neatly falls in line with forecasts from research firm Borrel, which state that location-based mobile spending will hit $4 billion in 2015.

Helping mobile marketers find new outlets in local markets, the big boys in mobile content are not only getting wind of the importance of all things local in mobile, they are jumping head first into these thriving territories.

Case in point: ESPN. The iconic sports brand is launch five local-based sports news and info iPhone and iPod touch applications. The markets targeted include Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Dallas, and Boston. According to ESPN, the free, ad-supported local apps will deliver timely, pertinent content related to everything from regional sports news to local writers and sports columnists.

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An interesting piece from MakeUseOf.com points to an often overlooked reality than few may have previously considered. In fact, any text-capable cell phone can now be just as reliable as a smartphone. How so? SMS-integrating services now make such a reality possible.

The article raises awareness of various options available to those with “regular cell phones.” These services “to which access is only a text message away” are designed to simplify on-the-go web activities for those who don’t have the latest, trendiest smartphones.

Posterous, for example, is a social network platform that enables the “cross-posting” of your updates across various social networking sites through a single email. Similarly, Hellotxt allows users to update better than fifty social networks from email as well.

Whether you’re sharing your status on Twitter or keeping in touch with friends via any of the gazillion social networks in existence, there are more opportunities for the low-tech cell phones in our midst than we may presently realize. To check out some of those you may have missed, visit MakeUseOf.com.