Juniper has raised the bar on expectations for in-game purchase revenues via smartphones during the next four years.

A new report from the venerable research firm finds that a growing user acceptance of in-game purchases and a sharp rise in smartphone adoption will push sales of in-game items from $2.1 billion in 2011 to $4.8 billion in 2016.

The report also shows that as users became accustomed to the freemium model, particularly purchasing in-game items, the proportion of gamers who purchase these items will increase. This will be most apparent in the Social & Casual genre in which users are increasingly expecting entertaining and immersive gameplay from free or low cost games.

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On Tuesday, Millennial Media published its latest Mobile Mix Report which indicates that little has changed in the smartphone landscape since the latest report was issued.

Once again in October, Android topped Millennial Media’s usage share charts (as it has for eleven straight months) as the smartphone platform landscape remained largely unchanged. All told, Millennial Media’s mobile ad network served 56% of impressions to Android devices, 28% to iOS devices and 13% to BlackBerrys in October – identical to the data we’ve seen since late September.

Apple remained the leading manufacturer on the platform, and the iPhone remained the leading mobile phone. Android remained the top OS when combining Smartphone & Connected Device impressions.

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According to the latest data presented by research firm Gartner, worldwide sales of mobile devices in the third quarter of 2011 totaled 440.5 million units.

That figure represents a 5.6 percent spike from the same period last year.

In addition to the continuing growth of smartphone adoption, non-smartphone devices also performed well, driven by demand in emerging markets for low-cost devices from white-box manufacturers, and for dual-subscriber identity module (SIM) devices.

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New smartphone data out from Nielsen details the effect of no summer iPhone announcement on smartphone sales.

According to the data, Android devices outsold iPhone a full 2 to 1 this summer, and in total, 56% of all smartphones sold since June have been Android.  Among Nielsen’s sample of 25,000 mobile phone owners, 43% have Android devices.  Meanwhile, 28% of people who bought a smartphone in the last three months purchased an iPhone, which is consistent with the overall market share of iPhones.  Eighteen percent of respondents have a BlackBerry, although only 9% bought one in the last three months.

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Embattled mobile content services firm Motricity is looking at possible exit strategies following a string of legal issues and executive leadership shakeups that have forced the once successful mobile company into a tailspin.

The company announced recently that it had secured a $20M loan with High River Limited Partnership, a venture capital firm owned by Carl Icahn, who also owns approximately 14.6 percent of Motricity.  The company is quickly trying to rebuild itself following several lawsuits and an $11M insider trading scheme perpetrated by former CEO Ryan Wuerch and other senior executives.

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It’s a new milestone for smartphone penetration in the United States, according to the latest statistics on smartphone usage released by Nielsen.

40% of mobile consumers over 18 in the United States now have smartphones, according to July 2011 data. And Nielsen stats show that this swelling percentage is, indeed, continuing to grow on a day-by-day basis.

Android is the most popular operating system for now, with 40 percent of mobile consumers reporting they have a smartphone with an Android OS. Apple’s iOS is in second place, with 28 percent. Among those who say they are likely to get a new smartphone in the next year, approximately one third say they want their next smartphone to be an iPhone and one third say they want an Android device.

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On Monday, Samsung Electronics announced the launch of ChatON, a free mobile communication service that allows users to communicate directly and immediately with any mobile phone.

ChatON is billed as Samsung’s global mobile communication service that works across all major smartphone and feature phone platforms.

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