This will be the big year for mobile applications, according to ABI Research, which expects downloads from app stores to more than double from 2009 and then grow more slowly through 2013.

IDC analysts on Thursday said the global chip industry will grow this year but offered one of the least optimistic industry revenue forecasts so far this year, saying the global recession remains a problem.

Despite a lagging economy that continues to drag down the market, 2010 promises to be an exciting year in mobile, analysts say.

The past two years have been exciting ones for mobility, with the dawn of netbooks, 4G communications and the first smartphones without keypads. The next two should be just as attention-grabbing, if not more so, as a slew of new technologies make workers more productive on the road.