Summer has arrived, it’s time for fun!

First stop, the Webby Awards, the International Oscars for the Internet world.  Take a peek at winners Wario Land Shake It and Apple’s iPod Touch online commercial.  Clearly, the Internet is shaking things up.

Forrester Research would agree - the firm recently predicted that Interactive Marketing is set to grow 11% to $25.6 Billion in 2009 and hit $55 Billion by 2014.  All this, at the expense of offline marketing - with direct mail and print being hit hardest.

Forrester’s forecast describes the ‘interactive marketing’ world - most are Internet-enabled technologies; however mobile marketing is at the top of the chart.  We’re so programmed to think of the internet as computer-based, however that is rapidly changing.  At the Webby Awards, ‘mobile’ is one of the four major categories of awards.  They aptly describe it as the ‘next big Internet frontier.’

Of course, mobile is not the only platform.  The Open Screen Project, led by Adobe, is an industry-wide initiative with the aim of enabling media rich internet experiences across any device - gaming, TV, mobile, in-car or on appliance consoles, the works.  It’s a vision at this point and faces an uphill battle due to the lag in standards and the continuing fragmentation in the industry stemming from development initiatives specific to devices, networks and companies.  However at some point in the near future, it will happen.  To get a flavour of what a ‘Rich Internet Application’ or RIA means, check out the latest rich internet applications on the Adobe site.

And this summer, if you work up a little thirst, why not visit the latest interactive café - the Coca Cola vending machine.  This ‘next generation’ vending machine which premiered at the Beijing Olympics is now being rolled-out across the USA.  Built in partnership with Samsung and an interactive agency, the machines will feature iPhone-like functionality and incorporate sound, sight and motion video - the machines will also offer mobile phone downloads, cashless payment and rotating promotional messages based on the date and time.  Oh, and you should also be able to get an icy can of Coke as well.  One hopes anyway