add it up.

November’s AiMA event, “Mobile Marketing: How mobile is more than texting, tweeting, and talking,” was the first I’ve been able to attend. The event certainly was more than texting, tweeting, and talking (although there was a lot of texting and tweeting happening in the crowd); panelists encouraged incorporating mobile into marketing plans for 2010 and shared interesting facts regarding the growth of iPhone applications, the mobile web, and more.

The event was moderated by Michael Becker of iLoop Mobile, and there is no better way to describe him than with this tweet from the event:

@JermoH #aima – iLoop’s Michael Becker is like the Britannica of Mobile Marketing.

Becker opened the event by showing a commercial for a Motorola cell phone. From 1983. The advertisement stated that cell phones would completely change the way we communicate. Understatement of the century.

Given that the event was on mobile, it seems appropriate to sum up the key topics via what was tweeted live as each panelist spoke:

Mack McKelvey, VP of Marketing for Millenial Media.

• @briangupton: RT @ATLmobile: Mobile has lowest Cost Per Engaged User per @mellenialmedia #aima
• @JermoH: In Sept, there were 64million mobile users (1/3 size of Internet) #aima

Brian Seti, Division Manager and National Marketing Manager for Yamaha WaterCraft Group:

• @kristengreen: Yamaha no longer spends $ on traditional advertising. They focus on mobile & social and are able to deploy campaigns more efficiently. #AiMA

Derek Von Nostran, Director of Consumer Marketing & Analytics for The Weather Channel Interactive:

• @laurenmullins: Only 20% of iPhone apps downloaded are used the next day. – Derek Von Nostran, TWC #aima
• @JermoH Top phone for Hispanic market = iPhone, top phone for African American market = Razor. #aima

Von Nostran also discussed the popularity of TWC’s iPhone application. It’s the most popular weather application, and one of the top 10 applications (ranked just below Facebook). TWC launched a game as a follow-up, but the application met subpar success because of the target’s inclination to only utilize TWC for weather information.

To read more tweets from this AiMA event, search for #aima on Twitter. The November event was AiMA’s last big event for the year, but there is a web analytics lunch and a holiday party both scheduled for the first week in December.

No surprise here – Apple is in the process of developing a new gadget, and Steve Jobs’ lips are sealed. But that has never stopped the rumors from flowing on tech sites across the web. This time, it’s for the supposed Apple Tablet.

Rumors about Apple possibly releasing a tablet computer (Apple’s response to the recent Netbook craze) have been circulating for months, but CNN Money recently published a report on the proposed device and some of it’s alleged features.

The tablet is quickly becoming referred to as the device to end all devices – it’s going to be part iPhone, part e-reader, and part Macbook. Really? Haven’t we heard this before? I recall an advertisement for the first generation iPhone that praised the iPhone for easing the load of gadgets one must carry around. The iPhone is here…no longer must you carry around that digital camera, old cell phone, and laptop! We’re all saved!

I’m not as cynical as I seem, guys. I’m an iPhone carrying, MacBook using, certified Apple dork. I have no doubts that the tablet will be revolutionary. For on-the-go computing, it will certainly out perform the iPhone and be more convenient than using a laptop. But is likely to be a supplement to these technologies for the technology-obsessed, and not a replacement.

What are your thoughts on the tablet? Estimating at between a $600-$1,000 price tag at launch, will it be the device to end all devices for you? Or will it just be too expensive?

And, if you feel like joining in on the rumor mill even more, Mashable has an excellent compilation of design prototypes.