According to a new consumer study conducted by research firm Information Solutions Group on behalf of casual games publisher PopCap Games, 57% of AT&T wireless subscribers play mobile games.

The advent of the iPhone and its App Store have made the download and usage of mobile games easier than ever, and the mobile gaming industry is expected to grow more than 10% per year to hit $6.3 billion in user spending by 2011, according to a report from Gartner.

52% of gamers cited “distraction from daily life issues” as the top benefit derived from mobile gaming, followed by “relaxation and stress relief” (40%) and “improved mood” (12%)–in addition, 52% of gamers said they play mobile titles during work hours, and 14% selected “during my work day, when I need a short break” as the time when they most often play games on their phone.

60% of all mobile gamers cited “while waiting for an appointment” as a time when they play mobile games, with “during the day on weekdays” selected by 34% of respondents and “when traveling on vacation” and “on the weekend” tying for third at 25% each.

The Information Solutions Group study reports that 59% of AT&T gamers play games on their phone at least once a month, and 40% said they play weekly or more often–41% said they played less than once per month. 91% of mobile gaming sessions last fewer than 30 minutes, and 62% extend fewer than 15 minutes. In all, 71% of mobile gamers play games on their phone for less than an hour per week, although 52% of those who play daily said they play for three or more hours per week.

Asked to name “games you enjoy playing on your cell phone,” 20% of AT&T gamers cited Tetris, followed by Bejeweled at 18% and Solitaire at 17%. Puzzle games topped popular genres at 66%, followed by card/casino titles at 51%–board games earned 15% of the vote, with action/adventure trailing at 11%.

86% of mobile gamers also play video games on one or more other devices, with 76% of gamers playing on computers, 41% on consoles and 24% on handheld game devices.

17% of mobile gamers consider their mobile handset their primary gaming device.

Two of the biggest mobile game developers in the world, Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU) announced quarterly results this week.

While EA’s overall business continues to struggle, mobile was a bright spot with the company reporting that their mobile revenues were up 24% year-over-year to $189 million. For the fiscal fourth quarter, EA Mobile recorded $48 million in revenues, up 14% year-over-year.

Glu reported revenues of $20.8 million, compared to $20.6 million in the first quarter of 2008 which represents less than a 1% increase year over year.

If I was a Glu shareholder I’d be pretty disappointed with Glu’s results. Although EA is a bigger company , the mobile games business is growing fairly rapidly (see post coming soon) and Glu should be growing at a similar pace to EA.

If you read Glu’s full release and if you’ve been following the company over the last year, a lot of their lack of growth is due to the fact that Glu was very late to the iPhone party. They’ve started to ramp up lately with a number of high quality releases on that platform including the very fun Glyder title, but it’s clear that they’ve still got a lot of work to do to get their business to take off further.

EA, on the other hand, was early to the iPhone an their games have done very well. Just in the past couple weeks, EA announced five new iPhone titles and executives said they expect to introduce 30 games for the iPhone this year.

According to a new report from PriceGrabber.com, the increased popularity of Web-enabled phones in the United States has helped online shoppers become mobile Internet shoppers. One in 10 online consumers said they purchase online from their mobile device, 16% compare prices and another 16% research product details/specifications. Of the online consumers making purchases from their mobile phones, 58% have purchased digital content for their phone, 51% have purchased consumer electronics, 37% have purchased computers, 36% have purchased books, and 31% have purchased clothing.

Smartphone and iPhone owners are comfortable using the mobile Internet to make purchases. 56% of Apple iPhone owners and 28% of smartphone owners already are comparing prices online with their mobile phones. Additionally, 27% of iPhone owners and 35% of smartphone owners anticipate that they will be comparing prices within two years.

Click here to read the full report.

The report is based on a survey of 3,305 U.S. online consumers with mobile phones, which was conducted from March 10-31, 2009.

Cincinnati Bell, the small regional telecom company, became the first U.S. carrier to sell the Nokia 5800 touchscreen smartphone. The phone had previously only been sold inside the United States at Nokia’s flagship stores.

“The touch screen Nokia 5800 XpressMusic adds a new dimension to Cincinnati Bell’s growing smartphone line up,” said Tim Bracken, director of consumer wireless for Cincinnati Bell. “It truly is a modern entertainment device with advanced Web browsing, built-in GPS, picture messaging, and music capabilities that surpass expectations for a fresh everyday smartphone. Also, the Nokia 5800 is WiFi-enabled, which means customers can achieve some of the fastest data speeds available today.”

The phone will sell for $149 with a two-year service contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Nokia trumpeted the success of the phone worldwide, and announced in February that it had sold 1 million units in three weeks. However, the phone has not been picked up by any of the Tier 1 U.S. carriers.

Can You Hold On Honey? I Have to Climb This Mountain Real Quick.

For all you cell phone users out there planning on climbing Mt. Everest, you can breathe a little easier now. Earlier this week Nepal Telecom, Nepal’s largest telecom company, announced that they plan to build a cell phone tower that will provide coverage for up to 3,000 calls at a time. One can only assume that limit will never be reached.

Nepal Telecom has a base of 2.8 million customers, about a tenth of all people from Nepal, and 60% of all cell phone users in the country. The company has installed seven satellite antennas around the mountain, and will be providing coverage as early as June this year. The Nepali company hopes to provide an alternative to those who have rely on satellite telephones when taking the climb.

Let’s hope we never hear about an avalanche caused by a chatty climber.

Gavin Nachbar is a freelance writing cell phone talker who he, himself, never plans on climbing Mt. Everest.