Mobile email and instant messaging (IM) will be the main drivers for growth in the mobile industry this year, according to Mike Short, vice president of O2 and chairman of the Mobile Data Association.

Short told vnunet.com that two key events are helping growth: the introduction of mobile IM with full operator interactivity; and the expansion in mobile email for businesses and consumers.

"I don't like the term killer app," he said. "What's needed is more a killer cocktail, a variety of services to bring in consumers and businesses. As part of this, IM and email will lead the way."

Short explained that the industry had demonstrated with the launch of mobile IM that it had learned the lessons from MMS and ensured as much interoperability as possible. Getting the agreement of so many carriers to interoperate was a major breakthrough.

The major software houses are at last getting into the mobile sphere and bringing simple email to the phone in a format that people recognise. This was underlined by the presence of Steve Ballmer at 3GSM, the first time such a senior Microsoft executive had addressed the conference.

"We are really ramping up our energy. You'll see us launch a new advertising campaign all behind Windows Mobile," Ballmer told delegates during his keynote speech.

"You'll see us turn to our 250,000 business partners around the globe and get them fired up to move forward with Windows Mobile based solutions, which is an important step forward."

Ballmer added that new mobile versions of Exchange and Outlook will be out this year, and that changes to the PC version of Windows will accommodate the increasing integration of mobile communications into laptops.