In a recent study by Apigee, an astounding 85% of respondents from a variety of countries said they would rather give up water than mobile apps. Putting aside the fact that some people may have been exaggerating, and putting aside the delicious array of non-water beverages there are to drink, this statistic is still pretty incredible.

Some other food for thought from the study: 82% of respondents said that they couldn’t go a day without using an app. What are examples of these critical apps that people can’t go a day without? Email and social media, as you might have guessed, but also the ultimate practical app: an alarm clock app. Other functions that people now report they cannot perform without an app are navigating to work, finding dates, ordering dinner, and, oddly enough, “impressing people.”

But with all these functions, people still can’t get enough! People continue to dream up new uses for their devices. Among them are:

• “Reality control” over things like lighting, A/C, and door locks (46%)

• Tracking energy use (38%)

• Remote car starting (34%)

• Making purchases tagged to the their mobile device bill (21%)

All of this information indicates that mobile dependence is high and increasing. Interestingly, it also shows that people are happy with this trend and are excitedly anticipating that it will expand. While some dependencies or tech trends might be headed upward, not all are looked on favorably. For industry players, however, seeing not only this increasing dependency on mobile devices, but also an enjoyment thereof, is a great sign of the coming opportunities in the mobile sector.

These opportunities vary widely. Apps, of course, are still hot despite there being hundreds of thousands of them. Almost everything we do now has an app to go with it. In addition, functions that were once performed by other technologies may shift toward apps (for example, Ernst & Young is reporting that SMS messaging is largely being replaced by instant messaging apps).

But the opportunities don’t stop at developing apps. Mobile device accessories are needed, reviews and tutorials to help users make the most of their devices are needed, heck, even mobile developers themselves are an entire secondary market to serve with solutions as thousands chase the dream of producing a top-selling app.

Last year, about were 92.5 million digital coupons were redeemed. Most were online coupons redeemed while shopping on a desktop or laptop. 16.3% of mobile users, however, also redeemed a mobile coupon using their device last year. This figures is growing at a few percent each year, and total mobile coupon redemptions are expected to reach 53.2 million by 2014.

Apps for mobile couponing are constantly being released to meet demand for these mobile deals. Some offer rich functionality, allowing users to scan barcodes of products to find deals, display coupons for scanning at registers, and earn rewards simply for entering a store and launching the app. Some of these apps are still a bit buggy, however. Technical issues involving redemption at point of sale are well documented, but improvements are always under development.

In addition, certain register software platforms allow for entry of texted coupon codes, which skirt these problems. In fact, according to certain polls, users generally prefer to receive mobile coupons via SMS or display them for scanning at a register, and are redeeming mobile coupons at 10 times the rate of print coupons (10% versus 1%). Indeed, some shoppers are considering cancelling subscriptions to newspapers they were maintaining solely for the coupons, because digital coupons are meeting all their needs. For advertisers, this factor is strongly in favor of focusing on mobile coupons, as opposed to traditional print circulars.

Delivery methods vary widely. Scanning QR codes, checking in on an app, tapping a point-of-sale terminal, or using digital “loyalty cards” are all ways for consumers to make use of mobile coupons. But some in the industry have noted that many users are reluctant to adopt technological developments, which holds some of these methods back. Naturally, the more friction points there are, the less likely people are to actually redeem a coupon.

Regardless of these difficulties, mobile coupon use continues to grow, and retailers, developers, advertisers, and other industry players should consider including mobile coupons in their strategies going forward. Opportunities abound, and the technology is still in a relatively early phase, allowing nimble players to get in on the ground floor of a developing market.

And that’s just good business.

Mobile usage trends continue ever upward, and the latest data and forecasts from Cisco are staggering.

Mobile traffic is increasing very quickly, growing 70% in 2012. What applications are eating up all that data? Not surprisingly, mobile video streaming apps account for the largest percentage of data use. Video is now more than half of mobile data traffic, with “information” at 12%, social networking at 7%, web browsing at 6%, and music streaming at only 4%. With large amounts of video content now available for free, and with apps like Netflix offering access to content treasure troves for a low monthly price, users are turning away from traditional video sources and moving onto their devices, especially tablets, which go anywhere and offer excellent on-demand functionality.

Correspondingly, each user is now consuming a lot more data, on average. Traffic per smartphone is up 80% in 2012, and Android users overtook iPhone users in terms of data consumed. The increase in usage can be attributed largely to advances in technology. Popular smartphones and tablets now offer faster download and processing speeds, as well as higher quality screens, that have made it tolerable to view streaming video and other content on a mobile device.

As far as provider structures, most of the data is now being consumed by users that have tiered plans. Unlimited plans, which once accounted for over 80% of data usage, are now less than 50%. This trend is a result of telecom providers’ need to constrain the top 1% of users, who consume staggering amounts of data. As mobile demand continues to grow, offload traffic (mobile devices connecting via Wi-Fi or other land-based networks) is expected to increase, and given the foregoing statistics, we can expect that it will be driven largely by users that do not want to exceed data caps.

These trends will lead to interesting results in the future.

By the end of 2013, there will be more devices on the planet than people (although, of course, this will not mean that everyone has a device). Looking further ahead, by 2017, two-thirds of mobile traffic is expected to be video, and mobile tablets will account for more traffic than the entire network did in 2012. As stated above, offload traffic will also continue to grow, and could be almost equivalent to all cell traffic by 2017! To keep pace with advancing technology, connection speeds on mobile devices will more than triple by that time, fueled mainly by growth in developing markets.

In short, mobile is expanding rapidly and shows no signs whatsoever of slowing down. Expect a highly mobile future.

Mobile technology is one of the biggest advantages open to small businesses looking to gain an edge over large enterprises, and mobile apps are at the forefront of this trend.

As mobile usage explodes, and mobile is projected to overtake fixed computer access to the Internet, opportunities are everywhere. Small businesses, with their ability to be flexible, are poised to be the big winners, here.

How?

First, with mobile connectivity and an endless array of apps available, small businesses can interact with customers more freely, simply, and quickly than most big companies. For example, engagement on Facebook means quick reactions to customer comments, and customer support apps mean dedicated and open lines of communication and service. But it doesn’t just end there.

Employees can quickly share information and make decisions no matter where they are. Business partners, suppliers, and distributors can connect to your company through custom apps that are surprisingly easy to build. In truth, any mobile opportunities you spot can be built out fairly easily by the growing mobile development industry.

This means that customized mobile app solutions can help your business explore new opportunities while the big boys are still trying to schedule meetings to discuss what a mobile app is.

The growth of mobile is great for small businesses but they need to embrace the technology and expand further. They need to develop QR codes, mobile websites, and mobile apps for their customers.

Some small businesses don’t even have a website yet! The technology is not going away and the sooner small businesses hop on board the better.