SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Going mobile is seen by many as the next big wave in the video gaming revolution.According to a report from the Wireless World Forum, the mobile game market will climb to $1.93 billion in 2006, nearly double its current size.Worldwide, game publishers are racing to capture this expanding market, which as quickly become the fifth major platform for games after PCs, consoles handheld computers and the Internet, according to market research firm Yankee Group. But the rapid growth of the mobile gaming industry is not without challenges.Each game must be adapted to all available handsets.The number of unique handsets is staggering ? over 700 worldwide by most estimates ? and a new handset is introduced every few days.Making all the necessary adaptations ? referred to as porting ? does not come cheap, often costing twice as much as the original game.The uncontrolled growth of the industry as led an expensive and ever expanding porting problem, what Sameer Bhatia calls the ?steroid scandal" of the mobile gaming industry. As they say, one man's pain is another man's gain.The rapid growth facing the mobile gaming industry has created an enormous opportunity for porting businesses like the one started by the San Francisco ? based serial entrepreneur.Bhatia's latest venture, Octane Technologies, provides innovative porting solutions to the industry's top game developers, including Gamelove, Superscape, and RealNetworks.The closely-held firm does not disclose revenues, but Bhatia is sure Octane is the fastest-growing business in the industry, due its strong offshore presence. ?Our global development operations allow us to hire first rate talent to tackle the challenges facing the industry," Bhatia says. ?Given the sheer brainpower in our Indian operation, we've been able to create innovative approaches to ease the pain of porting that no one thought possible." With many publishers realizing that they can't process ports cost effectively or efficiently in-house, the demand for Octane's expertise is growing quickly.The company has been featured in leading wireless publications, including RCR Wireless, Wireless Week, CNET's Wireless Gaming Review, Imedia Connection, Wireless Developer's Network, and The Hollywood Reporter. Bhatia has shared his expertise in game porting at several mobile summits, including this year's Mobile Entertainment Summit in Los Angeles and the Next Gen + Mobile Games Forum at E3.

Mobile Game publishers regularly attend these informative sessions to get a better understanding of possible solutions, approaches, and technologies to remedy their porting headaches. ?Mobile gaming requires a new way of thinking for developers and publishers," Bhatia says, ?which has created immense opportunities for those of us willing to innovate and challenge the status quo.We're seeing a tremendous surge in demand for our services from game publishers, which are all competing tooth-and-nail to have the best games and the widest footprint in the market."

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