According to a new report from Juniper Research, the increasing popularity of casual gaming combined with a growing variety of high-quality handsets will help push global revenues from mobile games to almost $10 billion by 2009. In total, more than 460 million mobile users are expected to download games by 2009, with much of this growth coming from emerging markets such as the Indian sub-continent. "Game downloads have already overtaken those of ringtones in a number of Western European markets, while mobile handsets are now the de facto games console in many developing countries," said report author Windsor Holden. The report, however, did warn that the high cost of browsing services and content, as well as opaque pricing structures, will continue to act as a deterrent for mobile gaming. Other findings from the report include:

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