Looks like Smaato has grown quite a bit ever since I first featured it on The Smart PDA.

The company's new service, SOMA (Smaato Open Mobile Advertising), is now in the public beta phase, attracting some big-name brands like Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft and Allianz, according to my contact.

Apparently, soma promises a more effective way of advertising; by providing targeted advertisements (bundled with mobile content), perhaps the company will create a win-win situation. The support of advertisers may make mobile services cheaper and more accessible, while users probably won't mind ads that are related to their favorite topics.

Whether or not SOMA catches on, this development is a positive one. At least one mobile company out there believes that companies should cater to their customers' individual needs, instead of using a one-size-fits-none model.

And Don't Forget! That Smaato has already existing services that look interesting. Smaato Cost gives a detailed picture of voice and data usage, so you can control your costs better. Smaato News on the other hand is a mobile RSS reader.