Summary: Nearly half of adult Americans will be heading to their mobile devices to tune into live coverage of the Olympics, according to a new survey.

There has been much ado in the news that the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, which kick off in London next Friday, will be the first “social media” Olympics. (The Guardian went so far as to dub them the “first Twitter Olympics.”)

Within the United States, there have been a few special mobile apps produced for the Olympics, typically produced by NBC.

But this year, the Olympics are coming to mobile devices in a brand new way through mobile streaming — and a new survey from mobile marketing firm Velti reports that Americans are ready.

Velti predicts that 40 percent of those who plan to follow the Olympics this summer will do so on two or more devices.

Streaming will be the most sought-after activity as 45 percent of that viewing pool is projected to access video clips and replays while 41 percent will be streaming live coverage.

By Rachel King for Between the Lines | July 20, 2012 — 10:30 GMT (03:30 PDT)