The mobile web isn’t just for younger males anymore. According to a new report from Nielsen, women, teens and seniors have helped to boost mobile web consumption by 34% compared to last year. Mobile traffic from the teenie-bopper set increased 45% while those with over 65 years of wisdom tucked under their belt increased mobile web usage by 67% (easily the largest increase of any demographic). And, even more surprising, females visited mobile web sites 43% more than last year. Of course, with smartphones increasingly becoming the norm these days, it was only a matter of time before long-tail users made a surge.

What do women spend their mobile web surfing time doing? They apparently like to stay abreast of the vital information at People.com, Horoscope.com and Facebook. Oh, women also hit up Kraft Foods’ web site quite often, which is just fine by us. Men, on the other hand, waste spend the most time visiting Gizmodo.com, Maxim.com and CBSsports.com. If there was ever a techie analogy for the gender gap, this is it.

Teens spent the most time blasting their friends with SMS text messages, while seniors were likely busy leaving bitter comments on TMZ.com and MTV.com. Still, the 65 and older crowd only accounts for 3% of total mobile web usage.

[Via: NielsonWire]

The iPhone OS is the most popular smartphone operating system for browsing the web. AdMob’s latest report will have you believe that the iPhone claims 40% of the smartphone market, up from 33% in February. While that figure isn’t necessarily true – AdMob’s numbers only represent mobile browser share within AdMob’s ad network – the report does show that consumers are browsing more using smartphones powered by the iPhone OS, Android OS and webOS. Windows Mobile and Symbian on the other hand, are losing the mobile browser war.

Breaking it down, AdMob’s has seen the Android OS pulling down 7% of mobile ads in their network, up from 2%. The webOS, which powers the new Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre, is responsible for a healthy 4% of AdMob’s mobile ad impressions. The Symbian OS has lost considerable market share, dropping from a solid 43% to just 34%. Windows Mobile’s market share also took a hit with only 4% of AdMob’s mobile ads finding their way to the platform.

What’s going on? It seems that the new wave of smartphone operating systems are making it easier and more enjoyable to browse the web. Consumers are more willing to hop on the mobile web with smartphones running the new school of smartphone platforms. Traffic from the older school Symbian and Windows Phone platforms just isn’t keeping up. The trend echos a recent study that showed significant growth in the smartphone market for the iPhone, but at the cost of Windows Mobile and Symbian’s declining market share.

But, there’s still hope. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) plans to get serious with Symbian in a couple years and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is just about ready to take the wraps off their revamped Mobile Internet Explorer browser with the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 on October 6. For the sake of competition, let’s hope these two industry giants can reclaim a part of their market.

[Via: AdMob] (PDF link)

Right Mobile Phone, an online mobile phone retailer in the UK, recently conducted a survey of 3,138 British people to find out how their mobile phone impacted the emotions they feel over a given day. Here are some of the results:

• 71% say using their favorite song as their alarm clock, versus the system default or no alarm clock at all, made them feel happier that day
• 80% say not receiving a reply to their text messages makes them feel “negative”, whatever that means
• 41% said going by one day without getting a text message made them feel unpopular or lonely
• Less than one in 10 people, 9% to be exact, actually laughed at a text message despite 61% of people using “LOL” in a text message
• None of the people surveyed have ever rolled over the floor laughing, otherwise known as ROLFing, or laughed their asses off, otherwise known as LMAO or in my case LMFAO
• 82% of people love to hear from their partners or people they deeply care about on a daily basis
• 18% of people don’t pick up when their parents call
• 78% of people tell someone that they love them using a mobile phone on a daily basis
• Less than 7% of people said they could go one whole day without using their mobile phone
• On average, people have 95 people in their address book
• 69% of people call or text less than 8 people a week
• 18% of people have pretended to receive a call or text messages

[Via: Usability News]

Smartphones are becoming the norm in the mobile space. Thanks to the iPhone, consumers are now more aware of smartphones and their capabilities than ever before. And, according to a new survey from CFI Group, the smartphone that sparked the current smartphone boom is still tops in consumers’ minds. The survey gives the iPhone a score of 83 (out of 100) in customer satisfaction. The webOS-powered Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre and Android-powered smartphones tied for second-place with a customer satisfaction score of 77 points. Smartphones running the Windows Mobile or Symbian operating systems are lumped together with a last-place score of 66.

But, the surge in smartphone adoption isn’t without its own drawbacks. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s always satisfying iPhone has been something of a bane for AT&T (NYSE: T)’s 3G network. With droves of iPhone users hammering away at the wireless network, AT&T has been having a tough time keeping up with demand. The exclusive US iPhone carrier scored the lowest in customer satisfaction ratings – 69 and 66 in customer satisfaction and likelihood of recommending the carrier to others, respectively. T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) (79/76) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless (70/77) were virtually tied as the most satisfying wireless carrier in the US. Unfortunately, only 38% of Verizon customers felt their smartphone was the ideal smartphone. That last bit highlights how far behind the market Verizon lags in bringing compelling hardware to their subscribers.

It seems that the iPhone is the smartphone to have. But, it also comes tied to the worst wireless network in the US. If you’re looking for the best wireless performance, you’ll have to trade cool hardware for Verizon’s superior network. T-Mobile looks like the best compromise. Especially with the Android-powered myTouch3G and Motorola CLIQ boosting its smartphone portfolio.

For what it’s worth, there’s a lot of cool stuff happening in Android development circles. With a little more time to mature, Android devices like the HTC Hero and Motorola Sholes could finally give the iPhone reason to sweat.

[Via: Cnet]

Texting and driving is dangerous. Talking on your cellphone and driving is dangerous. Both put you and innocent bystanders, drivers, passengers and others at serious risk. We’re seeing more and more bans on driving while using a cellphone, and California’s 2009 ban on in-vehicle text messaging is no different.

Results recently posted by the Automobile Club of Southern California seem to prove that the ban is doing what it was intended to do. Cut the number of drivers dangerously texting while driving. Since the ban went into effect on January 1st of this year, there has been about a 70% decline. Solid.

Dr. Steven Bloch, the Auto Club’s senior traffic researcher commented on the results:

“The Auto Club had questions about whether a texting ban could work in California,…No one had studied the effects of a ban before. We knew that it would be difficult for police to cite drivers texting in their vehicles. Although there hasn’t been a great number of citations issued, it appears that drivers are getting the message that texting is a dangerous and unsafe activity behind the wheel.”

Bottom line: Cellphones and driving don’t mix. If there are no bans in your area, stop anyways. You can always call or text that person back when you have a few moments. If it’s really urgent, heck, just pull over and do what you need to do.

Side Note: If you’re looking for a solid Bluetooth Headset to give you some handsfree freedom, you may want to check out Daniel’s hands-on review of the upcoming Jabra ‘Stone’. Awesome

[Via: MarketWire]

Second quarter results from major operators across emerging markets in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe show modest growth in subscriptions and usage. According to a recent report from Strategy Analytics, after three successive flat or declining quarters, average minutes of use (MOU) for a basket of 26 key operators climbed 5% in Q2 2009. Total subscriptions rose 4%, continuing a recovering trend begun in the first quarter of the year.

However, the report author Tom Elliott says it’s still not time to open the champagne. “There is still a lot of potential weakness in these markets,” he said, adding that handset sales remain well below the levels of a year ago, and many carriers have been unable to convert growth in subscriptions and traffic into increased revenue.

Moreover, emerging market economies also remain highly dependent on conditions in the developed world. Factors that will certainly help bring back the higher rate of growth include demand for commodity products, foreign aid and home-bound remittances from overseas workers.

President of Strategy Analytics, Harvey Cohen, said this global crisis has debunked the myth that developed and developing economies have been decoupled. “Growth of communications activity is a good indicator of economic health, particularly at the so-called ‘bottom of the pyramid.’ If you don’t have the money you’re not going to buy that phone, or make that extra call,” he concluded.

[Via: CellularNews]

Quick, what’s the first smartphone to come to mind as the best alternative to the iPhone 3GS? If you’re like many consumers, you probably answered “Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre.” A new report from Interpret highlights the Palm Pre’s success in climbing the mindshare-ladder, especially since Palm Pre sales volume isn’t exactly mindblowing. According to the study, the Palm Pre plays second fiddle only to the venerable iPhone 3GS in many smartphone consumers’ minds.

Interpret analyzed how consumers view smartphones. Turns out, people expect smartphones to not only be “smart” (feature rich) but also “cool” (hip design) and “productive” (increase efficiency). Given those two metrics, the Palm Pre beat out the Android-powered HTC G1 as well as the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Storm as the smartphone most worthy of the higher price-tag. The Palm Pre even bested the iPhone 3G.

In the consumer’s mind, the Palm Pre is just as “smart” as the iPhone 3GS. Interestingly, the Palm Pre is apparently viewed as the more “productive” of the two smartphones. But, rather unsurprisingly, the iPhone 3GS blew out the Palm Pre when it comes to the “cool” factor, earning it the largest slice of consumer mindshare.

Check out the report here.

[Via: Engadget]

Latest Juniper Research’s report titled “Green Mobile Handsets & Applications: Strategies, Scenarios & Forecasts 2009-2014″ says that as consumer demand for environmentally sustainable mobile devices grow, green handset shipments could reach 485 million units within next 5 years. More precisely, the research company argues that numbers will grow from a quarter of million shipments in 2009 to over 105 million by 2014. The average mobile user is responsible for around 25kg of CO2 emissions per year. Last year all mobile phone users combined were responsible for 93Mt (Megatonnes) of CO2 emissions, which is a huge figure. In that sense, a concerted effort is required by companies across the industry to reduce these average emissions by a far greater extent over the next five years.

Further findings from the report include:

• Network operators and handset vendors should increase their promotion of handset take-back initiatives, and increase their take-back targets;
• Eco-applications offer the potential for the mobile industry to reduce CO2 emissions above and beyond its own direct and indirect emissions by exerting a positive influence on consumer behaviour.

More information about the report is available from Juniper’s website.

The mobile applications space is booming. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s AppStore saw almost 1,400 iPhone apps launching in just a single day, that, in and of itself, could be taken as evidence that mobile apps are hot. And, with the increasing popularity of smartphones, mobile apps will continue to be a hot topic. So hot, in fact, that a new report from market research firm Yankee Group has forecast that smartphone mobile apps will drive $4.2 billion in revenue through the US by 2013. That growth rides on the back of an expected smartphone-surge that should take the US fleet of roughly 40 million smartphones to about 160 million in number by 2013.

The Yankee Group says that a quarter of all smartphone app downloads in 2013 will be paid apps. Today might be the age of the $0.99 paid app, but the average price of apps is expected to rise to $2.37 in the next five years. But, says the report, the success of paid apps will hinge on marketing and promotional campaigns that drive consumers to the apps.

In that case, anyone have a good idea for an iPhone app?

[Via: MocoNews]

InMobi has released a survey revealing nuances of mobile internet usage patterns in India. The survey was conducted at IIT School of Management and surveyed 205 college-aged consumers.  Although a very specific sample group, the results do offer some insight into India’s youth generation who make up the largest population sector in the country.

According to the survey, fifty-seven percent (57%) of respondents browse the internet on their mobile phones, and close to one-third of respondents who surf the Internet through their mobile phones engage with brands that advertise. Of whose who engaged with the ads, they were most likely to visit the ad’s website (72.5%) but also went so far as to call the company (10%), or buy the product (17.5%).

Survey results also showed that the college-aged consumers are equally interested in almost all genres of mobile advertising, as long as the advertisements have something significant to offer and do not interfere with the mobile browsing experience. Among ads, those most welcomed are fast free coupons, free mobile games with embedded unobtrusive ads, money transfer services, free humorous clips and Bluetooth-based “alerts” for items on sale nearby.

Mobile internet usage broke down in the following way:

India is currently the second largest mobile market in the world after China, and nearly 10 to 12 million mobile subscribers are added monthly in the country. (Source: VitalAnalytics)

The country’s largest cities have the highest mobile Internet usage; however, many small to midsized towns such as Meerut, Aligarh, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Kota, Hassan and Trivandrum generated almost a fourth of the mobile browsing traffic.

Mobile internet browsing is also spread across income groups of those with mobile phones. Specifically, 20% of the respondents who access the Internet on their mobile phones are from the working class demographic, 38% are from the lower middle class and 42% are from the upper middle class. This data shows that mobile Internet usage is not limited to only the upper middle class.

Mobile is clearly becoming a mass medium in India – having extended out from only the most affluent individuals in the very largest metropolitan areas. In addition, Airtel is the clear leader in terms of the percentage of respondents browsing the Internet on their mobile phones. Reliance is the only service provider where less than 50% of the respondents browse the internet, most likely because Reliance phones are not used frequently for value-added services.