In the U.S., 71% of those with smartphones own either an Android device or an iPhone. But when it comes to smartphone apps, iPhones and Android smartphones are even more dominant: 83 percent of app downloaders, that is, those who downloaded an app in the past 30 days, use iPhone or Android smartphones.

As U.S. retailers ramp up for post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping, consumers increasingly turn online to search for the best deals and make plans for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Since one of the top reasons for using social media is to receive deals and discounts, NM Incite, a joint Nielsen/McKinsey company, took a look at online buzz about Black Friday and Cyber Monday over the past two years.

Despite an obvious affinity for mobile devices in the country, smartphone uptake in Japan has lagged compared to other parts of the world — until very recently.

Over the last three years, time spent watching video from home and work computers in the U.S. has more than doubled while the number of unique viewers increased 26 percent over the same three-year period.

With 50+ million active social media users, Indians spend more time on social media than on any other activity on the Internet, according to Nielsen.

With increased access to broadband networks, a proliferation of WiFi sites and a burgeoning smartphone market, it is little surprise that residents of six countries in Southeast Asia are going online with gusto. But what is really raising eyebrows is the fact that in some of these countries Internet usage is now surpassing traditional media such as TV, radio or print.

For the majority of countries in Asia Pacific, official primetime television starts at 6pm and finishes at 11pm*. Taking a closer look at viewing habits around the Asia Pacific region, however, the time slot when the bulk of viewers tune in is between 8pm and 9pm, when close to one third of the Asia Pacific# population (32%) is watching television.

Nielsen recently analyzed an online CPG campaign geared towards women 25-54 that ran across three ad networks and a women’s interest site. The study showed the campaign successfully reached its intended audience only 27 percent of the time and instead was most often viewed by older demographics outside of the desired group.

During September 2011, there were 164.4 million unique U.S. video viewers who streamed nearly 18 billion videos and spent almost 5 hours on average watching.

The top reason for following or liking a brand, company or celebrity on social networking sites is to receive discounts and special offers, according to a recent survey of global online consumers conducted by Nielsen.