The G1 smartphone — due out next week — is poised to give Apple’s iPhone its first serious challenge.
For its part, the iPhone 3G has maintained strong growth, with a steady flow of mobile subscribers switching to AT&T for the iPhone in the two months since the device launched in mid-July, Nielsen Mobile reported Thursday.
Between June and July, the number of customers switching to AT&T for the iPhone increased by 97%.  Postpaid network adds for AT&T grew by 70% during the same period, according to Nielsen.
So far, the iPhone 3G has …

Google and Yahoo! were again the number one- and number two-ranked Web brands in August, according to Nielsen Online.

Rank
Web Brand
Unique Audience
(in 000s)
Time Per Person
(hh:mm:ss)

1
Google
123,690
1:25:18

2
Yahoo!
117,702
3:22:31

3
MSN/Windows Live
103,953
2:21:25

4
Microsoft
93,558
12:38:39

5
AOL Media Network
93,070
3:33:46

6
YouTube
75,442
1:01:01

7
Fox Interactive Media
70,696
1:54:24

8
eBay
55,842
1:52:01

9
Wikipedia
52,987
0:21:24

10
Apple
48,766
1:10:42

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 1, 2008 – August 31, 2008).

With Apple’s new iPhone 3G scheduled to go on sale worldwide this Friday, Nielsen Mobile released penetration, demographics, and usage data for the current iPhone:
How many iPhones are already out there?
-Nielsen Mobile estimates that there are 2.3 million U.S. mobile subscribers using an iPhone
-The iPhone accounts for 1% of all embedded mobile phone users in the U.S.

Who is using the iPhone already?

-Two-thirds (67%) of U.S. iPhone users are male (compared to 48% of all mobile subscribers)
-55% of iPhone owners are under the age of 35 (compared to 34% of all …

Is attentive customer service the hottest new marketing strategy? 
In the first of a regular series of Ad Age columns, Nielsen Online Executive Vice President Pete Blackshaw examines how Apple uses in-store “concierges” to both greet and direct shoppers—thus blurring the line between marketing and service. 
“Whether explicitly acknowledged or not, there’s an unmistakable ‘service is marketing’ mantra pervading every aspect of the Apple Store,” Blackshaw writes.  “That’s something every brand, even those not as shiny as Apple’s, can learn from. The opportunity to solve problems, find solutions and even address ‘the …