Smartphone adoption and use of mobile applications is rapidly increasing… what are the most popular apps and who is driving the growth?

According to The Nielsen Company, mobile Internet traffic in December 2009 was similar to total Internet use, with the largest audiences being seen for search, e-mail and social networking.

Trends in 2009 include a rise in households that have “cut the cord” by trading their traditional landlines for wireless cellular services and an increase in mobile media device usage among a diverse set of households.

The number of people in the UK using smartphones increased 10 percent between the second and third quarters of this year, from 5.6 million to 6.2 million.

Roger Entner, Senior Vice President, Research and Insights, Telecom Practice
While public awareness of Apple’s iPhone has been significant since its summer 2007 launch, its influence on consumer purchasing decisions remains up for debate.
To try to better understand the iPhone phenomenon, I took a look at the most recent data from The Nielsen Company’s Mobile Insights survey, which asks 25,000 wireless users every month (a total of 300,000 per year) about their wireless attitudes and experiences, including why they chose their current wireless service.
When the results of 1st quarter of 2009 …

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 …