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.

The launch of the Droid by Motorola–which runs Google’s Android 2.0 operating system–is the latest smartphone to be tagged “a game changer,” and “the iPhone killer.”

The mobile media landscape has flourished into a full-blown marketplace for advertising, rich media content, ecommerce and unparalleled utility. How can advertisers leverage new opportunities now?

The mobile industry is on a fast-track, with massive growth in mobile marketing, advertising and paid-content. But what is really leading this growth is the increase in quality devices and fast, affordable data.

Roger Entner, Senior Vice President, Research and Insights, Telecom Practice
Over the past few months, the government’s interest in the practice of handset exclusivity has intensified. On the heels of Congressional hearings in July, Verizon Wireless agreed to dial back its exclusive deals with cell phone manufacturers to accommodate smaller carriers. This week the FCC, which has already begun a review of handset agreements, has made the issue a focus of its regular monthly meeting. But no matter what the setting or circumstances, whenever U.S. lawmakers and regulators discuss competition in …

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 …

Anticipatory buzz around the release of the latest model of the iPhone most likely helped Apple secure the top traffic spot among hardware manufacturers in May 2009. The site drew 55.7 million unique viewers, more than double that of Hewlett Packard which attracted more than 21 million visitors.

Hardware Manufacturer Destinations: May 2009*

Rank
Brand
Unique Audience
(000)

1
Apple
55,716

2
Hewlett Packard
21,294

3
Dell
16,826

4
Sun Microsystems
3,410

5
Nintendo
2,212

6
XBOX
2,212

7
Gateway
1,847

8
MagicJack
1,812

9
Intel
1,648

10
IBM
1,606

Source: The Nielsen Company
*U.S. Home and Work

In June, anticipation of the new iPhone 3G S sent blog mentions up 1,226 percent week-overweek on June 8, the day of the announcement. After the initial …

Upon Apple’s announcement of a new iPhone – the iPhone 3G S, slated to be available June 19 – Nielsen takes a look at iPhone insights on its users and usage.

As of April 2009, Nielsen estimates that there are 6.4 million active iPhone users in the U.S., up from 2.1 million a year prior. The most impactful iPhone announcement this week may be the price reduction of $99 for the 8 GB version: cost has been one factor (in addition to AT&T exclusivity) that’s kept the …

Fueled by the expansion of smartphones and the availability of unlimited data packages, the U.S. mobile internet market grew 74% between Feb 07 and Feb 09 according to Nielsen. The most talked about handset, the iPhone, had a U.S. audience of 5.1 million unique users in January 2009. Though this still represents just a fraction of the mobile universe, the device has had an undeniable halo effect on mobile media adoption.

Jeff Herrmann, The Nielsen Company
Recession or not, for good reason there is no shortage of innovation in the mobile media industry (e.g. iPhone 3.0, the upcoming Palm Pre). The bottom line: consumers still want more! According to recent research across the U.S. and Western Europe conducted by The Nielsen Company on behalf of Tellabs, consumers are still bullish on the use of the mobile device beyond voice calling services and plan on continuing to adopt and use mobile data services. Of the 200 million current users of advanced mobile data …