Nielsen’s research reveals that there is a clear progression in the preference for an iPhone among likely smartphone upgraders the more they have been exposed to the iOS.

Smartphones now account for 25% of the U.S. mobile market, up from 23% in the last quarter according to recent data from The Nielsen Company.

Whether it‘s checking email on the go, connecting with friends through social networks or using turn-by-turn navigation, the capabilities of smartphones are convincing more and more consumers to make the leap from a simple mobile phone to a more sophisticated device.

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

We are at the beginning of a new wireless era where smartphones will become the standard device consumers will use to connect to friends, the internet and the world at large.

Despite the fanfare around application stores tied to specific mobile devices such as iPhones and BlackBerries, a new Nielsen survey finds ongoing loyalty to carrier stores.

The iPhone and various Blackberry handhelds dominated the mobile device market, while Google, Yahoo! and YouTube led the way as far as most accessed sites and brands on the mobile web.

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?