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.”

Web visitors using a mobile device increased 34 percent year-over-year, from 42.5 million mobile Web visitors in July 2008 to 56.9 million in July 2009 according to The Nielsen Company.

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.

The notion that teens are too busy texting and Twittering to be engaged with traditional media is exciting, but false. To develop the best strategy around teens and media, start by challenging popular assumptions about teens.

In the first report of its kind, Nielsen Online has released findings on mobile Internet adoption in Canada, showing that 21 percent of Canadian mobile subscribers use their cell phones to browse the Internet. This is up from Q4 2008 with the top sites including portals, e-mail, weather, news & current events and search. Overall, Mobile internet penetration increased from 16 percent in Q4 2008 to 21.3 percent in Q1 2009.

More highlights from Nielsen Online’s Q1 2009 Canadian Mobile Internet Report can be found in the complete media release.

By: Nic Covey, Director of Insights, Telecom Practice, The Nielsen Company
SUMMARY: Today, 10.3 million U.S. mobile subscribers use mobile video, which still leaves 214 million U.S. mobile subscribers who don’t. In the markets in which Nielsen tracks video over phones, the U.S. is tops in terms of penetration, but at 5%, the medium is far behind even other mobile media. Three key developments in the space could fuel considerable growth in the market.
An old idea, renewed
Back in 1966, Popular Mechanics reported that a portable television would be launched under a …

President-Elect Barack Obama’s “V.P. pick” text message remains the most notable example of short code marketing in the U.S.  
According to a report released Monday by Nielsen’s Telecom Practice, Americans should expect to see more text message marketing in the future.  Given the immense popularity of texting in the U.S. and abroad, it’s not surprising that marketers have ramped up their use of the medium to engage their customers — where there’s an audience, marketers are not far behind.

At 70 million copies sold — and counting, since its release in 1988, “Madden NFL Football” is the most popular sports video game of all time.
What’s driving the wild success of EA Sports’ star product? 
A marketing vision that combines a deep understanding of the game’s core fan base with an innovative, “three-screen” strategy that leverages TV, online, and mobile phone outlets for the game, Matt Foran of Nielsen Sports, writes in the November issue of Nielsen’s “Consumer Insight” online newsletter.

They don’t have expense accounts — or even their own income, but tweens (ages 8 to 12) are perhaps the hottest new target for U.S. cell phone operators, CNET and Forbes reported Wednesday.
Both stories noted that 46% of U.S. tweens use cellphones, but only 26% own them, according to Nielsen Mobile.
Instead, tweens are more likely to borrow their parents’ phones — when they go out with friends or take short trips.  The borrowing typically starts at age eight-and-a-half; by age 10 or 11, many tweens have their own phones, according …

ESPN enthusiasts like their sports — and the more they watch sports, the more ways they follow it.
Sports fans who watched both ESPN and used ESPN.com spent 27% more time watching ESPN TV than TV-only users — and 50% more time using ESPN.com than Internet-only viewers, according to a recent study of ESPN fans’ cross-platform media consumption habits by Nielsen Connections.
Pete Doe, Managing Director, Nielsen Connections, and Glenn Enoch, Vice President, Audience Research, ESPN, reported the findings of that research in the September issue of Nielsen’s “Consumer Insight” online newsletter.