"More than a quarter of U.S. homes have no landlines, relying instead on a wireless connection - a number that has doubled in the space of three years, according to a new survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. Every state saw a rise in the percentage of wireless-only homes, with the highest being Arkansas at 35.2% and the lowest increase in Rhode Island and New Jersey at 12.8%."
Source: Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, reported by MarketingVox, 25th April 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
TV viewing is rising in Europe
"Consumers in some of Europe's biggest markets are spending more time watching television, a new study has shown.
Research firm Eurodata suggested people in the UK dedicated 3 hours 57 minutes to TV every day during the opening eight months of 2010, a 15 minute increase on an annual basis.
The Netherlands generated a seven minute uptick from exactly three hours registered between January and August 2009.
Similarly, the average member of the Spanish audience commits 3 hours 49 minutes to this medium, a six minute improvement."
Research firm Eurodata suggested people in the UK dedicated 3 hours 57 minutes to TV every day during the opening eight months of 2010, a 15 minute increase on an annual basis.
The Netherlands generated a seven minute uptick from exactly three hours registered between January and August 2009.
Similarly, the average member of the Spanish audience commits 3 hours 49 minutes to this medium, a six minute improvement."
Source: Data from Eurodata, reported by Warc, 30th September 2010
It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million people...
Time spent to reach 50 million users
"Radio: 38 years
TV: 13 years
Internet: 4 years
iPod: 3 years
Facebook: 2 years
In 1984 there were only one thousand devices in the world capable of accessing the Internet. Eight years later this had reached one million. Last year it reached one billion, and there will be little surprise if this figure doubles within the next few years."
"Radio: 38 years
TV: 13 years
Internet: 4 years
iPod: 3 years
Facebook: 2 years
In 1984 there were only one thousand devices in the world capable of accessing the Internet. Eight years later this had reached one million. Last year it reached one billion, and there will be little surprise if this figure doubles within the next few years."
Source: Original source is unknown, this is from The Southern Cross, 9th March 2009
Update - it seems that the first stats may come from the United Nations Cyberschoolbus, published (I think) in 2000. Thanks to Joseph Guenes (@brandingself) for the tip!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Netflix has 23.6m subscribers
"Netflix has issued its Q1 letter to investors, revealing a subscriber count that has grown by 3.3 million to 23.6 million subscribers."
Source: Netflix statement, reported by Engadget, 25th April 2011
Full statement here
Note - it's 'domestic' so US only
Source: Netflix statement, reported by Engadget, 25th April 2011
Full statement here
Note - it's 'domestic' so US only
Every month Google consumes enough energy to wash 5 million loads of laundry
"To mark Earth Day 2011, WordStream Inc., a provider of search marketing software, has compiled research revealing the environmental effects, good and bad, of our ever-growing Internet dependence, including data on the energy usage and CO2 emissions of Google searches and email spam.
Research findings include:
- In 2005, the 10.3 million data centers in the U.S. used 61 billion kWh of energy -- enough to power the entire U.K. for two years.
- One Google search produces the same amount of CO2 as driving a car three inches.
- Every month, Google consumes enough energy to wash 5 million loads of laundry.
- The 62 trillion spam messages sent each year produce the equivalent CO2 emissions of 1.6 million cars driving around the planet."
Research findings include:
- In 2005, the 10.3 million data centers in the U.S. used 61 billion kWh of energy -- enough to power the entire U.K. for two years.
- One Google search produces the same amount of CO2 as driving a car three inches.
- Every month, Google consumes enough energy to wash 5 million loads of laundry.
- The 62 trillion spam messages sent each year produce the equivalent CO2 emissions of 1.6 million cars driving around the planet."
Source: Data compiled by the internet marketing company WordStream, published as a press release, 21st April 2011
Mobile accounts for 3/4 of Chinese phone subscriptions
"China's total telephone subscribers (including fixed-line, mobile, and PHS) reached 1.18 bln, 75.2% of whom were mobile subscribers."
Source: Shanghai Securities News, reported by Marbridge Daily, 23rd April 2011
Source: Shanghai Securities News, reported by Marbridge Daily, 23rd April 2011
There are 61.9m 3G subscribers in China
"Liu Lihua, China's deputy Minister of Industry and Information Technology, recently revealed that as of the end of March 2011, China had 61.9 mln 3G mobile subscribers, including 26.99 mln TD-SCDMA subscribers."
Source: Shanghai Securities News, reported by Marbridge Daily, 23rd April 2011
Source: Shanghai Securities News, reported by Marbridge Daily, 23rd April 2011
80% of British students own a laptop; 40% spend 3-4 hours a day online
"The study (of over 1,000 students) indicates that despite difficult financial times students are willing to embrace paid for content with over a third having paid for some form of online content, such as apps and online gaming credits. The research shows that students are fully equipped with the latest technology with significantly more saying they own laptops (80%) than TVs (57%), 50% are spending a proportion of their time accessing the internet via their smartphones. When asked this rose to three quarters who claimed that they will be accessing the internet via a smartphone handset in the next 2 years.
The study highlights that nearly 40% of students questioned are spending between 3-4 hours per day online; the majority being on social network sites. The research showed that almost a third are following brands on social sites with the likes of River Island, New look and Adidas being in the top ten mentioned - in some cases specifically for discounts (35.2%) and exclusive content (29.5%) with over two thirds contributing to existing content on friends’ walls, pages and statuses."
The study highlights that nearly 40% of students questioned are spending between 3-4 hours per day online; the majority being on social network sites. The research showed that almost a third are following brands on social sites with the likes of River Island, New look and Adidas being in the top ten mentioned - in some cases specifically for discounts (35.2%) and exclusive content (29.5%) with over two thirds contributing to existing content on friends’ walls, pages and statuses."
Source: Research conducted by the IAB (UK) and Student Room, reported on the IAB website, 13th April 2011
The demographics of British 'Mummy Bloggers'
"At the end of 2010, we surveyed 317 BMB members and developed a clearer picture of this fast-growing, dynamic blogging community which not only puts paid to some of the stereotypes but reveals why mum blogging is one of the most defined and inflential blogging tribes in the UK.
The survey reveals:
- Contrary to the image of all mum bloggers as not engaged in the world of work, 84% of respondents had a career before they started blogging and 68% still have a job or run their own business.
- Social networking is a cornerstone of their blogging life. They mostly define blogging as a hobby (82%) but it entails spending more than 7 hours a week on social media. (96% use Facebook and 81% use Twitter.) Compare that with the 2 to 3 hours they spend on traditional media each week, including newspapers, magazines, radio and TV.
- BMB bloggers mostly identify as being middle class (67%) and the majority are aged 30-39 years (55%) or 40-49 (30%).
- Far from being an “old trend”, mum blogging continues to gain steam - something we see in the number of new members joining BMB every week. Thirteen percent have been blogging for fewer than three months, 26% have been blogging for up to a year, and 34% have been blogging for 1 to 2 years. More than a quarter, or 27%, have been blogging for three years or more.
What we blog about
Unsurprisingly, parenting and children rank highest on topics to blog about. But lifestyle (71%), food (46%) and travel (32%) are hot topics as well.
Mum bloggers are also looking to the future by interacting with brands - one of the ways that blogging is becoming sustainable.
More than half of respondents do reviews and 31% more want to. Most bloggers are open to working with brands, if the situation is right: 55% are interested in advertiser and sponsor relationships and 35% would consider it.
The survey reveals:
- Contrary to the image of all mum bloggers as not engaged in the world of work, 84% of respondents had a career before they started blogging and 68% still have a job or run their own business.
- Social networking is a cornerstone of their blogging life. They mostly define blogging as a hobby (82%) but it entails spending more than 7 hours a week on social media. (96% use Facebook and 81% use Twitter.) Compare that with the 2 to 3 hours they spend on traditional media each week, including newspapers, magazines, radio and TV.
- BMB bloggers mostly identify as being middle class (67%) and the majority are aged 30-39 years (55%) or 40-49 (30%).
- Far from being an “old trend”, mum blogging continues to gain steam - something we see in the number of new members joining BMB every week. Thirteen percent have been blogging for fewer than three months, 26% have been blogging for up to a year, and 34% have been blogging for 1 to 2 years. More than a quarter, or 27%, have been blogging for three years or more.
What we blog about
Unsurprisingly, parenting and children rank highest on topics to blog about. But lifestyle (71%), food (46%) and travel (32%) are hot topics as well.
Mum bloggers are also looking to the future by interacting with brands - one of the ways that blogging is becoming sustainable.
More than half of respondents do reviews and 31% more want to. Most bloggers are open to working with brands, if the situation is right: 55% are interested in advertiser and sponsor relationships and 35% would consider it.
Source: Research conducted by, and published in The Britmums Blog, 11th April 2011
American artists receive less than $8 for 250,000 YouTube plays
""For every 250,000 streams on YouTube, that is the equivalent of one credit of ASCAP performing rights value," Renzer relayed. "One credit is less than $8, it's about $7.60." The forum was held by the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) in Los Angeles earlier this year.
Renzer aptly described the ratio as "depressing," though he also noted that YouTube has secured proper licenses with performance rights organizations. "You do that math and it's pretty depressing, but that's the world we live in today, and it's causing a lot of consternation and a lot of discussion amongst the industry," Renzer relayed."
Renzer aptly described the ratio as "depressing," though he also noted that YouTube has secured proper licenses with performance rights organizations. "You do that math and it's pretty depressing, but that's the world we live in today, and it's causing a lot of consternation and a lot of discussion amongst the industry," Renzer relayed."
Source: David Renzer, chairman & CEO of Universal Music Group Publishing, reported by Digital Music News, 22nd April 2011
Note - also make sure to read the discussion under the article on Digital Music News
Note - also make sure to read the discussion under the article on Digital Music News
Monday, April 25, 2011
Apple iPhone getting geared to hit T-Mobile USA too
GadgTechWorld.blogspot.com
Despite the ongoing AT&T and T-Mobile USA merger that’s pending approval of the US authorities, a T-Mobile version of the iPhone 5 looks pretty certain.
What do we have here? A white prototype iPhone 4 running on the T-Mobile USA 3G network has been spotted. It looks like the magenta-loving carrier will be getting the Apple iPhone too, just like like Verizon did a few months ago.
Now, the phone hasn’t entered mass production or anything - it’s just a prototype, but this means that we could actually see the next generation iPhone run on T-Mobile USA network as well.
For the uninitiated, T-Mobile uses the rare AWS 3G band (1700Mhz). None of the iPhones released so far has supported that band so what we are seeing here is obviously a new device.
The prototype iPhone 4 is running a test version of the iOS. It includes internal Apple apps such as Apple’s employee directory and Radar app, so it's almost certain that it's the real deal. To further prove this, the device has a new model number - N94. The Verizon version is N92 and the GSM model is N90.Now, the phone hasn’t entered mass production or anything - it’s just a prototype, but this means that we could actually see the next generation iPhone run on T-Mobile USA network as well.
For the uninitiated, T-Mobile uses the rare AWS 3G band (1700Mhz). None of the iPhones released so far has supported that band so what we are seeing here is obviously a new device.
Despite the ongoing AT&T and T-Mobile USA merger that’s pending approval of the US authorities, a T-Mobile version of the iPhone 5 looks pretty certain.
Nokia N8
GadgTechWorld.blogspot.com
Introduction
We were almost starting to suspect mobile phones of giving up and playing soft. They seemed unstoppable you know. They went from 5 to 12 in no time and there was nothing to suggest that digicams will ever get a timeout for a much needed breather.
Surprised or not, the game is back on and Nokia are pulling the big guns out. The N8 is the new wannabe king of cameraphones. Fat numbers on the specs sheet and all that shining armor, the new Nseries flagship is hitting hard and playing tough.
The Nokia N8 has two massive tasks on its hands: beat digicams at their own game and bring Symbian back to its past glory. The hardest thing perhaps is to tell which one is harder. But if anyone should be trusted to perform a seemingly impossible stunt, (still) market leaders Nokia are a safer bet than many.
As you see the hardware is all there – there’re not too many devices out there that can match the Nokia N8. Some will understandably frown at what looks like unimpressive CPU clock speed and scarce RAM. Just remember that it’s the performance to be judged here and not the sheer numbers.
Different platforms have different needs so we’ll only know if Symbian^3 can do without a 1GHz Snapdragon after we’ve seen the N8 in proper action.
The Nokia N8 has two massive tasks on its hands: beat digicams at their own game and bring Symbian back to its past glory. The hardest thing perhaps is to tell which one is harder. But if anyone should be trusted to perform a seemingly impossible stunt, (still) market leaders Nokia are a safer bet than many.
| General | 2G Network | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
|---|---|---|
| 3G Network | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 | |
| Announced | 2010, April | |
| Status | Available. Released 2010, October |
| Size | Dimensions | 113.5 x 59.1 x 12.9 mm, 86 cc |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 135 g |
| Display | Type | AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 360 x 640 pixels, 3.5 inches | |
| - Multi-touch input method - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off - Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate - Scratch resistant Gorilla glass display |
| Sound | Alert types | Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones |
|---|---|---|
| Loudspeaker | Yes | |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes, check quality |
| Memory | Phonebook | Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall |
|---|---|---|
| Call records | Detailed, max 30 days | |
| Internal | 16 GB storage, 256MB RAM, 512 MB ROM | |
| Card slot | microSD, up to 32GB, buy memory |
| Data | GPRS | Class 33 |
|---|---|---|
| EDGE | Class 33 | |
| 3G | HSDPA, 10.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2.0 Mbps | |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, UPnP technology | |
| Bluetooth | Yes, v3.0 with A2DP | |
| Infrared port | No | |
| USB | Yes, microUSB v2.0, USB On-the-go support |
| Camera | Primary | 12 MP, 4000x3000 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, Xenon flash, check quality |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 1/1.83'' sensor size, ND filter, geo-tagging, face detection | |
| Video | Yes, 720p@25fps, check quality | |
| Secondary | VGA videocall camera |
| Features | OS | Symbian^3 OS |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 680 MHz ARM 11 processor, Broadcom BCM2727 GPU | |
| Messaging | SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM | |
| Browser | WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds | |
| Radio | Stereo FM radio with RDS; FM transmitter | |
| Games | Yes + downloadable | |
| Colors | Dark Grey, Silver White, Green, Blue, Orange | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS support; Ovi Maps 3.0 | |
| Java | Yes, MIDP 2.1 | |
| - TV-out (720p video) via HDMI with Dolby Digital Plus sound - Anodized aluminum casing - Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic - Digital compass - MP3/WMA/WAV/eAAC+ player - DivX/XviD/MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV player - Voice command/dial - Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Video/photo editor - Flash Lite v4.0 - Predictive text input |
| Battery | Standard battery, Li-Ion 1200 mAh (BL-4D) | |
|---|---|---|
| Stand-by | Up to 390 h (2G) / Up to 400 h (3G) | |
| Talk time | Up to 12 h 30 min (2G) / Up to 5 h 30 min (3G) | |
| Music play | Up to 50 h |
| Misc | SAR US | 1.09 W/kg (head) 0.85 W/kg (body) |
|---|---|---|
| SAR EU | 1.02 W/kg (head) | |
As you see the hardware is all there – there’re not too many devices out there that can match the Nokia N8. Some will understandably frown at what looks like unimpressive CPU clock speed and scarce RAM. Just remember that it’s the performance to be judged here and not the sheer numbers.Different platforms have different needs so we’ll only know if Symbian^3 can do without a 1GHz Snapdragon after we’ve seen the N8 in proper action.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Next Generation Media Quarterly - April 2011
Here's another instalment of my quarterly presentations, looking at key stats and examples from the last 3 months.
Lots on mobile and social media this time!
Many of the stats will be familiar with regular readers!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Apple sold 19m iPhones and 5m iPads in the quarter to 26th March 2011
"Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2011 second quarter ended March 26, 2011. The Company posted record second quarter revenue of $24.67 billion and record second quarter net profit of $5.99 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $13.50 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.07 billion, or $3.33 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 41.4 percent compared to 41.7 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 59 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
Apple sold 3.76 million Macs during the quarter, a 28 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 18.65 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 113 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 9.02 million iPods during the quarter, representing a 17 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. The Company also sold 4.69 million iPads during the quarter."
Apple sold 3.76 million Macs during the quarter, a 28 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 18.65 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 113 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 9.02 million iPods during the quarter, representing a 17 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. The Company also sold 4.69 million iPads during the quarter."
Source: Press release from Apple, 20th April 2011
Mobile data use is soaring in the UK
"Whatever it was we all did before the invention of smartphones has clearly been forgotten after it was revealed data usage on the devices has soared by more than 75 per cent in the first quarter of 2011.
We're consuming more and more data through our iPhone, HTC (pictured) and BlackBerry smarthphones
It means owners of iPhone or Galaxy handsets, for example, have used the same amount of data it takes to download 7million mp3 tracks every seven days.
Of all the cities in Metro’s circulation, usage grew the most in Birmingham, in which 102 per cent more data is being consumed every week.
London had an 87 per cent rise – the equivalent of viewing 63million websites every seven days – while people in Edinburgh are now using 72 per cent more data, according to research by Three.
The network says mobile broadband use on computers and tablets, such as the iPad, is also on the rise.
Networks will soon be able to provide internet speeds 16 times faster than current technologies after Ofcom recently unveiled plans for 4G coverage.
Marc Allera, of Three, said: ‘This year, we expect more than 90 per cent of customers to choose a smartphone when they get a new contract or upgrade.’"
Source: Data from 3, reported by Metro, 20th April 2011
Note - the report is unclear, but from this related report, the growth seems to be quarter-on-quarter, not year-on-year. That is, the 75% growth from Q4 2010 to Q1 2011.
We're consuming more and more data through our iPhone, HTC (pictured) and BlackBerry smarthphones
It means owners of iPhone or Galaxy handsets, for example, have used the same amount of data it takes to download 7million mp3 tracks every seven days.
Of all the cities in Metro’s circulation, usage grew the most in Birmingham, in which 102 per cent more data is being consumed every week.
London had an 87 per cent rise – the equivalent of viewing 63million websites every seven days – while people in Edinburgh are now using 72 per cent more data, according to research by Three.
The network says mobile broadband use on computers and tablets, such as the iPad, is also on the rise.
Networks will soon be able to provide internet speeds 16 times faster than current technologies after Ofcom recently unveiled plans for 4G coverage.
Marc Allera, of Three, said: ‘This year, we expect more than 90 per cent of customers to choose a smartphone when they get a new contract or upgrade.’"
Source: Data from 3, reported by Metro, 20th April 2011
Note - the report is unclear, but from this related report, the growth seems to be quarter-on-quarter, not year-on-year. That is, the 75% growth from Q4 2010 to Q1 2011.
Twently year old Tom Ridgewell - Tomska - earns over £3,500 a month on YouTube
"When it comes to money we all use it, most of us earn it and nearly everyone wants more of it.
But unless your surname is Zuckerberg or Page when it comes to the internet, making money for a lot of people starts and ends with sites like eBay.
Not for 20-year-old student Tom Ridgewell, who's one of a new generation of YouTube stars making thousands of pounds through the site every month.
"I like to think I work in comedy," he says.
"I just try to make funny videos really - ones that make me laugh."
He's written, produced and directed dozens of short films, sketches and cartoons.
But get onto his channel and it's the numbers that really stand out: 55 million views and 220,000 subscribers - numbers he's been able to translate into money.
"They put adverts around your videos and you get a cut of that," Tom explains.
He wouldn't give away specific numbers but told Newsbeat he earns between £3,500 and £7,000 each month."
Source: BBC Newsbeat, 20th April 2011
But unless your surname is Zuckerberg or Page when it comes to the internet, making money for a lot of people starts and ends with sites like eBay.
Not for 20-year-old student Tom Ridgewell, who's one of a new generation of YouTube stars making thousands of pounds through the site every month.
"I like to think I work in comedy," he says.
"I just try to make funny videos really - ones that make me laugh."
He's written, produced and directed dozens of short films, sketches and cartoons.
But get onto his channel and it's the numbers that really stand out: 55 million views and 220,000 subscribers - numbers he's been able to translate into money.
"They put adverts around your videos and you get a cut of that," Tom explains.
He wouldn't give away specific numbers but told Newsbeat he earns between £3,500 and £7,000 each month."
Source: BBC Newsbeat, 20th April 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
There are more than 250 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices
"There are more than 250 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.
People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice as active on Facebook than non-mobile users.
There are more than 200 mobile operators in 60 countries working to deploy and promote Facebook mobile products"
People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice as active on Facebook than non-mobile users.
There are more than 200 mobile operators in 60 countries working to deploy and promote Facebook mobile products"
Earlier figures here - 200m mobile users. Other official data (e.g. number of users) has not been significantly updated.
Nintendo sold 440,000 3DS consoles in the US in the first week of sale
"Nintendo Co., the world’s biggest maker of video-game consoles, said it sold almost 440,000 units of the 3DS handheld game player during its first week of U.S. sales in late March.
Combined with three older models, Nintendo sold 860,000 DS units in March, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said, citing figures from industry tracker NPD Group Inc. A year ago, Nintendo sold 701,000 DS handhelds.
“We had a great start to the Nintendo 3DS, and portables overall had their best March in history,” Fils-Aime said yesterday in a phone interview.
Nintendo, unlike some Japanese manufacturers, has not faced supply constraints on its products following last month’s earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan, Fils-Aime said. Shipments of the $250 3DS, which plays 3-D images without the need for special glasses, haven’t been affected, and the company still plans to deliver a new Web browser and Netflix streaming before the end of the summer, he said."
Combined with three older models, Nintendo sold 860,000 DS units in March, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said, citing figures from industry tracker NPD Group Inc. A year ago, Nintendo sold 701,000 DS handhelds.
“We had a great start to the Nintendo 3DS, and portables overall had their best March in history,” Fils-Aime said yesterday in a phone interview.
Nintendo, unlike some Japanese manufacturers, has not faced supply constraints on its products following last month’s earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan, Fils-Aime said. Shipments of the $250 3DS, which plays 3-D images without the need for special glasses, haven’t been affected, and the company still plans to deliver a new Web browser and Netflix streaming before the end of the summer, he said."
Source: Bloomberg, 15th April 2011
Ebooks are the best selling category of books in America
"Ebooks have become the single bestselling category in American publishing for the first time, according to new data released yesterday.
The latest report from the Association of American Publishers, compiling sales data from US publishing houses, shows that total ebook sales in February were $90.3m (£55.2m). This makes digital books the largest single format in the US for the first time ever, the AAP said, overtaking paperbacks at $81.2m. In January, ebooks were the second-largest category, behind paperbacks.
America's ebooks enjoyed a 202.3% growth in sales in February compared with the same month the previous year, the book trade association revealed. Print books fared much worse by contrast, with the combined category of adult hardback and paperback books falling 34.4% to $156.8m in February. The children and young adult category of print books fell 16.1% to $58.5m.
The AAP attributed the growth in February to "a high level of strong post-holiday ebook buying" from readers given ereader devices for Christmas, with the greater selection of devices and the broader range of ebooks now available also playing a part in the increase."
The latest report from the Association of American Publishers, compiling sales data from US publishing houses, shows that total ebook sales in February were $90.3m (£55.2m). This makes digital books the largest single format in the US for the first time ever, the AAP said, overtaking paperbacks at $81.2m. In January, ebooks were the second-largest category, behind paperbacks.
America's ebooks enjoyed a 202.3% growth in sales in February compared with the same month the previous year, the book trade association revealed. Print books fared much worse by contrast, with the combined category of adult hardback and paperback books falling 34.4% to $156.8m in February. The children and young adult category of print books fell 16.1% to $58.5m.
The AAP attributed the growth in February to "a high level of strong post-holiday ebook buying" from readers given ereader devices for Christmas, with the greater selection of devices and the broader range of ebooks now available also playing a part in the increase."
Source: The Guardian, 15th April 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
200m files are saved on Dropbox every day
"Dropbox will announce a number of milestones on Monday morning, we’ve learned. The file backup and sharing service was founded in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi.
It was in one of the early Y Combinator classes, now has 25 million users and 200 million files are “saved” daily, and more than 1 million every five minutes.
That’s impressive growth from the 4 million users the company had a year ago (they had two million in late 2009). Dropbox enables people to sync files and media across platforms and devices, in order to have them available from any location. The service also allows people to easily and quickly share files with others. Dropbox provides users with 2 GB of space for free, and they can pay for more."
It was in one of the early Y Combinator classes, now has 25 million users and 200 million files are “saved” daily, and more than 1 million every five minutes.
That’s impressive growth from the 4 million users the company had a year ago (they had two million in late 2009). Dropbox enables people to sync files and media across platforms and devices, in order to have them available from any location. The service also allows people to easily and quickly share files with others. Dropbox provides users with 2 GB of space for free, and they can pay for more."
Source: TechCrunch, 17th April 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
3 billion Androd apps have been installed
"On Google’s earnings call today, Jeff Huber, Senior VP Commerce and Local, revealed that there have been over 3 billion Android apps installed. And downloads of Android apps are up 50 percent from Q4 2010.
Huber also mentioned that 350,000 Android devices are being activated per day, a data point which was revealed this past week. In terms of breaking out share by device and market, Huber said the company doesn’t reveal these numbers. But he did say that with device partners, there is strength in U.S., Japan, Korea, and Europe specifically. He added that international is growing as a whole in terms of Android usage.
To put the 3 billion stat in perspective, Apple just passed 10 billion app downloads in January. But thanks to the fast growth of the sale of Android phones, Google’s app downloads are growing fast. The first billion installs took 20 months, the second billion installs took another 5 months, and the third billion took only 2 months."
Source: TechCrunch, 14th April 2011
Huber also mentioned that 350,000 Android devices are being activated per day, a data point which was revealed this past week. In terms of breaking out share by device and market, Huber said the company doesn’t reveal these numbers. But he did say that with device partners, there is strength in U.S., Japan, Korea, and Europe specifically. He added that international is growing as a whole in terms of Android usage.
To put the 3 billion stat in perspective, Apple just passed 10 billion app downloads in January. But thanks to the fast growth of the sale of Android phones, Google’s app downloads are growing fast. The first billion installs took 20 months, the second billion installs took another 5 months, and the third billion took only 2 months."
Source: TechCrunch, 14th April 2011
The average Spotify listener listens to 50 new tracks a month
"The changes we’re having to make will mainly affect heavier Spotify Free and Open users, as most of you use Spotify to discover music – on average over 50 new tracks per month, even after a year. Plus, the average user won’t reach the limit on plays for 7 out of 10 tracks, after a year of using Spotify. For those of you using Spotify to find new tracks to enjoy and share with friends, these changes shouldn’t get in the way of you doing that. Rest assured that we’ll continue to bring you the biggest and most diverse music catalogue available."
Source: Blog post from Spotify (announcing restrictions to the free service), 14th April 2011
Note - By 'new' what they mean is tracks that user had not listened to before
Source: Blog post from Spotify (announcing restrictions to the free service), 14th April 2011
Note - By 'new' what they mean is tracks that user had not listened to before
Online ad spend hit $26bn in the US in 2010
Click to enlarge
"The IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report for the full year 2010 and Q4 2010 both showed record results in the United States. Released today by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and prepared by PwC US, the latest report puts all 2010 Internet advertising revenues at a record $26 billion, up 15% from 2009. Fourth quarter revenue also hit new highs at $7.45 billion, up 19% from Q4 2009 and 15% from Q3 2010.
Highlights of the report include:
- There were record numbers for the yearly advertising revenue as well as record quarterly highs in the Q4 2010.
- The most popular ad format in 2010 was search which represented 46% of revenue and saw 12% growth from last year.
- Sponsorships saw the most growth with an 88% increase over last year and 142% increase in the fourth quarter alone.
- Display-related advertising – which includes Digital Video Commercials, Ad banners/display ads, sponsorships and rich media – continued to grow this year, totaling nearly $10 billion with an increase of 24% over 2009.
- The results exhibit revenue growth for the past five consecutive quarters.
- The Annual Report marks the debut of estimated US mobile ad revenue for 2010: between $550 and $650 million.
“As the latest IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report amply demonstrates, brand advertisers and marketers have adopted the power of digital media as a central element of their campaigns,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB. “Consumers have shifted more of their time to digital media – watching television shows and movies online – and advertisers now accept this multifaceted medium as a key component for reaching their targets.”
“With a strong rebound from 2009, the $26 billion spent on Internet advertising points to a continued focus on digital media ad spend, with dollars catching up to the eyeballs. More time spent online, especially with increases in digital video and social media, has certainly helped to fuel the continued growth,” said David Silverman, PwC Assurance partner.
“We now have had five consecutive quarters of growth since the great recession impacted interactive advertising in 2009,” said Sherrill Mane, Senior Vice President, Industry Services, IAB. “The record-breaking revenue in Q4 2010 and the total year indicate that interactive advertising has weathered the storm and then some."
Source: Data compiled by the IAB & PwC, reported in a press release from the IAB, 13th April 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Hilton Worldwide received over 100,000 room bookings via it's mobile app in 2010
"Hilton Worldwide received over 100,000 room bookings via its mobile applications in 2010, demonstrating the revenue-generating potential of a rounded social media strategy for hotels, the brand has said.
Speaking at the latest Cornell Hospitality Research Summit (CHRS) in the United States, Hilton’s senior VP of corporate strategy Kevin Jacobs said the hotel group had “gone all in” with its social media strategy, which included a focus on mobile applications.
“Since over 80 per cent of Hilton’s guests travel with a mobile device and 40 per cent use it to search travel, mobile apps make sense,” he said.
Hilton’s mobile apps have seen more than 340,000 downloads, he added, and guests used them to book well over 100,000 room-nights in 2010, with revenue up 200 per cent."
Source: Big Hospitality, 12th April 2011
Speaking at the latest Cornell Hospitality Research Summit (CHRS) in the United States, Hilton’s senior VP of corporate strategy Kevin Jacobs said the hotel group had “gone all in” with its social media strategy, which included a focus on mobile applications.
“Since over 80 per cent of Hilton’s guests travel with a mobile device and 40 per cent use it to search travel, mobile apps make sense,” he said.
Hilton’s mobile apps have seen more than 340,000 downloads, he added, and guests used them to book well over 100,000 room-nights in 2010, with revenue up 200 per cent."
Source: Big Hospitality, 12th April 2011
Three times as many people stream music videos as download music
"Here's some surprising good news for video aggregator YouTube: More Internet users watch music videos for free on YouTube than download music either through official sources like iTunes or even illegally. That discovery comes from Nielsen, who polled more than 25,000 users about their online music habits towards the end of last year.
Nielsen's report on the subject, "The Hyper-Fragmented World of Music," says that three times as many people stream music videos as download music, adding that audio-only streaming is also more popular than legal digital downloads ("Unfortunately," the report continues, "subscription models have yet to gain popularity with users"). Legal digital downloads are nonetheless globally popular, with the format experiencing double digit growth in Europe."
Nielsen's report on the subject, "The Hyper-Fragmented World of Music," says that three times as many people stream music videos as download music, adding that audio-only streaming is also more popular than legal digital downloads ("Unfortunately," the report continues, "subscription models have yet to gain popularity with users"). Legal digital downloads are nonetheless globally popular, with the format experiencing double digit growth in Europe."
Source: Research from Nielsen, reported by Techland, 12th April 2011
See the full Nielsen Study here
Rebecca Black's Friday video hit 100m views after 63 days
Other stats:
2,104,000 Comments
260,000 Likes
2,07,000 Dislikes
Source: YouTube, retrieved 13th April 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
StumbleUpon gets one billion 'stumbles' a month
"In January, we reported that StumbleUpon had broken a new record with 27.5 million stumbles in one day. At the beginning of this month, we interviewed Marc Leibowitz, StumbleUpon’s VP of Marketing and Business Development who told us that since 2009, StumbleUpon has grown from 6 million to 15 million users. Recommendations have tripled, now surpassing 800 million every month. Each month, over 3-4 million users are active on StumbleUpon, with the primary base being in the US.
Today, they’ve just crossed a new threshold: 1 billion stumbles per month. StumbleUpon is now driving billions of visitors to websites that have been “Stumbled.”"
Today, they’ve just crossed a new threshold: 1 billion stumbles per month. StumbleUpon is now driving billions of visitors to websites that have been “Stumbled.”"
Source: TheNextWeb, 6th April 2011
Bing has over 30% of searches in the US
"Experian® Hitwise®, a part of Experian Marketing Services, announced today that Google accounted for 64.42 percent of all U.S. searches conducted in the four weeks ending April 2, 2011. Bing-powered search comprised 30.01 percent of searches for the month, with Yahoo! Search and Bing receiving 15.69 percent and 14.32 percent, respectively. The remaining 69 search engines1 in the Hitwise Search Engine Analysis report accounted for 5.58 percent of U.S. searches."
Source: Press Release from Experian Hitwise, 11th April 2011
TripAdvisor has 45m reviews & opinions, and over 6m photos
"Milestones in the history of TripAdvisor:
- November 2000: http://www.tripadvisor.com goes live
- March 2002: The site is profitable
- April 2004: Sold to IAC
- August 2005: Part of Expedia, Inc.
- January 2005: The first hurdle of a million reviews and opinions is achieved.
- April 2008: 15 million reviews and opinions
- July 2009: 25 million reviews and opinions
- May 2010: 35 million reviews and opinions
- August 2010: TripAdvisor becomes the first travel site to have more than 40 million monthly users* to become the world's largest travel site.
- October 2010: 40 million reviews and opinions
- 2010: TripAdvisor launches 10 new sites around the world
- March 2011: 45 million reviews and opinions covering:
1) 85,000+ destinations
2) 474,000+ hotels
3) 100,000+ vacation rentals
4) 135,000+ attractions
5) 675,000+ restaurants
6) With 6,000,000+ candid traveller photos"
Source: Press release from TripAdvisor, 12th April 2011
Note: I'm not sure what constitutes an 'opinion' but I suspect it includes all comments on the forum
- November 2000: http://www.tripadvisor.com goes live
- March 2002: The site is profitable
- April 2004: Sold to IAC
- August 2005: Part of Expedia, Inc.
- January 2005: The first hurdle of a million reviews and opinions is achieved.
- April 2008: 15 million reviews and opinions
- July 2009: 25 million reviews and opinions
- May 2010: 35 million reviews and opinions
- August 2010: TripAdvisor becomes the first travel site to have more than 40 million monthly users* to become the world's largest travel site.
- October 2010: 40 million reviews and opinions
- 2010: TripAdvisor launches 10 new sites around the world
- March 2011: 45 million reviews and opinions covering:
1) 85,000+ destinations
2) 474,000+ hotels
3) 100,000+ vacation rentals
4) 135,000+ attractions
5) 675,000+ restaurants
6) With 6,000,000+ candid traveller photos"
Source: Press release from TripAdvisor, 12th April 2011
Note: I'm not sure what constitutes an 'opinion' but I suspect it includes all comments on the forum
Google activates 350,000 Android devices each day
"I think general trends include the proliferation of mobile devices. We have seen Google is now activating 350,000 Android devices daily. That's up from 300,000 several months ago and roughly 60,000 a year ago, so a significant acceleration in mobile. We are seeing Google also serve over two billion ad impressions a day through AdMob, which serves display advertising into applications on mobile devices. We are seeing Google post over $1 billion in revenue from mobile alone, over $2.5 billion in display, so we think display advertising is also at a big inflection point as companies like Procter And Gamble and other consumer products companies are opening up their budgets and spending more online. Twelve years ago that money may have gone to Yahoo! or AOL. I think it's now being focused on social media platforms too, on sites such as Facebook or Twitter, as well as Google, which offers some performance-based display advertising products."
Source: Brian J. Pitz is an Executive Director and a Senior Research Analyst in equity research at UBS Investment Bank, interviewed on Yahoo Finance, 11th April 2011
U2's 360 Tour is the highest grossing tour in history
"It takes 120 lorries to transport, has a 50-metre tall sound system and cost more than any tour in the history of music. But it appears that U2's 360° extravaganza was worth the investment as it has become the highest grossing tour ever, beating the record set by the Rolling Stones.
The Irish band's first tour in three years, which kicked off in June 2009 at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium, made it past the $558m (£341m) world record after their concert in São Paulo, Brazil, with 20 more gigs to go. The Stones pulled in $558m (£341m) for their Bigger Bang tour between 2005 and 2007.
By the time the U2 tour ends this July, the band will have played to more than 3 million fans in more than three dozen cities around the world and will have made an estimated $700m.
U2's manager, Paul McGuinness, said he and the band were proud of the tour. "That dollar figure for the gross looks enormous," he said. "Of course I can't tell you what the net is, but I can tell you that the band spend enormous sums on production for their audience. Fans all over the world agree that a ticket to U2 360° is good value for money."
Estimated to have cost more than $100m, 360° was already set to be the band's most expensive tour, with the transportation of the stage alone estimated to cost $750,000 a day whether or not the band played. It was projected to gross $750m by the end of 2010, eclipsing takings from the 2005-06 Vertigo tour, which earned U2 $389m."
Source: The Guardian, 11th April 2011
The Irish band's first tour in three years, which kicked off in June 2009 at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium, made it past the $558m (£341m) world record after their concert in São Paulo, Brazil, with 20 more gigs to go. The Stones pulled in $558m (£341m) for their Bigger Bang tour between 2005 and 2007.
By the time the U2 tour ends this July, the band will have played to more than 3 million fans in more than three dozen cities around the world and will have made an estimated $700m.
U2's manager, Paul McGuinness, said he and the band were proud of the tour. "That dollar figure for the gross looks enormous," he said. "Of course I can't tell you what the net is, but I can tell you that the band spend enormous sums on production for their audience. Fans all over the world agree that a ticket to U2 360° is good value for money."
Estimated to have cost more than $100m, 360° was already set to be the band's most expensive tour, with the transportation of the stage alone estimated to cost $750,000 a day whether or not the band played. It was projected to gross $750m by the end of 2010, eclipsing takings from the 2005-06 Vertigo tour, which earned U2 $389m."
Source: The Guardian, 11th April 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Motherhood drives smartphone ownership
"More than half (53%) of the women surveyed said they purchased a smartphone as a direct result of becoming a mom. During this transition to motherhood, the most important features of her phone changed from her address book and text messaging to her camera, up 78% to #1, and video camera, which increased by 167% to #2. Apps, which weren’t even on her top ten list of important mobile features before she became a mom, increased 67% to #3 on the list. More than half (52%) of the moms surveyed have ten or more apps downloaded, with nearly 25% of the apps being for her kids."
Source: Press release from Babycenter, 29th March 2011
Source: Press release from Babycenter, 29th March 2011
The mobile version of ESPNCricInfo accounted for 45% of all of the site's page views on the day of the Cricket World Cup Final
"ESPN says the mobile version of its ESPNcricinfo site accounted for 45 percent (45 million) of all the brand’s page views during the April 2 final, in which India beat Pakistan. That’s the highest share of any of the digital media through which ESPN covered the sport, and doesn’t even include the app versions of ESPNcricinfo.
It’s significant that mobile use outweighed desktop use. ESPN claims ESPNcricinfo’s mobile site took 63.6 percent of the global mobile audience in its industry segment - far outweighing the 36.1 percent share ESPNcricinfo claims it took in the desktop web market.
That effect came from Indians, who supplied the largest slice of mobile traffic to ESPNcricinfo (377.3 million page views through the tournament). There are around 700 million mobile phones in use in India - nearly the entire population of 1.15 billion. Many of the handsets are unsophisticated, but broadcasters nevertheless supply subscription audio content. In neighbouring Pakistan, BBC Urdu offered five, two-minute World Cup audio reports every hour for on-demand listening by dial-up during the competition."
Source: ContentSutra, 11th April 2011
It’s significant that mobile use outweighed desktop use. ESPN claims ESPNcricinfo’s mobile site took 63.6 percent of the global mobile audience in its industry segment - far outweighing the 36.1 percent share ESPNcricinfo claims it took in the desktop web market.
That effect came from Indians, who supplied the largest slice of mobile traffic to ESPNcricinfo (377.3 million page views through the tournament). There are around 700 million mobile phones in use in India - nearly the entire population of 1.15 billion. Many of the handsets are unsophisticated, but broadcasters nevertheless supply subscription audio content. In neighbouring Pakistan, BBC Urdu offered five, two-minute World Cup audio reports every hour for on-demand listening by dial-up during the competition."
Source: ContentSutra, 11th April 2011
Shazam lost over £600,000 on revenues of nearly £11m in the year to June 2010
"Mobile discovery service Shazam has published its financial results for the year ended 30 June 2010.
The company reported revenues of £10.6 million, and a loss after tax of £635,366 in the documents, filed with Companies House in the UK.
That compares to revenues of £7.3 million in the previous financial year (ended 30 June 2009), when Shazam reported a loss after tax of £89,943.
In its latest financial year, Shazam’s administration expenses were £10.5 million, having grown from £6.6 million in the previous year. Of the £10.5 million, £4 million went on wages and salaries."
The company reported revenues of £10.6 million, and a loss after tax of £635,366 in the documents, filed with Companies House in the UK.
That compares to revenues of £7.3 million in the previous financial year (ended 30 June 2009), when Shazam reported a loss after tax of £89,943.
In its latest financial year, Shazam’s administration expenses were £10.5 million, having grown from £6.6 million in the previous year. Of the £10.5 million, £4 million went on wages and salaries."
Source: Music Ally, 7th April 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
10m UK consumers made mobile transactions in 2010
"A total of 10 million UK consumers made a mobile transaction in 2010 (equal to 23% of UK online consumers), but 83 percent of these experienced problems, according to a survey by Harris Interactive for online customer experience management (CEM) software provider Tealeaf.
The research shows that as smartphone adoption groups, UK consumers expect a faultless experience across all online channels, with 75 percent of online adults agreeing there is no reason why a mobile transaction cannot be completed on the first try.
Two thirds (66%) of online adults said they would be less likely to buy from the same brand via other purchase channels if they experienced problems conducting a mobile transaction.
Shopping is the most popular m-commerce activity (63%), followed by financial transactions (37%), travel bookings (34%) and insurance payments/purchases (23%)."
Source: The Wireless Federation, April 2011
Note - presumably this includes app store purchases, purchases by SMS and so on, in addition to more high-profile spending with Debenhams, Ebay, Dominos etc.
The research shows that as smartphone adoption groups, UK consumers expect a faultless experience across all online channels, with 75 percent of online adults agreeing there is no reason why a mobile transaction cannot be completed on the first try.
Two thirds (66%) of online adults said they would be less likely to buy from the same brand via other purchase channels if they experienced problems conducting a mobile transaction.
Shopping is the most popular m-commerce activity (63%), followed by financial transactions (37%), travel bookings (34%) and insurance payments/purchases (23%)."
Source: The Wireless Federation, April 2011
Note - presumably this includes app store purchases, purchases by SMS and so on, in addition to more high-profile spending with Debenhams, Ebay, Dominos etc.
80% of British mobile internet users under 25 use their mobiles to communicate with friends while watching TV
"How young people watch television is rapidly changing according to a new study of UK mobile internet users below the age of 25.
80% of those surveyed use a mobile device to communicate with friends while watching TV with 72% using Twitter, Facebook or mobile applications to actively comment on shows as they are watching them.
These are the findings of a study conducted by Digital Clarity (www.digital-clarity.com), a specialist digital marketing agency which polled over 1300 people under 25 from a cross section of the UK.
The trend known as ‘Social TV’ is popular with young people as it allows them to instantly comment on their favourite shows to friends in different locations via the web or mobile phone.
In the US, a joint Nielsen and Yahoo study late last year found that the trend is already well established with over 86% of mobile internet users choosing to communicate with each other in real-time during broadcasts. Now ‘second screening’ as it is referred to in the States has become common place in the UK too.
Rather than social networks and television competing for attention it seems that young people are happy to embrace both and use one to enhance their enjoyment of the other.
The UK study found that 34% described the trend as ‘fun’, 32% said it made television ‘more interesting’ with 42% mentioning the ‘community’ aspect of ‘Social TV’."
Source: Research by Digital Clarity, revealed in a press release, 8th March 2011
80% of those surveyed use a mobile device to communicate with friends while watching TV with 72% using Twitter, Facebook or mobile applications to actively comment on shows as they are watching them.
These are the findings of a study conducted by Digital Clarity (www.digital-clarity.com), a specialist digital marketing agency which polled over 1300 people under 25 from a cross section of the UK.
The trend known as ‘Social TV’ is popular with young people as it allows them to instantly comment on their favourite shows to friends in different locations via the web or mobile phone.
In the US, a joint Nielsen and Yahoo study late last year found that the trend is already well established with over 86% of mobile internet users choosing to communicate with each other in real-time during broadcasts. Now ‘second screening’ as it is referred to in the States has become common place in the UK too.
Rather than social networks and television competing for attention it seems that young people are happy to embrace both and use one to enhance their enjoyment of the other.
The UK study found that 34% described the trend as ‘fun’, 32% said it made television ‘more interesting’ with 42% mentioning the ‘community’ aspect of ‘Social TV’."
Source: Research by Digital Clarity, revealed in a press release, 8th March 2011
Actual & predicted smartphone operating system sales & shares 2010-2014
Click to enlarge
"Worldwide smartphone sales will reach 468 million units in 2011, a 57.7 percent increase from 2010, according to Gartner Inc. By the end of 2011, Android will move to become the most popular operating system (OS) worldwide and will build on its strength to account for 49 percent of the smartphone market by 2012 (see Table 1).
Sales of open OS* devices will account for 26 percent of all mobile handset device sales in 2011, and are expected to surpass the 1 billion mark by 2015, when they will account for 47 percent of the total mobile device market."
Note - I normally steer well clear of predictions, but I've included this one because it's a good source and also it's a nice clear table
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Yelp has 17m reviews and 50m monthly visitors
"Today the company has surpassed 50 million monthly unique users (as reported by their internal Google Analytics), up from 46 million the month before. And they have a total of 17 million reviews for venues around the world. CEO Jeremy Stoppelman says that the service is seeing a faster rate of growth for both contributions (reviews) and users than it has historically— in Q1, users wrote 2 million reviews, while most quarters average 1 million. In other words, even if some of these other services are gaining traction, it isn’t hurting Yelp."
Source: Techcrunch, 4th April 2011
China's top 15 social networks
Click to enlarge
Source: TechRice, 8th March 2011
Note - lots more information on the TechRice site.
Caution - as it says on the chart, there's a bit of guesswork behind some of the numbers. It's a good list of sites though.
2/3 of Spotify's free users are under 29
"Is Spotify’s free service drawing people away from piracy? Will Page from PRS for Music outlined a stat that starts to answer that question, during a speech to the IPsoc law society late last week. “Two thirds of Spotify Free users are under the age of 29,” he says. “Strong evidence that a significant part of ‘Generation Napster’ now prefer legal free.” Spotify has confirmed the figure with Music Ally."
Source: MusicAlly, 5th April 2011
Source: MusicAlly, 5th April 2011
A list of social networks that get at least 1m visitors a day
Click to enlarge
Source: Google Trends for Websites data, reported by Pingdom, 25th March 2011
Note - Google is pretty secretive about how they collate their Trends for Websites data (e.g. do they use Doubleclick stats? Google Analytics stats?) so perhaps treat the figures with a bit of caution. It's a handy list of social networks though!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Factors that influence engagement with Facebook wall posts
"We looked at three primary success metrics in relation to Wall Posts:
Comment Rate: number of comments as a percentage of fan base
'Like' Rate: number of 'likes' as a percentage of fan base
Engagement Rate: a combination of the above factoring in fan base size
Key takeaways from the research include:
Post Timing (Hour): Brands that posted outside of normal business hours had 20% higher engagement rates on their posts.
"Promotional" Keywords: Which keywords are most engaging when running a contest, sweepstakes or other offer?
Post Length: Posts between one and 80 characters had, on average, a 27% higher engagement rate than posts with over 80 characters, yet accounted for only 19% of all posts.
URL Shorteners: Engagement rates are three times higher for posts that used a full-length URL, as opposed to a URL shortener."
Source: Research by Buddy Media, reported in their blog, 6th April 2011
Comment Rate: number of comments as a percentage of fan base
'Like' Rate: number of 'likes' as a percentage of fan base
Engagement Rate: a combination of the above factoring in fan base size
Key takeaways from the research include:
Post Timing (Hour): Brands that posted outside of normal business hours had 20% higher engagement rates on their posts.
"Promotional" Keywords: Which keywords are most engaging when running a contest, sweepstakes or other offer?
Post Length: Posts between one and 80 characters had, on average, a 27% higher engagement rate than posts with over 80 characters, yet accounted for only 19% of all posts.
URL Shorteners: Engagement rates are three times higher for posts that used a full-length URL, as opposed to a URL shortener."
Source: Research by Buddy Media, reported in their blog, 6th April 2011
Social network Badoo has 120m members
"It's a 120-million-member social network that's adding over 300,000 users a day, with more than 4.3 million daily photo and video uploads, and seven billion monthly page views. It has Facebook's fastest-growing app, with 570,000 new daily users, making it the third-biggest app of all after FarmVille and CityVille. Hugely profitable, it's forecast to generate hundreds of millions of dollars this year, and is being aggressively courted by venture-capital firms valuing it in the billions. And it's run from London by a secretive Russian serial entrepreneur who has steadfastly refused to be interviewed or photographed. Until now.
[...]
Still barely registering in Britain or the US, the free-to-use network -- on the web and via smartphones -- is a mass phenomenon in Brazil (14.1 million members), Mexico (nine million), France (8.2 million), Spain (6.5 million) and Italy (six million). Relying on word-of-mouth rather than any marketing spend, it has cracked the internet's eternal conundrum: how to persuade users to pay hard cash in a world drowning in free digital services and content, by charging members each time they want to boost their visibility to others searching for a date."
[...]
Still barely registering in Britain or the US, the free-to-use network -- on the web and via smartphones -- is a mass phenomenon in Brazil (14.1 million members), Mexico (nine million), France (8.2 million), Spain (6.5 million) and Italy (six million). Relying on word-of-mouth rather than any marketing spend, it has cracked the internet's eternal conundrum: how to persuade users to pay hard cash in a world drowning in free digital services and content, by charging members each time they want to boost their visibility to others searching for a date."
Source: Wired, 6th April 2011
Lionel Messi acquired over 6m 'Likes' in his first 3 hours on Facebook - Updated
Click to enlarge
Note: We think that what's happened is that the old 'Messi' Facebook page was transitioned across to a new URL (Facebook.com/LeoMessi) and fans from his old board transitioned too. There are also lots of other Facebook Messi pages like this one and this one.
Update 28th April - As of today he has 10,257,816 fans - so he has been adding approximately 1m fans a week, and these figures are real.
"I’m happy to get a few new likes a day on my Facebook profile, but not Leo Messi. He joined Facebook just a few short hours ago and now has over 6 and a half million fans and he’s not done yet. Just in the process of writing this article he’s already jumped up another 10 thousand.
Messi’s Facebook page was flooded with fans after he joined the site this morning, getting over 12,000 likes on his first wall post alone. It’s unclear at this point why Messi fans are flocking to his page in such numbers but at this point he actually has more fans than his sponsor Adidas who only has 1.8 million fans! Currently his page has over 6.6 million Likes in the just over 3 hours that his page has been active."
Source: The Next Web, 6th April 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
New Apple iPod Nano
GadgTechWorld.blogspot.com
iPod nano embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress. It is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:
Apple released the 4th generation of the iPod Touch that featured a camera and now according to a report by Apple.pro the latest iPod Nano will also feature a camera.
Previously the iPod Nano went in for a major redesign in which it got smaller and got the multi-touch controls of the iPod Touch. The image released by the Apple.pro suggests the outer frame of the iPod Nano will have a camera similar to the one seen on the iPad 2 while it will retain the same "nano" size.
The iPod Nano is an extremely popular version of the Apple iPod. It is the smallest version of the device ever produced. It features a small touch-screen display, a capacity of up to 16 GB and a FM radio.
Technical Specifications
Size and weight
- Height:
- 1.48 inches (37.5 mm)
- Width:
- 1.61 inches (40.9 mm)
- Depth:
- 0.35 inch (8.78 mm)including clip
- Weight:
- 0.74 ounce (21.1 grams)1
- Volume:
- 0.614 cu inch (10,056 cu mm)including clip
Capacity
- 8GB or 16GB flash drive2
Sensor
- Accelerometer
Environmental requirements
- Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
- Nonoperating temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C)
- Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
- Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)
iPod nano embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress. It is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:
- Arsenic-free display glass
- BFR-free
- Mercury-free
- PVC-free
- Recyclable aluminum enclosure
- Smaller, more compact packaging (45% smaller, 46% lighter)
Display
- 1.54-inch (diagonal) color TFT display
- 240-by-240-pixel resolution
- 220 pixels per inch
Audio playback
- Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
- Audio formats supported: AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
- User-configurable maximum volume limit
FM radio
- Regional settings for Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe, and Japan
- Live Pause feature for pausing a radio broadcast and rewinding (within a 15-minute buffer)
Headphones
- Earphones
- Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
- Impedance: 32 ohms
- Impedance: 32 ohms
Battery and power3
- Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
- Up to 24 hours of music playback when fully charged
- Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter (sold separately)
- Fast-charge time: about 1.5 hours (charges up to 80% of battery capacity)
- Full-charge time: about 3 hours
Languages
- 29 UI languages: Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Cantonese (Traditional Chinese), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish
- Song, album, and artist information can also be displayed in Bulgarian, Serbian, Slovenian, Ukranian, and Vietnamese. For Arabic and Hebrew language support, some UI elements are not right to left.
In the box
- iPod nano
- Apple Earphones
- Dock Connector to USB Cable
- Quick Start guide and Important Product Information
VoiceOver
- 29 VoiceOver languages: Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia, UK, U.S.), Finnish, French (Canada, France), German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish (Mexico, Spain), Swedish, Thai, Turkish
VoiceOver
- 29 VoiceOver languages: Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia, UK, U.S.), Finnish, French (Canada, France), German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish (Mexico, Spain), Swedish, Thai, Turkish
Accessibility
- VoiceOver gesture-based screen reader
- High-resolution LCD display with adjustable backlight settings for easier reading in low light
- White on black display
- Mono Audio
System requirements
- Mac computer with USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later, and iTunes 10 or later4
- PC with USB 2.0 port; Windows 7, Vista, or XP Home or Professional (SP3) or later; and iTunes 10 or later4
- Internet access required; broadband recommended; fees may apply
Advertising group Interpublic owns approximately 0.4% of Facebook
"Advertising group Interpublic Group owns a stake in Facebook that could be valued at roughly $200 million to $300 million, The Financial Times reported.
The exact size of the stake has not been disclosed, but people close to Interpublic say it owns slightly less than a half percent of Facebook, the newspaper said in its electronic edition. Interpublic paid less than $5 million for the stake in 2006, the newspaper said.
Interpublic's stake of 0.4 percent would be worth $200 million, based on a Facebook valuation of about $50 billion, the newspaper said."
Source: Reuters, 4th April 2011
The exact size of the stake has not been disclosed, but people close to Interpublic say it owns slightly less than a half percent of Facebook, the newspaper said in its electronic edition. Interpublic paid less than $5 million for the stake in 2006, the newspaper said.
Interpublic's stake of 0.4 percent would be worth $200 million, based on a Facebook valuation of about $50 billion, the newspaper said."
Source: Reuters, 4th April 2011
Note - Interpublic includes Initiative, McCann, Lowe, Draftfcb etc - full list here
Monday, April 4, 2011
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc Review
GadgTechWorld.blogspot.com
Introduction
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc is back for a second round (not counting the Lorem Ipsum bit) and this time it will stay a while longer. The company’s new flagship did great in our preview and we’d gladly have more of it.
The statement just couldn’t have been stronger and clearer. The new BRAVIA screen and the impressively slim and fit body are exactly the way to treat a flagship. Android Gingerbread too is as good as it gets in the smartphone world these days.
Just months ago that combination would’ve equaled a license to kill – which the Arc would’ve used without second thoughts. But the competition is insanely intense today and no one is given a second to think.
It takes more than a few outstanding features these days, and they’d better be backed by solid performance across the board. Omissions are not easily forgiven so the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc better stay focused.
Key features
- Quad-band GSM /GPRS/EDGE support
- 3G with 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
- 4.2" 16M-color capacitive LED-backlit LCD touchscreen of FWVGA resolution (480 x 854 pixels) with Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine
- Android OS v2.3 Gingerbread
- 1 GHz Scorpion CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 chipset
- 512 MB RAM
- 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging
- 720p video recording @ 30fps with continuous autofocus
- Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
- GPS with A-GPS
- microSD slot up to 32GB (8GB card included)
- Accelerometer and proximity sensor
- Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
- Stereo FM radio with RDS
- microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
- Voice dialing
- Adobe Flash 10.2 support
- microHDMI port
- Ultra slim (8.7mm at its thinnest point)
Main disadvantages
- Display has poor viewing angles
- No front-facing camera
- Main competitors have dual-core CPUs and better GPUs
- No smart dialing
- microSD card slot is not hot-swappable
- Camera key isn’t particularly comfortable
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc is a sweeping update of the X10. A new generation chipset, more screen estate and a microHDMI port in a well done facelift make the Arc an easy pick even over a Gingerbread-powered XPERIA X10.
However, in-house competition is by far not the XPERIA Arc’s biggest problem. Competitors have moved so much forward over the past year or so that the question really is whether Sony Ericsson have managed to keep the pace.
LG and Samsung have already gone dual-core and got Full HD video recording, while Sony Ericsson – and HTC – are so far choosing to focus their efforts elsewhere. This review should help us answer – among other things – the question of who made the right call and who will have to play catch up.
The app in question is OfficeSuite and it has support for viewing document files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF, including the Office 2007 versions). For editing, you will need to get the paid app.
The OfficeSuite reader
Reading documents is quite comfortable on The large, high-resolution screen and panning is blazing fast.
The OfficeSuite enables you to view Office documents on XPERIA Arc
The doc viewer integrates with the Gmail app, which makes viewing attachments a cinch. You can’t download them to the phone’s internal memory however. Attaching all kinds of files is possible though.
The calendar has four different types of view - daily, weekly, monthly and agenda view. Adding a new event is quick and easy, and you can also set an alarm to act as a reminder.
The organizer centerpiece - the calendar
Agenda view shows a list of all the calendar entries from the recent past to the near future. It’s a very handy tool when you need to check your appointments for the next few days.
There is also a calculator aboard. It is nicely touch optimized - the buttons are really big and easy to hit.
Regular Calculator • Scientific Calculator
The alarm clock app allows a huge number of alarms to be set, each with its own start and repeat time. Unfortunately you don’t have the Stopwatch, Timer or World Clock options. You don’t get a Voice Recorder either.
The Clock • Creating alarm
But all of the applications missing on the XPERIA Arc can be downloaded for free off the Android Market in a matter of minutes, so it’s not a big deal really.
Google Maps is the main application and its Street View mode is probably the best part of the deal in places where turn-by-turn voice navigation isn’t yet offered. If the Street View is available in the area you're interested in, you can enjoy a 360-degree view of the area. Zoom is supported through pinch and double tap gestures. When the digital compass is turned on it feels like making a virtual tour of the surroundings!
Google Maps 5.0 • Vector 3D maps
Turn-by-turn voice guidance using Google Maps Navigation is only available in select countries and unless you live in one of them the best you can do is plan a route in advance and keep an eye on your current location during travel.
Our XPERIA Arc came with Maps 5 out of the box, which gives you access to some great features. Offline rerouting is one – if you stray off course, Maps will recalculate the route without the need for an Internet connection. You can’t change the destination without connection though. There are also 3D buildings (where available), two finger rotation, tilting and so on.
The structure of the Android Market is quite simple – featured apps on top and three buttons (Applications, Games and My apps). There is also a shortcut up there for initiating a search.
The Android Market • Market categories
The Applications and Games sections are divided into subsections (e.g. Communication, Entertainment etc.) so you can filter the apps that are relevant to you. Of course, there is also an option of displaying them all in bulk, but you’ll probably need days to browse them all that way.
App description • Category
There are all kinds of apps in the Android market and the most important ones are covered (file managers, navigation apps, document readers etc.).
But something happened and they’re now keen to make up for lost time: a whole new generation of Android smartphones, new type of displays and camera sensors, the PlayStation phone. They’re even about to unlock the boot loader of the new XPERIA family – something Sony Ericsson have been denying developers for years.
The XPERIA Arc is a big part of that – probably the most important part of the plan. The Arc is Sony Ericsson’s first Gingerbread droid, the first to have the new Reality display and Sony’s new Exmor R camera sensor. They’ve given it the best they have but the tech inside doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s the bold lines and compelling elegance that show Sony Ericsson know how to treat a flagship.
The company’s slimmest smartphone is easily the most beautiful to date. The phone looks so good we’re wiling to forgive some of the design choices that were probably forced on the team: the lens and shutter key placement, the non-hot-swappable memory card slot or the lack of auto brightness control.
The Arc has it all in terms of features: big quality screen, awesome 8 megapixel camera and HD camcorder, the latest Android. Not less important, the phone has a soul and spirit.
Probably the only place it falls short is not being quite as future proofed as a proper flagship should be. It will be a while before dual-core phones start hitting real hard but when they do, the Arc will be vulnerable.
LG and Samsung have already gone dual-core and got Full HD video recording, while Sony Ericsson – and HTC – are so far choosing to focus their efforts elsewhere. This review should help us answer – among other things – the question of who made the right call and who will have to play catch up.
Organizer
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc comes with a solid set of organizing options, including a document viewer.The app in question is OfficeSuite and it has support for viewing document files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF, including the Office 2007 versions). For editing, you will need to get the paid app.
The OfficeSuite reader
Reading documents is quite comfortable on The large, high-resolution screen and panning is blazing fast.
The OfficeSuite enables you to view Office documents on XPERIA Arc
The doc viewer integrates with the Gmail app, which makes viewing attachments a cinch. You can’t download them to the phone’s internal memory however. Attaching all kinds of files is possible though.
The calendar has four different types of view - daily, weekly, monthly and agenda view. Adding a new event is quick and easy, and you can also set an alarm to act as a reminder.
The organizer centerpiece - the calendar
Agenda view shows a list of all the calendar entries from the recent past to the near future. It’s a very handy tool when you need to check your appointments for the next few days.
There is also a calculator aboard. It is nicely touch optimized - the buttons are really big and easy to hit.
Regular Calculator • Scientific Calculator
The alarm clock app allows a huge number of alarms to be set, each with its own start and repeat time. Unfortunately you don’t have the Stopwatch, Timer or World Clock options. You don’t get a Voice Recorder either.
The Clock • Creating alarm
But all of the applications missing on the XPERIA Arc can be downloaded for free off the Android Market in a matter of minutes, so it’s not a big deal really.
GPS and navigation
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc comes with a GPS receiver, which locked onto satellites in about 2-3 minutes with A-GPS turned off.Google Maps is the main application and its Street View mode is probably the best part of the deal in places where turn-by-turn voice navigation isn’t yet offered. If the Street View is available in the area you're interested in, you can enjoy a 360-degree view of the area. Zoom is supported through pinch and double tap gestures. When the digital compass is turned on it feels like making a virtual tour of the surroundings!
Google Maps 5.0 • Vector 3D maps
Turn-by-turn voice guidance using Google Maps Navigation is only available in select countries and unless you live in one of them the best you can do is plan a route in advance and keep an eye on your current location during travel.
Our XPERIA Arc came with Maps 5 out of the box, which gives you access to some great features. Offline rerouting is one – if you stray off course, Maps will recalculate the route without the need for an Internet connection. You can’t change the destination without connection though. There are also 3D buildings (where available), two finger rotation, tilting and so on.
Android Market has plenty of apps
The XPERIA Arc runs the latest version of Android and has a WVGA screen, giving you access to the whole Android Market (some apps won’t run on older versions or low-res screens).The structure of the Android Market is quite simple – featured apps on top and three buttons (Applications, Games and My apps). There is also a shortcut up there for initiating a search.
The Android Market • Market categories
The Applications and Games sections are divided into subsections (e.g. Communication, Entertainment etc.) so you can filter the apps that are relevant to you. Of course, there is also an option of displaying them all in bulk, but you’ll probably need days to browse them all that way.
App description • Category
There are all kinds of apps in the Android market and the most important ones are covered (file managers, navigation apps, document readers etc.).
Final words
A year ago it seemed Sony Ericsson’s lack of inspiration was becoming chronic. With delayed updates and boring uniform looks the XPERIA lineup was going nowhere.But something happened and they’re now keen to make up for lost time: a whole new generation of Android smartphones, new type of displays and camera sensors, the PlayStation phone. They’re even about to unlock the boot loader of the new XPERIA family – something Sony Ericsson have been denying developers for years.
The XPERIA Arc is a big part of that – probably the most important part of the plan. The Arc is Sony Ericsson’s first Gingerbread droid, the first to have the new Reality display and Sony’s new Exmor R camera sensor. They’ve given it the best they have but the tech inside doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s the bold lines and compelling elegance that show Sony Ericsson know how to treat a flagship.
The company’s slimmest smartphone is easily the most beautiful to date. The phone looks so good we’re wiling to forgive some of the design choices that were probably forced on the team: the lens and shutter key placement, the non-hot-swappable memory card slot or the lack of auto brightness control.
The Arc has it all in terms of features: big quality screen, awesome 8 megapixel camera and HD camcorder, the latest Android. Not less important, the phone has a soul and spirit.
Probably the only place it falls short is not being quite as future proofed as a proper flagship should be. It will be a while before dual-core phones start hitting real hard but when they do, the Arc will be vulnerable.
Samsung S8530 Wave II Review: Riding the wave
GadgTechWorld.blogspot.com
Introduction
They shall come in wave upon wave. Or so it seemed in the beginning. Samsung certainly wanted a strong start for their own Bada OS and they had it. It is usual for sequels to be questioned and belittled. That’s one thing the Wave II doesn’t have to worry about. It’s bigger and heavier than the original.
When the second gen phone has a familiar sounding model name with an actual ordinal number in it – that doesn’t mean a complete lack of imagination. It’s a way to promote continuity. The Wave II has this base covered too – it’s nearly the same phone as the first Wave but presumably upgraded to reach to a more high-end market segment. Here’s a quick recap of its specs:
The Samsung S8530 Wave II may not be the upgrade that all users have been waiting for, but the phone runs the latest version of the Bada OS and has kept all the great features of the original: from the powerful CPU, to premium connectivity and HD video recording.
And all this is delivered on a larger 3.7-inch display. Sure, it’s no SuperAMOLED screen but Samsung promises the LCD screen is not your ordinary screen, too. You see, good things come in limited number and Samsung is pressed to supply enough SuperAMOLEDs for their Android and Windows Phone 7 operations.
Bad luck for the Wave II, we guess. Even worse for the original Wave – this phone will be as good as discontinued when the stocks run out. The Wave II will take over and that’s that.
Anyway, Samsung are probably not giving up on their Bada OS. If it eventually becomes the base platform for all their midrange touch phones, they will be extremely well positioned to adapt to the new market reality.
It’s not about the business benefits or the multitasking – it’s as simple as apps. Users love to have them and makers love to sell them. Imagine being able to do that on all levels – from the most basic feature phones to the top-of-the-line smart devices. That must be enough reason for Samsung to keep their commitment to Bada.
When the second gen phone has a familiar sounding model name with an actual ordinal number in it – that doesn’t mean a complete lack of imagination. It’s a way to promote continuity. The Wave II has this base covered too – it’s nearly the same phone as the first Wave but presumably upgraded to reach to a more high-end market segment. Here’s a quick recap of its specs:
Key features
- 3.7" 16M-color Super Clear LCD capacitive touchscreen, WVGA (480 x 800 pixels), multi-touch input, scratch-resistant glass surface
- Slim and solid metal body
- Bada OS 1.2 with Samsung Apps
- ARM Cortex A8 based 1GHz CPU
- Quad-band GSM support with dual-band HSPA
- Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connectivity with WPS support, Wi-Fi tethering
- Built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support, digital compass, Samsung LBS powered by ROUTE 66
- 5 MP autofocus camera with touch focus and LED flash, geotagging, face, smile and blink detection
- 720p video recording at 30fps
- 2GB internal storage, microSDHC card slot
- Standard microUSB port and Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP
- Standard 3.5mm audio jack, TV out
- Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM recording
- Webkit-based Samsung Dolphin Browser 2.0 with Flash support
- YouTube client, Facebook and Twitter integration
- DivX/XviD video support
- Good audio quality
Main disadvantages
- Limited number of available applications
- Super Clear LCD can’t match SuperAMOLED
- Card slot under the battery
- No lens protection
- SatNav software only a 30-day trial
- No ambient light sensor to adjust screen brightness automatically
- Poor loudspeaker performance
Wave II over original Wave
- Latest Bada OS 1.2
- Swype-like T9 Trace text input
- Over-the-Air software updates
- Larger 3.7" touchscreen
The Samsung S8530 Wave II may not be the upgrade that all users have been waiting for, but the phone runs the latest version of the Bada OS and has kept all the great features of the original: from the powerful CPU, to premium connectivity and HD video recording.
And all this is delivered on a larger 3.7-inch display. Sure, it’s no SuperAMOLED screen but Samsung promises the LCD screen is not your ordinary screen, too. You see, good things come in limited number and Samsung is pressed to supply enough SuperAMOLEDs for their Android and Windows Phone 7 operations.
Bad luck for the Wave II, we guess. Even worse for the original Wave – this phone will be as good as discontinued when the stocks run out. The Wave II will take over and that’s that.
Anyway, Samsung are probably not giving up on their Bada OS. If it eventually becomes the base platform for all their midrange touch phones, they will be extremely well positioned to adapt to the new market reality.
It’s not about the business benefits or the multitasking – it’s as simple as apps. Users love to have them and makers love to sell them. Imagine being able to do that on all levels – from the most basic feature phones to the top-of-the-line smart devices. That must be enough reason for Samsung to keep their commitment to Bada.
Like it or not, the Samsung S8530 Wave II is just a step in the process. We’re about to see whether it’s as compelling as its predecessor. As usual, we start with the design and hardware, and then put Bada 1.2 under the microscope.
Picsel Viewer on Samsung Wave II
The calendar has three different types of view - daily, weekly and monthly. Adding a new event is quick and easy, and you can also set an alarm to act as a reminder.
The organizer centerpiece - the calendar
The Samsung S8530 Wave II features a decent alarm clock application which allows a huge number of alarms to be set, each with its own start time and repeat pattern. It also hosts the world clock, stop-watch and timer functions. There is also a calculator aboard. It is nicely touch optimized - the buttons are big enough and easy to hit. Oh, the Wave II packs a voice recorder as well.
The Clock app has the alarm options, the world clock, the stop-watch and the timer • Calculator
Samsung have included the My Files app – a simple to use but functional file manager, which also doubles as an image gallery. It can move, copy, lock and rename files in bulk, even send multiple files over Bluetooth.
The My Files app
The System Manager is the first telltale sign the Wave II is actually a smartphone. It consists of four tabs. The first one shows the device information (model number, firmware version, MAC addresses), the second one displays the battery info, while the third and the fourth inform you on the CPU usage and the memory status, respectively. Along with the CPU usage you can also see the currently running apps and you can start the Task manager.
The System Manager
The Memo and Mini Diary are self-explanatory. The first app works with only text, while the Diary lets you also attach pictures.
The Memo and Mini Diary
Social Hub is the messaging and media sharing Holy Grail – this one app allows you to create a message (it may pack media content too) and then send it to various services – SMS/MMS, email, social networks.
The Social Hub
Samsung also added native Twitter and Facebook clients on the Bada OS. They are nicely touch optimized and have similar looks and functionality as the respective apps for the iPhone and Symbian.
Facebook • Twitter
The Smart Search works on everything in your phone – contacts, images, music, videos, emails, history, apps, etc. It works excellent and helps when you have lots of content. It also offers internet search with Google or Bing.
The Smart Search
The Tumbling dice app uses the built-in accelerometer. Shaking the phone for an occasional roll of the dice is a fun way to try your luck, and while it's free, it's not practical or particularly entertaining.
The EDGE is a very simple game, which also uses the accelerometer to control a cube over a space platform. Your goal is one - to make it to the end of the level.
Parachute Panic is very cute game – some guys jump from planes and you must open their parachutes and help them land on the ships below. The game has very nice paper drawing styling and is quite fun.
Tumbling dice • EDGE • Parachute Panic
There is also a bunch of demo games. They give you only about two minutes of gameplay each.
Unfortunately, Bada OS is still very young and its gaming potential is yet to be revealed in the future.
Samsung Apps
At the time we reviewed the original Wave we found only 60 apps over at the Samsung Apps store and now a total of nearly 3000 applications (both free and paid) are at your disposal.
And while this growth sure is impressive, the Samsung Apps store is far behind Apple’s App Store, Google’s Android Market or even the Windows Marketplace of the recently launched Windows Phone 7 platform.
Wave II comes supplied with the Samsung LBS app, which is based on the ROUTE66 mobile application. Though its maps graphics have somewhat outdated looks, feature-wise there's really nothing missing. It has voice-guided navigation and a huge number of additional features, but the extra features come at a price.
The GPS nagigation software
The navigation software comes with 30-day trial license for voice-guided navigation (drive and walk). After that you’ll need a subscription, which is quite expensive. All other goodies require some extra payment and the whole package will cost you a lot.
There is no native Google Maps at this stage, but we hope the app will hit the Bada OS application store soon.
In a nutshell, the difference between SuperAMOLED and Super (Clear) LCD is about the same as that between Superman and Super Mario. The major novelty is in fact a major liability for the Wave II and it’s not the phone’s fault. A 3.7” Super Clear LCD touchscreen can’t match a 3.3” Super AMOLED but Samsung had no choice but try and make this work. The Bada OS is by the way not the only casualty of the AMOLED shortage.
So yes, we do think losing the SuperAMOLED screen was the worst thing that could happen to the Wave II. But in all honesty, they did try to make the whole thing less painful. Making the screen bigger seems the right thing to do. And other than the screen, it’s the same phone with the whole set of top notch features intact.
You get the same 5 megapixel still camera and HD video recording and a complete connectivity package including Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and TV out. There’s the impressively fast CPU and premium finish. And not least, the Bada OS has just been updated to v1.2.
Organizer and apps
The Samsung S8530 Wave II comes with the Picsel Viewer on board. It works like a charm and is capable of pinch zooming. Both panning and zooming are fast and the overall performance of the Office viewer is excellent. Picsel Viewer on Samsung Wave II
The calendar has three different types of view - daily, weekly and monthly. Adding a new event is quick and easy, and you can also set an alarm to act as a reminder.
The organizer centerpiece - the calendar
The Samsung S8530 Wave II features a decent alarm clock application which allows a huge number of alarms to be set, each with its own start time and repeat pattern. It also hosts the world clock, stop-watch and timer functions. There is also a calculator aboard. It is nicely touch optimized - the buttons are big enough and easy to hit. Oh, the Wave II packs a voice recorder as well.
The Clock app has the alarm options, the world clock, the stop-watch and the timer • Calculator
Samsung have included the My Files app – a simple to use but functional file manager, which also doubles as an image gallery. It can move, copy, lock and rename files in bulk, even send multiple files over Bluetooth.
The My Files app
The System Manager is the first telltale sign the Wave II is actually a smartphone. It consists of four tabs. The first one shows the device information (model number, firmware version, MAC addresses), the second one displays the battery info, while the third and the fourth inform you on the CPU usage and the memory status, respectively. Along with the CPU usage you can also see the currently running apps and you can start the Task manager.
The System Manager
The Memo and Mini Diary are self-explanatory. The first app works with only text, while the Diary lets you also attach pictures.
The Memo and Mini Diary
Social Hub is the messaging and media sharing Holy Grail – this one app allows you to create a message (it may pack media content too) and then send it to various services – SMS/MMS, email, social networks.
The Social Hub
Samsung also added native Twitter and Facebook clients on the Bada OS. They are nicely touch optimized and have similar looks and functionality as the respective apps for the iPhone and Symbian.
Facebook • Twitter
The Smart Search works on everything in your phone – contacts, images, music, videos, emails, history, apps, etc. It works excellent and helps when you have lots of content. It also offers internet search with Google or Bing.
The Smart Search
Games
There are two full games pre-installed on the Wave – EDGE and Parachute Panic. You also get the Tumbling dice application.The Tumbling dice app uses the built-in accelerometer. Shaking the phone for an occasional roll of the dice is a fun way to try your luck, and while it's free, it's not practical or particularly entertaining.
The EDGE is a very simple game, which also uses the accelerometer to control a cube over a space platform. Your goal is one - to make it to the end of the level.
Parachute Panic is very cute game – some guys jump from planes and you must open their parachutes and help them land on the ships below. The game has very nice paper drawing styling and is quite fun.
Tumbling dice • EDGE • Parachute Panic
There is also a bunch of demo games. They give you only about two minutes of gameplay each.
Unfortunately, Bada OS is still very young and its gaming potential is yet to be revealed in the future.
The Samsung Apps store
The Bada OS offers a native application repository from its start – the Samsung Apps. Samsung Apps is very similar to the Android Market. It has three tabs – featured, top and category view. There is also a download section and search option. Samsung Apps
At the time we reviewed the original Wave we found only 60 apps over at the Samsung Apps store and now a total of nearly 3000 applications (both free and paid) are at your disposal.
And while this growth sure is impressive, the Samsung Apps store is far behind Apple’s App Store, Google’s Android Market or even the Windows Marketplace of the recently launched Windows Phone 7 platform.
GPS navigation comes at a price
The preinstalled navigation software on the Samsung S8530 Wave II can easily turn the handset in a fully functional SatNav system - especially thanks to the sensitive GPS receiver on board.Wave II comes supplied with the Samsung LBS app, which is based on the ROUTE66 mobile application. Though its maps graphics have somewhat outdated looks, feature-wise there's really nothing missing. It has voice-guided navigation and a huge number of additional features, but the extra features come at a price.
The GPS nagigation software
The navigation software comes with 30-day trial license for voice-guided navigation (drive and walk). After that you’ll need a subscription, which is quite expensive. All other goodies require some extra payment and the whole package will cost you a lot.
There is no native Google Maps at this stage, but we hope the app will hit the Bada OS application store soon.
Final words
If you have the feeling the Wave II came out of nowhere you’re not alone. This is not your usual upgrade – it’s an emergency response to what might one day be known as the 2010 SuperAMOLED crisis. Just kidding really, but we guess it always helps to keep good humor when things don’t go quite as planned.In a nutshell, the difference between SuperAMOLED and Super (Clear) LCD is about the same as that between Superman and Super Mario. The major novelty is in fact a major liability for the Wave II and it’s not the phone’s fault. A 3.7” Super Clear LCD touchscreen can’t match a 3.3” Super AMOLED but Samsung had no choice but try and make this work. The Bada OS is by the way not the only casualty of the AMOLED shortage.
So yes, we do think losing the SuperAMOLED screen was the worst thing that could happen to the Wave II. But in all honesty, they did try to make the whole thing less painful. Making the screen bigger seems the right thing to do. And other than the screen, it’s the same phone with the whole set of top notch features intact.
You get the same 5 megapixel still camera and HD video recording and a complete connectivity package including Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and TV out. There’s the impressively fast CPU and premium finish. And not least, the Bada OS has just been updated to v1.2.
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