Posts Tagged ‘telecom’
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011
 Millennials are the most connected generation and use mobile for shopping, going online and more. Americans are willing to give up some of life’s greatest pleasures in order to hang on to their mobile phones, according to the results of a recent survey from telenav (Nasdaq:TNAV).
Not surprisingly, smartphone users were more attached to their devices than were feature phone users, with iPhone users leading the pack. In fact, iPhone users were more likely than their Android or BlackBerry counterparts to spend a week without their significant other, exercise or shoes — rather than go a week without their phone.
While 22 percent of all respondents said they would rather give up their toothbrush than their phone for a week, this number jumped to a whopping 40 percent among iPhone users.
Halitosis and other priority quirks aside, 83 percent of iPhone users thought other iPhone users would make the best romantic partners.
Even among feature phone users, however, TeleNav’s survey showed respondents’ strong attachment to their mobile phones. Nearly half of all respondents said they sleep with their phone next to them, including 38 percent of feature phone users and 66 percent of smartphone users.
From differences between iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry users to the snap judgments people make based on the type of phone someone carries, TeleNav’s latest survey sheds light on just how important mobile phones have become in Americans’ lives.
How willing are you . . .
Life is full of simple pleasures, so having to choose between one of those many pleasures — such as coffee, caffeine or even sex — and your mobile phone can be difficult.
- One-third of all respondents would be more willing to give up sex for a week than their mobile phone.
- Of the respondents who indicated they would be more willing to give up sex than their mobile phone for a week, 70% were women.
- 54% of all respondents would be more willing to give up exercise for a week than their mobile phone.
- So what about our guilty pleasures? 55% of respondents would be more willing to give up caffeine for a week than their mobile phone, 63% would be more willing to give up chocolate, and 70% would be willing to forego alcohol.
- One in five respondents are more willing to go shoeless than phoneless for a week.
- iPhone users (43%) were more likely to say they’d go a week without shoes than Android users (27%) or BlackBerry users (25%).
Smartphone vs. Feature Phone
As more Americans jump on the smartphone bandwagon, results of TeleNav’s survey indicate that a person’s choice in phones may impact some of their daily behaviors.
- It appears the phones we choose may also reflect our manners, as 26% of smartphone users admitted to using their phone frequently at the dinner table, compared with just6% of feature phone users.
- Some couples may find themselves saying it’s either me or the phone. 22% of smartphone users said they’d rather go a week without seeing their significant otherthan to have to forfeit their phone compared to just 14% of feature phone users.
- How do we value our phones over other technologies? Smartphone owners were twice as likely as feature phone users to choose their phone over their laptop/computer.
- Smartphone users were three times more likely to admit that they judge people based on the type of phone they carry.
OS Showdown
Survey results suggest that not only does the type of phone a person uses reflect the choices they make, but also the smartphone operating system they choose.
- iPhone users were twice as likely than Android users to have spent more than $40 on apps for their current phone.
- Nearly half of Android users said their phone reflects their overall sense of style — more than iPhone users (35%). 43% of BlackBerry users felt their phones reflected their overall sense of style.
- While a strong majority of iPhone users (83%) thought other iPhone users would make the best romantic partners, and a strong majority of Android users (70%) selected other Android users, only 48% of BlackBerry users thought other BlackBerry users would make for the best romantic partners.
For additional findings and an infographic highlighting the results see: www.telenav.com/about/pr-summer-travel/report-20110803.html
Infographic:
Tags: mobile, smartphones, survey, telecom, telenav, would you give up sex to keep your phone?
Posted in Internet/New Media, Mobile, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Friday, July 29th, 2011
 Apple's iPhone 4 Global smartphone shipments grew an impressive 76 percent annually to reach a record 110 million units in the second quarter of 2011. Both Apple and Samsung overtook long-time volume leader Nokia for the top two spots in our rankings.
Alex Spektor, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global smartphone shipments grew a healthy 76 percent annually to reach a record 110 million units in Q2 2011. We had previously reported on Apple becoming the largest smartphone vendor in terms of revenue and profits. Now, just four years after the release of the original iPhone, Apple has become the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume with 18 percent market share. Apple’s growth remained strong as it expanded distribution worldwide, particularly in China and Asia.”
Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Samsung overtook Nokia to become the world’s second largest smartphone vendor in Q2 2011. Samsung’s shipments grew a huge 520 percent annually, for 17 percent global smartphone market share. Samsung’s Galaxy portfolio has proven popular, especially the high-tier S2 Android model.”
Tom Kang, director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Having become the first ever vendor to ship 100 million smartphones in a single year during 2010, long-time leader Nokia has slipped two places in our rankings in Q2 2011. The vendor’s 15 percent global smartphone market share is less than half of what it was just one year earlier, as the industry awaits Nokia’s pending transition to Windows Phone 7.”
| Exhibit 1: Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments and Market Share in Q2 2011 |
|
| Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments (Millions of Units) |
Q2 ’10 |
Q2 ’11 |
| Apple |
8.4 |
|
20.3 |
|
| Samsung |
3.1 |
|
19.2 |
|
| Nokia |
23.8 |
|
16.7 |
|
| Others |
27.1 |
|
53.8 |
|
| Total |
62.4 |
|
110.0 |
|
|
|
|
| Global Smartphone Vendor Marketshare % |
Q2 ’10 |
Q2 ’11 |
| Apple |
13.5 |
% |
18.5 |
% |
| Samsung |
5.0 |
% |
17.5 |
% |
| Nokia |
38.1 |
% |
15.2 |
% |
| Others |
43.4 |
% |
48.9 |
% |
| Total |
100.0 |
% |
100.0 |
% |
|
|
|
| Growth Year-over-Year % |
50.4 |
% |
76.3 |
% |
The full report, Apple Becomes World’s No.1 Smartphone Vendor in Q2 2011, is published by the Strategy Analytics Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service.
Tags: Alex Spektor, Apple Inc., Apple largest smartphone vendor, Hardware, mobile, Neil Mawston, Nokia, Samsung, Samsung displaces Nokia, Strategy Analytics, telecom, Tom King
Posted in Apple, Hardware, Mobile, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Friday, July 29th, 2011
 By the end of 2011, total prepaid/no-contract wireless subscriptions in the U.S. will represent for one out of four such accounts, a new high-water mark reflecting the recent and rapid erosion of consumer reliance on more expensive contract-based cell phone plans.
According to new data released today by the New Millennium Research Council (NMRC) think tank:
- About three out of five new wireless subscriptions in 2010 were for prepaid cell phone service versus contract-based “postpaid” service – a margin of more than eight million new no-contract prepaid subscriptions versus just under new 4.8 million postpaid subscriptions. (Source: J.P. Morgan, May 2011, covering the period from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the fourth quarter of 2010.)
- While traditional prepaid service subscriptions lost ground from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the fourth quarter of 2010, unlimited prepaid posted strong gains with 7.4 million new subscribers, up 45 percent over that one-year period. (Source: J.P. Morgan.)
- Based on current growth trends, the total non-wholesale wireless market in the U.S. will reach about 290 million by the end of calendar year 2011. For the first time, non-contract prepaid subscriptions will account for roughly 25 percent of the total wireless picture, moving the U.S. more in line with wider use of prepaid in other nations. (Source: Mobile Ecosystem.)
The new prepaid trends are very much in keeping with previous forecasts by the New Millennium Research Council:
- In March 2009, NMRC was the first to correctly forecast an imminent shift by cell phone consumers from more expensive contract-based cell phone service with often hefty cancellation penalties to less expensive no-contract prepaid service.
- In March 2010, NMRC reported that – for the first quarter ever — the number of new prepaid wireless phone customers in U.S. eclipsed the number of new contract-based phone customers during the final three months of 2009.
- Last November, NMRC released survey data showing that one in five U.S. cell phone consumers with contract-based service – an estimated 24.6 million American adults – could switch in 2011 to less expensive unlimited prepaid wireless service with no early-cancellation penalty.
Sam Simon, senior fellow, New Millennium Research Council, said, “NMRC was 100 percent on the money in forecasting that 2010 would be the year of prepaid wireless service. It now looks like 2011 will be an even bigger year for no-contract wireless as more and more consumers realize the extent to which they can save hundreds of dollars each year with unlimited prepaid service while also avoiding the needless entanglements of restrictive contract-based cell phone service. This penny pinching will go on even as others are attracted to prepaid by unlimited plans and for connected devices.”
Telecommunications analyst Mark Lowenstein, managing director, Mobile Ecosystem, said: “Prepaid services continue to become more mainstream, as attractive devices such as smartphones are offered by the leading prepaid operators. Also, we are seeing the market for additional connected devices such as iPads becoming a key part of prepaid subscriber growth.”
Tags: Mark Lowenstein, mobile, Mobile Ecosystem, New Millenium Research Council, NMRC, pre-paid wireless subscriptions, Sam Simon, telecom
Posted in Mobile, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | 3 Comments »
Thursday, July 21st, 2011
 Senator Herb Kohl Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl has submitted a letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski expressing his opposition to the proposed AT&T – T-Mobile USA merger now under review by the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission. Kohl says the merger would result in higher prices for service and a reduction in consumer choice.
His move prompted some in-state opposition, however.
Thad Nation, executive director of Wired Wisconsin, issued this statement in response to the news:
“I am disappointed by Senator Herb Kohl’s decision to withhold his support for a merger that can provide real benefits to Wisconsin residents. As proposed, this merger would enhance and improve access to wireless broadband for Wisconsin residents through private sector investment in critical infrastructure, especially in rural areas.
“Individuals in many parts of Wisconsin often lack access to high-speed Internet, quality cell service and other amenities. This merger would help to change that by providing improved services and access to people throughout Wisconsin. Because of this identified, statewide need, I do not agree with Senator Kohl on this matter and I believe this is the wrong decision for Wisconsin consumers.”
Wired Wisconsin is the Wisconsin-based project of Midwest Consumers for Choice and Competition (MCCC), a non-profit organization of individual consumers interested in technology, broadband, and telecommunication issues with state projects throughout the Midwest region. The project will work to support an environment for innovative technology, high-tech job creation, and economic growth.
So what do you think? Will the T-Mobile, AT&T merger be good for consumers or will it, as Sen. Kohl maintains, result in higher service charges and less choice?
Tags: AT&T, merger, mobile, Sen. Herb Kohl, Senator opposes T-Mobile & AT&T merger, T-Mobile, telecom, Wired Wisconsin
Posted in Acquisitions, IT, Mobile, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Friday, July 15th, 2011
 There has been little good news about the economy lately, particularly on the jobs front. New In-Stat research, however, shows that Enterprise business spending on IT and telecom services, which include cloud computing, wireless, wireline voice, wireline data, and business IP/VoIP, will move in a positive direction in 2011, increasing a healthy 6 percent over 2010.
“There will be positive growth across all 20 verticals with education and healthcare and social services leading the surge with growth of 10 percent and 9 percent respectively,” says Greg Potter, Analyst. “These increases in spending are across all product groups except wireline voice which will decline by about half a percent.”
Additional data includes:
- Enterprise spending on public cloud computing services is set to expand 139% from 2010 to 2011.
- Enterprise spending on wireless data is set to approach $17 billion in 2015.
- Enterprise spending in the healthcare sector on wireline data will approach 2 billion in 2014.
- Enterprise spending on wireline voice will remain flat, with traditional TDM services continuing their decline, only reaching $3.4 billion in 2011.
The In-Stat research, Enterprise Markets for Telecom Services: Wireline Voice, Wireline Data, Wireless, Cloud Computing, and VoIP in 20 Verticals provides forecasts of US business telecom spending for the 2010-2015 period with detailed segmentation by product category, size of business, corporate liable spending, individual liable spending, and vertical market.
Tags: cloud computing, In-Stat, IT spending 2011, Report, telecom, VoIP, wireless, wireline data
Posted in Cloud, Internet/New Media, IT, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
 Free conference calling services are currently saving consumers at least $656 million annually. According to TeleSpan Publishing Corp, free toll conference calls are growing at five times the rate of fee-based toll conferencing services that companies like Verizon and AT&T provide. Long Beach, CA-based FreeConferenceCall.com, the largest privately held conferencing provider in the United States, released the analysis.
“People from all over the world – from cities to rural areas, small business executives to non-profit organizations and individuals – are using free conferencing services to do everything from conducting their day to day business to planning family reunions – and they are saving over a half a billion dollars a year,” said David Erickson, Founder and CEO of FreeConferenceCall.com.
“The tremendous growth of the industry is directly tied to these savings, as consumers realize that there is no need to pay extra for a conference call when they can get the same quality and reliable service for the cost of a regular call.”
A recent TeleSpan Publishing Corp report found that last year, consumers spent 9.3 billion minutes on free conference calls and 45.3 billion minutes on paid conference calls. The paid calls cost consumers $3.2 billion a year (an average of $.0706 per minute), which explains why free conference calls are growing at five times the rate of paid calls.
Approximately 15-20 million consumers, including businesses, individuals, non-profit organizations, church groups, government agencies, and other organizations in the United States and internationally, use FreeConferenceCall.com to communicate every month.
Many of FreeConferenceCall.com’s customers migrated from the larger providers that charge for the same services (carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and their subsidiaries or partners). Many other customers would never have made a conference call because of the cost – particularly small businesses, non-profits, and individuals – but now do because of the savings.
We’ve used a variety of these services, such as GoToMeeting.com, among others. Generally they seem to work better than similar services from the phone companies. Many of the firms we interview demonstrate their products using GotoMeeting, which has a free trial but otherwise requires buying the app. People who don’t purchase it can still participate in conferences with those who do.
FreeConferenceCall.com offers consumers a variety of services, including domestic audio conferencing, international audio conferencing, event conferencing, flat-rate conferencing, toll-free conferencing, outgoing call messaging, online conferencing, and voicemail messaging services.
Do you have a conference call system you prefer?
Tags: conference call software, conference calling apps, Freeconferencecall.com, GotoMeeting.com, reports, telecom
Posted in Internet/New Media, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Monday, June 13th, 2011
 The recent kerfuffle over Apple tracking an iPhone’s location will barely be a speed bump in the evolution of location based services (LBS) because there is simply too much money at stake, says a new report from Strategy Analytics. The firm predicts consumer and advertiser expenditure on LBS to approach $10 billion by 2016, with search advertising accounting for just over 50 percent.
Consumers want services such as search, maps and navigation, the report notes, while for adverisers, location data lets them target optimized messages to consumers.
Location providers will have to be more transparent about how they use, manage and store location data, the report adds.
The full report is available only to Strategy Analytics clients.
Here’s a Los Angeles Times story on the report.
Tags: localization, mobile local services to hit $10B, smartphones, Strategy Analytics, telecom
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Mobile, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
 Travelers are using their mobile devices for much more than just making calls these days. A mobile device travel survey of more than 1,000 U.S. respondents with mobile devices by TripAdvisor shows that 38 percent have used their mobile devices to plan a trip and 60 percent of respondents said they have downloaded travel apps on their mobile devices.
While the main reason to bring a mobile phone on trips remains making calls, according to 47 percent, 19 percent cited communicating online through services like chat and email as the most important function.
Phone Plus
Thirty-eight percent said they often use their mobile devices for tasks other than calls when traveling, and 28 percent said they always do.
Other than calls and texting, the top activities travelers use their mobile devices for when traveling include:
- 65% taking/sharing photos
- 54% surfing online
- 52% navigation
- 48% staying on top of the news
- 36% games
Mobile for Travel Planning
When asked what parts of the travel planning process they conduct on their mobile:
- 52% researched restaurants
- 46% read about destinations
- 45% read traveler reviews
- 42% booked or researched accomodations.
- 34% booked or researched flights
On the Road Activities
While traveling, 62 percent of travelers said they use their mobile devices to research restaurants. Fifty-one percent check their flight status and 46 percent research attractions. Twenty-eight percent have checked in to a restaurant, hotel or attraction using their mobile device while on a trip.
Other Mobile Device Travel Tidbits
- 23 percent have reviewed a hotel, restaurant, or attraction they’ve visited using a mobile device while on a trip.
- 38 percent post status updates to social networking sites to keep friends updated on their travels.
- 47 percent of respondents have used their mobile devices internationally.
- The greatest frustration with mobile devices when traveling, not surprisingly, is sporadic connectivity, according to 35 percent, while 25 percent identified small screens as their biggest mobile device gripe.
- 75 percent of respondents said they use GPS devices when traveling.
- 59 percent of travelers have used the GPS capabilities of their mobile devices
“Smartphone adoption around the world is skyrocketing, and is fundamentally changing the way people get travel advice,” said Mike Putnam, director of mobile product for TripAdvisor. “Whether it is finding the perfect museum or restaurant, booking a hotel or a flight, or sharing advice, it is clear that travelers around the world now rely on their smartphones and other mobile devices to plan and have better trips.”
TripAdvisor recently launched a new “My Saves” feature for its mobile websites and apps that allows travelers to save hotel, restaurant, and attraction pages so they can easily find them again for future reference. TripAdvisor has free mobile apps available for the iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7, Nokia, and Palm smartphones, the iPad, and a mobile website available for all major mobile devices.
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Tags: mobile devices, planning, shopping, smartphones, survey, telecom, travelers using mobile phones for research, TripAdvisor
Posted in Internet/New Media, Mobile, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Friday, May 13th, 2011
Millennials are the most connected generation and use mobile for shopping, going online and more. Nearly one in five smartphone owners access check-in services via their mobile device, according to a study by digital measurment service comScore.
The study shows that 16.7 million U.S. mobile subscribers used location-based “check-in” services on their phones in March 2011, representing 7.1 percent of the entire mobile population. 12.7 million check-in users did so on a smartphone, representing 17.6 percent of the smartphone population.
The study also found that check-in service users showed a high propensity for mobile media usage, including accessing retail sites and shopping guides, and displayed other characteristics of early adopters, including a stronger likelihood of owning a tablet device and accessing tech news, when compared to the average smartphone user.
Although still in their relative infancy, location-based mobile check-in services are seeing rather impressive adoption among smartphone users,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. “The ability to interact with consumers on this micro-local level through special offers, deals and other incentives provides brands with the real-time opportunity to engage consumers through their mobile device.”
18-34 Year Olds Account for Nearly 60 Percent of Check-In Service Users
Check-in service users, defined as those accessing services such as Facebook Places, Foursquare and Gowalla, had heavy skews toward 18-24 year olds (26.0 percent) and 25-34 year olds (32.5 percent) in relation to both the total mobile audience and the overall smartphone audience.
They were more likely to be full-time students (23.3 percent) when compared with total mobile (14.6 percent) or overall smartphone users (16.5 percent). Nearly half (46.4 percent) of check-in users were employed full time, slightly less than the percentage of smartphone users who were employed full time (53.3 percent). Both check-in service and smartphone users were more likely to be employed full time than overall mobile users (38.9 percent).
n 4 Users “Checking In” from a Smartphone Device
Of the 16.7 million people using check-in services on their mobile devices, 12.7 million (76.3 percent) did so via a smartphone device. Android accounted for the largest share of check-in service users with 36.6 percent checking-in from an Android device, while 33.7 percent of users checked in from an iPhone, with Apple having the highest representation relative to its percentage of the total smartphone market (Index of 132). RIM accounted for 22 percent of check-in service users, while Microsoft, Palm and Symbian each accounted for less than 5 percent.
Mobile Check-In Service Users Display Strong Propensity for Mobile Media Usage
When compared with an average smartphone owner, social networking check-in users were more likely to access mobile media across a majority of content categories. More than 95 percent of check-in service users used their mobile browser or applications. Nearly 62 percent accessed news. Check-in user behavior was also consistent with that of traditional early adopters, with 40.3 percent of users accessing tech news and 28.2 percent owning a media tablet, both significantly higher than average.
Check-in service users also showed a high propensity for accessing retail-related destinations on their mobile devices. Nearly one-third of users accessed online retail sites on their mobiles, while one-fourth accessed shopping guides. Check-in service users were also more likely to be exposed to mobile advertising, with nearly 40 percent recalling seeing a web or app ad during the month, compared to just 27.5 percent of smartphone users.
Tags: comScore, mobile device check-in services, smartphones, study, telecom
Posted in Internet/New Media, Mobile, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Monday, May 9th, 2011
 MIAMI – Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) netTALK.com Inc., (OTCBB:NTLK) which sells product and network phone service for VoIP, has nabbed $1.5 million in new funding.
The netTALK DUO is a versatile communications device with the ability to connect directly to a router or modem (no computer needed) or the computer’s USB port, offering consumers free local and long distance calls to any landline or mobile phone in the U.S. and Canada from anywhere in the world.
Tags: CLEC, financing, Miami, Nettalk Duo, Nettalk.com, telecom
Posted in Florida, Money, Telecommunications | Comments Off
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