nielsen

Games dominate as the most popular of all mobile apps, according to a Nielsen survey released today.

Among app users surveyed by Nielsen, 64 percent had played game apps in the past 30 days. Weather apps were the second most popular, followed by social networking, maps/navigation/search, music, and then news.

Further, Nielsen found that 93 percent of app downloaders are willing to pay for the games they play--the highest figure for any app category. That contrasted with 87 percent who will do so for entertainment apps, 84 percent who will dish out money for maps/navigation/search apps, and 76 percent who will open their wallets for news apps.… Read more

Smartphone demand continues to surge as more than half of all recent cell phone buyers opted for one, Nielsen said today.

Specifically, 55 percent of consumers who bought a new mobile phone from March through May picked a smartphone over a non-smartphone, according to a survey from the market researcher. That compares with 34 percent in the same period a year ago.

Non-smartphones--or what Nielsen refers to as feature phones--still hold the upper hand, though. Looking at all existing mobile users polled, 62 percent own one of them, while 38 percent own a smartphone.

Among smartphone operating systems, Android continues … Read more

Too busy to keep up with today's tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Friday, June 17.

Apple, Google clouds can't snub publishers The influence of music publishers is growing, and one man is leading them to what they hope is more digital music dollars. More

Keeping up with the hackers This handy chart provides a timeline of the computer attacks and hacks that have happened over the past few months. More

Web apps get ultimate endorsement: Win 8 Web-style programming in the next generation of Windows is a radical break for … Read more

The average smartphone owner is using 89 percent more data each month than a year ago, says a report out today from Nielsen.

Overall, the amount of data used each month rose to 435 megabytes in the first quarter of 2011, compared with 230MB during the same period last year. And those who've grabbed the largest amount of data in the past are grabbing even more now.

Monthly data usage among the top 10 percent of smartphone data users climbed 109 percent over the past year. Data usage among the top 1 percent rocketed 155 percent to 4.6 … Read more

More Americans are checking in on their favorite shows this year, a new report from Nielsen has found.

According to Nielsen, the average American spends 159 hours watching television in the home, along with 4.5 hours of content on the Web. They watch another four hours of video on their mobile devices. Those aged 65 and older spend the most time each month watching "traditional television," tallying nearly 221 hours of total viewership. Kids between the ages of 12 and 17 watch the least amount of television programming each month, viewing just 107 hours of content.

All … Read more

According to media ratings and research company Nielsen, E3 is generating online buzz at a level 59 percent higher than last year. The key driver is interest in Nintendo's successor to the Wii console, which is expected to be revealed on Tuesday, June 7.

The buzz level was measured by counting the number of messages from blogs, Twitter, and message boards during April and May of 2010 and 2011, and Nielsen says that 22 percent of this year'… Read more

Users of Apple's iPhone typically do a bit more with their phones, but Android owners are grabbing the largest amount of data each month, according to a study released yesterday by Nielsen.

Analzying almost 65,000 cell phone bills in the U.S. during the first quarter of the year, Nielsen found that Android users on average gulped 582MB of data each month, compared with iPhone users, who grabbed 492MB of data.

The difference in data usage is significant because iPhone users seem to do slightly more with their phones.

The study discovered that 79 percent of iPhone owners … Read more

Led by the iPad, the tablet market has taken off with a bang, but even with all the hoopla, less than 5 percent of U.S. consumers polled by Nielsen actually own one.

Tablets represent a huge potential money maker for the industry based on what consumers will pay not just for the device but all the content they need and want. Yet Nielsen's data, presented at the paidContent Mobile conference this week, shows that it's a market with considerable room to grow.

Adoption of tablets has risen over the past year to 4.8 percent in this … Read more

Nielsen thinks that Android phones are finally more desirable than iPhones, but Antuan could have told you that based on less than scientific observations. Justin shows us a phone that he does not desire, the HTC Droid Incredible 2. The unlikely Barnes & Noble Nook Color is rapidly becoming the most desirable Android tablet thanks to a new firmware update. Meanwhile, Motorola plans to give hardcore users what they truly desire, quad-core processors and more hacker friendly Android phones. All of that plus more news and the answers to your emailed questions on this week's episode of Android Atlas … Read more