UTalkMarketing and online survey platform Toluna Quick surveyed 1300 UK consumers and found that a staggering 32% of 18 to 34 year olds plan to use their mobile device to purchase gifts in the run up to the festive season.

But it’s not just the youth market that’s looking to buy their Christmas goodies on their mobile. Older age groups too are making an increasing number of purchases via their mobile – 14% of those aged between 35 and 54, and 9% of over 55’s also plan to make Christmas purchases this year using their device.

Apple’s iPhone users are the most likely to make a Christmas purchase via their device – 42% of those that say they will make a Christmas purchase via mobile will do using their iPhone. Some 31% of those that say they will make a Christmas purchase via their mobile will use their Blackberry and a further 27% will do so via an Android device.

But retailers will need to have a mobile app in place if they want a slice of the now lucrative mobile shopper market. An overwhelming 88% of mobile shoppers will only make a purchase this Christmas if their retailer of choice has ‘an app for that’. Only 12% of mobile shoppers will make a purchase directly from a retailer’s mobile-optimised website.

The main concern of those that won’t use their mobile device to make purchases this Christmas is the issue of privacy – 26% of those that said they would not use their mobile device to make purchases said it is because they have privacy concerns related to entering banking details into their device.

Digital Staircase is the latest in a series of mobile startups acquired by Facebook this year. The first acquisition was group messaging services firm Beluga, then mobile app platform provider Snaptu, followed by mobile ad solutions developer Rel8tion.

Confirmation of the deal for an undisclosed sum came on their blog.

“As with any startup, there have been ups and downs, but we’ve always had a blast working with you all to create new graphics apps and tools that make the joy of visual computing accessible,” the firm writes. ”We’re announcing today that we’re joining Facebook, where we’ll help to bring these kind of mobile innovations to a broader audience.”

The blog also adds that they will be ceasing the distribution of their current apps from Apple’s App Store, and their “new innovations” will be  added to Facebook. Although they don’t say when and to what.  The good news is that if you’re a user of one of their current apps then you can continue to use them.

Will there be another purchase? Or is this it for the year?

The Research2guidance (R2G) research shows that while there are tens of thousands of new Android apps appearing, there are an equally significant number of apps disappearing in regular purges.

In Q3 of 2011, the number of active mobile applications in the Android Market stood at 319,161 compared to 459,589 in Apple App store. However R2G believe that the Android market is bigger than it looks. Delving deeper R2G found that Android developers are significantly more productive than Apple’s. The average publisher on Android has placed more than 6 applications in the Market since launch, compared to just over 4 apps on average that have been published by iOS developers.

The actual total number of applications published on the Android Market leapt to over 500,000 in September 2011. In the meantime, the Apple App Store stands at just over 600,000 successful submissions: just 20% more. The issue is that over 37% of the applications published were later removed from the Android Market for various reasons, whereas the Apple App Store has removed just 24% of published apps in comparison, as of the end of September.

Although Apple is known to regularly clean up its store from inappropriate or outdated content, its active application share still exceeds that of Android. It is likely that the more rigid application submission requirements prevent developers from publishing multiple trial or low quality applications whereas publishers in the Android Market place a lot of market testing, trials, and demos. Over 78% of the apps removed from the Android Market were free, which could mean that publishers put more effort into the applications they place with the pay-per-download business model, thus ensuring that it is kept longer in store.

R2G also have some interesting figures about the Windows Phone 7 market. The share of deactivated apps in the WP7 Marketplace today stands at just 13%. However, one has to bear in mind that it is a comparably young store and many publishers are still exploring its potential. Fifteen months after its launch (comparable to the WP7 store now), the Android Market similarly had 86% of its apps active and a significant application store clean-up didn’t get started until the end of 2010.

UK Internet users are spending a phenomenal time watching video, and it’s a trend that’s going up rather than down, and while this isn’t strictly a mobile story, we’re convinced that video is becoming a driving factor behind the uptake in mobile. Additionally the mobile operators are starting to embrace video as another way of increasing revenue, Three announced last week that it intends to allow users to subscribe to ITV’s video on demand service for an additional £5 per month. The new service, provided in association with the On Demand Group (ODG), will permit subscribers to access ITV content that can be viewed in “catch-up” mode.

Analysts Hitwise’s latest Internet survey, “Online Video: Bringing Social Media to Life” shows UK Internet users are spending 240 million hours every month watching online video content.

In September 2011 four percent of all UK Internet visits in September 2011 went to a video website, making online video more popular than both the Travel and Sports categories. Whilst viewing video content online might have been an activity of the elite early adopters a few years ago, the transition of video from niche to mainstream media now means that 86% of the UK online population visits a video website at least once per month. The average Internet user makes 18 visits to video websites per month.

In September 2011, the UK Internet population made over 785 million visits to online video websites – an increase of 36% year-on-year. Not suprisingly the majority of growth in this space has been driven by YouTube, now the third most popular website in the UK after Google UK and Facebook. YouTube dominates with 70% of all visits to online video sites. Every month, UK Internet users spend 184 million hours watching YouTube content, with an average session time of 20 minutes.

Ranking second and third are the video-on-demand (VOD) services from BBC iPlayer and ITV Player, which now represent a significant percentage of overall internet visits to video sites. Niche sites have also seen a huge increase in traffic, including videozer (+853%), MSN Video (+913%) and Hulu (+123%).

According to Hitwise a big part of YouTube’s success is thanks to the uptake of video content consumed on mobile devices. Since January 2010 UK Internet visits to YouTube mobile have quadrupled, with a doubling of visits in 2011 alone.

Currently 1 in 20 YouTube visits comes from a mobile device used on a home WiFi network and this doesn’t even take into account the millions of videos watched each month using the 3G networks.
Factoring in the visits from mobile devices using 3G connections, Hitwise estimates that smartphones and tablets account for approximately 1 in 10 visits to YouTube; a significant figure considering the huge volume of videos watched on YouTube and the relatively short time that smartphones and tablets have been in mainstream use in the UK.

James Murray, Marketing Research Analyst at Experian Hitwise, said: “There are now more visits to video websites every month than to email providers, travel or sports sites, which represents a huge opportunity to the savvy marketer. The average Internet user will make 18 visits to video sites a month and almost half will visit at least three different sites. While YouTube dominates the market, the increase in traffic to video-on-demand and more niche sites demonstrates that content is what matters most to today’s Internet users and they’ll go to whatever site has the content they’re most interested in.”

Music, TV, films and gaming are the top four search topics that drove consumers to video websites. Music is the biggest driver of traffic, accounting for 33% of search clicks. The majority were looking for music videos, where Lady Gaga was the most searched for artist.
Seventeen per cent of search clicks to online content were for TV-related search terms; specifically EastEnders, Britain’s Got Talent, X-Factor and South Park, while gamers were looking for trailers for new games and walkthrough cheats.

His death was confirmed by Apple. “Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives,” Apple’s board said in a statement. “The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.”

Jobs, who had been battling health issues for the past several years, resigned as CEO of Apple in August, after stating that he could no longer meet his duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO. In 2004, Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and has taken several leaves of absence from Apple since then. His death came the day after Apple unveiled the latest iPhone, the iPhone 4S.

“No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an email to Apple employees. “We will honour his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.”

We are shocked and stunned. Our thoughts go out to his family.

Apple’s brief statement announcing Steve Jobs death

2.16 am GMT – News of Jobs death seems to have brought Twitter to it’s knees.

According to a new Google study, “The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Users,” released on the Google Mobile ads blog 71% of smartphone users search because of an advert they’ve seen either online or offline; 82% of smartphone users notice mobile ads, 74% of smartphone shoppers make a purchase as a result of using their smartphones to help with shopping, and 88% of those who look for local information on their smartphones take action within a day.

According to Google’s Dai Pham Google Mobile Ads Marketing Team businesses need to make sure that they can be “found via mobile search as consumers regularly use their phones to find and act on information.” Adding that businesses must “develop a comprehensive cross-channel strategy as mobile shoppers use their phones in-store, online and via mobile website and apps to research and make purchase decisions.”

Reaching Mobile Consumers

Cross-media exposure influences smartphone user behaviour and a majority notice mobile ads which leads to taking action on it, of those surveyed, 71% searched on their phones because of an ad exposure. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore normal advertising as 68% searched after seeing traditional media, 18% searched because of an online ad and 27% clicked through from a mobile ads – but don’t get rid of your mobile ads either as 82% noticed mobile ads, especially mobile display ads and a third notice mobile search ads

Half of those who see a mobile ad take action, with 35% visiting a website and 49% making a purchase

Action-Oriented Searchers

Mobile search is heavily used to find a wide variety of information and to navigate the mobile Internet. Search engine websites are the most visited websites with 77% of smartphone users citing this, followed by social networking, retail and video sharing websites

Nine out of ten smartphone searches results in an action (purchasing, visiting a business, etc.) 24% recommended a brand or product to others as a result of a smartphone search

Purchase-driven Shoppers

Google’s survey results show that smartphones have become an indispensable shopping tool and are used across channels and throughout the research and decision-making process.

• 79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping, from comparing prices, finding more product info to locating a retailer
• 74% of smartphone shoppers make a purchase, whether online, in-store, or on their phones
• 70% use their smartphones while in the store, reflecting varied purchase paths that often begin online or on their phones and brings consumers to the store

Local Information Seekers

Looking for local information is done by virtually all smartphone users and consumers are ready to act on the information they find.

Ninety five percent of smartphone users have looked for local information, and of those searching for local information, 88% take action within a day, 77% have subsequently contacted a business, with 61% calling and 59% visiting the local business.

General Smartphone Usage

Google’s study found that smartphones have become an integral part of users’ daily lives, and consumers now use smartphones as an extension of their desktop computers as well as using them while they multi-task and consume other media, and they use their smartphones everywhere, 93% of smartphone owners use their smartphones while at home. An impressive 72% use their smartphones while consuming other media, with a third of smartphone users simultaneously watching TV and suing their smartphone.

Of the smartphone users surveyed

• 81% browse the Internet,
• 77% search,
• 68% use an app
• 48% watch videos on their smartphone

Usablenet are cock a hoop with the latest mobile performance indexes from Keynote, and so they should be, as their platform sits beneath seven of the top eight UK and US mobile websites.

Keynote systems Mobile Commerce Performance Index for March 29 identifies the fastest mobile commerce websites in the UK and US and amongst the top performers were eight of Usablenet’s; Tesco, Next, Marks & Spencer, John Lewis in the UK and StrandBooks.com, Dell, Walgreens, Victoria’s Secret, Sunglass Hut in the US.

Nick Taylor, President of Usablenet said. “As speed is the most essential benchmark to judge mobile usability, it is vital for brands to consider the speed and overall usability of their mobile sites in order to drive brand loyalty, traffic, and sales, in addition to preventing poor user experiences that can result in customer losses.”

The conference has sessions covering:

• Getting started: How to build an appropriate mobile strategy for your business.
• Making money: Looking at subscription models, one-off payments, freemium tactics, advertising and sponsorship.
• Next generation models: Incorporating video and multimedia content into your mobile offerings, developing greater interactivity & designing specifically for tablets.
• Innovation case studies: Showing live examples of success from your peers.
• Mobile futures: Plan for the future with our panellists thoughts on how the mobile media ecosystem is likely to evolve over the next 5 years.

Speakers already confirmed include one or two old colleagues of Business Mobile:

• John Barnes, Managing Director, Digital & Tech, Incisive Media
• David Gibbs, General Manager, Mobile, BSkyB
• Ilico Elia, Head of Consumer Mobile, Reuters
• Tim Rodwell, Director of Mobile Development, Telegraph Media Group
• Ronan de Renesse, Senior Analyst, Screen Digest
• Paul Lyonette, Head of Mobile Advertising, EMEA, Microsoft Advertising
• Tom Standage, Digital Editor, The Economist
• Rebekah Billingsley, Publisher, Mobile Services, BBC Worldwide
• Dominic Jacquesson, Media Analyst, Ink On Dead Trees
• Justin Moodie, Digital Publisher, Dorling Kindersley
• Nic Newman, Consultant and Former Controller, Future Media & Technology, BBC
• Carlo Campus, VP, Innovations in Newspapers
• Jonathon Moore, Head of Product Development, Guardian News & Media

Register before the end of play on April 18th and save £100 off the standard registration fees

If you register by April 18th you can benefit from our super early-bird registration rates of just £297 (saving you £100 off the standard registration fees). And please remember that we offer additional generous discounts for group bookings.

Not only that, but they’re so confident that you’ll love the event that they are offering a full money-back guarantee of your fees if you are not completely satisfied.

Game developer Rovio Mobile said that the latest addition to its exceptionally popular Angry Birds series surpassed 10 million downloads within its first 10 days on the market.

Rovio Tweeted “10 in 10 :-) Angry Birds Rio breaking all records”

The 10 million milestone includes both free and premium downloads across multiple platforms, although no breakdown was given for the different platforms some of the initial boost was probably supplied through Amazon’s latest Appstore.

Angry Birds Rio was as we reported on the 22 Mar the first free app spotlighted on the March launch of online retailer Amazon.com’s new Amazon Appstore for Android, not all of the uptake was free as its at number one in the most popular paid apps on the store and and it’s already achieved over 2000 customer reviews on the Appstore since March 22.

Angry Birds was first released in 2009, just as the Android universe started to expand. The game has achieved nearly unprecedented success. With more than 50 million downloads of its various versions, more than 14 million of which are paid, and more than 40 million users play Angry Birds worldwide each month.

Android is now top dog in the US smartphone market knocking RIM into second place.

Figures from comScore’s MobiLens service for the period ending February 2011 show Google’s Android OS led among smartphone platforms with 33% market share.

Smartphone Platform Market Share

comScore reports that 69.5 million people in the US owned smartphones during the three months ending in February 2011, up 13% from the preceding three-month period. Google Android grew 7.0 percentage points since November, strengthening its #1 position with 33% market share. RIM ranked second with 28.9% market share, followed by Apple with 25.2%. Microsoft (7.7%) and Palm (2.8%) rounded out the top five.

Mobile Content Usage

In February, 68.8% of US mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device. Browsers were used by 38.4% of subscribers (up 3.1 percentage points), while downloaded applications were used by 36.6% of the mobile audience (up 3.2 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 3.3 percentage points, representing 26.8% of mobile subscribers. Playing games represented 24.6% of the mobile audience, while listening to music represented 17.5%.

OEM Market Share

For the three month average period ending in February, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 24.8 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, up 0.3 percentage points from the three month period ending in November. LG ranked second with 20.9% share, followed by Motorola (16.1%) and RIM (8.6%). Apple saw the strongest gain, up 0.9 percentage points to account for 7.5% of subscribers, on momentum from the release of the Verizon iPhone, the most acquired handset in the month of February in the US.