Key findings highlighted in 2012 Mobile Future in Focus include:

• Smartphones Gain Adoption Among ‘Early Majority’, Driving Mobile Media Consumption

Nearly 42 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers now use smartphones, along with 44.0 percent of mobile users across the EU5 (comprised of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK).

• Smartphone Platform Wars Intensify As Android and Apple Take the Lead in Most Markets

The Google Android and Apple iOS smartphone platforms emerged as the leaders of the U.S. smartphone market in 2011, with Android just a few points shy of capturing half of the smartphone market and iOS accounting for nearly 30 percent of the market. In the EU5, Android saw similarly significant gains, unseating market leader Symbian in 3 out of the 5 European markets measured.

• Surge in Mobile App Usage Shapes a Dual Mobile Browsing Experience, Fueling Category Growth

In 2011, both the U.S. and EU5 saw the growth in mobile app use exceed the growth in mobile browser use, leading to both markets seeing the same percentage of their mobile audience use both apps and browsers to access mobile media. Health ranked as the fastest-growing mobile media category in the U.S. in 2011, followed by Retail and other commerce-related categories such as Electronic Payments and Auction Sites.

• ‘Smart Shoppers’ Disrupt Traditional Retail as Smartphone Enter Brick-and-Mortar Stores

  More than half of the U.S. smartphone population used their phone to perform retail research while inside a store in 2011, illustrating the emergence of savvy smartphone shoppers who bring online shopping behaviors in-store – a trend seen in other markets as well. At the end of 2011, nearly 1 in 5 smartphone users scanned product barcodes and nearly 1 in 8 compared prices on their phone while in a store.

• Mobile Devices Fuel Social Networking On-The-Go, Driving Real-Time Online Interaction

64.2 million U.S. smartphone users and 48.4 million EU5 smartphone users accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile devices at least once in December 2011, with more than half of these mobile social networking users accessing social media almost every day.

• Mobile Connectivity and Connected Devices Encourage Cross-Platform Digital Media Consumption among ‘Digital Omnivores’

Tablets quickly rose in popularity in 2011, taking less than two years to account for nearly 40 million tablets in use among U.S. mobile users and outpacing smartphones which took 7 years to reach the same. By the end of 2011, nearly 15 percent of U.S. mobile users also had tablets – a trend seen across other markets as well.

Android Beam, a feature introduced in Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, allows two Near Field Technology (NFC)-enabled devices to share content, including mobile games. With Android Beam, mobile multiplayer has never been easier.

“Android Beam enhances Gun Bros’ multiplayer experience by enabling a real-time, social element that gamers previously only enjoyed in a console setting,” said Niccolo de Masi, President and CEO at Glu.  “With constant innovation and over 700,000 new Android-powered devices being activated each day, Android is a leading global gaming platform with strong forward momentum.”

Glu gamers can launch Gun Bros Multiplayer with Android Beam in several ways. If both users already have Gun Bros Multiplayer downloaded on their devices, players can launch multiplayer missions immediately by tapping the Gun Bros app and then tapping “Touch To Beam.” If one player has not yet downloaded Gun Bros Multiplayer, Android Beam will direct them to the download page in Android Market™. Players can also invite other Gun Bros players to view their profile with a simple tap. Gun Bros Multiplayer can be shared with Android Beam on any NFC-enabled device running Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich.

For more information visit  www.glu.com.

Key Facts

• On March 4, AT&T* will begin selling the Samsung Rugby® Smart in company-owned retail stores and online. The smartphone will be sold for $99.99 with a two-year commitment and monthly minimum data plan.
• Samsung Rugby® Smart is dustproof, can be submerged in up to 1m of water for 30 minutes, and can withstand extreme temperatures.**
• Runs on Android™ 2.3 with 4G capabilities and boasts a virtual QWERTY keyboard, 3.7-inch Super AMOLED™ touchscreen display, 5MP camera and an integrated flashlight.

Samsung Rugby® Smart

The Samsung Rugby® Smart is a rugged, dustproof device designed to handle the elements with water resistance (submergible up to 1m for 30 minutes) and built to mil-std 810f  military spec standards.** The Android 2.3 smartphone features a 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED touchscreen display and a 5MP camera with HD video recording.*** It also supports 4G service, Wi-Fi®, corporate email and the full line of media including location, music and social networking services. From the work site to the camp site and beyond, Rugby Smart fulfills all your smartphone needs with the physical strength to handle whatever life throws at it.

Data from the poll reveals that malicious actors are often able to compromise legitimate websites without the site owners’ knowledge: over 90% of respondents didn’t notice any strange activity, despite the fact that their sites were being abused to send spam, host phishing pages, or distribute malware. Nearly two-thirds of the webmasters surveyed didn’t know how the compromise had happened.

Other highlights from analysis of the survey’s responses include:

• About half of site owners discovered the hack when they attempted to visit their own site and received a browser or search engine warning.
• 26% of site owners had not yet figured out how to resolve the problem at the time they completed the survey.
• 40% of survey respondents changed their opinion of their web hosting provider following a compromise.

“Cybercriminals can significantly improve their open and click-through rates by distributing badware via legitimate domains.  Many site owners are either unaware of the compromise or struggle to remove the infection, which directly contributes to the persistence of, and increase in active badware URLs.” said Amir Lev, Commtouch’s chief technology officer.

Panda Security is migrating its new solution to Windows Azure to enable management of an even larger number of computers, effectively deploying the service to new countries and preventing service downtime. Windows Azure has provided an adequate work environment and let the company maintain most of the technologies used in the original platform.

The Findings

• Identity fraud incidents have increased.  According to the report findings, victims of a data breach were 9.5 times more likely to be a victim of identity fraud.  With a staggering 67 percent increase in data breach victims in 2011, this notable increase directly correlates with the increase in identity fraud victims.
• Costs remain steady.  Despite the increasing number of identity fraud victims in 2011, the total dollar amount tied to losses remained steady. More stringent authentication practices by financial institutions and increased consumer awareness efforts by government and financial institutions likely helped keep these costs from rising.
• Detection:  As the report finds, electronic monitoring of accounts through the Internet, ATM or other electronic means is the leading way of detecting fraud over reviewing paper records.  54 percent of victims were notified they had been a victim of identity theft by their financial institution, law enforcement, etc.
• Social Media:  Consumers who actively engage with social media and utilize a smartphone were found to have a disproportionate rate of identity fraud than consumers who do not engage in these mediums.

Protection your identity by:

• Protect Your Information. Exposing common information like birthdates and addresses puts consumers at a greater risk as these elements are commonly used by financial institutions for security questions and validation of identity to access accounts. Even such seemingly harmless information could be valuable to experienced identity thieves.
• Be Social, But Be Smart. Knowing that social networks are a hotbed for identity fraud activity, consumers should take extra care when deciding who to connect with and what applications to accept. Users that approve friend requests from strangers and use GPS/location based applications are far more susceptible to fraud.
• Take Caution with Mobile Computing. The convenience of online and mobile banking is here to stay, but consumers need to take the extra step of ensuring their network connection is secure and their devices have updated security.
• Act Quickly. The sooner a victim learns of the fraud, the sooner their road to recovery can begin, so consumers must remain alert and act quickly in the event that they notice suspicious activity, reporting it to their financial institutions and law enforcement

“Today marks a historic day for the PlayStation brand and our fans,” said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America.  “PlayStation Vita is the most powerful and connected portable gaming system ever created.  For the first time ever, consumers will find compelling PS3™ console-like gameplay experiences on-the-go from the most popular PlayStation franchises as well as titles unique to PS Vita, while staying connected with their favorite entertainment and social networking applications through 3G and Wi-Fi support.”

PS Vita is available at major retailers for $249.99 (MSRP) for the Wi-Fi model and $299.99 (MSRP) for the 3G/Wi-Fi model. Both models will include six Augmented Reality (AR) Play Cards along with a voucher to download three augmented reality games from PlayStation®Network.

AT&T is the exclusive U.S. wireless carrier for PS Vita and customers have the option to activate 3G data plans directly from their PS Vita.  AT&T is offering three data plans, a $14.99 plan featuring 250MB of data, a $30 plan with 3GB and a $50 plan with 5GB.  All three plans will be session-based, and will not require a long term contract, which benefits consumers by providing them with flexibility.

In addition to PS Vita exclusive features, PS Vita owners will be able to access popular social networking and communications services via dedicated applications for Facebook, flickr, foursquare, Skype™, and Twitter.

Risk Based Security’s 2011 year-end “Data Breach Intelligence” report shows that four incidents in 2011 have been added to the Top 10 all time ‘records lost’ list. When it comes to lost records, threats external to the organization dominate by accounting for 86.69% of all records lost in 2011.  The RBS Data Breach Intelligence report also revealed that computer-based intrusion (i.e., hacking) was responsible for 33 percent of the 2011 breaches, totaling 305,809,012 records. This represents 83 percent of the total number of exposed records in 2011. “Stolen Laptop”, the number one breach type all time through 2010, has now been replaced at the top spot by hacking.

This latest information and research conducted by Risk Based Security suggests that organizations in all industries need to take note that they face a very real threat from security breaches. Whether it is the constantly increasing security threats, ever-evolving IT technologies, or limited security resources, data breaches and the costs related to response and mitigation are escalating quickly.

“E-commerce continues to shine in satisfaction, seemingly regardless of economic conditions. It is no wonder the sector continues to grow when you consider that satisfied consumers are more likely to increase spending as their means allow,” said Claes Fornell, founder of the ACSI. “Satisfaction with brick and mortar retail is also improving, but we may never see it match the scores held by retail websites.”

A full analysis of the scores released today is available on ForeSee’s website

The enhanced PTT solution trial, powered by Kodiak Networks Inc. InstaPoC™ technology, will harness AT&T’s mobile broadband speeds, expansive wireless network coverage, broad portfolio of devices and the power of IP-based technology. That means faster and richer collaboration, lower cost of ownership and great potential for integration with mobile applications.

In addition, AT&T is working to integrate traditional private mobile radio (PMR) systems with this enhanced PTT service trial, and will demonstrate the functionality with Raytheon JPS at the 2012 International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE). AT&T and Raytheon expect that push to talk interoperability across different networks will extend coverage of existing PMR systems and facilitate better communications for field dispatch and operations, when many people from many different organizations need to reach each other quickly.

Charter Program Details

• Selected business customers in a range of industries – transportation, utilities, manufacturing and more – will get a first look at potential PTT services through AT&T’s charter program.
• Participants will use powerful, state of the art smartphones to test the technology.
• The charter program will provide AT&T and customers with a better understanding of the potential that the enhanced PTT service can offer.
• AT&T will work closely with customers participating in the program to measure results, and participants will have the opportunity to give feedback on their experiences.

For more information on the AT&T enhanced PTT charter program, visit http://www.corp.att.com/forms/ptts/.