On the Go Ad Exposures: More than Phones and Tablets

For most of us, on-the-go media consumption is mostly about smart phones and tablets. But there also is growing place-based media exposure as well. Viewer exposure to advertising at 12 monitored bars, restaurants, airports, hotels, retail stores and other place-based venues in the last quarter of 2010 was up nearly 250 percent, compared to the eight location-based networks measured that same period one year ago.
For the fourth quarter of 2010, that translates to more than 500 million gross minute exposures per month.

Exposures Per Visit, P18+
VENUE	COMPANY	“Q4 2010 (P18+) Visits “	Exposures per Visit	Total Exposures (P18+)
Retail	Best Buy	29,269,628	1	29,269,628
Airports	CNN Airport Network	17,788,966	1.3	22,660,178
Health Clubs	Zoom Fitness	16,699,365	1.8	30,342,746
Gas Stations	Outcast/PumpTop	16,601,527	1	16,601,526
Bars & Restaurants	TouchTunes Interactive Networks	14,980,016	15.2	228,104,737
Restaurants	indoorDIRECT	13,005,969	1	13,005,969
Hotels	The Hotel Networks	10,415,475	2.8	29,104,737
Bars & Restaurants	TargetCast	10,157,147	5.1	51,591,435
Health Clubs	RMG Fitness	10,036,663	1.5	15,205,544
Health Clubs	Outcast: Health Club Media Network	5,357,425	2.7	14,206,215
Stadiums	Access 360-AMNTV	3,747,805	11.3	9,393,868
Bars & Restaurants	AMI	1,808,600	5.2	42,325,398
TOTAL		149,868,586		501,811,981
Source: The Nielsen Company

Report: On-the-Go Ad Exposures are On the Rise | Nielsen Wire

mSpot Challenges Netflix?

Mobile and PC entertainment company mSpot delivers music, movies, radio and TV to more than six million mobile customers across 10 wireless carriers in North America, including Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.

The company, which actually has an earlier release window for new movies than Netflix does, also plans to show them at the same prices. In other words, mSpot is offering more recent movies than Netflix does, about matching Netflix’s all-you-can eat movie pricing. So some wonder if mSpot might e the next candidate to grab market share from Netflix and others in the streaming video business.

Daren Tsui, chief executive of Palo Alto, Calif.-based mSpot, says mSpot has been able to secure new release movies on the same day that studios release them on DVDs. Netflix, by contrast, has to wait as much as 28 days longer.

mSpot offers Netflix-like movie club for new streaming movies | VentureBeat

Apple and Google Capture U.S. Video Game Market Share in 2010

Apple iPhone and Android smart phones are taking game revenue and market share from dedicated mobile game playing units, a new analysis by Flurry suggests. From 2009 to 2010, iOS and Android game sales increased from five percent to eight percent market share within the U.S. video game market.

Flurry estimates that iOS and Android game revenue increased from $500 million in 2009 to more $800 million in 2010. Of this, the significant majority of revenue was generated by iPhone games.

Flurry estimates that retail PC game revenue was $700 million in 2010. That implies that smart phone and tablet game revenue has surpassed the U.S. PC game category, for the first time, in 2010.

Overall, total U.S. game revenue from 2009 to 2010 was relatively flat, totalling $10.4 billion and $10.7 billion, respectively. However, while console game revenue increased slightly, from about $7.4 billion in 2009 to $7.8 billion in 2010, the combination of declines in portable gaming software and a jump in smart-device app sales has squeezed the portable game category down from 24 percent market share in 2009 to just 16 percent in 2010.

It’s clear that prolific intalled base gains by Apple and Android devices, low priced games (including a very robust free-to-play model enabled by in-app purchases) and seamless digital distribution to games on devices so near to consumers 24-hours-a-day, is driving potent industry-disruption.

Over 2011, Flurry expects to see continued and significant smart-device game growth fueled by the recent launch of iPad 2, iPhone coming into distribution on Verizon, the expected release of iPhone 5, a relentless expansion of Android devices by leading OEMs across all major U.S. carriers, and Google’s enablement of in-app purchase billing, a proven key driver in iOS game revenue.

Apple and Google Capture U.S. Video Game Market Share in 2010

U.S. Internet Users Watched 4.3 Billion Video Ads in March 2011

Americans viewed 4.3 billion video ads in March 2011, with Hulu generating the highest number of video ad impressions at more than 1.2 billion, according to comScore.

Tremor Media Video Network ranked second overall (and highest among video ad networks) with 804.3 million ad views, followed by Adap.tv (553 million) and BrightRoll Video Network (398 million).

Time spent watching videos ads neared 1.9 billion minutes during the month, with Hulu delivering the highest duration of video ads at 520 million minutes. Video ads reached 43 percent of the total U.S. population an average of 33 times during the month.

Hulu also delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 47 over the course of the month.

comScore Releases March 2011 U.S. Online Video Rankings

North America Will Have Half of all NFC Phones in Service in 2014

At least one in five smart phones globally will have near field communications functionality by 2014, Juniper Research estimates.

Worldwide, Juniper Research forecasts almost 300 million NFC capable smart phones by 2014. Juniper’s analysis shows that this growth will be driven in the short term by mobile network operators launching services in 20 early adopting countries before the end of 2012.

Juniper Research forecasts that NFC-based mobile payments and retail marketing capability via coupons and smart posters will become common amongst smart phone users in Western Europe, North America and other developed regions.

North America will account for half of all NFC smart phones in 2014, followed by Western Europe.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Launches Mobile Banking

Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched "Interbank Mobile Payment Service" (IMPS) for its customers. The mobile banking system allows customers to transfer funds between retailers or people who have banking services and are part of the IMPS network.

In order to send money using IMPS, the sender losg into the Kotak mobile banking application, enters the mobile number and the Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) of the beneficiary along with the amount to be transferred.

The beneficiary gets the credit instantly.

MMID is a 7-digit code issued by the bank which along with the mobile number will identify the customer’s bank and account number. To receive money using IMPS, the customer needs to share the mobile number registered with the bank along with the MMID for the account in which he/she wishes to receive money.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Launches Interbank Mobile Payment Service - CIO India News on The Internet | CIO.in:

T-Mobile Adds 10 New 4G Markets

Ten more markets have T-Mobile's 4G (HSPA+)network, bringing the 4G network up to 167 markets and more than 200 million people in the United States.

The new 4G markets include:
Ames, Iowa
Anderson, Indiana
Battle Creek, Michigan
Benton Harbor, Michigan
Jackson, Michigan
Fort Collins-Loveland, Colorado
Lawrence, Kansas
Manhattan, Kansas
Springfield, Illinois
Wichita Falls, Texas.

T-Mobile is also working to double the speeds of its 4G service to 42 Mbps in 25 of its 4G markets, covering more than 140 million people, this year.

New York City, Las Vegas and Orlando are already online with 42 Mbps service. Chicago, Long Island and parts of New Jersey are slated to follow soon.