Are Smart Phones Spreading Faster than Any Technology in Human History?

New digital technologies tend, as a rule, to achieve mass marked adoption faster than older analog technologies. That seems to hold true for smart phones and tablets, for example. 


It took landline telephones about 45 years to get from 5 percent to 50 percent penetration among U.S. households, and mobile phones took around seven years to reach a similar proportion of consumers. 


Smart phones have gone from five percent to 40 percent in about four years, despite a recession.  Over time, successful new technologies get adopted faster, every decade. 


Here's another visualization.

Of $93 Billion in Online Travel Purchases, 3% Are Mobile

About three percent of online travel transactions are conducted using a mobile phone. That suggests something on the order of $2.8 billion in annual purchases in the U.S. market. As more tablets are adopted, the percentage of "mobile" transactions should grow dramatically.


According to Greystripe (which was acquired by ValueClick) research, 47 percent have used a tablet to book a hotel, 37 percent to book a flight, 28 percent to make a restaurant reservation and 24 percent to rent a car. Overall, 91 percent of iPad users have used their device for a travel related activity of some kind.

However, more often than not, users choose to interact with full websites rather than dedicated apps. Some 69 percent of iPad users and 60 percent of smartphone-owning respondents have used the mobile web to book travel, get travel information or research local attractions, restaurants and activities. 

In comparison, 50 percent of iPad and 52 percent of touch smart phone owners have used apps for the same purpose.

Greystripe got the data from 971 users on its network from June 1, 2011 to July 31, 2011. Frequent travelers were defined as people who travel two or more times per year.

Sprint Announce Evo 4G LTE Is Coming May 18; But LTE Network Isn't Active, Yet

The HTC Evo 4G LTE, a device branded as the "One" on other mobile networks, will launch on May 18, 2012. Here's the issue some will need to know: Sprint's Long Term Evolution network isn't built yet. Sprint is aiming for activation in 2013, for a "majority" of its sites. It is probable that six metro areas might get LTE service sometime in 2012,though.

The device, don't get me wrong, will delight many people who use it, as the earlier generations of HTC Evos have. The kickstand is really useful, for example. But there will be no LTE access for a while.

Deutsche Telekom Has No Really Great Options for T-Mobile USA

Deutsche Telekom AG is discussing a merger of its T-Mobile USA business with MetroPCS Communications, Bloomberg reports. In an ideal world, that wouldn't be DT's first choice, which was exiting the U.S. market by selling all its assets to AT&T. A second option, despite its operational and technological difficulties, might have been a combination of some sort with Sprint.

That would have combined the number-three and number-four firms, in terms of market share, despite many obvious network issues, namely the legacy air interfaces. But both Sprint and T-Mobile USA were committed already to Long Term Evolution, which would effectively resolve the air interface problems with the legacy networks each company operates.

Nobody seems to think such a deal would be approved by the Justice Department, though. All that really leaves is a combination with a smaller, regional carrier that doesn't disturb the existing top of the market too much.

There are some strategy issues to be faced. T-Mobile USA is trying to position as a brand more businesses can buy, though it has been effectively positioned recently as a brand for consumer "hipsters."

Combining with a brand known for lower-cost consumer offers therefore would pose some issues in terms of customer segmentation.

Deutsche Telekom is considering a stock-swap transaction that would give the German company control over the combined entity.

In Case You Were Wondering About Why People Find Social Media So Engaging...

The reason that Facebook, Twitter and other social media are so popular and addictive is that they pleasantly stimulate the same part of the brain as when people eat food, get money or have sex, according to a  study conducted by researchers at Harvard University.

The researchers found that people simply like to talk about themselves and social media outlets provide a very effective way to do that.

Big Content Brands Get Heavy Use on Smart Phones, So Do Their Apps

Virtually all of the top sites visited by users on smart phones used an app as the gateway, and virtually all were big and obviously popular content sites. 


Among smartphone users age 18 and older accessing the sites from iOS, Android and RIM smart phones, Google Sites ranked as the top property with nearly 94 million unique visitors, representing 96.9 percent of the mobile audience. 


Facebook ranked second with 78.0 million visitors (80.4 percent reach), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 66.2 million visitors (68.2 percent reach) and Amazon Sites 44.0 million visitors (45.4 percent reach).


Analysis of the share of time spent across apps and browsers revealed that even though these access methods had similar audience sizes, apps drove the lion’s share of engagement, representing 80 percent of the mobile media minutes, comScore says. 

Top Smartphone Properties by Total Unique Visitors (Mobile Browser and App Audience Combined) March 2012 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 18+ on iOS, Android and RIM Platforms Source: comScore Mobile Metrix 2.0
	Audience		Engagement
	Total Unique Visitors (000)	% Reach	Browser % Share of Total Time Spent	App % Share of Total Time Spent
Total Audience (Browsing and Application combined)	97,007	100.0%	18.5%	81.5%
Google Sites	93,954	96.9%	18.9%	81.1%
Facebook	78,002	80.4%	20.0%	80.0%
Yahoo! Sites	66,185	68.2%	25.3%	74.7%
Amazon Sites	44,028	45.4%	14.3%	85.7%
Wikimedia Foundation Sites	39,073	40.3%	99.8%	0.2%
Apple Inc.	38,309	39.5%	0.3%	99.7%
Cooliris, Inc	28,543	29.4%	0.0%	100.0%
AOL, Inc.	28,021	28.9%	47.4%	52.6%
eBay	27,190	28.0%	17.6%	82.4%
Zynga	26,619	27.4%	0.4%	99.6%
Twitter	25,593	26.4%	3.5%	96.5%
Rovio (Angry Birds)	25,057	25.8%	3.7%	96.3%
Weather Channel, The	24,131	24.9%	47.1%	52.9%
Microsoft Sites	23,938	24.7%	82.1%	17.9%
ESPN	23,317	24.0%	56.8%	43.2%

Telefónica Launches Tu Me, Goes "Over the Top" in a Big Way

Telefónica Digital, the global business unit, has launched a new over-the-top mobile app called Tu Me that essentially represents that mobile service provider's effort to compete head-to-head with other over-the-top apps such as Whatsapp, which has been steadily cannibalizing service provider messaging revenue of late.


The app is currently available only for iOS devices, but an Android version is on the way. 


The new app is not Telefónica's first foray into over-the-top mobile VoIP, but it is the first time Telefónica has launched a product globally, including markets in which it does not operate a mobile service.

The global launch makes Telefónica one of the first tier-one mobile service providers to embrace an over-the-top VoIP and messaging application of its own, for global use. 

There being only two fundamental strategies a mobile service provider can take to over the top competition, namely embrace or resist, Telefónica is a bit of a pioneer in taking the "embrace it" route. 

The obvious implication is that, over time, more revenue from legacy voice and messaging operations will evaporate, leaving mobile service providers to create other new revenue streams, which might, or might not, involve embracing OTT services in some way. 

The bottom line is the bottom line. The main reason mobile and fixed network service providers dislike OTT has nothing to do with the technology. OTT cannibalizes existing revenue: that's the real problem.

What should not be forgotten is that where OTT actually enables new revenue streams in new product lines, it is a positive. That doesn't mean any particular service provider should embrace OTT voice or messaging in ways that directly and immediately diminish its important legacy revenue.

On the other hand, neither should some service providers avoid OTT, either. The issue is how to finesse the transition. Telefónica seems to have concluded that it has to be more "proactive." In part, the justification is that the new OTT approaches will create new opportunities to compete out of region. That is key.