Google-owned AdMob has revealed that the Apple iPhone is far and away the biggest player in the world's mobile internet market, if October's online activity is considered.

AdMob has released its statistics for October that look at how many "requests" each of the major mobile phone operating systems made. Apple's iPhone, with a full fat Safari browsers and data bundles in many countries, dominates in the smartphone market.

During October, in terms of global smartphone traffic, the iPhone weighs in 50%. In the States, the figure rises to 55% (with HTC second at 22%), while here in the UK the iPhone commands a whopping 74% of all smartphone traffic.

In the UK, the next biggest player is Nokia, at 10%, lagging an astonishing 64% behind the market leader. HTC, also at 10% follows with Android nabbing the same percentile as far as OSes go.

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Tags: Phones Mobile phone industry AdMob Statistics iPhone Online Apple Nokia Biz

iPhone accounts for three quarters of mobile internet use in the UK originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:55:22 +0000

BT has gone ahead and announced the results of its "Best of the Decade" music video vote.

The poll, by BT Vision Music, collated 200,000 votes from music fans across the globe for their favourite rock and pop video.

Rhianna has been crowned queen of the video charts with her 2007 hit, "Umbrella", voted the best music video of the decade.

Here's the top 20 videos, for your derision:

1 Rihanna feat Jay-Z? - Umbrella (2007)
2 t.A.T.u - All The Things She Said (2003)
3 Avril Lavigne - Sk8r Boi (2002)???? ?
4 Britney Spears - Everytime (2004)?? ?
5 Oasis - The Importance of Being Idle (2005) ?
6 Will Young - Leave Right Now (2003) ?
7 Katy Perry - Hot N Cold (2008)????? ?
8 Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (2007)
9 Madonna - Hung Up (2005)??? ?
10 Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head (2001)
11 Coldplay - The Scientist (2002)??? ?
12 Pink - So What (2008)????? ?
13 Dido - White Flag (2003)?? ?
14 Lady GaGa - Poker Face (2009)????? ?
15 Christina Aguilera - Candyman (2007)
16 No Doubt - It's My Life (2003)???? ?
17 Linkin Park - In The End (2001)??? ?
18 Outkast - Hey Ya (2003)??? ?
19 Beyonce - Crazy In Love (2003)???? ?
20 Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way(2002)??????

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Tags: Audio Music BT BT Vision Statistics

BT Vision names best music video of the decade originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:10:32 +0000

A study into Britain's Twitter users has yielded some interesting results enabling a general profile of the average user to be revealed.

Here in the UK there are around 5.5 million people that use the micro-blogging service and it seems a typical user is under 35, less likely to vote Conservative and are more liberal in outlook that the majority of the population.

UK Twitterers are also more likely to come from a lower social class, more likely to live in London, and "defensive of civil liberties", reports The Telegraph.

The study, conducted by YouGov and published in Prospect magazine, surveyed 2024 adults and then compared the Twitter users' traits against the non-users in the group.

The Twitter users polled find the service either "very worthwhile" or "mildly useful" - but 39% said that it "dumbs down" the way people communicate.

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Tags: Software Twitter Statistics YouGov

UK Twitter users profiled originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:31:01 +0000

In the UK, IT workers are least likely to lead a healthy lifestyle, a recent study suggests, with those in fields such as website design, software development and tech support owning up to exercising the least and having a poor diet.

Fewer than one in five IT workers get the recommended half hour a day of exercise five days a week. As far as diet goes, just 14% claim to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables throughout the day, whilst their caffeine intake is the highest nationwide - on average, IT workers chug down around 10 cups of coffee a day.

Receptionists are the second most inactive group while sales people come in third, followed by checkout operators and then those that work in marketing.

The study looked at 1734 working Brits and reveals that 63% are failing to meet the exercise guidelines as the average person in the UK is active for just 1 hour 30 minutes a week.

Survey backer and weight loss expert Rich Leigh of www.fatfreefitness.co.uk says, "There is clearly a correlation between sitting at a desk or wheel all day and how active you're likely to be".

Tags: Sports Fitness Biz Statistics Survey

IT workers most unhealthy in the UK originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:05:01 +0000

A survey of 2000 internet users in the UK from GfK NOP has found that iTunes still remains by far the most popular music service, but that new entrant Spotify is shooting rapidly up the charts, despite having only just celebrated its 1st birthday.

The survey asked participants which music services they used, and 11% said Spotify. That puts it in fourth place behind Real Player (13%), Amazon (24%) and iTunes sitting at the top with 50% approval rating. Spotify sits ahead of the slightly older Last.fm (7%), MP3.com (5%) and Napster (4%). 60% of users stream music direct from the Web.

In the navigation arena, Google Maps dominates with 72% of those surveyed saying they used it. The AA came in second place with 40% and Multimap was third with 35%. Behind that came Mapquest (7%), MSN Maps (4%), Yahoo Maps (4%) and Streetmap (3%).

When it comes to social networking, new boy Twitter draws for second place with MySpace - but both only have 4% of people who use them as their main social network. Bebo is even lower with 2%, but Facebook romps home with over 74% of users picking it as their favourite.

IM is similarly dominated by one provider - Windows Live Messenger. 50% picked it as their main provider, with 16% going for Facebook chat, Yahoo IM coming in third with 8%, Skype at 6%, AIM at 5% and Google Talk coming in at just 2%.

Webmail is closer - 33% opt for Hotmail, but Yahoo Mail was chosen by 14%, 10% picked their own ISP's service, and only 6% have "Gone Google" and picked up a Gmail account. Interestingly, a further 6% said they used email provided by a social network - is this MySpace mail?

Lastly, Skype wins out when it comes to VoIP - 60% of respondents picked it as their favourite online voice-calling app. Google Talk was second with 13%, and VoIP.com and Gizmo came in third with 3% each.

Of course, while the best provider is winning the day in some categories, others are dominated by bloated former giants commanding the attention of people who are too lazy to make a change. Which would you pick as your favourite in each category? Let us know in the comments below.

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Tags: Software Online Websites Music IM Mapping Software Social Networks Email iTunes Spotify MySpace Twitter Facebook Amazon Lastfm Gmail Hotmail Skype Yahoo Microsoft Google Statistics

iTunes still most popular music service by far originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:41:43 +0000

Ever since the Data.gov.uk repository was launched, there's been a bunch of enterprising coders who are trying to create interesting mashups of the information it provides about the UK. One startup - Newspaper Club - put the data into a dead-tree publication instead, creating the "Postcode Paper".

It's a newspaper which contains a bunch of statistics that might be useful for people moving into a new area. It has info on local services, environmental data, crime statistics, as well as local transport info, travel times and education and healthcare stats.

At the moment it's just a design exercise, but could easily be automated and customised for your individual postcode. Newspaper Club has printed up 50 and distributed them to civil servants who "seemed very excited [by] its possibilities". Perhaps the next time you move house, you'll get one with your first council tax bill...

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Tags: Home And Kitchen Websites postcodes Statistics

Postcode Paper created from government data originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:52:46 +0000

In 3 year's time the 3DTV market will see shipments of up to 46 million 3D-capable flatscreen televisions, suggests market research from US-based GigaOM Pro, stating that despite the market being in its infancy today, by 2013 the technology will be widespread in consumer's homes.

"While the initial shipments of flat-panel 3DTVs will be small in 2010 due to premium pricing strategies by the large TV manufacturers, volumes are likely to grow quickly in just a few short years as manufacturers begin to implement 3D as a standard feature across their HD flat-panel product lines", said Alfred Poor, author of the report.

The report suggests content owners and broadcasters will soon "convert large portions of their back-catalogues of content to 3D", in order to satisfy consumers hungry for three dimensional content.

"Just as many consumers are voting with their wallets today for the 3D version of their favourite movies in the theatre, we expect over time that many will choose 3D for their favourite shows and movies at home as well", said Poor.

Interestingly, Sony is highlighted as a company working hard to push 3D. "The company will provide a complete user experience with full HD Bravia in 3D taking center stage. In addition to television, Sony will enable more devices, such as Blu-ray, Vaio and PlayStation 3, to be 3D compatible", says the GigaOM Pro report.

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Tags: Home Cinema 3DTV Statistics Sony 3D PS3 Televisions

3DTV shipments to reach 46 million in 3 years originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:59:10 +0000

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox 360 has hit the 10 million consoles sale mark across Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 4 years.

Reaching that milestone means that Xbox 360 is the only console to achieve year-on-year growth across the region this year, says Microsoft.

"Xbox 360 continues to pull ahead of the competition when it comes to delivering on a complete home entertainment experience and we think that Xbox Live currently is about 12 to 18 months ahead of its main rival PlayStation Network when it comes to offering service and content beyond traditional games", said Martin Olausson, director of digital media research at strategy analytics.

"By introducing innovative new services and content such as Natal, instant streaming of full 1080P HD video, and integrating social media features such as Twitter and Facebook, Xbox will likely attract a wider audience than its rivals and is in a great position to maximize sales in the next few years".

Microsoft has also revealed there are more than 20 million Xbox LIVE active members worldwide with over 1 billion downloads of gaming and entertainment content, with movie downloads doubling in the last year.

Meanwhile, Xbox staffer Major Nelson has announced via Twitter that a new Xbox LIVE record has been set - "over TWO MILLION people connected to the service at once".?

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Tags: Gaming Xbox 360 Microsoft Statistics

Microsoft reveals 10 million Xbox 360s sold in EMEA originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:14:10 +0000

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, not content with annihilating UK video game sales records, has done the same trick across the Atlantic, by shifting 4.7 million copies in the United Kingdom and North America combined.

That firmly puts it at the top of the chart of first-day sales for non-bundled video games, which was previously topped by GTA IV and the two expansions for World of Warcraft. The achievement has seen cash roll in to Activision to the extent of $310 million in the first 24 hours.

However, the game's launch on Xbox 360 and PS3 has been dulled slightly by the rocky entry of the PC version of the game. Before its release, fans were already protesting that dedicated server functionality had been taken out, and the PC launch had to be delayed 2 days so that retailers could get exclusives, but also so that pre-orders could be served.

The whole maelstrom has been covered in great depth by PC gaming blog Rock, Paper, Shotgun, who posit that it would be entirely possible if the next instalment of the game didn't come to the PC at all, despite the series originating on the platform.

What do you think? Are you a happy Xbox 360 or PS3 owner, or a distraught PC user? Should consoles get exclusives over PCs? Tell us in the comments.

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Tags: Gaming Xbox 360 PS3 PC Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare 2 Statistics Activision

Modern Warfare 2 breaking US records too originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:31:18 +0000

Think about your shiny flatscreen TV - its surround sound, its HD capability, its sheer undiluted beauty. Now think about the 28,000 people in Britain, including 1950 in Scotland, that still watch television in black & white.

The TV licensing agency has released stats on the nation's TV viewing to mark the 40th anniversary of the first colour transmissions from BBC1 and ITV. But we're not a nation of luddites - more than 1 million unique users visited BBC iPlayer each day in September, watching more than 60.8 million programmes.

Fergus Reid, a spokesperson for TV Licensing, said: "These figures show TV has never been more popular across the spectrum, and with so many ways to watch TV now available, it is important people are aware of their legal responsibilities".

"Whether you watch in black and white on a 40-year-old TV set or in colour on a brand new 37in LCD flatscreen, you need to be covered by a TV Licence if watching or recording programmes as they are broadcast. "The same is true if you access programmes via the Internet as they are being shown on TV - if you're using a laptop, mobile phone, games console or any other device".

Have you still got a B&W television, or know anyone who does? Seriously? Then tell us below in the comment box, and hightail it over to our TV section.

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Tags: Home Cinema Televisions Statistics BBC

28,000 still using black and white televisions originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:48:23 +0000

Call of Duty 6 aka Modern Warfare 2 aka Call of Duty 4 part 2 - whatever you want to call it, is one of the biggest video games of 2009 and today's release is looking to set some records. Reports coming in from online retailers such as Amazon and Play.com, as well as the queues already seen out on the high streets suggest that copies of the first person shooter are flying out the door at previously unseen rates.

What we do know, is that Activision's claims of "over 750,000 pre orders in the UK alone is set to surpass the 3 million copies mark in its launch week",

Until the first 24 hours are up and the official charts are out, the figures are going to be sketchy but the top first-day sales for non-bundled video games of all time to beat are:

1) Grand Theft Auto IV - 3.7 million copies
2) World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - 2.8 million copies
3) World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade - 2.4 million copies
4) Halo 3 - 1.7 million copies

Of course, if Modern Warfare 2 is looking to become the biggest selling game of all time, then it's got one hell of a mountain to climb. Again, ignoring games that came bundled with consoles - eg: Super Mario Bros which effectively sold over 40 million copies - not only have the majority of them been for Nintendo machines but also none of them are first person shooters. They are:

1) Wii Play - 24 million
2) Wii Fit - 23 million
3) Nintendogs (all versions) - 22 million
4) Pok?mon Red - 22 million
5) New Super Mario Bros - 20 million
6) Mario Kart Wii - 18 million
7) Super Mario Bros. 3 - 18 million
8) Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day - 17 million
9) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 17 million
10) Pok?mon Diamond and Pearl - 17 million

In fact, the only non-Nintendo top seller has been GTA San Andreas and you have to wait until No.12 before the first PC game comes in as the original The Sims. What seems to be happening is that Nintendo expands the market with its consoles and has the power to create a larger phenomenon when the right games come along. It's well documented that systems like the DS and the Wii are targeted towards a broader and more universal family audience and can therefore pull in the numbers. The top 10 best sellers are quite some testament to the company's strategy.

At the same time, though, the majority of these titles made particularly ground-breaking first day sales. The titles that fly off the shelves are all sequels and all involve fighting. What seems obvious here is that is that it's the hardcore gamers market that supports these releases. Those consumers have had a taste of the original game, loved it and are ready with pre-orders and midnight queues to get the next installment.

There's also something more goal focused about the games, which leads users to need the next installment to continue to enjoy them at that same, intense level. One of the big sells of both WoW expansions is to raise the level cap and give something for players to aim at. Mario Kart and Brain Training players just don't have that same thirst to complete them or to put them down once they have.

Although more intense, this market is definitely smaller. It's more for the purist. The point to see, though, is that just because Modern Warfare 2 might well become the fastest selling game of all time, it's very unlikely it'll set many records beyond.

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Related links:

• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - gaming hardware
• Feature - Vodafone Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2009 - games
• News - Modern Warfare 2 breaks Amazon pre-order records

Tags: Gaming Statistics Activision Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare 2 GTA Halo 3 World of Wacraft Features

Modern Warfare 2 looks set to smash records? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:41:53 +0000

It seems Orange's first day of iPhone sales in the UK has gone well with the company revealing, via a tweet, it's seen sales hitting the 30,000 mark.

"Orange UK had sold more than 30k iPhones, smashing what we believe is the previously published first day sales records for a phone in the UK!", Orange marketing manager Conor Maples stated via Twitter.

When O2 originally launched the iPhone back in November 2007 it said it saw "tens of thousands" of people snap up the device over the initial sales weekend.

Orange's new film-themed iPhone app is seeing similar success, according to another Conor tweet:

"Our Orange Wednesdays app has gone to the top slot in the Entertainment Category, & hit 2nd place in the free apps chart on Apple App Store".

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Tags: Phones iPhone Orange Apple Statistics Biz

Orange reveals 30,000 iPhones sold on first day originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:09:53 +0000

Amazon has announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has broken all of its previous records for pre-sales of video games. The title has eclipsed the previous record-holder, GTA IV, by 50% - quite a feat, considering how much hype there was around that title.

Modern Warfare 2 is due on 10 November, but many shops have begun selling it early, with Gamestop in the States getting special permission. A supposedly watertight embargo for journalists hasn't stopped reviews getting published early - most notably by Charlie Brooker on Twitter, who blasted through it in one sitting, and said: "it's very good, but it's not the flippin' messiah or anything. And it has the intellectual depth of Die Hard 4".

Amazon currently offers Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for the Xbox 360 and PS3 for just ?32 at the time of writing, with PC owners getting short shrift and having to stump up ?35. Still, they get superior graphics and performance, so perhaps that'll make up for it.

Which version are you getting, and are you excited? Let us know in the comments below.

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Tags: Gaming Statistics Activision Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare 2 Amazon GTA

Modern Warfare 2 breaks Amazon pre-order records originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:03:42 +0000

Mozilla's internet browser Firefox celebrates its 5th birthday today. "Five years ago today, Mozilla launched Firefox 1.0 with the belief that, as the most significant social and technological development of our time, the Internet is a public resource that must remain open and accessible to all. Within the first four days of launch, more than 1 million people had downloaded a brand new browsing experience", the open source organisation says in a blog post.

"In just five years, that number has swelled to over 330 million users worldwide; almost a quarter of Internet users worldwide choose Firefox. Today, Firefox ships in more than 70 languages and offers users more than 7000 add-ons to help customize their browsing experience".

When Firefox launched Microsoft's Internet Explorer alone controlled a whopping 99% of the browser market. Fast forward 5 years and Firefox enjoys a 23% browser market share, although with increasing competition from the likes of Opera, Apple and Google. Hit play now to see the (slightly indulgent) celebratory video above.

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Tags: Software Online Browsers Firefox Mozilla Statistics Video

VIDEO: Firefox celebrates 5th birthday originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:46:16 +0000

Retail sales of Windows 7 were well over 200% higher than Vista's in the two operating system's first days of being on sale in the States, the NPD Group has revealed.

But although Windows 7 software unit sales were 234% higher than Vista's, it seems revenue growth wasn't as strong, said to be due primarily to discounts.

"Microsoft's program of early low-cost pre-sales, high visibility marketing, and aggressive deals helped make the Windows 7 software launch successful", said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD.

"In a slow environment for packaged software Windows 7 brought a large number of customers into the software aisles".

Perhaps a result of the different economic climate as Microsoft has launched this latest OS, compared to when Vista was launched, it seems PC hardware sales were down.

Windows PC sales were down 6% compared to PC sales during the Vista launch week.

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Tags: Software Windows 7 Microsoft Vista Statistics NPD Biz

Windows 7 retail sales up 234% on Vista originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:29:50 +0000

Apple has now officially announced that the App Store has hit the 100,000 available apps milestone.

Apple iPhone and iPod touch customers across 77 countries have downloaded well over 2 billion apps, making the App Store not only the largest, but the world's most popular.

"The App Store, now with over 100,000 applications available, is clearly a major differentiator for millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers around the world", said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing.

"The iPhone SDK created the first great platform for mobile applications and our customers are loving all of the amazing apps our developers are creating".

Tags: Phones iPhone Apple iPhone apps App Store Statistics Biz

App Store hits 100,000 apps milestone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:26:18 +0000

A Wi-Fi-less Apple iPhone has gone on sale in China and the first week's figures are described as "slow", thought to be a result of the amount of cheaper, unlocked iPhones available in the region.

Apple's official Chinese iPhone partner, China Unicom - that it signed a 3-year deal with back in August - has confirmed it has seen sales of 5000 iPhones so far since it went on sale last week.

China Unicom chairman, Chairman Chang Xiaobing, said, "We are satisfied with iPhone sales so far, and we aim to have an additional 1 million new 3G subscribers each month in the near future".

With a potential market of over 700 million, estimates put future Chinese iPhone sales at 460,000 per year - thought to be less than the number of "grey market" phones already in the country.

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Tags: Phones iPhone Biz China Unicom Statistics

5000 iPhones sold in China originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:42:50 +0000

A survey from London-based think-tank Demos has added weight to the position held by many that file sharers are the biggest music fans, revealing that those who admit downloading music illegally spend an average of ?77 per year on music, compared to ?44 for people who claim that they never download dishonestly.

The poll spoke to 1000, 16 to 50-year-olds with web access. One in ten admitted to downloading music illegally, though the real figure is suspected by many to be considerably higher. However, 61% of those downloaders said they would be put off downloading illegally if their connection was in jeopardy.

The government, led by Peter Mandelson, is trying very hard to push through plans to set up a ?"three-strikes" system that would disconnect file sharers from the Web. However, there's fierce opposition to the proposals from everyone from artists, to ISPs, to even MI5 and the police.

The report's authors say that the results of this survey suggest that Mandelson's plans could actually harm the music industry more than helping it, especially as there are other sources of entertainment - like video games - that are fighting for consumer attention. Will file sharers stop spending their cash on music entirely, if disconnected from their sources of content?

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Tags: Software Online Broadband Filesharing P2P Statistics Surveys Music downloads Music Audio

Survey claims illegal downloaders spend most on music originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:32:13 +0000

Four in ten UK internet users would hand over their TV if they had to choose between that and their internet connection, in what's being said is a sign that the Internet has become "an integral part of life today".

The stats, from research agency, GfK NOP's "Connected Life" study, also show 53% would "find it hard to function" without their internet connection while 38% are using their PC to watch TV and video content online.

"The results of our survey give a remarkable indication of how embedded the internet has become in our daily lives, particularly considering the television's long established place in UK leisure time", Babita Earle at GfK Technology comments.

"There’s a clear shift in usage of the internet for doing more than just daily tasks - it's becoming the key entertainment and communications platform, and will only continue to do so as new and old media continue to converge".

Tags: Software Online Statistics GfK Home Cinema

Four in ten choose internet over television originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:17:57 +0000

Guitar Hero is the first console game franchise to surpass 1 million Facebook fans, says developer Activision.

As the number one best-selling third party video game franchise in America and Europe this year to date, since its release, more than 38 million games have been sold worldwide.

The most recent release "Guitar Hero 5" launched in September and is said to be the "most social and interactive Guitar Hero game ever".

The million-strong Facebook fans can get the latest info on Guitar Hero games and the artists in the games, as well as share their favourite artists, songs, and Guitar Hero experiences.

Tags: Gaming Guitar Hero Music games Facebook Statistics Activision Software Audio

Guitar Hero rocks 1 million Facebook fans originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:16:17 +0000

Sky has announced that the number of homes with Sky+HD has increased to 1.6 million while 6 million get just Sky+.

Throughout July, August and September Sky saw a new Sky+HD customer on average every 30 seconds with 287,000 customers signed up during this period - apparently a threefold increase on the same period of the previous year.

Sky has also announced a new film channel to launch on its service. "Movies Indie HD", a channel "devoted to screening the best in independent film", will be added to the channel line-up from Monday 26 October. ?

This will take the total of HD channels available to 35, which is 28 more than any other UK TV platform, Sky says.

Tags: Home Cinema Sky Statistics HDTV

Sky+HD box sold every 30 seconds originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:39:03 +0100

Whilst here in the UK Amazon is highlighting the pre-order sales success of American company Microsoft's Windows 7 OS, in the States, Amazon.com has announced that Brit Susan Boyle's upcoming album, "I Dreamed a Dream," has become the biggest ever CD pre-order in the history of the Amazon.com music store.

The $9.99 album, "I Dreamed a Dream," will not be released from Sony Music Entertainment until 23 November, but has already beaten the likes of U2, Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen to get the pre-order top slot.

Boyle became a reality star here in the UK, and an internet star globally, after her appearance in April on "Britain's Got Talent," which quickly became a YouTube hit and subsequently the fifth most viewed video online.

To see who Boyle beat to the US top slot, here's the list of the top 10 CD pre-orders of all time in the Amazon.com music store:

1. Susan Boyle, "I Dreamed a Dream" (2009)
2. Norah Jones, "Not Too Late" (2007)
3. U2, "No Line on the Horizon" (2009)
4. Bruce Springsteen, "Magic" (2007)
5. Dixie Chicks, "Taking the Long Way" (2006)
6. Coldplay, "Viva La Vida" (2008)
7. U2, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" (2004)
8. David Cook, "David Cook" (2008)
9. Diana Krall, "Quiet Nights" (2009)
10. Clay Aiken, "A Thousand Different Ways" (2006)

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Tags: Audio CD Amazon Statistics Susan Boyle YouTube

Susan Boyle album becomes biggest ever CD pre-order on Amazon.com originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:07:59 +0100

Amazon.co.uk has revealed that Windows 7 is now the biggest grossing pre-order product of all-time, having eclipsed? pre-orders of both "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and the Nintendo Wii.

"The launch of Windows 7 has superseded everyone's expectations, storming ahead of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' as the biggest-grossing pre-order product of all-time at Amazon.co.uk, and demand is still going strong", says Brian McBride, MD of Amazon.co.uk.??? ?

"Over the past three months, only Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol' has sold more copies than Windows 7 which is an incredible achievement for a Software product".

Amazon says it sold more pre-order copies of Windows 7 in the first 8 hours of its release than Windows Vista managed in its entire pre-order period, stats echoed by the DSGi group.

Tags: Software Windows 7 Amazon Statistics shopping Microsoft

Windows 7 beats pre-order records at Amazon.co.uk originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:37:06 +0100

21% of all adults in the UK don't use the internet at home, or anywhere else, reports the BBC on the back of new research commissioned to look at Britain's "digital divide" in conjunction with the government's new "Digital Britain" plans.

That equates to over a fifth of the adult population - over 10 million people - that are missing out on "employment opportunities, public services, as well as cheaper shopping, utilities and financial services" as well as the social aspects of getting online, says the government.

A large percentage of those unconnected Brits - 66% - are just "not interested", while 81% know "little or nothing" about it and 74% are not confident with using a PC.

The BBC has pledged to help people who want to get online do so and suggest friends and family helping out the digital don'ts, internet connected TVs for those scared of computers, financial help for those that can't afford it and "reassuring people that the internet is for them, can save them money and be fun".

Tags: Software Online BBC Statistics Digital Britain

A fifth of UK adults "digitally excluded" originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:25:56 +0100

The Amazon Kindle ebook reader is now available to be ordered by those residing in the UK.

Previously only available to consumers in the States, Amazon recently announced it would offer an "International Edition" of its popular eReader.

However, those in the UK, and the 200 other countries the device is now available to, will have to order the device through Amazon.com in US dollars, and stump up for the relevant import fees.

In addition to this, Amazon will be charging UK customers more for content for the Kindle, around $13.99 (?8.75) per book instead of the American price of $9.99 (?6.25).

And finally, UK consumers should note that the Kindle will ship with a US power charger, which, although the device can also charge up via USB, means if they want to wall charge their device, they'll need to buy an adaptor.

So, has this put off UK gadget-lovers from wanting a Kindle? In our most recent Pocket-lint reader poll, we asked "Do you plan to buy an International Edition Kindle?"

The results were fairly even with Pocket-lint readers' love of gadgetry coming in with 48% saying "yes" and 52% with a "no".

Were you a yes or are you sticking with a no? Have your say on Amazon's International Edition Kindle option in the comments box below...

Tags: Gadgets eBook readers Kindle Amazon Kindle Survey Statistics

Amazon Kindle UK import orders begin originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:37:14 +0100

A report from a network management firm called Arbor Networks has said that peer-to-peer traffic on the Web is falling rapidly. The company, which is used by more than 70% of the world's top ISPs, says that streaming video is replacing it, along with downloads from sites like RapidShare and MegaUpload.

"Globally P2P is declining and it is declining quickly", said Arbor Networks' chief scientist, Craig Labovitz. The data to support the report comes from?110 different ISPs, on nearly 3000 routers, for a total of 264 exabytes of traffic. An exabyte is 1024 petabytes, or approximately five times the amount of data contained in every bit of printed material in the world.

P2P now accounts for about 18% of all traffic on the Web (when you look at packets). In 2007, P2P peaked at about 40% of all web traffic. Services like YouTube, Spotify, iPlayer, Hulu and Netflix now all allow legal access to the same content, in many cases significantly more easily than a P2P download.

For years, commentators predicted that it'd be the growth of legitimate services that would bring an end to piracy, rather than legislation and lawsuits from content providers. This data seems to support that conclusion, though correlation is not causation, so it's difficult to say whether that's true or not - more studies will be required.

Spotify has conducted a survey that says that 80% of its users fileshare less after signing up, but we'd be interested in hearing your experiences. Have you found yourself illegally downloading less in the last few years?

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Tags: Software P2P Online Statistics

P2P traffic steadily dropping originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:15:46 +0100

Shazam, the music discovery service, has revealed that more than 50 million people around the world have now used the Shazam service.

This is an increase of 15 million users since February of this year, while Shazam is now available, across various platforms in over 150 countries.

The Shazam iPhone app has been downloaded more than 10 million times via the App Store. It's also racked up some high-up rankings on BlackBerry App World, Nokia's Ovi Store and the Android Market.

As well as the milestone, Shazam is also celebrating KPCB investment from the iFund that will see the app developed for more mobile platforms and in multiple languages.

Tags: Phones Mobile phone apps Shazam Audio iPhone apps BlackBerry App World Ovi Store Android Market KPCB iFund Statistics Biz

Shazam tops 50 million global users originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:21:01 +0100

Just over two thirds of the UK enjoy being connected at all times and in fact, feel more relaxed when hooked-up than not, a new Virgin Media report suggests.

Over a third of those surveyed said they experienced anxiety when not able to use technology to stay in touch with their family, 31% got the wobbles about not being able to work online and 27% were concerned when they could not connect with friends.

"To disconnect from technology may mean missing something we cannot afford to. Always being connected actually becomes increasingly essential for peace of mind", says psychologist Nik Simpson who has coined the? term "SOSOs", those who switch on to switch off.

74% of British households always have laptops on, that stat hits 76% as far as mobile phones go, while the the television is always on in 74% of UK homes.

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Tags: Gadgets Phones Virgin Media Hardware Survey Statistics

35% Brits are less stressed when "connected" originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:51:33 +0100

If you are considering getting the Pre, then it might interest you to know that more than a quarter of UK consumers surveyed recently by TNS have expressed an interest in buying Palm's new Pre smartphone, due to go on sale via O2 in the UK at the end of this week.

26% of those quizzed will "definitely or probably" snap up a Pre, which is 10% more than those who expressed similar intent to get an Apple iPhone back in 2007.

The figure that wants a Pre grows to 27% as far as existing O2 customers go and 32% of those asked currently on other networks said they'd consider switching to O2 to get it.

"While awareness of the Palm Pre is lower than that of the iPhone pre-launch, the figures suggest that once the new handset hits the shelves it has the potential to capture a substantial share of the UK's smartphone market", says TNS.

Palm Pre is due to launch in the UK on 16 October. It will be free to O2 customers taking out a ?34.26 a month, 24-month contract and to customers taking an 18-month contract at ?44.05 or ?73.41 per month.

Those opting for ?29.38 or ?34.26, 18-month contracts will have to stump up ?96.89 for the handset.

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Related links:

• Reviewed - Palm Pre

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Palm Statistics iPhone TNS O2 Palm Pre

More pre-release demand for the Palm Pre than the iPhone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:55:30 +0100

It's a week since the Uncharted 2: Among Thieves demo went live on the PlayStation Network, and it's been played over a million times.

Apparently on track to become the most downloaded demo on the PlayStation Network ever, the plays tally at 1,217,424, seeing a cheery 92,110,787 kills and over 9905 day's worth of gaming.

The demo is available now and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is due out in the UK on 16 October, a little earlier in the States.

Tags: Gaming PS3 Uncharted 2 Among Thieves Playstation Network Statistics Video

VIDEO: Uncharted 2 demo sees over a million plays originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:27:06 +0100

Sales of the PSP in the United States have rocketed 300% in the 3 days that followed the launch of the PSP Go - the smaller, lighter, more download-y, little brother of the original PSP-3000. Game downloads also climbed 200% in the same time period.

Sony's corporate communications director Patrick Seybold told Gamasutra: "The launch of PSPgo has generated strong consumer interest in the overall PSP platform and the PlayStation Network's digital content offering".

"With several blockbuster games launching digitally and on UMD in the coming weeks - from LittleBigPlanet to Assassin's Creed Bloodlines - we expect this momentum to continue and look forward to a strong holiday season for both the PSPgo and PSP-3000", he added.

Over on this side of the Atlantic, a price war erupted for the new console, with the cost dropping ?25 almost immediately. The console is available now for around ?200, depending on where you pick it up from.

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Tags: Gaming Sony PSP PSP Go Statistics

PSP sales rise 300% originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:36:54 +0100

A few statistics have emerged about the growth of Spotify in the UK over the first 6 months of this year. They're from a presentation that the company gave in Edinburgh jointly with PRS For Music and represent the time period from the end of January to the end of July.

At the end of July, Spotify had 2.7 million users in the UK. More were male than female, and interestingly half of them were over 30. The biggest single age group, though, was 20- to 29-year-olds - a full 1.1 million of them, representing 40.7% of the total userbase.

More than 4 million tracks were available to stream over the time period, of which 3 million were accessed - indicating that the "long tail" (a statistical term referring to people seeking out more obscure content) is alive and well on the service. Over a billion streams were served over the time period.

Impressive numbers, but can Napster's ?5-per-month streaming option whip the rug out from under the company? Time will tell.

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• News - Spotify phones coming soon?
• News - Spotify is 1 year old

Tags: Audio Statistics Spotify Music

Spotify has 2.7 million users in the UK originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:32:16 +0100

A 3-year study in Singapore has discovered that the average primary and secondary school student in Singapore plays 27 hours of MMO games every week - more than 1/7th of their time. MMO stands for Massively-Multiplayer Online and includes titles like Guild Wars and World of Warcraft.

Games like this can bring out addictive tendencies in people who have them, and have been linked to extreme behaviour in people of all ages. Playtime of just under 5 hours per day, every day, seems like quite an extreme amount, but perhaps Singapore kids get more free time than kids in the UK.

The government has taken what many would call an "enlightened" approach to the issue, recognising that regulating the games or the Web won't work and would just drive the behaviour underground or out of the country's jurisdiction. Instead, it recommends that parents and kids work together to rectify unhealthy behaviour.

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• News - Razer Naga MMO Mouse unveiled

Tags: Gaming MMORPGs Statistics

Singapore teens play MMOs 27 hours each week originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:46:03 +0100

Interesting stats just in from the NPD Group's 2009 Household Penetration Study in the States show that most US Mac-owning households are more gadgeted up than the average, with 48 consumer electronics devices compared to the average PC computer household that owns about 24.

And, despite the companies behind the systems trying to create a marketing division between PC users and Mac users, it seems that 85% of all Mac users also own a PC.

12% of US households have Macs, according to the data, up from 9% in 2008. And it seems those with Macs own quite a bit more gadgetry on the whole with 66% owning more than three computers, compared to 29% for PC-only homes.

72% of Mac owners also own a netbook, compared to 50% for PC owners, 63% of Mac owners have an iPod, compared to the 36% average and 50% own a GPS device, again compared to a 30% norm.

"While Apple owners tend to own more computers and more electronics devices, there is also a high correlation among Apple owners and more affluent consumer households", explains Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis.?

36% of Apple computer owners reported household incomes greater than $100,000, compared to 21% of all consumers.

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Tags: Hardware Apple Microsoft NPD Statistics

US Mac users have more gadgets and money originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:22:24 +0100

Text-based question and answer service AQA 63336 has announced it has reached the impressive milestone of answering its 20 millionth question.

The milestone puzzler, asked 6pm on 29 September, was: "Which hero featured in books by Captain W E Johns?". As fans of the series will know, the answer is Biggles.

The most popular question ever, asked by 47,189 customers since April 2004, is apparently "how does AQA work?" The second most popular question, with 31,350 questions in 5 years, is "what's the meaning of life?"

As far as unusual or notable answers go, AQA says they've sorted out a rescue team for someone stuck in the jungle in Thailand and predicted a winning race horse, netting the punter ?33k.

Related links:

• News - Couple used AQA text service to name baby girl

Tags: Phones Mobile phone apps AQA SMS Statistics

AQA text service answers 20 millionth question originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:22:41 +0100

Britons are net addicts, if data from a new survey is to be believed.

British web users spend a whopping 30 hours a week online - which works out as over 4 hours a day - according to a survey by comparison website USwitch.com.

As far as the office goes, the average workers spends 5 hours on the net - 2 for work and 3 for leisure. 93% use online shopping services, while 80% bank online too.

Only 25% of the 2700 people surveyed say they use social networking websites on a daily basis.

Jason Glynn at uSwitch said that broadband is rapidly becoming a necessity, "as important to our quality of life as gas or electricity".

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Tags: Software Broadband Survey Statistics uSwitch

Brits spend 30 hours a week online originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:23:01 +0100

A survey of broadband standards in 66 countries across the world has placed the UK at number 25 - with its broadband labelled as "meeting needs for today", but not "comfortable for today" or "ready for tomorrow".

South Korea and Japan came top, with Korea promising 1Gbps for everyone in the country by 2012. That's more than 280 times faster than OfCom's estimated average broadband speed of 3.6Mbps, and 500 times faster than the minimum broadband speeds for 2012 promised in the Digital Britain report.

Research was undertaken for Cisco and based on 24 million tests of broadband speed done via speedtest.net, which rates broadband speeds and compares them to other customers on the same providers.

Cisco's communication manager, Joanne Hughes, told the BBC: "Most studies are based just on broadband penetration or, if they look at speed they look at advertised speeds rather than real speeds. We wanted to look at the issue of broadband quality which is vital as new applications come along".

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• News - BT upgrades broadband speeds for all

Tags: Software Broadband Statistics Cisco

UK broadband ranks 25th out of 66 countries originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:55:09 +0100

For the first time in a major economy, the internet sector in the UK's advertising market has overtaken the TV sector. It's a significant milestone for both the burgeoning web economy and the the faltering TV medium.

UK advertisers spent ?1.75 billion on web advertising in the first half of 2009 - 4.6% more than the same time last year - according to the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The web now accounts for 23.5% of advertising money spent in the UK - compared to 21.9% for television.

It was originally forecast that the milestone would be passed towards the end of the year, but TV ad spend has plummeted as a result of the recession, dropping 17% on last year's figures. It's now worth ?1.6 billion.

The UK is not the first country where this has happened - a similar watershed was met in Denmark six months ago. However analysts are saying that this is more siginificant in the UK, as it has a considerably larger economy.

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• News - Google trials

Tags: Software Online Biz Advertising TV Statistics

Internet becomes biggest ad market in the UK originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:35:32 +0100

People getting secondary TV sets hooked up to Freeview has led to a new high for digital television in the UK, reports Ofcom.

The regulator's Digital TV Progress Report reveals that 80% of all televisions in the UK are now digitally-enabled.

23.4 million "secondary" sets were converted to digital, while nine out of ten main television sets are now connected to a digital decoder.

The Borders area, the West Country and south and west Wales are now switched over to digital with the rest of the UK due to switch before the end of 2012.

Today sees a digital "retune" that means consumers will need to retune their set-top boxes in order to continue receiving digital TV.

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Related links:

• Feature - Quick guide to the Freeview retune on 30 September

Tags: Home Cinema Televisions Freeview Statistics Ofcom

80% of UK televisions now digital originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:22:02 +0100

Sky has revealed how many reality TV addicts set their Sky+ boxes to record shows this weekend just gone as - gasp - two rival broadcasters scheduled "talent" programmes to clash.

Anyone who wanted to watch (and apparently there's millions of you out there) both "X Factor" and "Strictly Come Dancing" on Saturday were out of luck, unless of course they had some kind of televisual recording equipment.

Sky says that 1.9 million households across the UK chose to set their Sky+ boxes to record either show.

While X Factor drew 9.3 million viewers compared to Strictly Come Dancing's 7.7 million, over 1.2 million people chose to watch X Factor at a later time via Sky+, whilst around half that (686,000) set their boxes for Strictly Come Dancing.

A Sky spokesperson commented: "It's great we've been able to save two million people from a difficult decision and enabled them to watch every second of their favourite shows".

Tags: Home Cinema Sky PVRs Statistics X Factor Strictly Come Dancing

Sky: Scheduling clash saw 2 million set Sky+ boxes originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:37:16 +0100

Apple has revealed that more than two billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store.

This follows on from the 1.5 billion mark hit in July this year, a year on from the App Store's launch.

Claiming the service is "the largest applications store in the world", there are now more than 85,000 apps available and over 125,000 developers in the iPhone Developer Program.

Those apps have been downloaded by Apple's more than 50 million iPhone and iPod touch customers worldwide.

"The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate with users downloading a staggering two billion apps in just over a year, including more than half a billion apps this quarter alone", said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO.

"The App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it".

Related links:

• News - iPhone 3GS coming to Orange UK
• News - App Store downloads hit 1.5 billion

Tags: Phones iPhone Apple App Store iTunes Statistics iPod Touch Audio iPhone apps

App Store downloads top two billion originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:49:06 +0100