59 percent of global mobile web users now as comfortable with mobile advertising as with TV or online advertising

INDIA: To better understand changing media consumption usage and behaviours across the world, Bangalore-based InMobi, the largest independent mobile advertising network, has released the findings of its Mobile Media Consumption Report, a study of over 15,000 mobile users in 14 markets across all continents through its global mobile ad network, and research partners Decision Fuel and OnDevice Research. 

The study reveals that the appetite for mobile media continues to rise and that the mobile is not just a fundamental part of consumers’ communication needs, but increasingly the core platform through which they access the Internet and engage with brands online.

Naveen Tewari, CEO and co-founder at InMobi, comments: “Mobile devices now permeate every aspect of modern life. The study reveals that mobile users are always-on, whether surfing the web while spending time with family (48 percent), at a social event (45 percent), commuting (60 percent) and shopping (43 percent). This creates a huge opportunity for brands and marketers to engage with consumers throughout the day unlike traditional advertising like print and TV.”

Mobile interactions increasingly influence buying behaviour

Overall analysis reinforces the shift towards mobile with 50 percent of the average global mobile web user now using mobile as either their primary or exclusive means of going online. This has resulted in mobile devices becoming an indispensable shopping tool, gaining popularity as a viable shopping channel and now used throughout the research and decision-making process of a purchase.

Mobile advertising’s proving to be effective across the entire purchase funnel:

* 75 percent of respondents admitted they’d been introduced to something new via their mobile device.

* 67 percent feel that it had provided them with better options.

* 46 percent said they had made purchases using their mobile device.

* 45 percent said it has influenced their in-store purchases.

Opportunities for brands to engage with consumers through mobile apps

Mobile apps can offer brands remarkable opportunities to engage with consumers on a more personal level all across the globe. The findings of the research reveal the accelerated usage of mobile apps and found that the average consumer actively uses 6.5 apps throughout a 30-day period.

Encouragingly, 54 percent of respondents reported that they had noticed ads while engaged in an app. In fact, a considerable 80 percent of respondents were influenced by a mobile ad to download an app and 67 percent went on to visit a brand’s website immediately afterwards. Mobile advertising is not only helping to drive app downloads but also increase website traffic.

Ad format preferences are emerging for different user segments

The research found that 59 percent of mobile users are now as comfortable with mobile advertising as they are with TV or online advertising. Whilst mobile ads in apps are the most noticed among mobile users, the study highlighted those different formats of mobile ads appeal to different segments of consumers. 

Globally, 54 percent of users discover mobile ads via apps, 40 percent on a search engine, 27 percent on a retailer website and 23 percent on a video website.

Mobile commerce surges

M-commerce continues to evolve and consumer adoption is high with 66 percent of consumers surveyed having spent money on an activity via a mobile device. This will continue to increase significantly as 80 percent of consumers plan to conduct mobile commerce in the next 12 months, a 21 percent increase from where we are today.

Naveen Tewari, CEO and co-founder at InMobi, concluded: “This study reiterates the industry stats on the mobile media consumption boom. With consumers now being increasingly receptive to mobile advertising and in-app ads, there has never been a better time for brands to embrace the use of mobile technologies. Finally, it highlights the fact that there is a real need for the industry to continue to rapidly innovate the ad experience and deliver rich, relevant, and timely content to the user.”

GSMA Mobile World Congress 2013 sets new records

SPAIN: The GSMA reported that more than 72,000 visitors from over 200 countries attended the 2013 Mobile World Congress, setting another new record for the mobile industry's premier event.

The four-day conference and exhibition attracted executives from the world's largest and most influential mobile operators, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies and companies from industry sectors such as automotive, finance and healthcare, as well as government delegations from across the globe. Over 50 per cent of this year's Mobile World Congress attendees hold C-level positions, including more than 4,300 CEOs.

"We are thrilled with the record results for Mobile World Congress 2013, in our first year here in Fira Gran Via," said John Hoffman , CEO, GSMA Ltd. "Mobile is one of the most vibrant and dynamic industries in the world, and the innovation that is powering the sector was clearly evident throughout Mobile World Congress, in the exhibition, the conference, programmes such as App Planet and mPowered Brands and new event initiatives such as the NFC Experience. We thank all attendees, exhibitors and sponsors for making our 2013 event such a success."

Mobile World Congress set additional records, with more than 1,700 exhibiting companies showcasing cutting-edge products and services across 94,000 net square metres of exhibition and hospitality space. More than 3,400 international media and industry analysts attended the event to report on the many significant industry announcements made at the Congress.

According to a preliminary independent economic analysis, the 2013 Mobile World Congress will have contributed more than 320 million Euros to the local economy. This represents an increase of approximately 19 million Euros over the economic impact of the 2012 event and is driven by the growth in attendance and number of exhibiting companies, as well as the increased footprint of exhibition and hospitality spaces.

Leading CEOs take stage
During the event, CEOs and senior executives from companies including the American Heart Association, Apigee, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, China Mobile, CNN Digital, Deezer, Deutsche Telekom, Dropbox, Ericsson, General Motors, Foursquare, Jana, Jolla, Juniper Networks, KT Corp., Mozilla Foundation, Nielsen, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Ooredoo, Qualcomm, Telefonica, Tele2, Tribal DDB Worldwide, Ubuntu, Viber and Vodafone, discussed and debated the trends and issues which are shaping the mobile industry today and into the future.

Beyond the keynotes, the 2013 conference also included focused sessions exploring topics such as big data, mobile cloud, mWallets, NFC, small cells and smart cities, as well as the role of mobile in adjacent industries like advertising, automotive, finance and retail.

Record attendance to GSMA ministerial program
The GSMA's Ministerial Program again saw record attendance, with government delegations from 143 countries and intergovernmental organisations meeting in Barcelona.

The Ministerial Program brings together governments, regulators and industry leaders to discuss the specific regulatory issues shaping the development of mobile around the world. Sponsors for the Ministerial Programme included STC and ZTE.

Focus on connected living
A highlight of the Mobile World Congress exhibition was the Connected City, which featured a complete urban environment, including a town hall, department store, apartment, electrical store, hotel, cafe and lounge, office, a car showroom and a street.

Developed in partnership with AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, KT, Telenor and Vodafone, the Connected City showcased new products and experiences illustrating how a more connected future – powered by mobile – will improve people's daily lives across automotive, education, health, homes, retail and more.

NFC experience
More than 10,500 attendees participated in the newly introduced NFC Experience, an interactive experience through which attendees, exhibitors and vendors used NFC-enabled handsets to exchange information and conduct transactions at locations throughout Fira Gran Via and in Barcelona.

Partners in the NFC Experience included Sony Mobile Communications, CaixaBank, Telefonica, Visa, Gemalto, INSIDE Secure, Hotel Santos Porta Fira, Assa Abloy, Accenture, Connecthings, Open Trends, Ajuntament de Barcelona and Mobile World Capital.

"On behalf of the GSMA, we thank the city of Barcelona, the city of Hospitalet, the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Fira de Barcelona and all our Barcelona partners for supporting and contributing to such an amazing event, and we look forward to returning to the city next year and continuing our success in Fira Gran Via," concluded Hoffman.

The 2014 Mobile World Congress will be held 24-27 February 2014 at Fira Gran Via.

Sequential improvement in Ethernet switch and router markets

USA: Worldwide Ethernet switch (Layer 2/3) revenues reached $5.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012 (4Q12), representing growth of 7 percent sequentially and 0.5 percent year over year. Meanwhile, the worldwide router market increased 5.6 percent quarter over quarter even though it declined 0.2 percent year over year in 4Q12, according to the International Data Corp. (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Ethernet Switch and Router Tracker.

The 4Q12 results also show that the Ethernet switch market was particularly strong in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) with 15.6 percent year-over-year growth, Middle East and Africa (MEA) (13.8 percent), and Latin America (12 percent). Meanwhile, continued weakness in Western Europe continued to weigh heavily on the overall market with its 12 percent year-over-year decline. From other major regions, Japan increased 3.5 percent year-over-year and North America declined slightly (-1.1 percent) in 4Q12.

"While growth in the Ethernet switch market will largely come from 10GbE and 40GbE in the coming years, it is encouraging to note that the market for Gigabit Ethernet is holding its own, largely in campus, aggregation, and network edge deployments," said Rohit Mehra, VP, Network Infrastructure at IDC. "While enterprise mobility is no doubt the focus for IT and network managers, the underlying wired infrastructure is also continuing to get mindshare in the context of a holistic approach to the network in delivering applications to end-users."

10GbE Ethernet switch (Layer 2/3) revenue increased 14.9 percent year over year and for the first time crossed the $2 billion mark in a single quarter while 10GbE port shipments grew 43.9 percent year over year to just under 4 million ports in 4Q12. 10GbE continues to be the main driver of the overall Ethernet switch market.

Worldwide Layer 4-7 switching market revenues grew 9.1 percent year over year to $421 million in 4Q12. For the full year 2012 L4-7 market increased a healthy 12.5 percent year over year.

The 4Q12 worldwide Router market declined 0.2 percent year over year, essentially staying flat despite the 5.6 percent sequential improvement over 3Q12. Regionally, the market saw a very strong 25.3 percent year-over-year jump in Middle East and Africa and 15 percent year over year growth in the US, but these were offset by a 21.4 percent decline in Western Europe and a 24.6 percent decrease in Japan.

From a vendor perspective, Cisco's Ethernet switch (Layer 2/3) market share in 4Q12 came in at 61.2 percent reflecting a year-over-year decrease from 64 percent in 4Q11. Cisco's market share in the fast growing 10GbE market segment stands at 66.1 percent in 4Q12.

"After a lackluster performance in the third quarter in both the switch and router markets, sequential growth returned to the enterprise network infrastructure market in 4Q12, and even the marginal year-over-year growth was creditworthy given the stronger performance of the market in the fourth quarter of last year," said Petr Jirovský, senior research analyst in IDC's Networking Trackers Group.

"That said, overall market drivers, such as proliferation of video traffic on the network, and the need to support a growing and diverse set of wired and wireless devices at the network edge will continue to keep the enterprise networking market relevant over the longer term."

Borqs joins Linux Foundation to promote Android development and innovation

USA: Leading global provider of integrated end-to-end mobile communication software and solutions Borqs International Holding Corp. (Borqs) announced that it has joined the Linux Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux.

Borqs has four offices in the APAC region, located in Beijing, Bangalore, Wuhan and Shenzhen. In the future, Borqs will participate in the Code Aurora Forum and other Linux Foundation activities, including the Linux End User Summit. Linux and collaborative development have both become pervasive in the mobile and enterprise computing markets.

More than 1.3 million Linux-based Android devices are activated every day. Based on this trend, Borqs will increase its investment in Linux, bringing more innovative solutions to partners and end users. In addition to Borqs, the firms Denx, Gazzang, Genymobile, Mandriva and Seneca College have also joined the Linux Foundation.

The Linux Foundation works with the world's largest Linux enterprise users. It aims to understand the technological requirements of its users and increase the value they can take from the Linux platform. The Foundation's members are committed to stimulating the development of the Linux platform and providing them with software that will allow them to develop cutting-edge applications.

As a leading global provider of Android software and services, Borqs was one of the earliest members of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). The company maintains good relationships with a number of original equipment manufacturers (OEM), providing them with comprehensive platform solutions that can be deployed across the networks of global mobile carriers.

Hareesh Ramanna, Borqs' VP of Engineering, said: "The Linux Foundation hosts important collaborations in the Android and embedded development space, and we're interested in being a part of that work. We're looking forward to working with other Code Aurora Forum members and increasing innovation in the area of Android development. Like the other foundation members, we are increasing our investment in Linux and open source development in order to better serve our customers.

"A secure Linux environment is essential for enterprise adoption of big data and cloud technology. We find the new commitments being made by the Linux Foundation very encouraging. As a member of the Linux Foundation, Borqs will continue to support and protect Linux, ensuring the sustainable development and continuous innovation of the platform at a global level and contributing to the collaborative development environment."

Gabon Telecom partners with Mahindra Comviva for mobile money and messaging solution

SPAIN:  Mahindra Comviva, the global leader in providing mobile financial and VAS solutions, has partnered with Gabon Telecom, an affiliate of Maroc Telecom and the largest telecom company in Gabon. With this partnership Mahindra Comviva will help Gabon Telecom to introduce Mobi Cash mobile money services and enhance customer experience with its multi-award winning mobiquity mobile financial and messaging solution, USSD FLARES.

Maroc Telecom, the major wireless and wireline telecom operator in Morocco launched Mobi Cash mobile money services powered by Comviva in 2010.

Mahindra Comviva's mobiquity solution will empower Gabon Telecom subscribers with multi-functional and secure account, which can be used to make domestic remittance, salary disbursements, and last mile financial services including cash in and cash out.

It will also allow subscribers to make utility bill payments such as post paid, electricity, water and recharge their mobile phones. Customers can also make Over-The-Counter (OTC) payments at merchants such as grocery stores, restaurants, chemists.

Mahindra Comviva's messaging solution - USSD FLARES, a single-window web-based Service Creation Environment (SCE) with an easy to use interface for service creation and management will enable the operator to access, create, execute and manage services faster.

Mahindra Comviva is a market leader in the USSD space globally, with over 90 deployments across 57 countries. Its USSD solutions are now delivering services to over 550 million mobile users across the globe, with over 220 million hits daily on USSD solutions.

IEEE Internet of Things survey provides clarity around definition, future uses and challenges

USA:  IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organization, announced the results of a survey that gathered insights from more than 1,200 Facebook members, which includes engineers and technologists, on the future of the Internet of Things, the developing ecosystem of Internet-connected devices.

The Internet of Things is quickly becoming a reality as manufacturers are increasingly linking "things", such as smartphones, appliances, cars and machines, to the Internet and to each other.

As the Internet of Things continues to develop and expand, much discussion revolves around the role that connected devices will play in users' everyday lives. IEEE's survey identified the ways in which consumers envision using connected devices. A surprising 65 percent of respondents said they are most interested in using connected devices to improve their work productivity, versus interest in managing their homes (14 percent), interest in improving their commutes (12 percent) or interest in improving their health (9 percent).

"As the Internet of Things evolves, we're discovering the varied ways connected devices can improve every aspect of our lives," said IEEE senior member Raul Colcher of Brazil.

"People have always been most interested in technology that provides an immediate benefit, and connected devices can meet consumer need for instant, gratifying results that enhance quality of life. While one might imagine that improving the quality of ones' personal life would be most important, the overwhelming majority of survey respondents are most interested in using connected devices in the office. This statistic provides great insight about the types of devices that will be most well-received in the future."

In light of its rapid development, the Internet of Things faces growing pains and has yet to be clearly defined within the industry. Leaders hold differing opinions as to what qualifies a device as connected.

According to IEEE's survey, unity may be closer than it seems. Nearly 70 percent of respondents feel connected devices can be defined as those that are either directly connected to the Internet, or indirectly connected by way of another component within the ecosystem; for example, a pulse counter wristband connected via Bluetooth to a cell phone. Only 30 percent of respondents feel that a device must be directly linked to the Internet to be considered connected; for example, a smart phone or laptop.

"The Internet of Things is still new and people have varying perceptions of what the network entails," said Roberto Saracco , an IEEE Senior Member and Director of the Italian Node of the EIT ICT LABS. "As people become more used to interacting with connected objects, for example using a cell phone to read a bar code, the way they define connected devices will become more clear and universal."

Beyond definitions, the Internet of Things faces pressing challenges that must be overcome to continue its path of growth.

AccuWeather app offers same experience across Android devices

USA: The new AccuWeather for Android app takes advantage of many of the new conventions offered by the Android operating system with user-friendly features such as multiple, multi-location and resizable widgets, optional weather graphs with different layers of detail, and even more customization. The app also offers the same experience across all Android smartphones and tablets.

"The new AccuWeather app is truly responsive to the needs of our Android users," said Pascal Racheneur, AccuWeather VP of Interactive Media. "It was designed for the user who wants immediately descriptive weather images with minimal text, while the user who wants more information may choose to dive into the bright weather graphs for more weather detail."

AccuWeather worked closely with Google to follow their design guidelines and to capture everything their new operating system has to offer consumers.