5% of American mobile users watch video

Talking of mobile multimedia, a report from The Nielsen Company says 10.3 million Americans currently watch videos on their phone each month - that's 5% of all mobile customers (compared to 3% in the UK). The majority of users - 66% - say they watch their video through the web, rather than downloading clips to their phones. The Apple iPhone is the most popular phone for mobile video consumers, comedy is the most popular mobile video content and waiting for someone or something is the most popular occasion for video usage. [Report (pdf)]

Apple lets iPhone users download via mobile network

Apple 3G iPhone users, who've previously only been able to download music from iTunes via WiFi or by using their computer, can now also download by connecting to their chosen mobile network. [Source: Apple.com Hot News]

Orange says mobile multimedia is more popular than ever

The latest Digital Media Index report from Orange (covering summer/autumn 2008) says that mobile data usage has almost doubled since the company's previous report, which covered November 2007 to January 2008. Sales of 3G mobile internet 'dongles' were up 2,139% since January, with 3G customer numbers rising 86%: 1.3 million people. Mobile search was up 30% and music downloads were up 10%. [Press release]

Data costs holding back mobile content growth

The cost of using mobile data is holding back growth in the European content market, according to mobile transaction company mBlox. They say UK consumers face charges of up to £10 to download a single song and recommend that networks adopt a ‘sender pays' business model to include data costs with purchases from their own online stores. [Press release]

Wireless traffic could increase tenfold

Mobile network operators in developed regions should be ready for a tenfold increase in wireless network traffic by 2015, according to a new report from Analysys Mason. Its Wireless network traffic 2008–2015 report says data traffic is quickly overtaking voice, driven by factors that include USB modems, smartphones, affordable pricing and bigger downloads. Developed regions are expected to account for just 25% of mobile phone users by 2015 but will generate 65% of total global wireless network traffic. The average mobile user is expected to use eight times more data by 2015, rising from the current figure of 56MB per month to 455MB per month... although one forecast says this could be as much as a 23-fold increase, depending on circumstances. [Press release]

Operators could make $52 billion from mobile content in 2013

Juniper Research says mobile network operators could make $52 billion from mobile content by 2013 - up from $23 billion in 2008 - but only if they make major changes to their business models. It says they must emphasise 'shared value creation’ to avoid becoming seen as ‘dumb pipes’ in the future. The total global mobile content market is expected to be worth $167 billion by 2013. [Press release]

BlackBerry MySpace application hits 400,000 downloads in a week

Social network MySpace and BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion have announced record download numbers of the 'MySpace for BlackBerry' application in its first week of availability. There have been more than 400,000 downloads since the application’s launch on 13th November, which apparently represents an all-time high for both MySpace and RIM in terms of first-week application downloads. In that first week, users have sent and received more than 15 million messages and published over two million updates. [Press release]

Worst mobile content of 2008

Yes, I was right - it's time to start the reviews. FierceWireless has published its "Mobile Content Turkeys of 2008" list, which features John McCain Themed Content, Mobile TV, Bad Licensing Deals, Mobile Messaging Addiction and Dumb iPhone Applications.

Mobile gaming worth $10 billion by 2013

Juniper Research says the retail value of the global mobile games market is expected to rise from $5.4bn in 2008 to more than $10bn in 2013, although the potential for growth in many key markets is being dampened by poor marketing and limited on-portal revenue share for publishers. They say the Apple iPhone could end up being a popular choice for game publishers due to the revenue share offered by Apple, which could see the end of Java games. In addition, the volume of paid-for mobile game downloads has flatlined across North America and Western Europe - a phenomenon that was reported in February by M:Metrics. [Press release]

Mobile users will pay to avoid ads

Market research company TNS says a growing number of mobile users are so averse to advertising that they are willing to pay a premium in order to avoid it. Although 56% of users believe that content downloads to mobile phones should be free of charge, 25% of respondents said they would rather pay for a download if it guaranteed them immunity from advertising. Younger users are more prepared to pay: 35% of 16-to-24 year olds are happier to pay for downloads than receive them with advertising, compared to 17% of 35 to 44 year olds. The company says mobile providers risk losing customers if they don't offer chargeable but ad-free downloads. [Press release; pdf]

Motorola launches film service

Motorola has launched a download service that lets UK customers download full-length films to watch on their mobile phones. The deal, which offers titles from Paramount Digital Entertainment, will cost between £5.99 and £8.99 per movie. 40 films are currently available to download to your PC and then transfer to your mobile phone. [Sources: Guardian.co.uk; Pocket-Lint.co.uk]

Premium rate phone watchdog to investigate mobile phone promotions

PhonepayPlus, the premium rate phone regulator, has said it will be reviewing premium services on mobile phones. The UK market is estimated to be worth around £350 million annually. The regulator will look at ringtones, games and other chargeable downloads, with a particular focus on unsolicited promotions, price transparency and subscription services. (PhonepayPlus was previously known as ICSTIS; it's the regulator for services that allow you to charge purchases to your phone account). [Press release]

Free music downloads to mobile phones

Mobile music service CLIQ is offering customers free music downloads to their mobile phones on 5th May. It usually lets radio listeners download the track they're currently hearing for £1.25 - but on 5th May 2008 is running a free promotion on Century North East, Century North West, Real Radio Scotland, Real Radio Yorkshire and Real Radio Wales. Registered CLIQ customers who hear a song they like - whether on FM, DAB or online - can buy it via the free CLIQ application on their mobile phone. (Standard network data charges will still apply). [Source: MoneySavingExpert.com]

Orange survey shows mobile TV up, ringtones down

The latest Orange Digital Media Index - the company's third such survey - has shown a 35% increase in mobile internet page impressions compared with its November 2007 survey. TV watching was up even more, with total mobile TV viewing hours increasing by 87%. Ringtone downloads fell from 117,000 in December 2007 to 100,000 in January, while full-length music track downloads hit a new Orange record of 289,000 in December. [Sources: Press release, Guardian.co.uk]

36% of young(ish) men are using mobile media

A survey from M:Metrics has revealed that 36% of 18 to 34-year-old men in Western Europe accessed mobile media (browsing and/or downloads) in February. In addition, 9% of men in this group responded to an SMS advert they received, versus an market average of 4%. [Press release]

Over half a billion music mobiles shipped in 2007

Researchers at MultiMedia Intelligence say almost 300 million more music phones were sold last year than stand-alone personal music players. Worldwide music phone shipments exceeded 500 million units in 2007. They also report that the global mobile music content market of ringtones, ringback tones, streaming audio and full-track downloads) will hit $6 billion this year. By 2011, they estimate that half of all mobile phones will be music phones, which they define as having a memory expansion slot and the ability to play music. [Sources: News.com, Cellular-News.com]

Orange launches ad-funded download trial

Orange is launching an ad-funded download service on its Orange World mobile internet service. 800,000 Orange customers in the UK will be able to download music to their phone at a discounted rate or completely free. The three-month trial will display advertising banners while customers download their music from a choice of 500 tracks. Advertising company ScreenTonic, which was bought by Microsoft last year, is managing the banner ads for the campaign. In addition, Orange says it's done a deal with film website Icewhole.com to allow customers to download short films for £1.

Entertainment software is 2007's most-popular download

Smartphone software company Handango says entertainment products were last year's most-popular choice of download. Handango says entertainment software accounted for 17% of its 2007 sales - moving to the top of 2007's list from third place in 2006 - with business and professional content dropping from 18% in 2006 to 16% in 2007. [Press release]

Yet another excessive data bill

The Sunday Times reports on a Vodafone customer who ended up with a £11,000 bill after downloading episodes of the TV sitcom Friends via a mobile phone. The customer's wife started downloading the programmes while in the UK but, when the download was still in progress, her husband travelled to Germany. The download automatically resumed at international rates when the customer connected to the network in Germany.

A third of mobile game downloads don't work

Earlier this month we heard that just 8.8% of customers in the USA and Europe were playing games they'd downloaded to their mobile phone - and last week we discovered that 50% of all application downloads failed to complete successfully. Now comes news that a third of mobile game downloads in the UK fail to work owing to compatibility issues - and only 15% of mobile gamers had never experienced a non-working game. The figures, which come from application developer GetJar, claim that over £29 million is spent every year on games that customers never play. The company blamed insufficient testing for the high failure rate. [Source: VNUnet.com]