Mobile net use growing(from Forbes)....................
=============================================
March 19, 2008, 12:00 pm
Google: Mobile web usage growing 20%
By Michal Lev-Ram
Long before it unveiled its Android operating platform, Google had its eye on the mobile market, an industry that reaches an estimated three billion people worldwide. The company’s main strategy? Pushing search, maps and e-mail onto cell phones in the hope of becoming the leading source of information — and ads — on the tiny screen.
Now Google (GOOG) says its efforts to make mobile services faster and easier to use are paying off. On Wednesday the company released new numbers showing mobile Internet activity on select devices recently surged, following its release of a software “shortcut” that reduces the time it takes to conduct a search on a cell phone.
“We’ve long known that fast is better than slow,” says Matt Waddell, project manager for Google’s mobile division. “But when it comes to mobile fast is much better than slow.”
Google says users of its recently released shortcut — a small piece of downloadable software that installs a search box directly on a cell phone’s home screen — conduct 20% more mobile Web searches than previous users. The shortcut allows people to type a keyword right on their phone’s home screen to initiate a query, rather than having to first find and open their mobile browser and type in the URL of their preferred search engine.
The shortcut was made available to BlackBerry (RIMM) and Symbian devices in recent months, but Google says it will also work on Windows Mobile phones like Motorola’s (MOT) Q and the Touch by HTC starting Wednesday. The company also credits “time-saving fixes” for a recent uptake in Gmail use on the Apple (AAPL) iPhone.
According to research firm M:Metrics, the iPhone, which offers several of Google’s mobile services, is the most popular device for accessing news and information on the go. Nearly 50% of iPhone users accessed a social networking site in January, about twelve times the market average. And about 31% watched online TV on their device.
“This data indicates that the iPhone’s widgets [small applications accessible from the phone’s home screen] are an effective means to drive mobile content consumption,” Mark Donovan, senior analyst at M:Metrics said in a statement. “Beyond a doubt, this device is compelling consumers to interact with the mobile Web, delivering off-the-charts usage from everything to text messaging to mobile video.”
But M:Metrics also found that iPhone users are more likely to earn more than $100,000 than the average mobile subscriber. That means that, despite Google and Apple’s efforts to make the mobile Web simpler and faster to use, it will likely take a long time for it to reach mass appeal with average consumers — those who earn far less than $100,000 a year. According to a recent Jupiter Research report, 25% of U.S. cell phone owners currently browse the Internet from their devices, while just 16% say they do so frequently.
Back to main column
Filed under Blackberry, Google, Mobile, android, apple
0 Comments | Add a Comment | Email Digg Facebook
CNNMoney.com Comment Policy: CNNMoney.com encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. Please note that CNNMoney.com may edit comments for clarity or to keep out questionable or off-topic material. All comments should be relevant to the post and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNNMoney.com the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying information via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNNMoney.com Privacy Statement.Most Popular
Most
Read
Most
Commented
Editor's
Picks
Real estate: Buy, sell, or hold? More
Recession? Where to put your money now More
Carlos Slim, the richest man in the... More
Beach-house bargains More
Robert Rubin on the job he never wanted More
Apple’s MacBook (hot) Air problem More
Apple to 100,000 iPhone developers:... More
Report: Mac sales up 60% in February More
Apple and Microsoft’s Flash dance More
Apple enthusiasts vs. the tech press More
Did JPMorgan overpay... more
Spitzer's bully pulpit more
How bad is the mortgage crisis going... more
Lehman: The next domino to fall... more
Big losers in Bear Stearns fire sale more
Recent
Posts
Recent
Comments
Google: Mobile web usage growing 20%
Warner Music’s new digital czar
Wireless spectrum auction comes to a close
AT&T and Verizon in race to “open up”
Scrabulous and four-letter words
What a load of BS this is. Nacchio wa... More
I was a Qwest employee during this per... More
I am a Sprint employee. Certainly, we... More
More Techland
More Techland
Recent
Posts
Recent
Comments
Google: Mobile web usage growing 20%
Warner Music’s new digital czar
Wireless spectrum auction comes to a close
AT&T and Verizon in race to “open up”
Scrabulous and four-letter words
Verizon Hands Seidenberg a Big Raise
Nacchio’s Conviction Tossed Out
Sprint’s Dan Hesse stars in new TV commercial
Microsoft buys another online ad company
Linden Lab CEO stepping down
What a load of BS this is. Nacchio w... More
I was a Qwest employee during this pe... More
I am a Sprint employee. Certainly, w... More
To Jeremy - The reason other games do... More
The extra money for Ivan's big salary... More
Madden being the best sport game? wha... More
With the amount of fraud and other th... More
Search This Column
Search
Archives
View all entries from this: Week, Month
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007Topics
Tags
Blogroll
Advertising Amazon AMD android Antitrust apple at&t Atheros auto tech Blackberry BlueTooth Broadcom cable CES Comcast CTIA Danger David Filo Dell DEMO domain names ea ebay EchoStar electric cars exit strategies Facebook fcc financial services Foxconn fuel cell cars Gadgets gaming GM Google green tech Hewlett-Packard Hulu iLike Intel Internet Jerry Yang LG Lionsgate Marvell microsoft Microsoft-Yahoo Mobile MobiTV Modu Motorola Music Myspace MySQL nanotechnology NBC News Corp. nintendo Nokia online music online video open source Oracle PayPal Philip Rosedale Qualcomm Research in Motion Rhapsody Samsung Scrabulous search Second Life Sidekick skype social networks social web Sonos Sony Ericsson Spectrum Sprint Starbucks startups StumbleUpon Susan Decker sustainability T-Mobile Take-Two television Time Warner Uncategorized venture capital Verizon video conferencing Video games Vodaphone VoIP Web 2.0 Web 2.0 Summit WiFi WiMAX wireless spectrum auction Yahoo YouTube
Fortune on CNNMoney.com
About This Author
Josh Quittner came on board Fortune as Executive Editor in 2007, covering technology and Silicon Valley from its San Francisco bureau. A digital pioneer, Josh created a weekly Life in Cyberspace column when he was a staff writer at Newsday in the early 1990s, and founded the Netly News, a daily feed on digital news and culture, while working at Pathfinder, the first incarnation of Time Inc.'s online offering in 1997. Prior to joining Fortune, Josh served as Managing Editor of Business 2.0, a role he took on after stints as technology editor for Time magazine and editor of Time.com. Josh was named one of the 20 most influential technology journalists three years in a row by Adweek's Technology Marketing magazine and as one of the "21 most intriguing people in magazines" by MIN in 2003. Josh is also the coauthor of five books with his wife, New York Times online shopping columnist, Michelle Slatalla. They live in Mill Valley, Calif., with their three daughters.
Email Josh Quittner
Email Michal Lev-Ram and Yi-Wyn Yen
Subscribe to the Techland RSS feed
Latest
Issue
Fortune
Asia
Fortune
Europe
How Target does it
The edgy retailer has been unstoppable. Now comes the hard part: nervous Nellie consumers, a resurgent Wal-Mart, and breaking in a new CEO.
Table of Contents
Recent Issues
The World's Most Admired Companies
Table of Contents
Recent Issues
The World's Most Admired Companies
Table of Contents
Recent Issues
Home | Contact us | Advertise with Us | Corrections | RSS | Email Delivery | Career Opportunities | Press Center | Site Map
Subscribe to Fortune | Magazine Customer Service | Reprints | Download Fortune Lists | Conferences | Business Leader Council
© 2008 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy
* : Time reflects local markets trading time.† - Intraday data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges.• Disclaimer
Copyright © 2008 BigCharts.com Inc. All rights reserved. Please see our Terms of Use.
MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc.
Intraday data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. All Times are ET.
Intraday data provided by ComStock, an Interactive Data Company and subject to the Terms of Use.
Historical, current end-of-day data, and splits data provided by FT Interactive Data.
Fundamental data provided by Hemscott.
SEC Filings data provided by Edgar Online Inc..
Earnings data provided by FactSet CallStreet, LLC.
Powered by WordPress.com.
AI
