1）11mark最近针对1000名美国用户的调查结果显示，75%美国智能手机用户在卫生间使用手机，女性用户的这一比例（76%）高于男性用户（74%）；但男性用户更依赖移动设备，约30%男性受访者表示自己上卫生间时不能没有手机，而女性用户的这一比例为25%。

该调查还针对手机类型划分结果，并指出约87%的Android用户经常在卫生间用手机，其比例高于黑莓（84%）和iPhone（77%）用户。但黑莓用户更常在卫生间拨打或接听电话，iPhone用户在卫生间时则多使用手机访问应用程序（占比67%）和社交网络（占比53%）。

年轻群体比年长者（这里指1946年出生的群体）更常在卫生间使用手机，但即使是66岁左右的群体也仍存在同种习惯。

有92%受访者表示上完卫生间后会洗手，但仅有14%表示自己也会清洁手机设备。

2）谷歌和市场调研公司益普索最近数据显示，英国智能手机普及率在2011年1月至10月间增长至45%，而美国用户的这一比例为38%，德国为23%，日本是17%。

调查结果还指出，美国、英国、德国、法国和日本手机用户（包括功能性手机及智能手机）比例高于电脑用户（包括台式电脑和笔记本）。

其他发现还包括：

*每天通过智能手机上网的德国用户比例增幅最高，已从原来的39%增长至49%；

*每天通过智能手机上网的日本用户最多，占比88%；

*三分之二以上的美国智能手机用户，以及半数以上英国智能手机用户每天都访问移动网络；

*在这五个国家中，将近75%智能手机用户表示自己仍在使用电脑上网；

*这五国平板电脑使用率均呈上升趋势，而美国平板电脑普及率最高，其平板电脑用户在所有人口中占比11%；

*这五国的女性智能手机用户均持续增长；

*在英美法三国中，45岁以上的智能手机用户增长最为明显。

3）英国分析公司Juniper Research最近报告显示，2011年第四季度全球智能手机出货量为1.49亿部，而苹果iPhone占比高达25%。

三星在该季度智能手机出货量所占比例为21.7%，比2010年第一季度的4.7%增加四倍左右。除了三星，HTC是前5名移动设备制造商中市场份额持续增长的公司，该季度智能手机出货量达1200万部。

而RIM智能手机出货量则下降0.7%，共1440万部，诺基亚则同比上年下滑31%。

4）NPD最近报告预测，平板电脑出货量有望从2010年的7220万部增长至2017年的3.833亿部（游戏邦注：另一分析公司Juniper预测2016年平板电脑出货量将达2.53亿部），新兴市场国家在2011年占据36%平板电脑市场份额，预计2017年这一比例将上升为46%。

从平板电脑普及率来看，中国和亚太地区在新兴市场中最为领先，但巴西、印度和俄罗斯也正呈增长趋势，预计采用低功率处理器、售价较低（不足100美元）的平板电脑将成为这些市场的主要影响因素。

5）据techflash报道，亚马逊在2011年第四季度已售出600万部Kindle Fire平板电脑（该设备发布于2011年10月份）。与此同时，苹果该季度的iPad销量达1543万部，比上一年同期增长111%。

不过亚马逊的策略是关注Kindle Fire用户的“长期价值”而非短期利润，意将通过扩大该设备销量，提升亚马逊书籍、视频和杂志等订阅服务的收益。

6）Telecoms & Media最近报告指出，2011年第四季度iPad销量比2010年同其增加2倍以上，共达1540万部，而Android平板电脑第四季度销量则是2700万部，预计零售平板电脑收益将从2011年的345亿美元增长至2016年的1215亿美元。

与此同时，独立零售商渠道的智能手机销售收益比例也将从2011年的29%增长至2016年的34%，独立零售商将在商店现代化、产品测试和客服支持等方面超越电信运营商，从而蚕食后者的移动设备市场份额。

7）诺基亚在最近的财报会议中指出，微软在2011年第四季度向诺基亚支付了2.5亿美元的Windows Phone 7项目合作费用，并将针对该项目再支付数十亿美元。

但一些分析师认为，尽管诺基亚移动设备质量很可靠，但它们仍然无法对iPhone或Android智能手机构成威胁。

8）据9to5Mac报道，苹果移设备制造商富士康知情者透露，传说中的iPhone 5即将进入生产阶段，如果按往常的制造与发布间隔5个月的周期来看，iPhone 5有可能在今年夏季的苹果开发者大会上亮相。

知情者表示iPhone 5或将采用4英寸屏幕，尺寸比iPhone 4/4S的3.5英寸屏幕增加了14%。

9）芬兰开发商Rovio首席执行官Mikael Hed在最近的媒体采访中表示，他认为盗版现象产生的影响其实并不算太恶劣。

他称市场上不但出现了《愤怒的小鸟》盗版游戏，其周边产品也出现了许多未经授权的山寨货，但我们可以借鉴音乐领域的经验，即不要将用户视为消费者，而是把他们当作粉丝，只要建立起庞大的粉丝基础，我们的业务就会持续发展。盗版并不全是坏事，它可以最终可以为我们创造更多商机。

10）手机游戏公司Pocket Gems最近向iOS平台发布新游戏《Zombie Takeover》（iPad和iPhone通用版本），其玩法机制与《Tiny Tower》类似，但玩家的任务是控制一所僵尸学校，通过各种教程任务，建设更多房间吸引更多住户，然后发展僵尸大军，攻击并占领附近的建筑。随着游戏进程发展，玩家将掌控越来越多建筑，吸引到更多恐怖怪物加入军队。

该游戏目前在App Store的排名情况较为波动，曾在上个月进入免费应用榜单前10名，但目前已跌至232名。在游戏榜单上也同样如此，排名起伏不定，目前位居第110名。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）Study: 91% of Gen-Ys Use Their Phones in the Bathroom

By Alicia Eler

A new study from 11mark surveyed 1,000 Americans about their smartphone usage, and found that a whopping 75% of American smartphone owners have used their phones in the bathroom. More women have used their phones in the bathroom than men (76% vs. 74%), but men are actually more attached to their mobile devices than women. Thirty percent of men surveyed said they won’t go to the bathroom without their phone versus 25% of women.

The study breaks down grossness by phone type, pointing out that Droid users (87%) are more likely to use their mobile phones in the bathroom than those with a BlackBerry or an iPhone (84% and 77%, respectively). Blackberry users, however, were more likely to answer or initiate a call from the bathroom. iPhone were the most polite of the three, with 67% using apps (67%) and 53% playing on social networking sites.

Believe it or not, Gen-Ys were more likely to use their phones in the bathroom than Gen-Xs, Boomers or the elusively dubbed “Silent Generation” (people born before 1946). But even some people ages 66-years and up used their phones from the bathroom.

OK, so maybe mobile phones really are the new cigarette. Does this look familiar?

But maybe we should be less concerned about mobile habits than hygiene habits. After all, phones carry germs. And while 92% of respondents said they washed their hands after using the restroom, only 14% admitted to washing their phones.（source:readwriteweb）

2）UK has the highest penetration of smartphones

by Tim Green

Soars from 30 per cent to 45 per cent per capita between February and October 2011.

New stats from Google and Ipsos reveal a global surge from feature phones to smartphones, but show that it’s the Brits that have embraced the switch with the most ardour.

In the period between Jan/Feb 2011 and Sept/Oct 2011 smartphone penetration reached 45 per cent in the UK, 38 per cent in the US and France, 23 per cent in Germany and 17 per cent in Japan.

The study also said more consumers in the US, UK, Germany, France and Japan use a mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone) than a computer (desktop or laptop).

Other key findings include:

* Germany saw the biggest increase with the percentage of smartphone owners using their device for daily Internet access jumping from 39 per cent to 49 per cent

* Japan had the highest percentage accessing the Internet daily on their smartphone at 88 per cent

* A little over two-thirds of smartphone users in the US and over half of smartphone users in the UK access the mobile Internet daily.

* Across all five countries approximately 75% of smartphone owners said they continued to use their computer to access the Internet daily.

* Tablet usage increased across all five countries with the highest penetration amongst the total population in the US at 11 per cent

* Smartphone usage among females increased in all five countries

* Smartphone ownership also rose among those aged 45+ in the US, UK and France（source:mobile-ent）

3）iPhone held almost 25 per cent of smartphone shipments in Q4

by Zen Terrelonge

Reduced 3GS models helped to boost Apple’s stronghold.

Last week, we reported that Apple had wrestled its world’s biggest smartphone maker title back from Samsung thanks to its sales in the fourth quarter, following the Korean firm’s domination in Q3.

UK-based analyst Juniper Research says iPhones accounted for almost a quarter of the 149 million smartphones shipped worldwide in Q4.

Four million iPhone 4Ss were sold during its release weekend. However, Apple’s continued rollout and push of the 3GS model at a lowered price supported its rise to become number one by fending off cheaper Samsung options, according to the report.

While Samsung may have been knocked into second place for the Q4, results show that the phone maker has increased its market share fourfold from 4.7 per cent in Q1 2010 to reach 21.7 per cent.

Daniel Ashdown, research analyst, Juniper Research, said: “The scale of Samsung’s product range is saturating the market. Apple has had to counter Samsung’s products like the Galaxy Ace in order to maintain the visibility of its brand.”

Further results show that besides Samsung HTC was the only other member of the top five to experience a year-on-year growth with an estimated 12 million smartphones shipped in Q4.

Additionally, RIM’s smartphone shipments decreased by just 0.7 per cent to 14.4 million, while Nokia was down by 31 per cent year-on-year ensuring the Finnish firm will be hoping the adoption of the Windows Phone OS can reverse that.（source:mobile-ent）

4）NPD Group predicts massive surge in tablet market – 383 million units annually by 2017

by Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman

As with much recent research, data from NPD shows that the tablet market is predicted to be large; very large with overall annual sales expected to be up from 72.2 million in 2011 to 383.3 million units by the year 2017.

This compares with figures from Juniper, which reckoned tablet shipments would hit 253 million during 2016.

An interesting twist on NPD’s analysis, however, is that it reckons emerging markets accounted for a 36 percent share of the market in 2011, and are expected to account for almost half – 46 percent – by 2017.

New blood

“The emerging market opportunity for tablets has been flying under the radar mainly because the device brands aren’t household names and there are concerns regarding the sustainability of the market,” said NPD senior analyst Richard Shim.

“We are beginning to see investments by some of the better known brands in developing regions, and we expect this to not only continue, but to flourish as competition improves,” he notes.

That said, the report highlights that Apple’s infamous market hog iPad and other well known devices won’t be alone in the emerging market growth, as new brands such as Aakash gain footholds in India, while stalwart manufacturers such as Dell will also get involved.

Two’s company

According to the research, China and the Asia Pacific regions are in the lead in terms of tablet penetration rates, though other regions, such as Brazil, India and Russia are also experiencing tablet market growth.

Low-power processors and low entry point prices, under $100 are expected to be the main contributing factor to growth in these sectors.

NPD also predicts that technological advances, first in the form of higher pixel densities, then in higher performance, will see the market split into two categories, “premium” and “value”.（source:pocketgamer）

5）Amazon has sold 6 million Kindle Fires (yawn)

by Ben Miller and Greg Lamm

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has seen Kindle Fire sell briskly, but not as much as the rival iPad
Six million is impressive. But not as much as 15 million.

Amazon.com sold six million Kindle Fire tablets in the fourth quarter, said an analyst who increased his sales estimate from an earlier five million.

Forbes reports Stifel Nicolas analyst Jordan Rohan increased his estimate and raised his financial estimates for the company, writing that the “Kindle Fire has staked out an important market position due to its loyal Amazon customer base and attractive (low) device pricing. We believe the lower hardware price will correlate with high e-book and video content attach rates.”

Amazon launched its Kindle Fire tablet in October, pricing it at $199 in an attempt to take on the higher priced Apple iPad.

But while Kindle Fire has sold well, it has not kept pace with the iPad. Apple said it sold 15.43 million iPads during the quarter, a 111 percent increase, over the same quarter a year earlier.

Still, Amazon’s strategy is more about how many tablets it can sell. Instead of focusing on short-term profits from Kindle Fire sales, the company is looking at the Kindle’s “lifetime value” as a platform to sell customers books, videos and magazine subscriptions, as well to make money from Amazon Special Offers, which come bundled with ads.

Seattle-based Amazon will release its fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday after the market closes.（source:techflash）

6）Tablets to power over $120bn in retail revs by 2016

by Zen Terrelonge

Operators to receive just a 30 per cent share.

Tablet sales are continuing to grow. iPad sales from Q4 2010 to Q4 2011 more than doubled to reach 15.4 million, while Android shipped 27m devices in the fourth quarter.

Comms strategist Informa Telecoms & Media says the market is set to grow significantly in the next five years, as retail revenues from tablet sales grow from $34.5 billion in 2011 to $121.5 billion in 2016.

Independent retailers such as Carphone Warehouse and Amazon are poised to eat into operator shares as consumers prefer to buy the device without a data plan attached, according to the report.

Additionally, independent retailers share of smartphone retail revenues are set to grow from 29 per cent in 2011 to 34 per cent in 2016. Key factors that are helping to take away business from operators include store modernisation, product testing and customer service.

Julio Puschel, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, said: “Tablets will drive significant changes to the current telecoms retail business model. New entrants, such as Amazon and other consumer electronics specialists which have already a very evolved online and multichannel strategy, will drive online tablet sales even faster than online smartphone sales, which will force operators to review their multichannel approach.”

“Telecoms operators will need to watch the independent retailers closely to see how they are transferring their retail expertise to the smartphone and tablet market. They need to be able to offer an outstanding shopping experience that can match or outperform the independent retailers – not simply pushing device sales, but also demonstrating the services, content and applications attached to these devices.”（source:mobile-ent）

7）Microsoft spending ‘billions’ on Nokia WP7 project

by Greg Lamm

The Nokia Lumia 800 has an 8 megapixel camera and tight integration with social media, but will it be enough to take on the iPhone?
Microsoft paid Nokia $250 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 under an agreement that has Nokia adopting Windows Phone 7 as Nokia’s primary smartphone platform.

The payment was spelled out in Nokia’s earnings statement, which says Microsoft will spend billions more on the Nokia partnership:

In the fourth quarter 2011, we received the first quarterly platform support payment of USD 250 million (EUR 180 million). We have a competitive software royalty structure, which includes minimum software royalty commitments. Over the life of the agreement, both the platform support payments and the minimum software royalty commitments are expected to measure in the billions of US Dollars.

The payment was reported by ComputerWorld.

In October, Nokia unveiled its first phones based on Microsoft’s Windows Phone Mango operating system.

The Finnish handset maker is banking on its partnership with Microsoft – on whose operating system Nokia is now mostly dependent – to regain its former dominance in the mobile world.

However, some analysts are already predicting that the phones, while solid, won’t be a serious threat to the iPhone or Android-based devices.

The success of the Nokia partnership is also critical for Microsoft as it looks to boost its smartphone market share beyond 5 percent and compete with the iPhone and Google’s Android devices.（source:techflash）

8）RUMOR: iPhone 5 could have a bigger screen, better for gaming?

By Jim Squires

I know, I know – iPhone 5 and iPad 3 rumors are like snowflakes. No two are alike, and they usually melt away into nothing. But hear us out. The latest rumor on the iPhone 5, being reported by 9to5Mac, supposedly comes directly from a reliable source at Foxconn in China (the company that Apple outsources production to). What’s more, it’s the same source that told them there would be no iPhone 5 last fall, but instead an iPhone 4S – which for those of you playing along at home is exactly how things panned out. So what, pray tell, is this latest rumor of which we speak?

It’s a few things, actually. First and foremost, the source is claiming that the iPhone 5 is preparing to enter production. Considering there’s usually a 5 month period between manufacturing start and release, that pegs the device for a summer/WWDC launch, just like almost every iPhone (except the 4S) before it.

So what can we expect from the iPhone 5? According to 9To5Mac’s source, a 4 inch screen. It might not sound like much, but that’s a 14% increase in screen size over the 4/4S’s 3.5 inch display. That’s big, but still not quite as big as some Android displays. Still, considering the recently released Galaxy Nexus has a 4.65 inch screen that inspired the article Too Big For the Human Hand?, maybe a 4 inch display is just about as big as you’d want to go.

So what will this mean for gaming? A bigger display will definitely make things pop more, but it also means that developers will want to think about sharpening things up just a tad if they want their games to continue to look as stellar as they do on current models. The difference obviously won’t be as big as when you play an iPhone game on your iPad, but there’s no denying that any increase in screen size can be detrimental if not properly planned for.

What say you? Are these rumors real? Do you want a bigger screen? Are you still trying to decide if you want to upgrade to the 4S and want to hear no talk of the 5? Let us know in the comments below!（source:gamezebo）

9）Quote of the Moment: ‘Piracy may not be a bad thing,’ Rovio says

by Joe Osborne

If there’s anything more fun to hate than piracy right now, please let us know. Leave it to the Finnish creators of Angry Birds, Rovio, to spin the issue on its head. (Maybe it’s just as bored as we are?) In a climate filled with new four-letter words like “SOPA” and “PIPA”, Rovio CEO Mikael Hed told The Guardian at the Cannes-based Midem conference that he thinks piracy might not be so bad.

“We have some issues with piracy, not only in apps, but also especially in the consumer products. There is tons and tons of merchandise out there, especially in Asia, which is not officially licensed products,” Hed told The Guardian. “We could learn a lot from the music industry, and the rather terrible ways the music industry has tried to combat piracy. Piracy may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business at the end of the day.”

For companies that likely reel in a metric ton of revenue from merchandise ranging from t-shirts to cookbooks, Rovio might have a point. “We took something from the music industry, which was to stop treating the customers as users, and start treating them as fans,” Hed said. “We do that today: we talk about how many fans we have. If we lose that fanbase, our business is done, but if we can grow that fanbase, our business will grow.”

Perhaps dreaded piracy is a way for that to happen, but Rovio has an even better plan. Hed and crew are looking to team up with record labels to cross promote its games with various artists à la GagaVille. Or, you know, maybe Angry Kanye is in the works.（source:games）

10）Pocket Gems’ Zombie Takeover for iOS provides undead fun in very short bursts

Pete Davison

Zombie Takeover is a new free to play iOS game from Pocket Gems, Inc., available as a Universal app for iPad and iPhone. It’s a building sim with light combat elements, and is built around a Tiny Tower-like mechanic of playing in very short bursts then waiting for long periods of real time for things to happen.

At the outset of the game, the player is placed in control of a zombie school. Through a series of tutorial missions, the player is introduced to the game’s main mechanics — building rooms to attract specific characters; turning said characters into zombie forms of themselves; producing food to enhance and grow the zombie army; and attacking nearby buildings in an attempt to take them over. As the game progresses, the player will gradually take over more and more buildings, allowing them to attract different types of horror-themed monsters into their team.

Building rooms is a matter of space management. Some rooms occupy a single square of the building in which they will be placed; others are larger. Running out of space requires the expansion of the building in question, an operation which can be performed either upwards, a la Tiny Tower or Tap Pet Hotel, or outwards. Certain rooms are produced almost immediately after three taps, while others take several hours to produce. Similarly, some characters are quickly turned into zombies, while for others the transformation process takes hours.

When the player has enough zombies required to assault a particular room in a building, the player has the opportunity to send their undead army into combat. At this point, a timing-based combat minigame begins. The enemy forces defending the building wait on one side of the screen, and the zombies the player has assigned to the combat wait at the bottom of the screen behind a gate.

When the gate opens, the player can tap on one of their zombies to send them into the fray. While they are engaged in combat, a small meter next to them fills and turns into a tappable button once full. Tapping this button unleashes a more powerful attack than the zombie’s usual strikes, so combat becomes a matter of quickly surveying the screen, tapping on zombies to bring them through the gate, and tapping on these “power” buttons to quickly dispatch the enemy forces before too many zombies are defeated. Downed zombies aren’t removed from the game, but they are then required to be transformed again, leading to more downtime.

The long waits involved in playing Zombie Takeover provide incentive for players to engage with the game’s monetization strategy. Items known as “Charms” are sold via in-app purchase, and these can be used in a variety of ways. They can be used to hurry building of a room, production of food for zombies or transformation of characters into zombies. They can also be used to purchase a variety of special items, including more powerful characters. They can also buy powers to let more “minion” support characters be summoned simultaneously. They can also go toward different customized backdrops for the game or more efficient “kitchen” rooms to produce zombie food. Unlike many similar games, Zombie Takeover doesn’t gradually introduce elements with long wait times — almost from the outset, the player is made to wait or pay. This includes the combat portion of the game, too — normally, players must wait several hours between attacks on buildings unless Charms are used, meaning that progression can be very slow if in-app purchasing isn’t a desirable option.

Zombie Takeover’s position in the App Store charts has fluctuated enormously since its launch. It’s pushed into the top ten on the Free Apps chart on three separate occasions over the course of the last month, but is currently languishing at No. 232. In the Games chart, meanwhile, it has followed a similar pattern, with several peaks and troughs and a current placing of No. 110.

It looks set to provide a moderately good income stream for Sequoia Capital-backed Pocket Gems, however, with placing on the Top Grossing charts both for apps and games. The title’s showing an upward trend, particularly in the iPad Top Grossing Apps chart. It’s been awhile since Pocket Gems launched any genuinely new intellectual property after releasing a sequel to its original hit Tap Zoo.（source:insidemobileapps）