New Tech

The number of mobile activations in the US' top 100 magazines by circulation has grown from just 352 in Q1 2011 to 2,252 in Q4 2012, details Nellymoser [download page] in a new report. Besides the growth in action code use, the study also reveals some interesting shifts in their deployment, growing editorial engagement and use of image-based technologies. For example, roughly 17.6% of mobile activations appeared on editorial pages during 2012. In December 2011, there were 25 advertising codes for each editorial code. Read more »

77% of urban Europeans (adults 18-54 who live in or visit an urban area at least 3 times a week) report having taken an action as a result of seeing an interesting out-of-home (OOH) ad, according to [download page] a new report from CBS Outdoor. That puts OOH on part with TV (76%) in terms of stimulating a response, and higher than both press (71%) and radio (63%). The most common responses to OOH ads among respondents are going online for more information and considering a purchase (each at 32%). Read more »

Tablets will become the primary computing device for college-age students and younger, supplanting laptops and desktops, agree 66% of agency leaders surveyed by Econsultancy for the latest Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA) Digital Outlook Marketing report. But according to a recent study from Forrester Research, tablet adoption is actually higher among Gen X (33-46) and Gen Y (24-32) adults than their younger Gen Z (18-23) counterparts, at least in the US. Read more »

Smartphone penetration in the world's top 19 digital markets is expected to double from 35.5% last year to an average of 71.7% in 2015, according to a new media forecast published by ZenithOptimedia. While tablet penetration in these markets will lag that figure, adoption should reach 13% by 2015, up from just 4.7% last year. That number should vary substantially among the different markets: recent reports have put tablet ownership in the US at about 25%. Read more »

19% of homes will have a Smart TV this year, forecasts a December study [pdf] from YuMe, conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates. That represents an 8% point hike from 11% of current Smart TV owners, and is based on survey results finding that of the 45% of respondents who expect to buy a new TV this year, about 18% are very likely to purchase a Smart TV. The study also finds that Smart TV "intenders" skew male and are more ethnically diverse than current smart TV owners. Read more »

If there was ever any indication that the holiday period is in full, unfettered swing (aside from today's date), it would be the latest figures from comScore, which show $35 billion in retail e-commerce spending for the season-to-date, including the first $7 billion online spending week, from December 10-16. That includes 4 individual days during that week with more than $1 billion in spend, led by Green Monday's almost $1.3 billion in sales. Read more »

First Twitter, and now Facebook, have released their 2012 reviews, looking back at the people and events that generated the most buzz on their respective networks. The lists contain some predictable entrants, but are also interesting when compared to Google's top search trends for the year, revealing that what people are searching for online, and what they're talking about on social networks, aren't always the same. Read more »

The February death of Whitney Houston made the singer the top trending search term in 2012, says Google in its Zeitgeist report, which studied an aggregation of more than 1 trillion searches (or queries) using data from multiple sources including Google Trends and internal data tools. Next on the list, Gangnam Style, the music video approaching 1 billion views on YouTube. Read more »

Verizon has released new data from its "Borderless Lifestyle Survey," exploring consumer attitudes to an always-connected lifestyle. Of the many findings, attitudes towards real-time interaction with TV shows prove particularly interesting, as emerging technologies provide another potential activity for so-called "second screeners." Specifically, 35% of respondents indicated an interest in real-time games and challenges with shows via a second screen, and 32% expressed an interest in the ability to control or influence a TV show's plot via a mobile phone or tablet. Read more »

While 19% of Americans are eager to be among the first to try new technology products and services, the remaining 81% prefer to wait for those products and services to catch on, according to November 2012 findings from Ipsos. This puts Americans well below the global average of 25% who prefer to be early adopters. Predictably, younger Americans are the most avid early adopters. Read more »