Our master plan is slowly working, and soon every man and woman in our great nation will own a smartphone. Pew Research Center reports that just under half of adult Americans, or 46 percent, own smartphones currently, meaning that smartphone owners now outnumber their feature phone counterparts by five percent. Pew polled multiple demographics to get its numbers, and there was growth across the board over the last nine months. Of particular interest is the rise in ownership in the study's lowest income demographic -- under $30,000 a year -- which spiked 12 percent to 34 percent. Additionally, it showed that Android and Apple are neck and neck, with 20 and 19 percent market share of mobile owners, respectively, and Blackberry ownership declined from ten percent to six percent. The largest growth came from the 18-24 age group, up 18 to 67 percent. (Who do you think is doing all that checking in on Foursquare?). Of course, you know what they say about statistics, so head on down to the source for a full accounting and form your own opinion of what they mean.

Smartphones spread out: Pew says 46 percent of US adults now own one originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Mar 2012 06:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Israel announces plans to build national broadband network, increases fiber intake originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tired of running and sweating with nothing to show for it but improved stamina and a svelte physique? Well, the stats tracking app that's turned fitness buffs into numbers geeks has now arrived for Windows Phone, which joins its siblings for Android, iOS and Symbian. A free application, Sports Tracker allows runners and bicyclists to track their distance, speed, caloric burn and more. From there, users may upload their workout info to Sports Tracker's website or their favorite social network -- although, the latter seems likely to bring the ire of couch-prone friends. But don't worry, we still support your efforts. So, push harder. Go faster. Reach over the top. Master that ass. And, so forth...

Sports Tracker arrives for Windows Phone, motivates runners with statistics originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No one has quite figured it out yet, but there seems to be little doubt that tablet devices have their place on the couch to serve as a second screen while American's enjoy their favorite past time -- watching TV. In addition to many independent startups we've discussed in the past, the old guard, that already owns most of broadcast TV stateside, has a startup of its own called ConnecTV. In development for two years already, ConnecTV is currently in beta and has the hopes to go live in January. The idea is of course to put what you might want to see on your second screen while you watch the main action on the big screen. This includes sports scores, statistics, as well as what your friends may or may-not be saying on Twitter or Facebook -- and of course advertising. We'd be shocked if most tablet owners weren't already using their slate in front of the TV and can imagine how many more might if there was a great app that brought it all together.

TV broadcasters hope to dominate the second screen with ConnecTV originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Nov 2011 05:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CyanogenMod is one of the most popular custom Android ROMs currently available. With a wide rang of supported devices, and active developer community, the Android enhancement gets a fair number of installs. Just how many installs, you ask? CyanogenMod has published statistics for its most recent build — CyanogenMod 7 — and the numbers are quite impressive. Version 7 has been installed 217,894 times at time of article writing. Nearly 45% of those installs occurred in the U.S. and Sweden, with Norway, Finland, and the U.K. rounding out the top five installers. A pretty impressive feat. Congrats to the CyanogenMod development community!

Thanks, EZ!

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Microsoft kicks off effort to rid the world of Internet Explorer 6 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 19:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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National Geographic went about collecting statistics on the world's population (which currently stands at 7 billion). Know what they found? Apparently, the most average/typical/frequent person on this planet is male, 28-years-old and is Han Chinese in ethnicity (with 9,000,000 alive). But they didn't stop there. Taking images from 190,000 of those fitting the criteria, researchers created a composite image to show what the most average person looks like. More »

One of our Apple sources has shared some very sensitive information on first-week Verizon iPhone launch sales with us. It’s quite interesting — we’re being told sales are performing a little under what Apple and Verizon anticipated, and we have the data to show it. Below are unit sales totals from five Apple stores combined (including two very, very prominent Apple stores) showing both Verizon and AT&T iPhone 4 sales during the Verizon iPhone’s first five days of availability:

Additionally, we have been told that online pre-orders between Verizon and Apple amounted to around 550,000 units. We also have some statistics on who’s buying Verizon iPhones to share with you: 30% of people buying Verizon iPhones were Android users, just over 25% of people buying iPhone 4 were BlackBerry users, and only 14% of people buying the Verizon iPhone were AT&T iPhone owners. The remaining percent didn’t want to say, didn’t have a smartphone, or didn’t have a phone prior to making their iPhone 4 purchases last week.

Thanks, Lindsey S.!

We are moving towards a more wireless world and Ericsson, the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile network equipment, has reaffirmed that fact with some cold, hard statistics.

“During the course of 2010, a significant milestone in terms of mobile broadband subscriptions was reached as their number surpassed the half-a-billion mark globally,” said Ericsson.

The company goes on to note that this number will double before the close of 2011, pushing the total number of mobile broadband users over 1 billion. Asia is expected to spearhead the spike in users, followed closely by North America and Europe. By 2015, Ericsson estimates that 3.8 billion broadband subscriptions will be up for grabs. It’s no wonder carriers are jostling for mobile broadband market share. 3,800,000,000 users all paying, on average, $30 a month is a lot of loot.

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Hans Rosling—my favorite Swedish professor—explains why statistics are so amazing and why we, The People, should use them to keep our governments in check and understand the world around us. A fascinating video that you will really enjoy. [YouTube] More »

Just three days after Amazon announced that its Kindle e-reader had become the best-selling product of all-time on the company’s website, Barnes & Noble has issued a similar quip. “With millions of NOOK eReading devices sold, the line has become the company’s biggest bestseller ever in its nearly 40-year history,” reads a press release. “The new NOOKcolor Reader’s Tablet, introduced just eight weeks before Christmas, is the company’s number one selling gift of the holiday season.” B&N also went on to note that it “now sells more digital books than its large and growing physical book business on BN.com.” While the vague statistics being foisted upon us are impressive, neither Amazon nor Barnes & Noble will release or comment on the exact sales figures of their respective e-readers. For now, they are both the best… ever.

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Facebook confirmed on Wednesday that the social network has 500 million active users, a figure that puts MySpace, Ning, LinkedIn, and even Twitter to shame. Facebook continues its impressive growth, adding 100 million users since February and boasts of the following the statistics:

• 500 million active users
• 50% of users login on any given day
• People spend 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook
• More than 25 billion pieces of content (links to news stories and blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared each month
• More than 100 million active users currently acces Facebook through their mobile devices

Whether you like Facebook or not, those stats are undeniably impressive and assure Facebook its title of social networking king for the foreseeable future.  Though its #1 position is solidified, the next six months will be interesting to watch. Will Facebook continue its exponential growth to one billion and beyond, or has it reached its plateau? While we wait to find out, you can spend some of those 500 billion monthly minutes checking out BGR’s Facebook page. 

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The Internet is a great place to pretend to be someone you're not. That's why popular online dating site OKCupid looked at statistics and its user base to discover the biggest lies we tell to potential mates. More »

Continue reading Chrome overtakes Safari for number three browser spot in the US sez StatCounter

Chrome overtakes Safari for number three browser spot in the US sez StatCounter originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ABC reveals iPad app statistics, says it's 'pleased' with results originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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European countries may have long ago banished the use of cellphones while driving to the dark side of the law, but many of the United States persist in allowing their citizens to talk while driving. One reason for their reluctance may be that outlawing something that has become second nature to most people would be both unproductive and tough to enforce. So what do you do? The natural alternative to forcing people to drive attentively is educating them of the reasons why. Never mind the fact that we all kinda, sorta know the risks we undertake while operating a Droid and a Dodge concurrently. The newly minted Distraction.gov is chockfull of scaremongering statistics, topped by a truly epic video which we've handily stashed for you just after the break. Go get it while it's hot.

Continue reading US government launches Distraction.gov, wants to scare you straight (video)

US government launches Distraction.gov, wants to scare you straight (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who’s ready for some statistics? This September ChangeWave Research conducted a poll of smartphone users in an attempt to gauge the market share impact (if any) of new and announced devices from Apple, Palm, and RIM. We’ve combed over the article and picked out some juicy tidbits for your reading pleasure. According to ChangeWave, 39% of people polled currently own a smartphone. Of that sample, 77% own either an Apple, Palm, or RIM branded device (I know, we’re curious about the other 23% as well). RIM polled the largest portion of U.S. market share with 40% followed by Apple at 30% and Palm with a measly 7%. Apple did top the customer satisfaction poll as 74% of iPhone users described themselves as “very satisfied” with their purchase; compare that with RIM at 48% and Palm at 33%. The iPhone also ranked first in future purchases plans of those polled who did not currently own a smartphone, but plan to purchase one in the next 90 days. Also 36% indicated a preference towards the iPhone, 27% towards the BlackBerry, and 8% towards Palm. Any BGR peeps out there with plans to upgrade to a smartphone in the near future? What are you leaning towards? D-D-D-DROID?

[Via The iPhone Blog]

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