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comScore has released new data that ranks top smartphone properties and engagement. The results underscored how apps account for the vast majority of mobile media minutes.

Topping the list of properties across both the mobile Web and apps is Google with 94 million unique users.

That represents 97% reach of the U.S. mobile audience. Facebook was second with 78 million monthly visitors, followed by Yahoo (66 million), Amazon (44 million) and Wikipedia (39 million).

Other top properties included eBay, The Weather Channel, Rovio (“Angry Birds”) and ESPN.

The main social networking service on smartphones is Facebook, not surprisingly, with 78 million (80.4% reach.) Placing a distant second behind was Twitter, with 25.6 million, LinkedIn (7.6 million), Pinterest (7.5 million), Foursquare (5.5 million) and Tumblr (4.5 million).

The top property by engagement is Facebook with 80% of time spent on apps compared to 20% via browser. Twitter had an even higher percentage of time spent with apps, at 96.5% of all minutes.

Microsoft, by contrast, was among brands that saw browser access driving a majority of usage, at 82.1%. Similarly, virtually all of time spent on Wikipedia, was through the mobile Web.

The results also showed an emergence of Pinterest, which has surged past Foursquare and Tumblr on smartphones and is closing in on LinkedIn. Pinterest’s 7.5 million monthly visitors represents 7.7% reach.

Read the entire article on how “Google and Facebook top smartphone audience rankings!”

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Apps, Facebook, Google, Smartphones

Google and Samsung have rolled out the details on the latest Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich, and the forthcoming Galaxy Nexus smartphone.

The new Android OS sports some interesting new features including “face unlock.”  Here’s some of the highlights:

• Your face unlocks the phone, as facial recognition replaces a traditional pass code.
• The phone gives you a detailed analysis of your data usage, down to the the individual app.
• “Roboto” is a new HD-ready typeface, and quite appealing
• Android Beam, using Near Field Communication (NFC)— bump your phone against another Android to share most content.
• Gmail and Google calendar have new looks and are fully integrated into the OS.
• Create folders by dragging apps on top of each other (very iPhone-esque)
• Take screenshots by holding power and volume down buttons (very iPhone-esque)
• Save Web pages offline and use up to 16 tabs in the browser
• New Data Usage options in the Settings menu will notify users when they near a data use limit and disable the feature when the limit is reached
• You can kill off apps that are using data in the background (even carrier installed apps)
• Open the camera quickly from the home screen
• Face detection in the camera
• Speed up and slow down voice mails
• Quick message sends canned response text message when you decline a call

Just as Apple’s iOS5 borrowed heavily from Android for things like the Message Center, it looks like Ice Cream Sandwich is returning the favor in a number of areas.  Ultimately in this usability battle, it’s the end-user who wins with better experiences on their smartphones.

The new Galaxy Nexus is expected to be the first device released with Android 4.0, with other manufacturers rolling out the update as they see fit.

Get a full run-down of features courtesy of CNet.

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Android, Google, Mobile, UI/UX

As we learned up close and personal in “Goin’ Mobile” last year, social media and mobile are dual accelerants – each feeding off the other – and growing in ways that were previously unimaginable.

Facebook’s impact on our lives continues to amaze us, as the numbers rise meteorically, including people that we never dreamed would be involved with social media.  How many times a day do you hear the word Facebook in conversation and in media?  (More than you hear Google.)

And then there’s mobile.  In Techsurvey 7, we saw smartphone acquisition rise 56% from last year’s study.  And we’re nearing that majority tipping point with our rock radio respondents.  Many analysts believe that smartphone sales will grow by more than 50% in 2011 in the U.S.

Social feeds off mobile – and vice-versa.  And to illustrate this symbiotic relationship, a newly released comScore study, “The State of the U.S. Mobile Advertising Industry and What Lies Ahead,” shows that the biggest year to year increase in mobile is its use for social networking.

In March 2010, 40 million U.S. consumers accessed social media with their phones.  One year later, and that number has exploded to 60 million – up 45.7% (circled on the chart below).

So how does this data inform your mobile strategy?  If you have a mobile app – congratulations.  The opportunity to be on the hottest devices ever is a plus for your station and helps to give your listeners a chance to hear you in more places, not to mention a sense of cool.  Give yourself an extra 10 points if you have an individual station app, allowing you to truly showcase your brand right alongside Pandora, Facebook, Google Maps, and the New York Times.

But if your app doesn’t include social media connectivity, the comScore data suggests that you may be missing a golden opportunity to better engage with your rapidly mobile audience.  The chance to go right to your Facebook page or your morning DJ’s Twitter feed while your audience is in the dentist’s waiting room or watching their kid’s ballet recital or in between innings of that baseball game is too big to pass up.

Give your app the once-over and make sure that it’s socially in-sync with the changing tastes and habits of your audience.  Google’s Eric Schmidt pointed out in a speech earlier this year that one of the implications of smartphone ownership is that we’ll never be bored again.  If you carry a smartphone, you know exactly what he’s talking about.  We have never seen a time or boredom killer quite like the smartphone (or tablet).

And given the consumer’s need to be in touch – especially via social media – chronicling even the most mundane aspects of their lives in words, pictures, and videos – social media connectivity via phones is a natural confluence of culture, connectivity, and technology.

We have not witnessed a greater change in overall lifestyle and business communications in our lifetimes.

Decades ago, radio set the pace for live and local entertainment, music discovery, and current events in hometowns everywhere.

Now more than ever, radio needs to keep pace with its listeners who are very much setting the pace themselves.

Next up, we’ll get a little LOMO on you as we take a look at he incredible local mobile revenue opporunity and why it will only get better.

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Facebook, Google, Mobile, Social Media, Strategy

Last year Apple became the world’s most valuable technology company, beating out Microsoft. This year Apple passed Google as the world’s most valuable brand. Without the iPhone or iPad would Apple stay on top?

Full story here

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Apple, Future, Google, Technology