Tag: News
How the World Is Spending Its Time Online [STATS]
by Ranju Chaudhary on Jun.16, 2010, under Trends, What's Happening?
So… whatcha doin’ over there on that laptop, denizens of the world? Well, according to a new study from Nielsen showing Internet usage in April 2010, 22% of the time, you’re engaging with social media.
Yeah, 22% might not seem like a mammoth percentage, but you have to take into account the fact that this finding is on a global scale. Also, a few more telling takeaways from the report:
- Currently, three quarters of Internet users worldwide visit a social network or blog when they go online — that’s a 24% increase over last year.
- Joe Average (the international version) spends 66% more time on these sites than he did a year ago — for example, your average user spent 6 hours on these sites in April 2010, while last year he spent 3 hours, 31 minutes.
- Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia make an appearance among the world’s most popular brands.
We’ve seen ample proof of the burgeoning popularity of social media in the past — just two months ago,Nielsen reported similar growth — and it makes sense. Facebook has been giving Google a run for its moneywhen it comes to traffic, and YouTube recently surpassed two billion views per day.
We’ll have to see how social media usage shakes out as Facebook continues to accrue users, and YouTube dips its toe into the newsfeed business in an attempt to become a legit news source.
In the meantime, check out a few more highlights from the study:
- Brazil boasts the largest percentage of Internet users visiting a social network –- 86%
- Australians spend the most time on social networking sites: an average of 7 hours and 19 minutes in April — the U.S. and Italy came in second and third with six and a half hours each.
- Facebook has the greatest share of the market in Italy in April 2010, garnering two-thirds of the active unique audience in April 2010. Australia, the U.S. and the UK came in on Italy’s heels with more than 60% of active users visiting the site.
How much time do you spend on social networking sites? Has your hunger for social media contributed to this global increase?
Netflix Streaming Coming to iPhone and iPod Touch, Too
by neetika on Apr.05, 2010, under Gadgets, Latest Web Technologies, Top Gadgets
Netflix released an app for Apple’s new iPad, allowing subscribers who bought the device on launch day to access the service’s vast library of streaming films and television. The iPad won’t be stealing all of the thunder from the already-popular iPhone and iPod touch, however; a Netflix Watch Instantly app is in the works for those devices, too.
Netflix made that clear in a very brief blog post today:
Steve Swasey, VP of Corporate Communications, here. Terrific response to our news today about Netflix on the iPad. For those of you asking whether Netflix will be on the iPhone and iPod Touch: We wouldn’t invite you to dinner without planning to serve dessert. In other words, we’re working on it so stay tuned.
We already knew that a Netflix app for the iPhone and iPod touch was a possibility because Netflix has been asking users for their opinions on a hypothetical iPhone/iPod touch app in online surveys. Given that an iPad app has already been released and that the iPad and the iPhone are very similar platforms, you can understand why we’re not surprised.
This is just another step in a long march for Netflix. The service started out mailing DVDs to customers, but it has signed numerous film and TV studios to provide content for its Watch Instantly streaming service, which is now the main draw for many tech-savvy folks. More recently, video game consoles like the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 have been updated with Netflix streaming capability.
Plans start at $8.99 per month. Available films and shows include 30 Rock, Weeds, King of the Hill, 24, Julie and Julia, The Proposal, Angels & Demons, The Sixth Sense and numerous others.
