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82% think it’s rude to use a smartphone at a social gathering, but 89% do it anyway

phone-etiquette

A Pew study on mobile etiquette found that 82% of Americans think it hurts the conversation when people use smartphones at social gatherings, but 89% did so anyway at the most recent one they attended.

When asked for their views on how mobile phone use impacts group interactions, 82% of adults say that when people use their phones in these settings it frequently or occasionally hurts the conversation […]

In spite of this […], 89% said that they themselves used their phone during their most recent time with others.

Many do at least have the excuse that some of the smartphone use is related to the gathering, 45% posting a photo or video taken there, 41% sharing something that happened there and 38% getting information they thought would be interesting the group.

The majority thought it was fine to use a smartphone while walking down the street, on public transport and while waiting in line – but not at a restaurant, at a family dinner or during a meeting. The worst places to use a smartphone were said to be a movie theater and a church.

Photo: Samsung

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Pew: Apple loses share but still over half of all tablets owned in 2012

A new survey by research organization Pew Internet & American Life Project depicts how Apple’s iPad slid from 81 percent in 2011 to 52 percent in 2012, in terms of U.S. adult tablet ownership, due to lower-priced Android slates steadily gaining traction.

Pew’s Journalism website elaborated:

Over the last year, tablet ownership has steadily increased from 11% of U.S. adults in July of 2011 to 18% in January of 2012, according to PEJ data. Currently, 22% own a tablet and another 3% regularly use a tablet owned by someone else in the home. This number is very close to new data, released here for the first time, conducted in a separate survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project on July 16 through August 7 2012 that found 25% of all U.S. adults have a tablet computer.

The growth in tablet adoption is likely related to the advent of the lower-priced tablets in late 2011. Overall, about two-thirds of tablet-owning adults, 68%, got their tablet in the last year, including 32% in 2012 alone. That has lessened Apple’s dominance in the market. Now, just over half, 52%, of tablet owners report owning an iPad, compared with 81% in the survey a year ago.

Android-based devices are now at 48 percent overall: approximately 21 percent own the Android-forked Kindle Fire, 8 percent own the Samsung Galaxy, and the remaining is a mix. It is worth noting Android would only hold 27 percent without the $199 Kindle Fire.

The survey did not include Google’s Nexus 7 or Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD, however, as they were not yet introduced. The final numbers also mirror world sales data, according to Pew, which place the iPad at 61 percent and Android at 31 percent.

Check out Pew for more related information on smartphone ownership and operating system loyalty.


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Report: Apple developer kit shows iPhone Maps app with Yelp check-ins

Scott Forstall showed Yelp on Apple’s new Maps app during the opening keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference last week, but he neglected to mention Yelp check-ins

Those using iOS 6 probably noticed this feature in the Maps app when clicking a location.

According to Bloomberg, the Apple developer kit, which the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company distributed to software developers earlier this month, visually depicts how the upcoming Apple Maps essentially lets users alert friends of their location through Yelp without leaving maps or launching a new app.

Bloomberg added:

Mobile check-ins use the GPS capability in smartphones to let users share what local businesses or events they’re visiting. The feature can show how many other people have checked in at a location, whether those individuals are friends, and can publish users’ whereabouts through social-networking services such as those operated by Facebook and Twitter Inc.

Yelp is ramping efforts to attract local advertising, which made up 70 percent of revenue in 2011. Check-ins are used by 18 percent of adult smartphone owners, the Pew Research Center found earlier this year.


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Pew: Tablet ownership doubled during holidays, bodes well for Apple’s Q1

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Pew Research published some incredibly impressive tablet sales data over the weekend.  From December to January, tablet ownership almost doubled.

While both the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire were included as tablets (not eReaders) and were hot this holiday season, the iPad is still by far the most popular tablet out there and likely the lion’s share of the 19 percent of American households which now own a tablet.  That translates to many iPads under the Christmas tree.

Tablet ownership increased for certain segments of the population more than others did…


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