Apple is sharpening its focus on businesses in iPhone OS 4, but BlackBerry usage of mobile apps is still more concentrated and higher during the workday than iPhone. Localytics also reports that BlackBerry app usage on the weekend is statistically identical to workweek usage. In contrast, iPhone owners use mobile apps more frequently on the weekend with the greatest difference at 2:00 pm EST when weekend usage is 40% higher than the same time Monday through Friday.

In the second study of hourly app usage, Localytics mined its mobile analytics data from millions of phones in the US and Canada over two months for iPhone and BlackBerry application usage. The mobile analytics data were summarized by day of the week and hour of the day, and normalized as a percentage of the busiest hour for each.

BlackBerry During the Work Week, iPhone on the Weekend
In a previous iPhone analytics study, Localytics reported that mobile app usage on the iPhone peaked at 9:00 pm EST during the week and maintained peak usage throughout weekend afternoons and nights, with iPhone users generating 7% more traffic on the weekend. Localytics suggested that while the iPhone is making professional inroads, it continues to be predominantly a personal device.

BlackBerry, on the other hand, continues to reach out to consumers with new devices andtargeted sponsorships. However, the BlackBerry analytics study from Localytics shows that mobile app usage still appears concentrated around professional use. BlackBerry mobile app usage is higher throughout the workday and starts to peak at 7:00 pm EST, two hours earlier than the iPhone. More telling, there is no statistically significant difference in the usage of BlackBerry apps on the weekend compared to Monday through Friday (t-test p=0.39), unlike the iPhone.

Implication for Developers and Marketers
The two studies from Localytics highlight the opportunity for app developers and marketers to use mobile analytics to reach business professionals or consumers by targeting platforms and dayparts to optimize advertising, schedule promotions, drive sales and increase customer engagement.

With over 20,000 units already made and most in the US, Hard Candy Cases is the first to ship premium protective sleeves for the iPad.  A signature look from Hard Candy Cases, the Bubble Hard Sleeve pops in three distinct colors – green, black and pink – and offers premium protection and delicious style for iPad users on the go.

A step above neoprene, the EVA molded rigid case features shock absorbing fitted rubber bumpers to keep the iPad securely in place, and a soft, padded interior lining to protect the fragile Multi-Touch display from harsh environments.

Superbly crafted with detailed stitching and a zipper sleeve, the Bubble Hard Sleeve allows users the freedom to use their iPad in or outside the case.  The sleeves retail for $49.95, and can be ordered at

www.HardCandyCases.com/ipad-products.html.

“We wanted to design a case that had more style than the typical neoprene sleeve,” said Tim Hickman, CEO of Hard Candy Cases. “We took it a step further by custom molding rubber feet inside the case that add 2-3x the drop protection. And, to make it all happen we are blessed to work with some of the best factories in China.  It was quite a challenge to start a new case line only a few days before Chinese New Year, but our factories stepped up and devoted 600 skilled craftsmen to beat the tight deadlines. It was a real thrill to see them accomplish this first hand.”

USA Solar and Digital Communications Technologies LLC, aka Muzatch, gives the iPhone its much needed battery power boost, by developing the world’s most powerful and smallest (9.8 oz) solar power station specifically for the Apple iPhone series as well as the new Smartphone, iPod and Nano.

“With the need to move towards a more energy efficient nation, by investing in renewable sources of energy, it was imperative that we seek solar energy not only for our homes and businesses, but our electronic devices as well, and make it affordable,” says Willie E. Nason, Solarologist/Founder/Co-CEO, USA Solar and Digital Communications Technologies LLC , “Muzatch” brand name.

Our aim was to look at the most used electronic devices, not only in the US but worldwide, and how we could make them more energy efficient, i.e. the mobile phone. Solar energy devices for mobile phones and other devices such as laptops was the answer, thus the iPhone solar charger was developed. It has over 2000 uses, it will last over 4 years with continued daily use, (provided sun is available).

With over 95% of all Americans using mobile phones and laptops, and over 40 million iPhone users, losing power can be very frustrating, especially when an emergency hits of any kind.  Solar energy will be the best and only way to continue to operate and communicate with the various emergency agencies as well as family and friends.

Millions of Americans use the iPhone currently and so it was the first choice for developing the initial solar charger.  We are currently designing other solar chargers for several additional types of mobile phones, such as the “BlackBerry,” which will be coming in the near future.

“It’s almost unbelievable that something so small and compact can produce so much electrical power. To be able to instantly charge not only your iPhone, but iPod and Nanos, it’s simply Amazing,” says Jay Yenter, CEO, The Muzatch Co., a division of USA Solar and Digital Communications Technologies LLC.  “Especially in cases of emergency, or loss of power, no longer will you have to be tethered to your electrical a/c connection or care charger.”

The Muzatch Co. is leading the way in developing the latest in new solar energy products with exciting new models coming soon.  The MZH-1200 iPhone power station is now available worldwide through the Muzatch Co.’s website, at:www.muzatch.com.  It comes in 5 colors, white, black, blue, silver and GREEN! At this introductory price of only 49.59+s/h.

FLO TV Incorporated, the company that innovated the mobile broadcast TV category, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), today announced it has expanded its partnership with Turner Broadcasting to bring consumers CNN Mobile, a channel that includes programming from CNN/US, CNN International and HLN, as well as CNN.com content.  The channel will be available on the FLO TV™ Personal Television and FLO TV Auto Entertainment platforms, in addition to its current availability as part of AT&T Mobile TV.

“Live, breaking news is consistently a top performer on the FLO TV service, as people strive to stay connected to the world around them,” said Jonathan Barzilay, senior vice president of programming and advertising at FLO TV.  ”Adding CNN Mobile to additional devices with our service is a natural fit and keeps our subscribers connected to news and analysis anytime, anywhere.”

Live coverage of top U.S., world, political, health and entertainment news will be available to FLO TV subscribers through a dedicated 24/7 CNN Mobile channel, which showcases popular programming from CNN/US, CNN International and HLN –including Anderson Cooper 360, Larry King Live , Amanpour, Backstory and Morning Express with Robin Meade.

The FLO TV service is currently available on multiple platforms, including the recently launched FLO TV Personal Television, the first-ever portable digital television with a dedicated network. In collaboration with Audiovox, FLO TV also offers FLO TV Auto Entertainment, an in-vehicle entertainment system that delivers high-quality mobile TV.  Additionally, iPhone™ and iPod touch™ users will soon be able to view FLO TV’s live mobile TV service at the flip of a switch with the mophie™ juicepack TV.

A recent survey of e-book reader owners and intenders shows that prior to the release of the iPad, Apple ranks just behind Amazon in the US and UK in terms of preferred brand; and if the iPad provides a compelling eReader experience, it may overtake Amazon’s Kindle.Details may be found in the Strategy Analytics Wireless Device Lab report, “US & UK eReader Owner and Intender Survey 2010.”

Current e-book reader owners report being extremely satisfied with their devices. Four out of five US owners prefer e-book readers to physical books. Potential e-book customers prefer:

“While brand name is still an important factor for current owners when choosing their next e-book reader,” commented Chris Schreiner, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics. “Consumers buying their first e-book reader will focus more on the durability and availability of e-books.”

Kevin Nolan, Vice President of the Strategy Analytics User Experience Practice, added, “Even though e-book readers allow for easy portability, more than half of e-book reader usage still occurs at home.”

Apple® today announced that its magical and revolutionary iPad will be available in the US on Saturday, April 3, for Wi-Fi models and in late April for Wi-Fi + 3G models. In addition, all models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April.

Beginning a week from today, on March 12, US customers can pre-order both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models from Apple’s online store (www.apple.com) or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.

“iPad is something completely new,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

Starting at just $499, iPad lets users browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more. iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds—thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook—and delivers battery life of up to 10 hours.*

iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ interface makes surfing the web an entirely new experience, dramatically more interactive and intimate than on a computer. You can read and send email on iPad’s large screen and almost full-size “soft” keyboard or import photos from a Mac®, PC or digital camera, see them organized as albums, and enjoy and share them using iPad’s elegant slideshows. iPad makes it easy to watch movies, TV shows and YouTube, all in HD, or flip through the pages of an ebook you downloaded from Apple’s new iBookstore while listening to your music collection.

The App Store on iPad lets you wirelessly browse, buy and download new apps from the world’s largest app store. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for iPad and will run almost all of the more than 150,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone® or iPod touch®. Developers are already creating exciting new apps designed for iPad that take advantage of its Multi-Touch interface, large screen and high-quality graphics.

The new iBooks app for iPad includes Apple’s new iBookstore, the best way to browse, buy and read books on a mobile product. The iBookstore will feature books from the New York Times Best Seller list from both major and independent publishers, including Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster.

The iTunes® Store gives iPad users access to the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 12 million songs, over 55,000 TV episodes and over 8,500 films including over 2,500 in stunning high definition. All the apps and content you download on iPad from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synced to your iTunes library the next time you connect with your computer.

Pricing & Availability

iPad will be available in Wi-Fi models on April 3 in the US for a suggested retail price of $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB,$699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available in late April for a suggested retail price of $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB.  iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

iPad will be available in both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models in late April in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,Spain, Switzerland and the UK. International pricing will be announced in April. iPad will ship in additional countries later this year.

The iBooks app for iPad including Apple’s iBookstore will be available as a free download from the App Store in the US onApril 3, with additional countries added later this year.

*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

January 2010 saw the launch of two highly anticipated digital devices – Apple’s iPad and Google’s Nexus One mobile phone. Though both launches generated a lot of buzz, observations gathered from eXelate behavioral data indicate that the iPad launch not only generated increased purchase intent activity for all Apple products it also did so for the entire portable computing space.

According to the inaugural issue of the eXelate indeX, a new regular audience data trending report from eXelate’s Data Lab, audience shopping trends showed that the iPad launch event on Wednesday, January 27th created a positive impact on Apple’s current roster of products. It also helped generate purchase intent and interest that lifted the entire portable computing segment. eXelate’s Lab did not observe a noticeable impact on technology purchase intent segments queried for Google’s January 5th launch of their Nexus One mobile phone.

The eXelate indeX is a regular “trend watch” issued by eXelate based on anonymous audience identity and activity data gathered from billions of monthly unique targeting events on over 200M segment unique users that are part of the eXelate eXchange.

Shopping activity is defined by the report as qualified interactions with leading shopping promotion and comparison websites by eXelate’s in-market shopping audience of over 40M US Unique Visitors.

As the iPad will not be available to shoppers for over a month, it appears that the press coverage for the launch of the product spurred demand for associated Apple products that currently can be priced and purchased online. According to purchase intent activity gathered from eXelate’s Shopping Intent segment, on Wednesday, January 27, the date of the iPad announcement, consumers seeking to purchase currently available Apple products surged 27%.

The Apple iPad announcement also seems to have had a positive residual impact on the “portable computing” category as a whole. Building up to, and peaking on the announcement day, the number of consumers interested in purchasing a laptop computer also grew. The eXelate Lab saw a 31% increase in activity from Tuesday, 1/26/10 to Wednesday, 1/27/10in the Laptop segment. On a week to week basis, the jump was even greater at +57%.

Interestingly enough, this expected “coattail” impact of the announcement actually lasted longer on non-Apple products, as we observed another increase of 26% on Thursday 1/28/10.

Although no similar impact was seen on the date of the Nexus One announcement, it is important to note that observed Shopping intent activity during the Nexus One introduction may have been impacted by the launch date’s (January 5th) proximity to Christmas and New Year’s Day, as well as the increased media clutter in the days leading up to the Consumer Electronics Show, where Google’s announcement was one of many technology launches to happen during the week.

“The findings of this and many future trends identified by our Data Lab and published in the eXelate indeX will result in more optimized campaign planning in 2010 for our advertiser, agency and ad network partners,” said eXelate Chief Revenue Officer Mark Zagorski. “As most advertisers have been comfortable with the concept of buying specific, identifiable, audience segments, we feel that it will be important to not only look at how audiences behave, but also who comprises these audiences. With eXelate’s broad pool of data, we are able to look at both.”

According to Ms. Ayelet Nuta, Director of Analytics and head of eXelate’s optimization research and Data Lab, in future eXelate indeX research reports, the lab will dig deeper into how specific audience segments react to market activity and how their behavior patterns differ.

eXelate’s Data Lab is able to pinpoint specific dayparts and market segments which can greatly improve campaign performance – based on actual audience data and campaign performance and not just market intent – thereby generating significant and unexpected improvements in campaign results.

eXelate plans on issuing regular eXelate indeX reports tracking unique audience activity trends throughout 2010. The current report can be found at: http://www.exelate.com/indexreport

Penguin Group (NZ), in partnership with Kiwa Media, is bringing a number of popular children’s picture books into the digital arena with QBook: the world’s first touch-enabled and interactive read-along

QBook is completely intuitive. Swipe-to-Read™ enables children to run their fingers across the words and letters and hear the story read aloud as the graphics pop and change color. Touch-to-Hear™ allows children to hear the individual word spoken and Touch-to-Spell™ enables the child to actually hear the word being spelt.

Children and parents can customize each QBook by recording their own voice and coloring in every picture in the book.

QBook – Features and Functions

* Multiple languages – US English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and NZ Maori
* My Narration – record yourself reading and playback
* Swipe-to-Read – touch the word to read along
* Touch-to-Hear – to hear individual words
* Touch-to-Spell – to hear the letters that spell each word
* Color the Page – save your new color picture
* Wordfind Puzzle – search words from the story
* Memory Pairs – match the pictures and complete the puzzle.

Zwijndrecht, Belgium – Galarina today is pleased to announce GeoLogTag 3.0, an update to their popular photo geotagging solution for iPhone and iPod touch devices. Featuring a comfortable and simple user interface, GeoLogTag aims to make the cumbersome process of geotagging photos as easy as possible. It offers an all-in-one geotagging solution for photos taken with any digital camera, and was developed specifically to take advantage of the iPhone’s unique capabilities and touch interface.

GeoLogTag has no settings. While photos are taken with a digital camera (DSLR, point and shoot), GeoLogTag continuously tracks the user’s location just like a traditional GPS data logger. Among only one of GeoLogTag’s unique features is its ability to log locations every 3, 5, 10 or 60 minutes to prolong battery life. If the photos are stored on a Mac or on Flickr, GeoLogTag geotags the photos using the logged locations. Windows users can geotag their photos by using the GPX file generated by GeoLogTag in combination with a Windows geotagging application.

Feature Highlights:
* Comfortable and simple User Interface
* Continuously tracks the users location
* Supports all major cameras, including DSLR, point and shoot
* Log locations every 3, 5, 10 or 60 minutes to prolong battery life
* Supports all image formats, including RAW
* Continuous log mode: 6 to 7 hours
* Log every 3: 9 to 10 hours
* Log every 5: 12 to 14 hours
* Log every 10: 24 hours
* Log every 60: several days

“From day one, the Apple philosophy started from the user. A user should not be confronted with technical hurdles. He just wants to get a job done,” said Chris Cornelis, founder and CEO of Zwijndrecht, Belgium based Galarina. “As a long time Mac user and passionate amateur photographer, I created GeoLogTag based from my own experience with geotagging photos. While the geotagging functionality that comes with the iPhone’s built-in camera is pretty neat, the possibilities of the camera are limited when compared with my Nikon D80. This convinced me to start development on an app which extended the devices capabilities, and so GeoLogTag was born.”

Version 3.0 is a major update, and sports many new enhancements, such as an extra log mode for logging a location every hour, support for altitude, and better support for travelers going through different timezones. GeoLogTag now offers geotagging support for photos in RAW format. Supported formats include Nikon (NEF), Canon (CR2), Sony (ARW, SR2), Olympus (ORF), Pentax (PEF), Kodak (DCR, KDC), Epson (ERF), Panasonic (RAW, RW2), Mamiya (MEF), and Hasselblad (3FR).

Macintosh users will experience a major performance enhancement for geotagging JPEGs, approximately 10 times as fast compared with version 2.2.1. Users can now login to a Mac shared folder with their user name and password, and GeoLogTag shows a running clock at startup to make syncing with a digital camera easier. The application now displays a rough estimation of how much battery is left during geologging. Estimates will become better as GeoLogTag “learns” about the user’s battery.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone or iPod touch running 3.0 or later
* 0.7 MB
* Mac OS 10.5 or higher

iPhone users in North America can now download a free app that provides lifetime turn-by-turn GPS map guidance with CoPilot(R) Live Directions(TM). The app, from GPS navigation pioneer ALK Technologies, Inc., gives you a 30-day Free trial of the full GPS navigation app for iPhone with premium features such as voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation and 3D map displays throughout the US and Canada. After 30 days, users can opt to continue using premium voice-guided GPS navigation with a 12-month or 30-day subscription via in-app purchase ($19.99 and $2.99 respectively), or they can simply continue to enjoy free lifetime use of map-only turn-by-turn directions.

In addition to breakthrough affordability, CoPilot Live Directions takes a more flexible approach to map management. As with all CoPilot Live products, detailed street maps are stored on the phone, not downloaded per trip. However with CoPilot Live Directions, customers can choose how much or little of North America’s road network they wish to store on their iPhone. After installing the app, simply download your choice of map from in-app to iPhone via WiFi: either the complete map of North America (1.3GB) or individual maps of the states you need (approx 50MB).

Michael Kornhauser, Managing Director at ALK Technologies said, “With CoPilot Live Directions, we are making full-featured turn-by-turn GPS navigation for iPhone more affordable, more flexible and more accessible than ever. With a choice of features, mapping and subscriptions, including free map-based directions, there’s now a CoPilot to suit all types of traveler and every level of budget.”

Key features in CoPilot Live Directions:
* 30 days free full-featured CoPilot Live navigation with Text to Speech voice guidance, 3D maps and advanced trip planning
* Free lifetime use turn-by-turn directions with automatic route calculation and 2D maps
* Full street level maps of the US and Canada
* Detailed street maps downloaded via WiFi and stored on the iPhone, so there’s no need to rely on your data network for navigation
* Navigate to a street address or one of millions of businesses using integrated real-time local search
* Free CoPilot LiveLink location sharing lets friends and family know where you are via the Internet, Facebook or on-screen in CoPilot on their own phone

http://www.alk.com/copilot/copilot_directions.asp