Some interesting news today from Fierce Mobile Content.

One-fifth of Americans accessing mobile web each day

Nineteen percent of Americans now access the mobile web on a typical day according to a new study published by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, representing 73 percent growth over from the 11 percent level recorded in December 2007. In addition, the Pew study reports that 32 percent of Americans have now used a mobile device to access the Internet for email, IM or information seeking, up from 24 percent in late 2007. In all, 56 percent of Americans have now accessed the web via wireless means, whether laptop, mobile device, game console or MP3 player–laptops are the most prevalent alternative, accounting for 39 percent of wireless Internet access.

Report: iPhone accounts for two thirds of all mobile web traffic

Apple’s iPhone now represents 66.61 percent of all mobile web traffic according to a new study issued by web solutions provider NetApplications. The Java ME platform follows a distant second at 9.06 percent, trailed by Windows Mobile at 6.91 percent. NetApplications notes that despite the iPhone’s commanding lead in mobile browsing share, both Android (6.15 percent, tied with Symbian) and BlackBerry (2.24 percent) are rapidly gaining market share–however, the report notes increases by Apple’s rivals does not mean that iPhone web browsing is shrinking, as the overall market continues to grow rapidly.

Half of iPhone users rely more on mobile web than newspapers

Five in 10 iPhone and iPod touch users say they use the mobile web more frequently than they read newspapers according to a new consumer survey released by mobile advertising platform AdMob. In addition, more than 40 percent of respondents report accessing the mobile web more often than browsing the Internet from their computers or listening to the radio.

From Krish Arvapally at Marketing Daily blogs, The Seven Myths Of Mobile Advertising:

With a clearer distinction between what’s realistic today and what’s been mystified by industry hype, brands, agencies and publishers alike can start leveraging the mobile medium now as an easy-to-use, creative, targeted, and measurable new revenue opportunity.

The myths that surround mobile are holding back many brand marketers and publishers from leveraging it for a competitive advantage, despite the fact that mobile is gaining more buzz every day. The industry needs a clearer picture of what’s possible and how to put dynamic mobile marketing solutions to work today. Here are some of the myths we hear time and time again, as well as insight to help set the record straight.

1. Smaller screen, smaller effect.
2. Low CPMs.
3. No unique user detection and targeting.
4. Creating a mobile Web site is difficult and expensive.
5. A perceived lack of ROI.
6. SMS is the only type of mobile advertising.

Read the whole thing, of course. We’ve highlighted point number 5 because Discover Anywhere Mobile can quickly and cost effectively convert your destination data – listings and events – into mobile apps optimized for the traveler’s experience.

Sales of Apple’s iPhone are through the roof:

Apple continued to defy the recession, posting another record-breaking quarter on the back of the iPhone and its related applications.

Apple reported a profit of $1.23 billion for its third fiscal quarter of 2009, on revenue of $8.34 billion. That represented the best non-holiday quarter in Apple’s history, the company said.

[...]

Apple’s success was clearly predicated on the iPhone. Sales of the Macintosh notched upwards by four percent versus a year ago, to 2.6 million Macs. And iPod unit sales actually declined by 7 percent, to 10.2 million units. But sales of the iPhone surged by 626 percent to 5.2 million units. Apple said that 1.5 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store in the first year, and there are currently over 65,000 in the App Store.

[...]

“We’re making our most innovative products ever and our customers are responding,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to have sold over 5.2 million iPhones during the quarter and users have downloaded more than 1.5 billion applications from our App Store in its first year.”

This is a good time for destinations (and everyone else) to start engaging potential and actual customers on mobile devices.

This poll was done online and thus there’s a few statistical sampling concerns, but none the less there’s several interesting points in here which I’ve bolded. In direct respect to Discover Anywhere Mobile:

• we expect that DMOs will give away their DAM apps, so cost will not be a consideration there
• on the BlackBerry & iPhone, the DAM app is entirely self-contained so we will not be burning expensive data minutes on vacation

Here’s most of the press release (originally from Fierce Mobile Content):

Packing a wireless phone for vacation is a no-brainer for most summer travelers, but a recent survey from Sprint (NYSE:S) shows that the majority of those vacationers are not using helpful travel applications because of budget concerns. From GPS to video/photo sharing to weather and flight information [snip]

“It’s clear that the wireless phone is a must-have device for travelers for calling, but what we’ve also realized is customers aren’t using the device for all it can do in terms of their data experience; there is a wealth of untapped information right at their fingertips,” said David Owens, director of product marketing, Sprint. “Thanks to our dependable and fast network, wireless customers can easily access audible turn-by-turn GPS for directions, get location-based weather information, receive flight alerts and use hotel booking services. We encourage people to enhance their travel experience and take advantage of the value-rich applications and features that are available at no additional cost with Sprint’s Everything Data and Simply Everything plans. We specifically built our pricing plans to match the incredible capabilities on these devices. It is just one of the ways Sprint is differentiating itself in the market.”

Key findings from the Sprint travel/value survey include:

What vacationers pack
Aside from laptops (50 percent), MP3 players (38 percent) and portable DVD players (17 percent), wireless phones (79 percent) are the most popular item for travelers.

Use of travel-related applications among vacationing adults
Eighty-nine percent of young adults (ages 18-34) would ideally like to have access to travel-related applications on their wireless phones, including social media Web sites (34 percent), online/wireless games (19 percent) and restaurant guides (51 percent) while away.

Thirty-five percent of males (ages 18-34) and 24 percent of females (ages 18-34) already use at least some travel applications on their wireless phones.

More than half of vacationers (56 percent) do not use available travel-related features on their wireless phones because of cost concerns. Sixty-one percent of these women and 65 percent of these young adults (ages 18-34) believe that the fee to run travel-related applications on their wireless phones is a deterrent to using them.

Accessibility of vacationers
More than one-third (37 percent) of men misrepresent their accessibility to e-mail and their wireless phone while on vacation. Young adults lead the charge in staying connected: Three-quarters (77 percent) of young adults (ages 18-34) are more likely to check their e-mail while away than their older counterparts (61 percent of those ages 55+).

How vacationers stay in touch
Sixty-seven percent of adults prefer to use their mobile phones to keep in touch with their family members who are not with them. In terms of checking e-mail, one in three adults (31 percent) describe their e-mail checking personality as “compulsive or frequent” while on vacation.

Social media use of vacationing adults
Thirty-eight percent of young adults (ages 18-34) who capture images/videos of their vacation prefer to share the images/videos by uploading them to social network sites.

Tech, Price, Family Drive US Vacationers (from TravelTrade magazine, via Hotel Marketing):

Yesawich gave an overview of the National Travel Monitor, the yearly survey conducted by the Ypartnership that tracks the travel habits, preferences and intentions of Americans.

Technology and social values are the biggest influencers of American travelers, said Yesawich.

Technology is especially influential with 61% of active travelers saying they use the Internet exclusively for travel research. In the 2009 Monitor, 56% of travelers said they book their travel online as well.

Although this survey doesn’t cover mobile, it’s worth noting that a clear majority of Americans want the immediacy of the technology they have in front of them to plan travel. We believe the smartphone is the next logical step in this progression, especially when in comes to in-destination rapid decision making: where am I going tonight, where am I going to eat afterward, etc….