2012: All about the 'fourth' screen?

Some interesting findings from the report include:

• More than 40% of both US and EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK) consumers have converted to smartphones
• In 2011 app use exceeding mobile browser use
• Half of US shoppers used a smartphone to research purchases, 1 in 5 scanned barcodes in-store
• 64 million US consumers and 48 million EU consumers engaged with social networks via mobile
• 15% of US mobile users also use tablets; 40 million tablet units were shipped in 2011

"As the industry continues to innovate and more consumers look to multiple devices and platforms to consume digital media, we expect the mobile and connected device landscape to be shaken up even further in 2012," said Mark Donovan, comScore Senior Vice President of Mobile. "As mobile channels present a more personal, social, and ubiquitous experience to consumers, advertisers and publishers have an opportunity to better engage target audiences, given an understanding of how to connect and leverage the unique characteristics of these emerging platforms."

Meanwhile as rumors fly about the release date and options for the upcoming iPad 3, a TechBargains survey finds that not only will version 1 and 2 buyers look into an iPad 3, but about half of Kindle Fire owners are interested in buying the new product as well. Of all those surveyed 48% said they were interested in the iPad 3.

"When it comes to tablets, Apple's iPad will continue to remain the leader," said Yung Trang, President and Editor in Chief of TechBargains.com. "But what's very interesting is that Kindle Fire was released just three months ago and yet more than half of Fire owners already know that they will, in fact, buy the iPad 3. This could be a commentary on consumer dissatisfaction with Amazon's product or simply a message that the iPad's user experience remains unparalleled."

Younger consumers (18-34), finds a new report from Nielsen and NM Incite, make up the leading age range of the mobile space with one third (33%) owning a tablet and 39% owning a smartphone. Comparatively in the 35-49 age group 29% own tablets and 30% own smartphones. Young consumers lead all other age demographics in both tablet and smartphone ownership.

Tags: comScore, mobile consumption, mobile content, mobile marketing, mobile trends, NM Incite, TechBargains