Smartphone apps help the users to save 88 minutes of their time in a day or as much as 22 days’ worth of free time per year, a latest study has found.

The study was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Click Software and was based on the responses of 2,120 U.S adult Smartphone users.

The report states that 97% of Smartphone users access at least one application frequently on their handset every day.  On average, a user saves 88 minutes of his/her time in a day by accessing the apps from their Smartphone and thereby saves 22 days of free time a year.

According to a recent report published by BusinessNewsDaily, email apps are the most frequently used apps on the Smartphone, pursed by text and social networking applications. The other commonly used apps are games, maps, weather, calendar functions and GPS.

Though email apps dominate the overall usage of Smartphone applications, people believe that they save more time using text apps than any other kind of applications. The text apps save 53 minutes a day compared with 35 minutes a day for email applications.

The Smartphone users confessed that apart from personal use, they use their device for work as well. One in five users of GPS and email apps said they use these applications primarily for work, while one in three said they use the abovementioned apps for personal and office purposes equally.

Researchers found that despite spending too much time on the Smartphones, the majority of the users don’t think that they are getting much out of them, because they are not able to utilize their devices properly.

For more information on the world of mobile apps head to Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona, scheduled to be held from 24-27 February, 2014. Contact EAS for best in high quality accommodation, marketing and event management.  For further information, click here.

It seems as time goes by more and more of us around the world are using our mobile devices to view television and films throughout the family home.

The latest research from Motorola Mobility’s Fourth Media Engagement Barometer shows that globally consumers are now watching 25 hours of TV and film programming per week on their mobile devices, up from 15 hours in 2011.

The most notable change is that people are now using their mobile devices in preference to broadcast television. The survey, which asked 9,500 consumers in 17 countries, found that of the 36 percent of respondents who watch video programming in the bedroom, 46 percent view it on a smartphone, 41 percent on a tablet and 36 percent on broadcast TV.

People are even viewing content in more unusual parts of the home with 9 percent of tablet owners and 16 percent of smartphone owners admitting to consuming content in the bathroom, while 10 percent of tablets are used in the kitchen.

In spite of this, the living room is still the centre of home entertainment with 50 percent of people watching broadcast TV here, although in Sweden and the UK the figures were as high as 81 percent and 75 percent.

The research also revealed that consumers are frustrated by the lack of flexibility of mobile devices according to John Burke, senior vice president and general manager at Motorola Mobility. “Increasingly people are using tablets and smartphones to view their content, and they expect this experience to transition seamlessly across their favourite programmes, whenever and wherever they like,” he said. Among those surveyed, 76 percent said they want the capability to move video content between devices automatically.

Another reason people are increasingly using mobile devices to watch TV and films is the ability to record programmes and skip ads. The study reveals that 68 percent of people globally and 75 percent in the US record broadcast TV to skip the ads – a trend that is proving to be an ongoing challenge for the TV networks.

For more information on how mobile viewing habits are changing head down to next year’s Mobile World Congress 2014. For all your accommodation needs in the city look to EAS, your friendly local travel agent. We have rooms in all the best Barcelona hotels and most centrally located apartments. We’ll organise your transportation, nightly entertainment and make sure your stay is as stress free as it is unforgettable. Click on this link to fill in our request form.

This year’s Mobile World Congress proved to be a huge success for both HTC and Samsung who went home with two of the event’s top awards.

The HTC One picked up the Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet at the 18th Annual Global Mobile Awards held last week at the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona.

The Taiwanese smartphone maker beat off competition from the likes of the Sony Xperia Z, LG Optimus G Pro, Nokia 105 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. Benjamin Ho, chief marketing officer for HTC, said: “We are delighted by the reactions from both consumers and the industry to the new HTC One. It is a device that has been years in the making and is one of which we are incredibly proud.”

Meanwhile the Galaxy S III was named the best smartphone of 2012 beating its main rival the iPhone 5 along with others including Nokia’s Lumia 920 and HTC’s Droid DNA.

It was a disappointing award ceremony for Apple as the American firm also lost out in the Best Tablet category to Google’s Nexus 7.

Other winners on the day included Samsung’s Galaxy Camera, which won Best Mobile Enabled Consumer Electronics Device, Facebook, which took home Best Mobile App for Consumers, and Evernote, which picked up the award for Best Mobile App for Enterprise.

Samsung also picked up the coveted Device Manufacturer of the Year award in addition to winning the Best Mobile Infrastructure and Outstanding Overall Mobile Technology.

To see first hand who wins at next year’s Mobile World Congress book your accommodation for 2014’s event now with EAS. We’ll find you the best hotels and rented apartments right in the heart of the city. Or if you prefer, why not try one of our luxury yachts – the choice is yours. Just click on this link to fill in our request form.

Nokia’s future is looking increasingly fragile as it announced it would be cutting 10,000 jobs on Thursday of last week and revealed its second profits warning in two months.

Since Stephen Elop took over as chief executive in September of last year the Finnish company has slashed 40,000 jobs as part of a cost cutting programme. Last week saw its shares fall by 18%, dropping below the €2 mark for the first time since 1996.

In a mobile world that is now dominated by ever changing smartphones, Nokia has pinned its future hopes on its Lumia range of phones which are operated by Microsoft’s Windows Phone interface. The problem is that between the lavish unveiling last November and March of this year the phone had only sold 3 million units compared with Apple’s iPhone, which had sold 72 million during the same period.

Nokia was the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer until earlier this year when Samsung overtook it. In the last five quarters the company has burned through €2.1 billion, meaning that without a huge cost cutting programme its €4.9 billion reserves could vanish within a few years. In addition to job cuts, the firm announced it would be closing its last factory in Finland, closing research and development facilities in Germany and Canada and retreating from non-key markets so it can concentrate on America, China and the larger European economies.

Chief executive Elop stressed that Nokia’s misfortunes were down to bad marketing and promotions. “We have truly great products, but aren’t getting the traction that we would prefer,” he said.

The firm is hoping that the new operating platform Windows Phone 8 will boost sales. Microsoft is to release a test version next week, while actual Nokia phones running on the system will be available before Christmas.

To see first hand how well the firm is doing make sure you don’t miss out on the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress 2013, February 25-28 in Barcelona. Book now to avoid disappointment and arrange your accommodation through EAS, the friendly local travel agent you can trust. Based in Barcelona, we’ll find you the best hotels and rented apartments right in the heart of the city. Plus we can take care of all your transportation and entertainment requirements. Just click on this link to fill in our request form.

Mobile owners are increasingly using their smartphones to access the internet in preference of traditional PCs and laptops according to a new survey carried out by Prosper Mobile Insights.

The company, which looked into the internet habits of adults from across the world, found that seven out of ten smartphone users complete at least one web-based activity on their phone in favour of a PC or laptop, regardless of whether they are on the move or at home.

More than half of respondents (51.1%) admitted to checking their emails using only a mobile device, while 45.3% completed mobile-only web searches and 42.3% used only their phone to connect to Facebook.

All this means that today’s leading brands have an increasing need to embrace mobile advertising. But as the survey shows, they need to be aware of which ads their customers will be most receptive to. Around 1 in 10 people said they pay regular attention to sponsored stories or links, ads that play before or during a video, and video ads in general.

Video ads are the most popular with 42.9% of respondents saying they are more likely to grab their attention than other forms of advertising. The most successful video ads are ones you cannot click away from, with 30.4% of people confirming that they pay more attention to this video format.

The survey made clear that marketers should make sure that ads are delivered to the right audience. 33.5% of people said they are more likely to pay attention if the ad is relevant, 24.2% claimed they are looking for informative ads and 23.9% are more likely to be responsive to eye-catching advertising.

The world of mobile advertising is still in its infancy and there are limitless opportunities for marketers to promote their brands to a global audience. For all the latest news on how to benefit from mobile marketing head down to the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona’s Fira Gran Via, 25-28 February. If you’re after accommodation then look no further than EAS, your friendly local travel agents. We’ll find you the best hotels and rented apartments right in the heart of Barcelona. Or if you prefer, why not try one of our luxury yachts – the choice is yours. We’ll also organise all your transportation needs and book you into the city’s best restaurants. Just click on this link to fill in our request form.

Mobile phones have overtaken desktops as the most common way in which people in China connect to the internet.

The Chinese government announced in July that the number of web users in the country had now reached 538 million, meaning that nearly four out of 10 of its 1.3 billion people now use the web.

A report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC) also reported that mobile internet users now number 388 million, which is up almost 10 percent since the start of 2012, while 380 million use computers.

The key cause for this growth has been put down to the fall in smartphone costs, which has seen an increase in the number of rural mobile users in China. More than 50 percent of the year’s new internet users were from China’s rural areas according to the report.

“Mobile phones are a cheaper and more convenient way to access the internet for residents in China’s vast rural areas and for the enormous migrant population,” the report said. “Meanwhile, mobile phone prices continued to drop – the emergence of smartphones under 1,000 yuan ($157) sharply lowered the threshold for using the devices and encouraged average mobile phone users to become mobile web surfers,” the report concluded.

China is now the largest smartphone market in the world with 33 million mobile phones sold in the country over the past 12 months compared with 25 million in the USA during the same time, with a growth rate at a stunning 164 percent.

Is this the beginning of the Chinese dominance of the world’s mobile phone market? Head to next year’sMobile World Congress in Barcelona to find out. For the best in accommodation, arranged transportation, hotel recommendations, and anything else you can think of to make your stay in Barcelona one to remember, look no further than EAS, the travel agent you can trust.

With our expert local knowledge we can source rooms in the best hotels, find you the most centrally located apartments, organise airport transfers and other transportation needs, and even arrange yacht and aircraft charters. Click on this link for more information.

Expect big things in the coming years when it comes to mobile payments, at least that’s what the latest report from ABI Research is telling us.

According to the research firm, 2013 will be the year when Near Field Communication (NFC) leaves its ‘trial phase’ behind and becomes more widespread with 285 shipments of NFC-enabled smartphones expected worldwide.

Recent predictions also suggest that by 2017 the total number of shipments with NFC will come close to a staggering 2 billion including media tablets, gaming consoles and PC accessories, in addition to smartphones.

The technology is mainly seen as offering contactless payments in stores where customers swipe their device over payment terminals equipped with contactless NFC readers. However, the addition of online/offline authentication, retail and loyalty applications, reader functionality and advertising will give service providers news streams of revenue.

Android and WP8 operating systems are already pushing the NFC handset market forward and are even beginning to build into other devices with the addition of NFC into Android tablets and Windows PCs.

However, industry experts believe that touchless mobile payment solutions won’t really take off until Apple enters into the market. The firm has been typically secretive so far about its plans to add NFC functionality into its future iPhones. It may well be that Apple is waiting for others to make the initial move before it makes any decisions.

Whatever Apple decides to do, mobile E-commerce is expected to exceed $1 trillion worldwide by 2017 and NFC is set to become the most popular payment platform followed by point-of-sale payments.

If you want more information on the future of mobile payments and NFC head down to the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona. For the best in accommodation, arranged transportation, hotel recommendations, and anything else you can think of to make your stay in Barcelona one to remember, look no further than EAS, the travel agent you can trust. With our expert local knowledge we can source rooms in the best hotels, find you the most centrally located apartments and organise all your transportation needs. We’ll even arrange yacht and aircraft charters. Click on this link for more information.