Entertainment (e.g. Netflix) accounts for 60% of US web traffic at peak times

"Within fixed networks in the United States, Real-Time Entertainment applications are the primary drivers of network capacity requirements, accounting for 60% of peak downstream traffic, up from 50% in 2010. Rate-adaptive video represents the majority of video bandwidth, with Netflix alone representing 32.7% of peak downstream traffic, a relative increase of more than 10% since spring.
We have entered the “Post-PC Era”, as the majority of Real-Time Entertainment traffic (55%, by volume) is destined for game consoles, set-top boxes, smart TVs, and mobile devices being used in the home, with only 45% actually going to desktop and laptop computers over North American fixed networks.
Video in mobile networks continues to gain momentum.  In North America, Real-Time Entertainment is now 32.6% of peak downstream traffic, while in Asia Pacific it is 41.8%.  The largest contributor is YouTube, and other applications like peercasting PPStream and Netflix are making inroads.
Mobile Marketplace traffic accounts for 9.4% of peak downstream usage in APAC and 5.8% in North America, led in both cases by Apple and Google. Applications like Skype and WhatsApp Messenger, that replace the traditional revenue sources of voice and texting, are being installed by growing numbers of subscribers.
In North America on fixed networks, mean usage remained generally flat at the high end (22.7 GB from 23.0 GB reported in May) and median usage dropped to 5.8 GB from 7.0 GB. This shows that while subscribers aren’t using more traffic overall the usage gap between heavy and light users is broadening and that more data is being used during the small peak period window.  In Asia-Pacific fixed networks, median monthly usage is 17.7 GB, which is the largest we have observed."

Source:  Data from Sandvine, reported in a press release, 26th October 2011

Samsung is the world's largest smartphone manufacturer

"Samsung has overtaken Apple in worldwide smartphone shipments after Apple suffered its lowest levels of shipments in two years, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
Global smartphone shipments grew 44% year-on-year to reach a record 117 million units in the third quarter of 2011, said the survey. Samsung shipped 28 million smartphones, grabbing 24% market share and overtaking Apple.
[...]
Apple's share of the tablet market has also shrunk by 29% to 67%, as Google's mobile operating system (OS) Android took a chunk out of the company's global sales during the last quarter this year.
Nokia's market share fell from 33% in the same period in 2010 to 14% in 2011. Strategy Analytics believes Nokia's new Lumia smartphone range, running Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.5 OS, could drive recovery for Nokia's marketshare.
Global handset shipments grew 14% in the third quarter of 2011 to reach 390 million units."
Source:  Computer Weekly, 31st October 2011

7 of the 10 most followed people on Twitter are women

"# Name (Screen Name) Followers
1. Lady Gaga (ladygaga) 15,117,972
2. Justin Bieber (justinbieber) 13,868,314
3. Katy Perry (katyperry) 11,511,972
4. Barack Obama (BarackObama) 10,872,247
5. Kim Kardashian (KimKardashian) 10,735,244
6. Britney Spears (britneyspears) 10,662,045
7. Shakira (shakira) 9,802,132
8. Rihanna (rihanna) 9,055,660
9. taylorswift13 (taylorswift13) 8,759,295
10. ashton kutcher (aplusk) 8,028,802"
Source:  Retrieved from Twitaholic, 31st October 2011

Global Education Digest 2011

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) announced the publication of the Global Education Digest 2011. The focus of this year's edition of the GED is on secondary education.

Growing enrolment in primary education over past decades - partly due to the emphasis on universal primary education by the Millennium Development Goals and Education for All - has led to increased demand for secondary education. The Global Education Digest 2011describes trends in participation in and completion of lower and upper secondary education from 1970 to the present, as well as disparities in access to education of children of secondary school age. The GED also contains analysis of data on educational attainment, technical and vocational education and training, secondary school teachers, and education finance.

The analytical chapter is accompanied by 200 pages of statistical tables on pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary education. The GED 2011 introduces several new tables that did not appear in previous editions. Table 5 lists national, regional and global estimates of the number and percent of children of primary and lower secondary school age out of school. Table 19 introduces a new indicator of educational attainment, the percentage of the population 25 years and older with at least completed primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, post-secondary, or tertiary education. All data from the statistical annex will also be available in the UIS Data Centre.

Reference

• UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2011. Global education digest 2011: Comparing education statistics across the world. Montreal: UIS. (Download in PDF format, 7.5 MB)

External links

• UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
• UIS announcement of the Global Education Digest 2011
• UIS Data Centre
• Millennium Development Goals
• Education for All

Related articles

• Global Education Digest 2010
• EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011
• UIS time series with education data since 1970

Friedrich Huebler, 30 October 2011 (edited 31 October 2011), Creative Commons License
Permanent URL: http://huebler.blogspot.com/2011/10/ged.html

Differences between users of different mobile operating systems

"Android users are more likely than users of other platforms to visit education sites.
Windows Phone users are more likely to visit email and communications sites, compared to users of other platforms.
Feature phone users are far and away the most likely to visit social-network and community sites on their handsets, with Android users being the least likely.
BlackBerry (RIM) users are more likely than anyone else to visit computer and sports sites.
Android users are the most likely to view “Music, video and media” sites whereas iPhone users are least likely to view sites in that category.
Across all platforms, the top 2 categories (other than “Unclassified”) are: “Social networks & community” and “News & information”."
Source:  Taken from Opera's State of the Mobile Web report, 27th October 2011
Note - based on behaviour of people who use the Opera browser on their phone

49% of people exposed to Doritos ads on XBox LIVE subsequently went out and bought Doritos

"Doritos’ ‘Unlock Xbox’ competition invited fans to capture the essence of the snack in the form of a Doritos Xbox LIVE Arcade game with the opportunity to win a $50,000 gaming consultant project. The campaign put the votes of Xbox LIVE users at the heart of the contest, driving far-reaching engagement and ensuring huge interest in the final Doritos games. The field was narrowed to eight by an expert panel of judges, and then pared down to three by the votes of Xbox LIVE visitors. After a pitch at Microsoft headquarters, the two finalists (Doritos Crash Course and Harm’s Way – by Doritos) were launched for free download on Xbox LIVE, with gamers voting on their favourite.
Key results:
Throughout the contest, Unlock Xbox delivered exceptional engagement levels
The winning game became the fastest downloaded Xbox LIVE Arcade game in history with over 1 million downloads in the first two weeks
Over 50% of those exposed to the Doritos ads on Xbox LIVE clicked to learn more about the contest
40% voted for their favourite Doritos Xbox LIVE Arcade game
72% took action after seeing Doritos advertising on Xbox LIVE
24% told friends about the Doritos Xbox competition
49% went out and bought Doritos"

Source:  Case study from Microsoft Advertising (UK), 4th July 2011

Digital platforms account for nearly 30% of all UK radio listening

"Listening to radio via a digital platform in terms of weekly reach* has increased by 12% year on year,
with 22.8 million people now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled receiver (DAB, DTV, internet) each
week (up from 20.4 million in Q3, 2010).
Digital listening  hours for Q3, 2011  reached 304 million hours,  up 16%, from 262 million hours in Q3,
2010.   DAB radio maintains its position as the most popular device when it comes to listening to digital
radio, accounting for 63.9% of all digital hours, however listening via DTV (digital television) and internet
have both continued to rise year on year (hours up by 8% and 32%  respectively), albeit from a smaller
base.
- DAB hours are 194 million (162m in Q3, 2010 – up 20%)
- DTV hours are 50 million (47m in Q3, 2010 – up 8%)
- Internet hours are 40 million (30m in Q3, 2010 – up 32%)
The  share of radio listening via a digital platform now stands at 28.2%  of all radio listening, increasing
from 24.8% in  Q3, 2010 and up quarter on quarter by 5% (c.f. 26.9% in Q2, 2011).   DAB listening
increased its share from  15.3% in Q3, 2010 to  18% in Q3, 2011, while the share of  DTV listening
increased from 4.4% in Q3, 2010 to reach 4.7% this quarter; and internet listening, which currently stands
at 3.7% for Q3, 2011, is up from 2.8% in Q3, 2010"
Source:  Data from Rajar, reported in a press release, 27th October 2011