Smartphone ownership in the U.S. market reached 91.4 million in November 2011, up 8% from the preceding three-month period. Android devices make up 46.9% of all smartphones across the United States, up 3.1% since August 2011, comScore reports. iOS was the only other mobile platform to exhibit growth during the period, increasing 1.4% over August to capture 28.7% of the national smartphone segment.

Research In Motion’s (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry continues its slide, dropping another 3.1% points between August and November to make up 16.6% of the market. Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone platform fell from 5.7% in August to 5.2% in November, and Symbian slipped from 1.8% to 1.5%.

ComScore reports that 72.6% of all U.S. mobile subscribers sent text messages in November, up from 70.5% in August. In addition, 44.9% of subscribers used downloaded apps (up from 41.6%), 29.7% played mobile games (up from 28.5%) and 33.0% accessed social networking sites or blogs (up from 30.9%).

ComScore said that 44.9 percent of people used apps in November, compared to 44.4 percent who used a browser. That appears to mark the first time since comScore started noting mobile content usage that app usage has surpassed browser usage. Apps have trailed the browser by just a few percentage points for most of the last two years, but people have still preferred the browser until now.

This follows a similar finding from earlier this year from Flurry, which found that minutes spent per day on apps eclipsed that of time spent on a browser for the first time in June. As some of our commenters noted, it doesn’t necessarily mean that HTML5 is waning, and in fact, some apps are built in HTML5 and wrapped with a native shell. But it shows that people’s interest in apps continues to grow, and that there is value for a lot of people in purpose-driven software that can take them directly to what they want or can make better use of their mobile hardware.

According to other comScore data, Android is close to taking a majority of all smartphone users in the U.S., with its market share growing to 46.9 percent in November, up from 43.8 percent in August. Apple also managed to grow to 28.7 percent, up from 27.3 percent in August. The two leaders continue to sap away market share from Research in Motion, which saw its market share decline from 19.7 percent to 16.6 percent over the same period. Microsoft also continues to wait for Windows Phone 7 to begin gaining traction. Its share of the smartphone market in the U.S. declined from 5.7 percent to 5.2 percent.

These two big data points aren’t completely unrelated. Users love their apps and the two most robust app platforms are iOS and Android. As subscribers continue to prize smartphones for their apps, they will increasingly look to the platforms that give them the best quality and selection of mobile software titles. That’s obviously not the only reason to buy a phone, but it shows again why it’s so hard for RIM and Microsoft to hold their own or close the distance on Apple and Google. They must overcome iOS and Android’s app advantage.

It found that mobile payments continued growing in 2009 with the total number of users increasing to 351.4 million.

Globally, the researchers expect the number of mobile payment users to rise to 1.06 billion in 2014 for a CAGR of 20.5%. On the transaction value side, the gross value of mobile payments transactions was $37.4 billion in 2009. Mainstream take-up of mobile payments will happen in the 2011 – 2013 time frame, they forecast, and in 2014, the gross value of mobile payment transactions will reach $1.13 trillion.

Closer to home, the researchers expect North American (Canada and the United States) mobile payments to rise to $288.4 billion in 2014, a CAGR of 98.7%. These two countries will account for 25% of the world market share for mobile payments by gross transaction values.

The biggest growth in North America likely will come from ticketing (CAGR of 138%) and digital purchases (CAGR of 120%). The introduction of various devices by Apple has changed the game on consumer acceptance of digital purchases using mobile devices, especially in North America. Surveys suggest that consumers are increasingly comfortable with the use of the mobile device as a payment tool.

While near-field communication transactions in North America will grow faster than in Europe or Asia-Pacific, surveys suggest that the level of acceptance for these is fairly low in North America. The number of NFC transactions in Western Europe was 17.4 times higher than in North America.

E*Trade will launch remote check deposits on the iPhone in December and on Android devices early next year. The online brokerage follows its larger rival, Charles Schwab, which started offering the feature on both devices earlier this year. The nation’s biggest bank, Bank of America, is reportedly readying to roll out mobile deposits early in 2012, and ING Direct, which has been teasing customers by hinting at a launch date all year, says it has developers working on the app but cannot disclose an estimated time of arrival. In case you are not familiar with the Mobile Deposit, it is the Gold Standard mobile remote deposit capture feature that runs through mobile applications, developed by Mitek Systems and allows customers to deposit money into their accounts just by snapping a photo of a check using a smartphone. It’s quick, it’s revolutionary, and it’s starting to gain some serious traction

Although not the first to dip into the growing pool of app-based deposits, JPMorgan Chase is the first of the four big U.S. banks, including Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo.Chase’s app, which followed less than a dozen others in the financial world, most notably USAA Bank’s in 2009, has seen a sharp uptick in demand this year as consumers become even more reliant on their smartphones. The app, which allows deposits of up to $2,000 daily and $5,000 monthly, has seen $1.5 billion in remote deposits since the start of 2011, and some $2.03 billion in deposits since it launched in mid-2010. The Wall Street bank was recently named “Best in Class” for mobile banking 2011 by Javelin Strategy and Research, beating out 24 of the largest retail banking financial institutions by deposits. The award highlighted its QuickDeposit and QuickPay services, the latter allows person-to-person transfers over the phone.

Meanwhile, the move by E*Trade, a New York-based online brokerage, is especially notable because customers currently have to mail a check or use direct deposit or transfer or wire money from an alternative account. Unlike Chase and BofA, which have thousands of branches around the country, E*Trade only has 28. Under E*Trade’s new app feature, investors will be able to add as much as $10,000 a day from any location, which is more than Chase, as long as they have a connection to the Internet.“From personal experience, this speeds up the entire process,” said Eric Johnson, a manager in the company’s mobile products division. Prior to remote checking, “I’d often leave checks in my wallet waiting to drop it off at a branch, or leave it on my desk, waiting to take the time to fill out a deposit slip and mail it in,” he said.

Besides the convenience it gives to customers, E*Trade says launching the innovative feature attracts customers and increases the chances they’ll use its other products. “We’ve found as customers become more connected, they become more engaged, which over time we believe has a positive impact on customer retention,” Johnson said. Today, close to 17% of all E*Trade’s unique logins are on one of its mobile platforms, and more than 3% only use mobile apps to access their E*Trade account, the company said.E*Trade will soon expand its app to include other features such complex options trading and mutual fund trading, the company said. E*Trade isn’t the first major brokerage to offer such a feature — Charles Schwab beat it to the punch earlier this year in an effort to reach skyrocketing demand for high-tech mobile features.

In a Schwab survey of 2,000 customers taken just before the summer, some 69% of Americans ages 18 to 44 showed interest in depositing checks using a mobile phone, citing convenience as the primary reason. According to that same Schwab poll, some 35% of Americans in that age group have used their smartphone for banking or investing activities, and most prefer to do so on their own time, particularly while at home, on vacation or during the weekend. When it launched the app this past summer, the E*Trade rival touted it was “one of the only financial services firms to provide its clients with integrated mobile deposit capabilities for both bank and brokerage accounts.”

On the consumer’s end it’s simple. A banker downloads an app that supports this service on their phone: Chase Mobile, Schwab Mobile, USAA Mobile or E*Trade Mobile Pro, among others.For Chase and E*Trade’s services, clients select which account they would like to deposit the funds, enter the deposit amount, take a photo of the front and back of the endorsed check, and hit “submit.” “Within 20 seconds you’re done,” Johnson said. The deposited checks immediately become void once accepted – and while E*Trade recommends customers retain checks for 45 days for their records, they technically can be destroyed once the transaction goes through. The system works similar to something called electronic check conversion, which is a term used to describe a process in which a check is simply used as a source of information, rather than the actual form of payment, according to the Federal Reserve. When a customer snaps a photo of a check, the system reads the check number, account number, and the number that identifies the financial institution. The information is used to make a one-time electronic payment from an account, which is called an electronic fund transfer, the Fed Reserve says.

While the entire process may only take a few seconds from the customer’s point of view, the deposits are still subject to standard hold times, just like a regular check. For E*Trade, if the deposit was made to a bank account, the first $200 would be made available for withdrawal immediately, then the next $4,800 would be available on the second day, with the remaining funds appearing on the fifth business day. For brokerage deposits, the funds will be available for investing on the fifth business day after posting to the account.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/11/21/money-in-flash-literally-rivals-race-to-adopt-remote-deposit/#ixzz1f2fv0G8R

“The investments in mobile made by financial services institutions, along with the continued growth in smartphone adoption, have had a truly positive effect on the use of mobile financial services,” says Sarah Lenart, comScore vice-president for Marketing Solutions. “New apps and mobile-enhanced sites have made it easier for customers to seek out financial information using mobile devices. With tablets and other web-enabled connected devices gaining popularity in addition to smartphones, financial service institutions are poised for additional growth in mobile access.”

Nearly 14% of the total U.S. mobile audience (32.5 million users) accessed mobile banking services in June 2011, up 21% from the fourth quarter of 2010. Mobile credit card services saw an even greater increase, with 18.4 million mobile users accessing credit card information, up 23%. Mobile auto and property insurance services also exhibited strong gains as 7.2 million mobile users accessed insurance information on their devices—a 19% increase.

With the steady growth in smartphone adoption over the past year, the use of apps to access mobile financial information has grown as well. In particular, mobile banking and credit card app usage have seen sizeable increases. 12.7 million mobile users reported having used a banking app in June (up 45%), while 6 million users used a credit card app (up 43%).

An analysis of credit card customers’ engagement with various account channels shows users reporting more frequent access through mobile channels than fixed-line computers, with 62% of credit card customers reported using an app to visit a bank’s web site at least once a week, and 52% percent reported checking in with the same frequency via a mobile browser. In comparison, only 34% of users responded checking into their accounts with the same frequency from a fixed-line computer.

Email:
White-collar professionals often are required to use email to some extent during their workday. However, it is evident that a generation gap exists in email usage. The Lexis Nexis Technology Gap Survey indicated that baby boomers (age 47 and older, as of 2011) use email 27 percent less than Generation X workers (ages 32 to 46) and 39 percent less than Generation Y workers (ages 31 and younger).

Instant Messaging:
Instant messaging is a useful tool in the workplace, because it has been found to reduce the amount of time consumed by distractions, according to “Science Daily.” However, the Lexis Nexis survey indicates a distinct generation gap in the usage of this technology. The survey reports that baby boomers use instant messaging 57 percent less than Generation X workers and 68 percent less than Generation Y workers.

Desktop/Laptop:
Laptop computers generally are considered to be a more advanced technology than traditional desktop models. The Lexis Nexis survey indicates a generation gap in the use of laptop computers. The survey shows that baby boomers use desktop computers for all of their computing needs 12 percent more than Generation X workers and 22 percent more than Generation Y workers.

Mobile Phones and Smartphones:
Mobile phones and smartphones are common items in today’s technology-driven society. Research conducted by the Pew Research Center indicates that, as of 2011, 83 percent of Americans own a cellphone or a smartphone. However, in the workplace, a generation gap is clearly evident. The Lexis Nexis survey shows that baby boomers use a mobile phone (not a smartphone) in the workplace 36 percent less than Generation X workers and 67 percent less than Generation Y workers. Baby boomers use a smartphone in the workplace 35 percent less than Generation X workers and 73 percent less than Generation Y workers.

Apple iOS remains popular in second place with 28 percent of all smartphone users, and the same percentage among those who recently got a new device. But those figures could change quickly in the months to come. Every time Apple launches a new iPhone or makes it available on a new wireless carrier, there is an increase in their sales.

Changes in share aside, the smartphone pie is getting bigger. While 43 percent of all mobile subscribers in the US had a smartphone as of August, 58 percent of those who got a new device in the last 3 months chose a smartphone over a feature phone. The holiday season and the launch of new devices like the next iPhone could further accelerate smartphone adoption, though this is always tempered by the fact that many consumers are unwilling or unable to break their service contracts before they expire. In any event, the growing popularity of app-and-media friendly smartphones spells tremendous opportunity for those advertisers, publishers and developers eager to leverage mobile media.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project executed the poll and probed the benefits and drawbacks to owning a cell phone. The convenience of the phone can be both a blessing and a curse, but more often than not it’s a blessing. More than 50% of cell phone owners used their phones a minimum of one time to obtain info they required in a hurry. However, 27% said they were in a precarious situation in the last 30 days where they needed their phone, but did not have it. It was even higher, 42%, for young adults between the ages of 18 and 29.

Everyone expects the cell phone to be ready for emergency use. So you may not be shocked to learn that 40% of owners claimed their phones were handy in at least one emergency scenario. Smartphones put the final touches on turning a cell phone into a complete waste of time – oh, I mean an entertainment solution. As a result, over 40% phone users rely on their phone to distract them while bored. That figure jumps to 70% for young adults, of ages 18-29.

On the other hand, cell phone can infuriate their owners. Downloads taking excessive time frustrates 20% phone owners, while 16% were exasperated due to their attempt to read their tiny screen. Finally, a mere 10% claimed they were put out while inputting large amounts of text.

The Pew research reported that phone users access mobile email more than mobile social media, at 38% and 29% respectively. It came as no surprise, since both Nielsen and comScore uncovered a trend in growing mobile email. The survey included 2800 Americans and it revealed that smartphones are used differently by their owners than the more basic ones are by theirs.

Texting and snapping photos is far more popular among smartphone owners than feature phone users, 92% as opposed to 59%. Actually sending images to other people is a bit lower at 80% and 36% respectively. There is even a bigger gap when reporting Internet access. Smartphone owners came in at 84%, while feature phone owners at 15%.

As prices continue to drop, more and more people will jump on the smartphone train by becoming an owner, and as more people buy smartphones more greater use, features, and applications will come about.