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NEW YORK – October 6, 2008 – According to a recent online survey* conducted by ABI Research, nearly half (46%) of those who use social networks have also visited a social network through a mobile phone. Of these, nearly 70% have visited MySpace and another 67% had visited Facebook. No other social networking site reached 15% adoption mobile adoption.

“As in the online social networking space, there is clearly a large gap between the big two (MySpace and Facebook) social networks and the others,” says research director Michael Wolf. “ABI Research believes this is because consumers do not want to recreate entirely new and separate social networks for mobile, but rather want to tap into their existing social network and have it go with them via the mobile phone. For most, this means MySpace, Facebook, or even both.”

So what are these consumers doing when they access their mobile social network? The biggest features consumers use when accessing a social network on their phone is checking for comments and messages from their friends, with both of these features registering above 50% for mobile social network users. Posting status updates also has proven popular, with over 45% of mobile social users letting others what they are up to via their phone.

“The social network is increasingly becoming a central hub for communication across online and mobile domains for many consumers,” said Wolf. “To a degree, it allows them to centralize messaging, communication and even digital media consumption through a centralized property on various screens. We believe this centralization of a consumer’s digital lifestyle through social networks will only increase adoption of mobile social networking in coming years.”

“Mobile Social Networking User Snapshot” provides an insightful snapshot of current attitudes and perceptions relating to the mobile social networking landscape, as well as a few counterintuitive results. It forms part of two ABI Research Services: Consumer Video Technologies, and Mobile Content.

*(Survey conducted 2Q, 2008, of 500 users of online social networks.)

http://www.abiresearch.com/

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – September 25, 2008 - Two new approaches to home automation – “mainstream” systems based on standardized technologies and packaged components, and home automation as a managed service offered through a broadband or wireless service provider – have the potential for such broad market appeal that new research forecasts shipments to grow more than 50-fold between 2007 and 2013.

For 20 years, home automation systems were confined to two niche markets: luxury custom-designed and installed high-end systems that cover the whole home at a typical cost of $30,000-60,000 and up, and “do it yourself” X10 systems that tech-savvy customers typically bought online and installed themselves.

Now, however, according to ABI Research senior analyst Sam Lucero, “Home automation systems are becoming more mainstream and managed services are growing. ABI Research believes that they will appeal to a much wider public. Our forecasts indicate that the overall market will grow from a modest 237,000 systems shipped in 2007, to more than 4 million systems in 2013.”

By far the lion’s share of that growth will occur in the two new segments, “mainstream” and managed services. Mainstream systems are based on standard technologies and packaged components, as well as software that is integrated into other devices in the home, such as set-top boxes. They feature interoperable devices available from multiple vendors, as opposed to integrated single-vendor systems. Such products are typically sold via high-touch retail and “big box” outlets. Home builders are also using them as an option.

Managed home automation will show the strongest growth of all, with an anticipated 1.3 million shipments in 2013. Partnering with automation vendors such as 4Home, Portus, iControl, and uControl, broadband and telecom service providers are starting to offer such services, which provide functionality and remote monitoring via a computer or smartphone, as part of “quintuple play” bundles.

ABI Research’s recent study “Home Automation and Security” analyzes these trends and provides forecasts for home automation shipments and revenue, as well as the growth of the use of cellular wireless technologies in the security market. It forms part of three of the firm’s Research Services: Home Networking, M2M, and Short Range Wireless.

http://www.abiresearch.com/products/market_research/Home_Automation_and_Control

SINGAPORE – February 28, 2008 -The total number of 4G subscribers worldwide, including both LTE and WiMAX, is expected to exceed 90 million in 2013, but a number of milestones must be passed en route, according to a new forecast from ABI Research. At the end of 4Q 2007, says the firm, there were nearly 3.4 billion mobile subscribers worldwide, with 2.7 billion on GSM/EDGE/GPRS networks.

Worldwide WCDMA subscriber numbers hit 180 million in 4Q 2007. ABI Research expects migration to HSPA+ to begin in early 2010, and migration to LTE will commence by the middle of the same year. Vice president Asia-Pacific Jake Saunders comments, “We forecast the total number of WCDMA subscribers (including HSPA) to approach 720 million in 2013.”

Research analyst Hwai Lin Khor adds, “Some operators may not be ready to move on to LTE, as the peak data rates of 100 Mbps downlink and 50 Mbps uplink are achievable only with a 20 MHz spectrum band. That is a luxury that most operators may not have, and many may be content with the capabilities of HSPA+ or settle for suboptimal LTE data rates with whatever they have at the time.”

“While the long-term roadmap for CDMA2000, especially in relation to UMB, looks more uncertain, CDMA operators are taking advantage of current upgrade possibilities,” notes Saunders. Many have upgraded portions of their networks to EV-DO Rev A during 2007 while new CDMA entrants start with Rev A. ABI Research expects the total number of CDMA2000 subscribers (including 1x and various versions of EV-DO) to approach 800 million by the end of 2013.

ABI Research’s “Mobile Subscriber Database” is an online database that presents a macro view of mobile subscribers in different regions and countries on quarterly and annual basis. It provides technology splits within each subcategory from 2002 to 2013. It is a component of the Consumer Mobility Research Service.

ABI Research visit www.abiresearch.com,