studies

Walk into a biblical scholar's study and you'll be greeted by walls full of books: versions, concordances, commentaries, textual analysis, and whole sets of volumes. That's sort of what you get for free with Bible Seeker. It's a free biblical reference tool that includes the King James Version of the Holy Bible, Easton's Bible Dictionary, Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, and Notes from the KJV Translators, with many add-on components available. You can open each reference tool independently within Bible Seeker's interface, which makes it easy to search, print, and use these time-tested resources. … Read more

An overwhelming number of American children between the ages of 2 and 17 are playing video games, a new study released today by the NPD Group has found.

According to the research firm, 91 percent of kids between 2 and 17, or about 64 million people, are playing video games, up 9 percentage points compared to 2009.

NPD says that the growth has been measured across the market, but the strongest gains have come from kids between the ages of 2 and 5, which have increased their "gaming incidence" 17 percentage points since 2009. Females and teens between … Read more

Mobile application downloads are set to explode in the coming years, a new study from analyst firm Berg Insight has found.

According to the firm, total app downloads in 2015 will reach 98 billion. If they hit that figure, the firm says, the compound annual growth rate of downloads between 2010 and 2015 will be 56.6 percent.

Berg is far more bullish on the future of mobile apps than In-Stat. That research firm said earlier this year that it believes mobile app downloads will reach 48 billion in 2015, due mainly to the growing popularity of touch-screen-equipped smartphones. In-Stat … Read more

Android has taken a more commanding lead over iOS in the U.S., research firm ComScore is reporting.

According to the company, Android secured 43.7 percent of the U.S. smartphone OS market during the three-month period ended August 2011, jumping 5.6 percentage points from the 38.1 percent market share it had at the end of May. Apple's iOS platform came in second place with 27.3 percent market share at the end of August, ComScore said. In the three-month period ended May, Apple's operating system secured 26.6 percent of the U.S. smartphone … Read more

Phones from Apple and Samsung topped a J.D. Power satisfaction survey, which cited size, screen quality, battery life, and processing speeds as crucial. The survey also said satisfaction was high for 4G-capable phones.

Apple ranked highest in customer satisfaction among smartphone manufacturers while Samsung was No.1 among traditional mobile phone manufacturers, according to the results of two J.D. Power studies released Thursday.

Satisfaction is tied closely to the weight, size, quality of displays, processing speeds, battery life, and touch screen capabilities, according to the studies.

For example, satisfaction ratings are highest (8.1 on a 10-point scale) … Read more

Just when you think Apple can't lead another market, a retail research firm has come up with data to give the iPhone maker another victory.

According to RetailSails, Apple's brick-and-mortar stores generate more sales per square foot than any other U.S. retailer. The research firm, which examined the top 20 U.S. retail chains, said that Apple generated global sales of over $14 billion in its stores during the trailing four quarters. At the time of RetailSails' study, Apple had 327 stores with an average size of nearly 7,900 square feet. Thus, the research firm calculated … Read more

About 65 percent of the U.S. population, or over 200 million people, will have a smartphone and/or tablet in 2015, according to the research firm In-Stat.

The research firm did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment on how many people in the U.S. are currently using smartphones and tablets.

In-Stat's forecast today comes on the heels of similar findings by research firms that indicate the mobile space is set to explode even more in the coming years.

In April, research firm Gartner reported that over 296 million smartphones shipped worldwide last year. This … Read more

One of the many findings of a recent Pew Research Center study called "Americans and their cell phones" is that "42 percent of cell phone owners used their phone for entertainment when they were bored."

The study also found that 40 percent or respondents have used their phone to deal with an emergency and that "13 percent of cell owners pretended to be using their phone in order to avoid interacting with the people around them." For more, see Eric Mack's post "Ever faked a cell phone call? You're not alone.&… Read more

Today, Google bought Motorola Mobility and the world stopped.

While it did, I had time to open an e-mail from the folks at Hunch, a Web site that tries to take decisions out of your hands (and your head).

The e-mail contained an interesting infographic that offered some of the most graphic (if not always the most informational) illustration of the difference between Android users and those who prefer iPhones.

Firstly, and perhaps most stunningly, Android users are 86 percent more likely than iPhone users to live in the countryside. What can this possibly mean? Possibly nothing, but wait. Those … Read more