We’re very excited to announce the release of the official LA Kings mobile app sponsored by Verizon! Now fans can check upcoming matches & updated standings, read Kings news, view videos & photos, listen to podcasts, purchase Kings merchandise, share to their social networks, and so much more right on the app.

Announced on the LA Kings Website, Facebook page and Twitter profile last Friday afternoon, fans can’t get enough of the app. And in one day, the LA Kings app catapulted to a spot in the Top 20 free apps in Sports in the App Store. The app has already been mentioned on various news sources including socal Tech, LA Kings Insider, and iOSnoops. With the Android version releasing later this week, we expect there to be even more buzz.

According to Kings President (Business Operations) Luc Robitaille, “This app will not only efficiently deliver content to our fans, but it will provide an engaging interactive experience between the Kings and our users, and also the ability to share information with other users.”

We couldn’t agree more. CEO Michael Schneider said, “We couldn’t be more thrilled to work with the LA Kings, a team in our hometown. Our partnership with the LA Kings provides fans a brand new way to engage with their favorite team including the ability to watch behind-the-scenes video of players and events.”

To download the official LA Kings mobile app, visit http://road.ie/LAkings

midem 2012 is just around the corner. Bringing together the hottest names in music, tech, and business in the beautiful city of Cannes, France, this 4-day event aims to “enrich the passionate relationship between people & music, transform audience engagement & form new business connections.” Touted as the world’s largest music industry trade show, we’re proud to be a partner of midem for another year.

In addition to powering the official midem app for the iPhone, we’re powering their first iPad app this year. midem’s iPad app is a preview of what’s to come for our upcoming iPad product, so stay tuned.

MoRo CEO Michael Schneider is already making his presence known at midem: He gave a talk at the MIDEM Managers Village about the music potential in mobile apps, and he wrote a guest post on midem’s blog about the six mobile music trends to watch in 2012. We’ll also be co-hosting a Music Tech Meetup with SoundCloud, Spotify, Topspin, Webdoc, MXP4, Musixmatch, Next Big Sound, The Orchard, and midem on January 29th (RSVP for free here).

midem is from January 28- 31, 2012. If would like to stay updated on the latest midem news, download the official midem app at http://road.ie/MIDEM.

DLD Conference 2012 kicked off yesterday in Munich, Germany. Now in its 7th year, the DLD (Digital, Life, Design) International Conference is a three day event bringing together “thought leaders, creators, entrepreneurs and investors” from all over the world. DLD doesn’t stop at the conference, however; in fact, DLD is a year-long affair creating events and experiences that are focused on “innovation, digital media, science and culture which connects business, creative and social leaders, opinion-formers and investors for crossover conversation and inspiration”.

With partnerships with renowned companies like Microsoft, HP, Audi, Google, CNBC, comScore, and many more, DLD is the place to be for those who are excited about the future. Past speakers include Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Eric Schmidt, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and media entrepreneur Martha Stewart, among others.

This year, speakers include media entrepreneur Arianna Huffington, eBay CEO John Donahoe, Yoko Ono, and our very own Michael Schneider. Moderated by Hubert Burda Media’s Patrick Wolke, Michael spoke on the App World panel alongside Summly’s Nick D’Aloisio, Armen’s Felix Petersen, and Khoya’s Shila Siv Suleman.

We are proud to be a DLD partner, powering the official DLD app available for free download. The DLD app is the ultimate guide for conference attendees and non-attendees, with sections including Program (schedule), Speakers, News, Pictures, and Livestream. To download the official DLD app available for iPhone and Android, visit http://road.ie/dld.

In its 38th year, the 2012 People’s Choice Awards kicked off awards season last night at Nokia Theater L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles, CA. The People’s Choice Awards is the “only major awards show voted on entirely by the public for fan favorites in music, movies, and television”, and this year hundreds of millions of votes were casted. So who came out on top?

Katy Perry managed to steal the night with five People’s Choice Awards including Favorite Female Artist, Song of the Year (“E.T. featuring Kanye West), Favorite Music Video (“Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”), Favorite Tour Headliner for The California Dreams Tour, and Favorite TV Guest Star for her appearance in How I Met Your Mother.

Other Mobile Roadie artists who won include Demi Lovato for Favorite Pop Artist and Taylor Swift for Favorite Country Artist.

To see the full list of winners, visit the People’s Choice Awards site. Congratulations to all the winners and the nominees!

The International Data Corporation (IDC) estimated that Apple continued to lead the way in the tablet race with 64% tablet market share, followed by Android who captured around 35% market share in 2011, on average. Compare these figures to the previous year when Apple captured around 85% of the market.

And while Android tablet devices, most notably the recently released Kindle Fire, continue to gain in popularity this year, iPads continue to dominate tablet web traffic. According to comScore, 97.2% of all tablet traffic in the US came from iPads in 2011, a number slightly higher than the amount of Internet traffic from iPhones.

So what were users doing on their tablets in 2011? According to AdMob (Google), tablets were used primarily for 1) Playing games; 2) Searching for info on the Web; and 3) Emailing. Other activities included shopping, reading e-books, and consuming entertainment. The study also found that 43% of tablet users spend more time on their tablets than on their desktops/laptops.

It’s an understatement to say that tablets are growing in popularity. In 2010, there were 17.4 million tablet shipments. The following year, the number of tablet shipments more than quadrupled with 72 million tablets shipped worldwide. In 2012, it is estimated that tablet shipments will grow to 95 million units, surpassing netbook sales; and in 2015- 262.1 million units, a 1,442% increase in 5 years.

With the tablet market predicted to surpass $2 billion in worth by the end of 2012, the competition for a piece of the tablet market will be more intense than ever before.

1. By the end of November, there were over 234 million Americans (age 13 and older) who used mobile devices.

2. Over 91.4 million people owned smartphones in the US compared to the 63.2 million in 2010, an increase of over 44% (study by comScore).

3. Smartphone penetration in the US was close to 44%, up from 25% in 2010.

4. Over 62% of 25-34 year olds who owned mobile phones owned smartphones in 2011, up from 41% in 2010. Following behind, 54% of 18-24 year olds owned smartphones in 2011 (study by Nielsen).

5. Google Android was the most popular OS claiming 46% market share, followed by Apple iOS with 28%.

6. The Apple iPhone was the most sought-after smartphone device based on the fact that the only phones that are powered by iOS are iPhones. In the third quarter of 2011, the top 3 best-selling phones in the US were the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and HTC EVO 4G, according to The NPD Group.

7. Close to 7% of all US Web traffic was from smartphones and tablets, with smartphones accounting for about 2/3 of this figure (study by comScore). iOS  devices accounted for around 58% of non-computer online traffic while Android accounted for 32%.

8. In 2011, the most popular activity amongst smartphone users was texting or messaging (70%), followed by emailing (60%),  social networking (50%), talking on the phone (43%), and then surfing the Web (40%) (study by CloudTalk).

9. 38% of mobile subscribers downloaded apps. Among the smartphone users who downloaded apps, 83% had either an Android or iPhone device.

10. In December 2011, an average of 1.5 million smartphones were downloaded each day. On December 25th, however, it was estimated that more than 6.8 million iOS & Android devices were activated (study from Flurry).

The smartphone industry flourished in 2011, and will continue to experience growth in the new year; it is predicted that smartphones will outsell PCs in 2012 (according to multiple industry sources). So here’s to another great year in mobile!

Today, there are more than 1 million apps in the major app stores, according to Mobilewalla, with Apple App Store and Android Market accounting for around 91%. The App Store leads with over 590,000 apps, followed closely behind by Android Market with over 380,000 apps. Apps in Amazon Appstore, Blackberry App World, Nokia Ovi Store, and Windows Phone Marketplace account for the remaining 9% of apps.

Image courtesy of Apple

Apple App Store
The popularity of apps has grown tremendously in a short period of time. It was only three years ago in July 2008 that Apple released their App Store, the first of its kind, with 500 apps and 0 downloads. In one year, the App Store grew over 10,000% to have over 55,000 apps and over 1 billion downloads. And in two years, the App Store grew to have over 225,000 apps and over 5 billion downloads. In July 2011, the App Store had over 425,000 apps and over 15 billion downloads worldwide. According to Mobilewalla, an average of 745 apps are released daily.

Currently, there are over 590,000 apps which have been downloaded over 18 billion times in the App Store- an increase of 162% and 260% in App Store size and downloads, respectively, in a little over a year.

Image courtesy of Google

Android Market
Android Market, on the other hand, was released by Google in October 2008. In March 2009, Android Market had around 2,300 apps available. A little over a year later in August 2010, there were over 80,000 apps available and 1 billion downloads. In July 2011, the Android Market grew to 250,000 apps and over 6 billion downloads. 543 apps on average are released daily, according to Mobilewalla.

Currently, there are over 380,000 apps and over 10 billion downloads in the Android Market- an increase of 375% and 900% in Android Market size and downloads, respectively, in a little over a year.

Free Apps
While the App Store leads in the number of apps and downloads, Android Market is a leader in free apps. Out of the hundreds of thousands of apps in the Android Market, over 67% are free compared to the 37% of apps in the App Store. In fact, Windows Phone Marketplace follows behind the Android Market with 52%.

Revenue
A recent study conducted by Distimo, an app store analytics firm, found that iPhone apps in the App Store generate 4 times as much revenue as apps in the Android Market do. They found this figure by examining the top 200 grossing apps of 2011. Distimo also found that half of the revenue from the top 200 grossing apps in the App Store came from apps that follow the “freemium” business model- free apps that collect revenue by offering exclusive or advanced content- compared to the 65% of revenue that “freemium” apps in the Android Market produced.

Another study from Piper Jaffray, a leading middle-market investment bank, concluded that the App Store controls around 85 to 90% of total app revenue market share, producing around $3.4 billion in revenue for developers compared to the $240 million in revenue in the Android Market.

While results may vary, what is known is that the mobile app industry is lucrative.

What’s Next for Mobile Apps
It’s truly amazing to see how fast apps have grown in these few years- from zero apps to over one million, from no app stores to dozens, and from zero app downloads to over tens of billions, the popularity and profitability of mobile apps is undeniable. We’re looking forward to what lies ahead for the mobile industry in 2012.

The top artist of 2011, according to Billboard Magazine, is none other than Adele. With an album that spent 13 weeks on top of the Billboard 200, sold more than 13 million copies worldwide, and garnered 6 Grammy nominations, Adele is a music phenomenon who is exploding not only in the music industry but in the mobile world as well.

It was only a few months ago that Adele launched her official mobile app powered by Mobile Roadie, but already it is being recognized not just by fans but by industry experts as well. The App Store editorial team has chosen the official Adele app as one of 2011′s best apps, featuring it on the front page under the Music apps category of App Store Rewind 2011 (iTunes France).

The official Adele app is featured alongside popular interactive music apps djay for iPhone & iPod, Songify, and Tap DJ, as well as Biophilia, which is Bjork’s interactive studio album in the form of an app that cost 3 to 4 times more than a regular album.

We’re honored to be chosen as one of the best apps in the App Store, and congratulations to Adele. To download her app, visit http://road.ie/adele

But what really made a jump this year was online sales, specifically online sales made through mobile devices this past weekend (Data from IBM Coremetrics Benchmark Reports).

On Cyber Monday, online sales reached $1.25 billion, an increase of 22% from $1.025 billion last year. Mobile devices accounted for 10.75% of online site traffic, an increase of 162% from 3.88% in 2010, while mobile sales accounted for 6.6% of Cyber Monday sales, an increase of 193% from 2.3% in 2010.

On Black Friday, an estimated $816 million in online sales was made, up 26% from last year’s Black Friday sales of $648 million. Mobile devices accounted for 14.33% of online site traffic, up 157% from last year’s 5.56%, while mobile sales accounted for 9.8% of Black Friday online sales, up 210% from 3.2% of last year’s sales.

On both days, the #1 mobile device of choice for consumers to shop from was the iPhone, followed by the iPad, and then Android. See chart below:

Retail sales made from mobile devices will continue to grow due to the increase in smartphone owners, better technologies that are making it more easy to shop with a mobile device, and the 24/7 convenience of shopping online.

Last night was the much-anticipated 54th Annual Grammy Awards Nominations Concert at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.

Kayne West received the most nominations- 7 in total- followed closely by Adele, Bruno Mars, and Foo Fighters with 6 nods each.

Adele received nods for Album of the Year (21), Record of the Year (“Rolling in the Deep”), Song of the Year (“Rolling in the Deep”), Best Pop Solo Performance (“Someone Like You”), Best Pop Vocal Album (21), and for Best Short Form Music Video (“Rolling in the Deep).

Foo Fighters received nods for Album of the Year (Wasting Light), Best Rock Song (“Walk”), Best Rock Album (“Foo Fighters”), Best Rock Performance (“Walk”), Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance (“White Limo”), and for Best Long Form Music Video (“Back and Forth”).

Mobile Roadie artists to receive nods, in addition to Adele & Foo Fighters, include Katy Perry who is nominated for Record of the Year (“Firework”) & Best Pop Solo Performance (“Firework”), Taylor Swift who is nominated for Best Country Solo Performance (“Mean”), Best Country Song (“Mean”), & Best Country Album (Speak Now). David Guetta received nods for Best Dance Recording (“Sunshine”), Best Dance/Electronic Album (Nothing but the Beat), and P!nk is nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance (“F***in’ Perfect).

Other Mobile Roadie artists include Swedish House Mafia, Chris Brown, Jason Aldean, Eric Church, George Strait, Yellowjackets, and a few more.

Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees when the winners are revealed at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards on February 12, 2012.