Based on the findings of a new consumer adoption study from ScanBuy, barcode scanning has exploded a substantial 700% in 2010.

As reported by the New York Times,  the report doesn’t look at usage beyond the company’s own technology. Still, ScanBuy is well known as one of the “industry leaders” in barcode scanning, and the data is particularly telling and not at all difficult to fathom.

Surprisingly, the Japanese continue to lead the U.S. – and no shortage of other markets – in terms of the prevalence of barcode scanning. An impressive 86% of all Japanese mobile users utilize barcode scanning on four or more occasions every month.

Based on the information presented in the report, 1D (UPC) and 2D (QR) codes are being scanned equally. Linking to a website, however, is the most popular action delivered by a 2D barcode scan, with 85% of scans.

Other noteworthy findings include:

• Health and beauty products were the most popular items among 1D (UPC) scans, with 21%. They were followed by groceries (14.4%), books (12.6%) and kitchen items (9.2%)
• Half of barcode users are ages 35-45 and predominantly male.
• Android was the most popular smartphone platform, with 45% of barcode users. Android was followed by Blackberry (27%), iPhone (15%), Symbian (9%), Java (3%) and Windows Mobile (1%).

Based on the data collected, mobile subscribers still prefer the mobile browser over downloadable applications when it comes to accessing services and information across a wide array of categories.

The study of 1,200 U.S. consumers “measured mobile user preferences, characteristics, satisfaction levels and other experiential factors” across four distinct categories: consumer products & shopping, financial services, media & entertainment, and travel.

In most cases, in fact, the mobile browser experience tops downloadable apps in a landslide.

“Within the consumer products & shopping as well as the media & entertainment categories, 66 percent of respondents cited that they prefer the mobile Web for accessing content compared to 34 percent who cited a preference for downloadable apps.”

Some other noteworthy findings include:

• Accessing maps and directions is the No. 1 mobile activity (81 percent) followed by three media-related activities: social networking (76 percent) accessing local information (73 percent) and reading news (68 percent). The top mobile finance activity is reviewing bank account information (67 percent).
• Shrink-wrapped entertainment such as CDs, games and DVDs comprise the second largest mobile purchase category, accounting for 43 percent of those surveyed.
• Males 30-49 years-old tend to be the most active content consumers and mobile purchasers; men outspend women, with 31 percent having spent $499 or more through their mobile device in the last 12 months, versus 23 percent of women who did so.
• Men also spend more time than women on financial and travel content, while more women (80 percent) engage with social media on their devices compared to men (70 percent).

“Though mobile apps continue to be extremely popular, mobile users aren’t ignoring mobile websites,” said Brad Rencher, vice president and general manager, Omniture Business Unit, Adobe. “This and other findings make it clear that companies can significantly enhance their customers’ mobile experiences and better drive mobile e-commerce revenue.”

New data from mobile media firm BuzzCity is generating lots of buzz for pointing to this expansion during Q3 2010.

According to the Q3 report, the global mobile advertising industry grew by 17% during Q3 2010. Some regions (like Libya), showed as much as a 154% increase during the quarter. China saw a 130% increase, and Kenya similarly grew 116%.

The report tracks the growth of the BuzzCity Mobile Internet Advertising Network across more than 200 countries around the world, where Indonesia placed number one worldwide in terms of ad-banners served.

All told, better than a dozen nations saw double digit growth in mobile advertising during the three month period of Q3.

But the “key countries that stand out as showing strong sustainable growth are India, with an average growth of 79% over the last quarter, Turkey 54% and the US 49%,” said BuzzCity’s CEO, Dr KF Lai.

While the UK is often considered to be on the cutting edge of all things mobile, the British saw only a 25% increase in traffic with about 239 million ad banners served.

If that eventuality manifests, Apple’s market share will be tied with Google and triple that of Microsoft.

“Apple’s acquisition of Quattro and Steve Jobs’s launch of iAd put a spotlight on mobile advertising,” said Paran Johar of Jumptap. And although Apple’s iAd network hasn’t grown as quickly as Apple CEO Steve Jobs initially predicted, his company’s foray into mobile marketing has captured a significant chunk of its competitors’ thunder in the mobile space with no sign of relenting on the horizon.

With the iAd platform poised to expand to the iPad in November, the growth of iAd in 2011 could be exponential.

“Google’s mobile-ad sales are experiencing fast growth,” said Jason Spero, director of mobile for the Americas at Google. “If we are losing share, this market is growing faster than any one we’ve seen,” Spero says in an interview. Google has increased its investments in mobile advertising and AdMob will launch new features in 2011,” he added.

By the end of 2010, IDC expects Apple and Google to each maintain a 21% share of the market.

Apparently, European mobile customers appreciate the opportunity to engage with mobile ads. And based on the findings of the Mobile Marketing Association and research partner, Lightspeed Research, a quarter of consumers would be more likely to respond to advertising in any media if it allowed them to do so using their mobile device.

The results of the study were published this month in the latest UK, French and German Mobile Consumer Briefing reports on advertising with mobile response options.

In completing the report, respondents were asked about “their awareness of and preferences for mobile response options and how it would enhance their engagement with advertising.” Of the most common mobile response options, texting a keyword to a shortcode was consumers’ preferred method for responding to adverts in each country.

Dr. Peter A. Johnson, VP of Market Intelligence for the MMA, said the findings of the latest study were particularly telling. “Enabling consumers to respond to traditional advertising methods via mobile is a great way of bringing adverts to life and increasing their impact with today’s highly mobile consumer,” he said.

The study was conducted from July 1st to July 5th and the research surveyed respondents (those who own a mobile phone, of course) about their experience with adverts that provided a mobile response option and “how they had acted as a result.”

The completion of the study spanned a year and involved the careful analysis of some 10,000 smartphone users during better than six million smartphone app-usage sessions in 16 countries.

According to the findings of the study, mobile browsers remain the most popular consumer of mobile data, but apps have kept pace – and kept even – with mobile browser usage. The data presented reveals that as mobile apps continue to become more popular aspects of daily smartphone use, mobile browsers will soon be bumped to second place.

Zokem, however, is already claiming that native data applications already capture 50 percent of all data traffic in terms of volume, and 46 percent of data usage in terms of time spent accessing content.

“Whereas mobile Web browsing is still growing fast, interestingly the use of native data apps is growing even faster, thanks to app stores and a constantly increasing number of pre-embedded easy-to-use mobile data apps to be found in today’s smartphones”, says Dr. Hannu Verkasalo, executive chairman of Zokem. “Only a few years ago Web browsing was about 70-80 percent of smartphone-driven Internet usage, but now it seems to be changing.”

The findings presented in the Zokem study indicate that developers are hitting one home run after the next with their applications that continue to provide such top-notch user experiences that the mobile browser is no longer as essential as it was in the not-so-distant past for many services and functionalities.

And a lot of mobile marketers are beginning to wonder if she may be right.

In a new interview covered by Reuters, Bartz explains her reasoning behind the belief that Apple can’t sustain its iAd platform.

According to Bartz, it all boils down to control. And Apple wants far too much “control” for its advertisers’ comfort.

“That’s going to fall apart for them,” Bartz says of Apple’s iAd platform. “Advertisers are not going to have that type of control over them. Apple wants total control over those ads.”"

In recent weeks, complaints have surfaced from advertisers who have already endured less-than-ideal experiences with Apple on iAds.

From the lengthy time it takes to launch an iAd (eight to ten weeks) to Apple’s obsessive control (particularly with regard to the creative aspects of in-app ad placement), Bartz doesn’t believe Apple can sustain a successful mobile marketing platform without first shedding some of its restrictive and controlling policies.

According to the findings of a new Nielsen study (one released in partnership with the AppNation conference in San Francisco) Android users continue to outpace other mobile platform users when it comes to clicking on an in-app ad.

Approximately one-third of Android users have clicked on an in-app ad.

Windows Mobile, however, finished in a surprisingly strong second place with close to 30% of all users clicking in-app ads.

Apple’s iOS was third place at 26%, while Palm users came in at 22% and Blackberry had only 15%.

The Neilsen report based its findings on an August survey of 4,000 mobile subscribers. All the subscribers in question were those who had downloaded at least one mobile application within one month of the survey.

According to Neilsen, a “younger demographic” is given as the likely primary reason why Android users rank so high among users who click on in-app ads.

It should be noted, however, that with youth often comes less money to burn. And, as a result, Android users show a strong preference toward free mobile apps.

”Either way,” the report reads, “they are more likely to click on an ad within an app, and that spells a clear monetization strategy for anyone targeting the fast-growing Android user base.”

Maynard Um with UBS Investment Research released one of his much-anticipated investor notes this week in which he prognosticated that Apple may very well sell upwards of 28 million iPads in 2011.

While tablet computers still have a long read to travel before the PC marketplace is decimated by the new, mobile competition, sales of tablet devices continue to further erode the PC market share in the United States.

“Sales of traditional notebooks appear to be feeling pressure from the iPad, causing a scramble by vendors to launch iPad-like tablets,” Um wrote. “We believe that a majority of this impact is occurring on the lower end of PC sales as the iPad is priced close enough to this range that it becomes attractive to consumers looking to make purchases within this segment.”

He did, however, make certain to note that “We are not sold that the iPad is purely cannibalizing PC sales, as the functionality of the iPad cannot yet deliver the functionality of notebook PCs. However, consumers who purchase iPads may be more willing to delay purchases and upgrades of existing PCs.”

Despite the substantial economic downturn of recent years, Apple’s tablet has managed to exceed sales expectations throughout 2010. As a result, Um believes that an economic rebound and greater competition in the tablet market will continue to drive future iPad and tablet sales in general through the roof.

Billed as a first-of-its kind event to be held next February 14-17 in Barcelona, Spain during the Mobile World Congress, the mobile-themed event will be squarely centered on all things mobile. But given the Apple slant of the event, the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and the developers who create applications for each aforementioned device will be featured prominently.

At Mobile World Congress 2011, the GSMA is partnering with IDG World Expo – organizers of Macworld – to produce “Macworld Mobile,” which organizers are calling “a mobile developer event for the Apple iPhone and iPad platforms.”

The Macworld Mobile iOS Developer Conference will deliver full-day, in-depth training sessions, technical workshops, targeting tools, and applications specifically designed for mobile application developers and engineers.

According to Mary Dolaher, chief executive officer of IDG World Expo, “At Mobile World Congress, we will help international iOS developers to strengthen their skills, as well as facilitate connections with other developers and the worldwide audience of mobile decision makers who attend.”

Although there are rumblings about Apple participating, it’s unlikely that the company will change its recent policy of not formally appearing at events not exclusively planned by Apple.

At present, GSMA has announced that the CEOs of America Movil, HTC, Vodafone and WPP will be among the industry leaders delivering keynote presentations at Mobile World Congress.