A new report out from mobile analytics firm Flurry shows that the audience reaching for their mobile devices and firing up apps during this year’s super bowl nearly rivaled the total TV audience — which is impressive considering this year’s event was the most watched TV program in history.

Flurry estimates that the number of users who launched applications in the United States between the hours of 3:15 PM PST to 7:15 PM PST on Sunday, February 5 totaled 98M.  The total television audience, according to Nielsen, reached 111M.  What’s most interesting is the mobile app engagement shown throughout the game.  Looking at the overall trends reveal a highly correlated, inverse relationship between app usage and game, halftime and commercial events.

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It’s always exciting when movers and shakers from two different sides of a given industry decide to get together and form strategic initiatives that clearly matches made in heaven. That’s why it was great to get the press release on Monday that announced the new initiative between telecommunication powerhouse Verizon and healthcare technology investment giant Health Communication Partners.

Advanced healthcare solutions made mobile by Verizon’s award winning wireless network = next generation solutions that can really move the needle in terms of our nation’s overall health.  We’re very excited to see what might come out of this.

Read the full release HERE.

A new survey published today by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) had some interesting findings in terms of social media and the large gap that exists between the attitudes on behalf of large brands and the investment being seen in both time and money.

The survey, called “Marketing in Today’s Economy,” surveyed more than 100 marketing executives across North America on their company’s use of email, mobile and social media marketing. The survey found that a full 90% of marketing executives surveyed use social media, and three quarters believe it has a positive impact on their business, yet more than half (54.5%) of respondents said their company’s marketing team spends less than 10 hours per week investing in social media.

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How to decrease cost while providing quality care – this is surely one of the key discussion points in every healthcare board meeting over the past decade.  At mobileStorm, we work with healthcare providers on a nearly daily basis to make sure the that healthcare communication solutions that we are bringing to market match the demands of the marketplace as well as the demands of the real world.

Dr David Lee Scher, a pioneer of mHealth monitoring techniques, has released a new list of ways that hospitals can decrease readmission rates and it matches most of our experience as well.

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In a new survey conducted recently by Robert Half Technology, it was found that 27% of CIOs polled currently have mobile apps, while another 27% are planning one by the end of 2012.

The survey, conducted by an independent research firm and based on telephone interviews with more than 1,400 CIOs from companies across the United States, also found that a full 43% are planning mobile apps for 2013 or later.

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Juniper Research, the UK based analysis powerhouse, released a new report earlier this month that places the usage rate of remote monitoring solutions much higher that previous projections.

According to their studies, cardiac monitoring will be the leading use of the new category of mHealth tools followed closely by diabetes and COPD chronic management.  Driving factors behind the increase are the increasing penetration of smartphones in the worldwide population along with projected increases in computing power.

Read the full release by Juniper HERE.

According to the Direct Marketing Association’s recent “Power of Direct” study, email brought in an average of $40.56 for every dollar spent in 2011, with that number projected to decrease to roughly $39.40 in 2012 as many marketers are “missing out on opportunities to fully capitalize on email’s power.”

“Too many programs fail to incorporate customer data effectively, to deliver more targeted and relevant emails,” says Matthew Kirsch, senior manager of online marketing at DirecTV. “The challenge with social and other new technologies is that an emailer can expend time and money chasing the newest thing and fall further behind on the nuts and bolts that will make meaningful and measurable improvements in his or her program,” he explains.

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The concept of mobile privacy has been thrown into the spotlight more than ever recently as the fiasco surrounding Carrier IQ has come to light.  As such, new mobile privacy guidelines are being proposed to combat the fears of consumers and help keep sensitive mobile data secure and private.

This week, Rep. Edward Markey introduced what could become federal legislation to add mobile privacy safeguards to mobile phone users in the United States.  Markey released a “discussion draft” of the proposed “Mobile Device Privacy Act,” which would obligate wireless operators and their partners to “notify subscribers if they employ mobile analytics measurement tools like the controversial Carrier IQ.”

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In email marketing, like all messaging, the content needs to be as relevant as possible to ensure effectiveness and a solid ROI.  In a recent article on PracticaleCommerce.com, the author details three simple tips marketers can use to improve communication relevancy.

The three main elements discussed are advanced personalization, enlisting dynamic content and using “date-triggered campaigns.”  These tips and more echo what we’ve been telling our clients for years in terms of improving everything from delivery, unsubscription rates, and of course, relevancy.

The full article is available here.

The hosting gurus and go to guys for actionable IT ideas, onlinetech.com, have released a new guide to preventing HIPAA violations in 2012. The piece goes over HIPAA’s new enforcement procedures, requirements that are coming in the pipeline as well as steps that any organization can take to avoid an audit or a violation.  These include…

Mobile Device Security
Business Associate Agreements
Internal Operations

The list assumes a very hardware centric environment with little management capabilities, but overall its a good quick read with some ideas on preventing a breach.

Read the full article here.