Photo by: We Love Typography

The connected device is beng pursued by, location-based and social sharing trends, and there’s booming, effective Wi-Fi usage behind it all, according to latest Jiwire mobile audience insights report Q2 2012.

The quarterly report from JiWire, the location-based mobile media provider, examines the connected devices usage trends, location-based and social tagging trends and connected device adoption.

Wi-Fi Sees Mass Adoption

Of the approximate 315,000 public Wi-Fi locations in North America and records data from every ad request surveyed, Wi-Fi usage has increased by 240 percent over the past year, mostly led by the growth of smartphones.

The study shows that 35 percent of smartphone users would like to use public Wi-Fi, followed by tablets (17 percent), and 48 percent of Wi-Fi usage results from laptops compared to 70 percent this time last year.

“Consumers are becoming increasing connected and comfortable – if not somewhat dependent – on using both Wi-Fi and mobile apps on their smartphones and tablet.” says David Staas, interim CEO of JiWire.

Moreover, nearly 97 percent of on-the-go consumers use their laptops to connect to Wi-Fi at universities, and 72 percent and 8 percent of Wi-Fi usage in restaurants comes from smartphones and tablets respectively. Tablets Wi-Fi usage is mostly used in hotels (16 percent) and shopping malls (13 percent).

“This represents a major milestone: mobile devices are leading a category that has historically been considered laptop-centric, and in places like restaurants and in shopping malls,” said Dee Dee Paeseler, Director of Strategic Marketing at JiWire. “Now it becomes more about reaching the right audience in the right location with the right message, rather than focusing on the device or the type of connection.”

Location-based and social sharing trends

The buzz about location-based social sharing and the number of tools available to better target users have been growing.

With the rise of social sharing on mobile devices, the report found that 62 percent of on-the-go consumers tag their social sharing post. The report also revealed that over 91 percent of respondents spend more hours on the mobile applications, the most popular they use is Facebook, of which 88 percent location-tag their posts on a monthly basis or more.  Also, 51 percent of users reported using Instagram, with 31 percent location-tagging their posts on this social app.

Family and friends are favorites in terms of why people use location-tags, with 59 percent of these posts chronicling their travels and experiences. Moreover, about one-third of users are location-tagging their posts or photos due to the simplicity of sharing applications to connect with others nearby.

JiWire’s last survey in Q1 2012 also found that location based photo sharing is on rise, and driving the mobile trends. The report was supported by recent numbers released by Flurry, which stated that photo and video apps make up the fastest-growing app category from July 2011 through March 2012.

Connected Devices Adoption

The U.S. and U.K. both saw a drop in market share with the iOS, but it still holds the number one ranking. Apple’s iPhone lost 3.0 percent market share to the iPad and iPod Touch, which increase by 0.9 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

The entries of more 4G enable Android smartphones, such as the Epic 4G and Droid Razr 4G and Evo 4G, have helped Android to gain market share. In part, others popular Android-based devices, including the Nook and Samsung Galaxy SII, also see market share gains of 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent respectively, along with the Kindle Fire, which increased by 0.3 percent. The report, however, doesn’t mention the consumer’s adoption of latest Samsung Galaxy SIII smartphone, which is the best-selling Android phone till date beating iPhone record sales in a quarter.

JiWire also found that people without children who own mobile devices tend to also own tablets. In addition, parents are more likely to own tablets and location-tag their posts.