Apple released its third-generation iPad just over three weeks ago, and the company managed to sell more than 3 million units in less than four days of availability. The sleek slate has since launched in a number of additional markets and according to ad network Chitika’s real-time iPad tracker, it took Apple’s new iPad just three weeks to account for 10% of all iPad traffic across its network. The new iPad’s share of iPad traffic peaked at 16.2% on the morning of April 8th, and the full-day average for the new iPad’s traffic share reached 10% for the first time that day. “The 10% threshold is much more than an indicator of adoption; symbolic meaning cannot be dismissed,” Chitika’s Gabe Donnini wrote in a post on the company’s blog. ”Simply put, The new iPad stands as a prime example of what any company could hope for. IDC reports that Apple holds the place of the most dominant tablet manufacturer in the world, and with consumers on the verge of viewing the idea of a tablet as synonymous with an iPad, the odds are looking pretty good. This optimism is also mirrored in Apple’s stock price, which has risen over 100% in the last twelve months.”

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A new study suggests that more than half of all Internet traffic is generated by non-human sources such as hacking software, scrapers and automated spam mechanisms. The majority of this non-human traffic, according to cloud service provider Incapsula, is potentially malicious. The study is based on data collected from 1,000 websites that utilize Incapsula’s services, and it determined that just 49% of Web traffic is human browsing. 20% is benign non-human search engine traffic, but 31% of all Internet traffic is tied to malicious activities. 19% is from ” ‘spies’ collecting competitive intelligence,” 5% is from automated hacking tools seeking out vulnerabilities, 5% is from scrapers and 2% is from content spammers. ”Few people realize how much of their traffic is non-human, and that much of it is potentially harmful,” Incapsula co-founder Marc Gaffan told ZDNet. Incapsula, coincidentally, offers services aimed at securing small and medium businesses.

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Global mobile data traffic is expected to increase 18-fold over the next five years to 10.8 exabytes per month according to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index Forecast (VNI). Cloud traffic is expected to account for 71%, or 7.6 exabytes per month, of total mobile data traffic by 2016. In 2011, cloud traffic accounted for only 45% of mobile data traffic, or 269 petabytes per month. It is projected that there will be more than 10 billion mobile Internet-connected devices in 2016, exceeding the world’s projected population of 7.3 billion individuals. The surge in smartphone adoption — which is expected to hit 8 billion in 2016 — is the core driver behing the massive mobile data growth expected in the coming years. From 2011 to 2016, Cisco estimates that global mobile data traffic will outgrow global fixed data traffic by three times. Read on for Cisco’s press release.

Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast Projects 18-Fold Growth in Global Mobile Internet Data Traffic From 2011 to 2016

Mobile Cloud Traffic to Account for 71 Percent, or 7.6 Exabytes per Month, of Total Mobile Data Traffic by 2016, Compared to 45 Percent, or 269 Petabytes per Month, in 2011

SAN JOSE, Calif. and LONDON – Feb. 14, 2012 – According to the Cisco® Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2011 to 2016, worldwide mobile data traffic will increase 18-fold over the next five years, reaching 10.8 exabytes per month — or an annual run rate of 130 exabytes — by 2016.

The expected sharp increase in mobile traffic is due, in part, to a projected surge in the number of mobile Internet-connected devices, which will exceed the number of people on earth (2016 world population estimate of 7.3 billion; source: United Nations). During 2011−2016 Cisco anticipates that global mobile data traffic will outgrow global fixed data traffic by three times.
The forecast predicts an annual run rate of 130 exabytes of mobile data traffic, equivalent to:

- 33 billion DVDs.
- 4.3 quadrillion MP3 files (music/audio).
- 813 quadrillion short message service (SMS) text messages.

An exabyte is a unit of information or computer storage equal to 1 quintillion bytes.

This mobile data traffic increase represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 78 percent spanning the forecast period. The incremental amount of traffic being added to the mobile Internet between 2015 and 2016 alone is approximately three times the estimated size of the entire mobile Internet in 2012. The following trends are driving these significant increases:

1. More Streamed Content: With the consumer expectations increasingly requiring on-demand or streamed content versus simply downloaded content, mobile cloud traffic will increase, growing 28-fold from 2011 to 2016, a CAGR of 95 percent.
2. More Mobile Connections: There will be more than 10 billion mobile Internet-connected devices in 2016, including machine-to-machine (M2M) modules — exceeding the world‟s projected population at that time of 7.3 billion. (One M2M application is the use of wireless networks to update digital billboards. This allows advertisers to display different messages based on time of day or day-of-week and allows quick global changes for messages, such as pricing changes for gasoline).
3. Enhanced Computing of Devices: Mobile devices are becoming more powerful and thus
able to consume and generate more data traffic. Tablets are a prime example of this trend generating traffic levels that will grow 62-fold from 2011 to 2016 — the highest growth rate of any device category tracked in the forecast. The amount of mobile data traffic generated by tablets in 2016 (1 exabyte per month) will be four times the total amount of monthly global mobile data traffic in 2010 (237 petabytes per month).
4. Faster Mobile Speeds: Mobile network connection speed is a key enabler for mobile data traffic growth. More speed means more consumption, and Cisco projects mobile speeds (including 2G, 3G and 4G networks) to increase nine-fold from 2011 to 2016.
5. More Mobile Video: Mobile users want the best experiences they can have and that generally means mobile video, which will comprise 71 percent of all mobile data traffic by 2016.
The Cisco study also projects that 71 percent of all smartphones and tablets (1.6 billion) could be capable of connecting to an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) mobile network by 2016. From a broader perspective, 39 percent of all global mobile devices (more than 4 billion), could be IPv6-capable by 2016.

Impact of Mobile Devices/Connections
- The increasing number of wireless devices and nodes accessing mobile networks worldwide is the primary contributor to traffic growth. By 2016, there will be more than 8 billion handheld or personal mobile-ready devices and nearly 2 billion machine-to-machine connections, such as GPS systems in cars, asset tracking systems in shipping and manufacturing sectors and medical applications for making patient records more readily available.
- Smartphones, laptops and other portable devices will drive about 90 percent of global mobile data traffic by 2016.
- M2M traffic will represent 5 percent of 2016 global mobile data traffic while residential broadband mobile gateways will account for the remaining 5 percent of global mobile data traffic.

Impact of Traffic Offload from Mobile Networks to Fixed Networks
- To address the rise in demand for the mobile Internet, service providers are increasingly looking to offload traffic to fixed/Wi-Fi networks.
- In 2011, 11 percent, or 72 petabytes, per month of total mobile data traffic was offloaded. By 2016, 22 percent, or 3.1 exabytes, per month of total mobile data traffic will be offloaded.
- Without offloading, the 2011-2016 global mobile data traffic CAGR would be 84 percent
instead of 78 percent.
- Should all aspects of mobility be taken into consideration, such as cellular traffic, traffic
offloaded from cellular networks and fixed/Wi-Fi traffic generated from portable devices, the total amount of mobility traffic would be more than four times the Cisco Mobile VNI forecast‟s 2016 cellular traffic level.
1. In 2011, the sum of cellular traffic; cellular offload traffic; and fixed/Wi-Fi traffic from portable devices totaled 11.5 exabytes per month:
- Cellular is 5.2 percent or 597 petabytes per month
- Cellular Offload is 0.6 percent or 72 petabytes per month
- Fixed/Wi-Fi is 94.2 percent or 10.9 exabytes per month
2. In 2011, fixed/Wi-Fi traffic was more than 18 times greater than cellular traffic.
3. In 2015, the sum of cellular traffic; cellular offload traffic; and fixed/Wi-Fi traffic
from portable devices totaled 44.1 exabytes per month:
- Cellular is 16 percent or 6.9 exabytes per month
- Cellular offload is four percent or 2.0 exabytes per month
- Fixed/Wi-Fi is 80 percent or 35.2 exabytes per month o In 2015, Fixed/Wi-Fi traffic will be more than five times greater than cellular traffic.

Key Regional Growth Projections
According to the updated forecast by Cisco, the following regions are experiencing the greatest growth.
- Middle East and Africa will have the highest regional mobile data traffic growth rate with a
CAGR of 104 percent, or 36-fold growth.
- Asia-Pacific will have an 84 percent CAGR, or 21-fold growth.
- Central and Eastern Europe will have an 83 percent CAGR, or 21-fold growth.
- Latin America will have a 79 percent CAGR, or 18-fold growth.
- North America will have a 75 percent CAGR, or 17-fold growth.
- Western Europe will have a 68 percent CAGR, or 14-fold growth.

Impact of Faster Global Mobile Network Connection Speeds
The average mobile connection speed doubled last year and is expected to increase nine-fold by 2016. Mobile connection speeds are a key factor in supporting and accommodating mobile data traffic growth.

Cisco Mobile VNI Forecast Methodology
The Cisco mobile VNI study relies upon independent analyst forecasts and real-world mobile data usage studies. Upon this foundation are layered Cisco‟s own estimates for mobile application adoption, minutes of use and transmission speeds. Key enablers such as mobile broadband speed and device computing power are also factored into Cisco VNI projections and findings. A detailed methodology description is included in the complete report (see link below).

The results of the current forecast represent increased amounts of traffic for the years 2011 to 2015, reflecting faster-than-expected growth from the previous Cisco VNI mobile forecast released in February 2011. In last year‟s study, 2011 mobile Internet traffic was forecast to grow at 131 percent. This year, actual mobile Internet growth 2011 was estimated to be 133 percent.

Adoption of Apple’s latest version of OS X stalled in October following a strong start that saw OS X Lion downloaded more than 1 million times during its first day of availability this past July. Ad network Chitika analyzed its recent traffic and found that Lion’s share among all operating systems is just over 1.5%, barely a blip on the radar. Usage of the new OS had grown at an average rate of 4.05% each month between June and September, but since then its share has increased at an average rate of just 0.98% per month. Read on for more.

Lion’s growth in usage share among other versions of OS X also fails to impress. Chitika reported in late September that Lion’s usage share had climbed to 14.18% since launching, as Snow Leopard dipped to a 55.5% usage share. In just over a month since that report, Lion gained less than 2 percentage points to reach 16% and, surprisingly perhaps, Snow Leopard’s usage share increased half a point to 56%.

“Apple’s ‘most advanced’ operating system OS X Lion (formally OS X 10.7) hasn’t exactly been their most popular release,” Chitika’s Ryan Cavanagh wrote on the company’s blog. ”According to Apple’s Press page, Lion sales were hot over the first few days, even seeing over one million downloads in the first day. However, since then the latest version of OS X has faced criticism from both users and reviewers alike.”

Cavanagh suggests that issues such as Wi-Fi instability and poor battery performance on MacBook Pro models could be among the causes of hesitation among Mac users. ”Lion’s adoption rate has been less than stellar, to say the least,” Cavanagh added. “While we are seeing consistent monthly growth, Lion isn’t taking off the way some had anticipated.”

Apple released the latest version of its iOS platform to the public last week on October 12th and within five days, the platform accounted for more than 20% of all iOS traffic on Chitika’s ad network. Chitika Insights, the network’s research arm, this week revealed the results of a seven-day study that monitored iOS 5 web traffic. On October 11th, the day before iOS 5 became available to the public, the new build was barely a blip on the radar. IOS 5 accounted for 10% of the impressions served to Apple’s mobile devices on the 14th and by the end of the day on October 17th, it claimed more than 20% of iOS impressions. “The sudden surge in iOS 5 adoption is likely due to the fact that that a large portion of Apple consumers fall under the category of “early adopter’, ” Chitika’s Ryan Cavanagh wrote on the company’s blog. Cavanagh also noted that iOS 4 is currently still the predominant version of the platform on its network, but he expects that to change soon.

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Police in Abu Dhabi and Dubai said the number of reported traffic accidents plunged during Research In Motion’s recent three-day BlackBerry outage. According to The National, accidents fell 20% in Dubai and 40% in Abu Dhabi. Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim from the Dubai Police department said his force saw the largest decrease among young drivers and men. “The accidents that occur from the use of these devices range between minor and moderate ones, but at times they are deadly,” Tamim explained. “Absolutely nothing has happened in the past week in terms of killings on the road and we’re really glad about that,” Brigadier General Al Harethi, from Abu Dhabi’s police department said. “People are slowly starting to realize the dangers of using their phone while driving. The roads became much safer when BlackBerry stopped working.” According to The National, there is typically a fatal accident in Abu Dhabi every two days and an accident every three minutes in Dubai.

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Millennial issued its June Mobile Mix report Friday morning, and it paints a picture that is very similar to May. Android was once again the most popular smartphone operating system in the month of June as it ticked up one percentage point to receive 54% of all impressions served by the Millennial Media network. iOS lost a point to fall to 26% while RIM shed two points to fall to 15%. Symbian and Windows Phone each gained a point to account for 3% and 2% of the impressions served, respectively. Of note, however, Windows Phone usage was up 31% quarter-over-quarter and BlackBerry OS usage was up 29% over the same period. Apple’s iPhone was still the top device Millennial saw in June with a 16.19% share, nearly triple the BlackBerry Curve, which was the second most popular device at 5.57%. The Motorola DROID filled the No. 3 spot with 2.95%, and the Samsung Nexus S and current-model BlackBerry Bold rounded out the top-5 with 2.71% and 1.99%, respectively. Apple was also the top vendor in June, as its devices accounted for 30.76% of Millennial impressions. Samsung was the No. 2 OEM with 14.94% and RIM held the No. 3 spot with 11.76%. Additional charts outlining more key data from Millennial’s Mobile Mix report follow below.

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Microsoft secretly participated in a recent $25 million funding round for Israel-based navigation solutions provider Waze, Israeli tech site TheMarker reported last week. Microsoft makes very few investments each year according to TheMarker’s source, but the tech giant apparently took quite an interest in Waze’s unique brand of navigation apps. “Waze is a social mobile application providing free turn-by-turn navigation based on the live conditions of the road. 100% powered by users, the more you drive, the better it gets,” the company’s website states. The company’s apps provide free voice-guided navigation to users, and also provide real-time data such as traffic conditions and speed trap alerts based on both automatic and manual feedback from each of Waze’s 4.5 million users around the world. While the terms of Microsoft’s investment were not revealed, the move is an interesting one — Microsoft is now in bed with Nokia, owner of navigation giant Navteq, and it will supply the OS for Nokia’s smartphones moving forward. Microsoft has already announced that it will use Navteq to power future navigation solutions in its Windows Phone OS, but it looks like a unique version of Waze for Windows Phone is in the works as well.

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According to a new report from NetMarketShare, the iPad accounts for 1% of global web traffic and 2.1% of web traffic in the United States — a figure that’s 53 times greater than its nearest tablet competitor, the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Similarly, its traffic is 76 times greater than that of the Motorola XOOM, and 306 greater than the BlackBerry PlayBook. In the United States, the iPad owns 25.5% of the mobile browser market, which is a smaller chunk than Android’s 31.6% share and the iPhone’s 35.2% market share. The research data is compiled from more than 160 million visitors accessing Net Applications’ network.

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TomTom has announced that its HD Traffic service, originally only available on the Go 2535 M LIVE personal navigation device, is now available for all drivers using its LIVE products. HD Traffic updates drivers every two minutes with road conditions, and it gathers its data from a variety of sources — including from other driers on the road with HD Traffic — to steer you towards the fastest possible route. The service is available on the GO 740 LIVE, XL 340 LIVE, and GO 2535 M LIVE, and TomTom dropped the subscription price from $119.95 per year to $59.95 per year. Hit the jump for the full release.

TomTom HD Traffic Service Now Available on All LIVE Models in the U.S.

TomTom, the world’s leading provider of location and navigation products and services, announced today the company is expanding its TomTom HD Traffic service to all LIVE models available in the United States. Until now, TomTom HD Traffic was only available on the recently released GO 2535 M LIVE. TomTom HD Traffic enables drivers get to their destination faster and is the most accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date traffic solution available today.

Now, owners of the popular GO 740 LIVE and XL 340 LIVE, as well as the newly released GO 2535 M LIVE, will not only have access to LIVE Services – including Local Search, Fuel Prices, and Weather Forecasts – but they will also have access to the award-winning TomTom HD Traffic*. Additionally, TomTom announced that the new annual subscription fee for LIVE Services will be offered at the new price of $59.95 per year, previously offered at $119.95.

“We are thrilled to expand availability of TomTom HD Traffic to more drivers in the U.S.,” said Tim Roper, President, TomTom, Inc. “Drivers using TomTom HD Traffic will typically experience travel times reduced by up to 15%, helping them get to their destinations faster and be more relaxed along the way.”

TomTom HD Traffic provides the most accurate traffic solution by reporting and capturing more actual traffic jams than ever before to help drivers avoid delays. Only TomTom HD Traffic will recognize traffic conditions for both major and secondary roads within the U.S. road network to help re-route drivers clear of traffic. Additionally, with real-time traffic updates every two minutes, TomTom HD Traffic will help reroute drivers around traffic more quickly and get them to their destination faster.

Expanding the availability of TomTom HD Traffic is one of the commitments that TomTom has outlined in its Traffic Manifesto, which is the company’s mission to reduce traffic congestion for everyone. Drivers using TomTom HD Traffic are helping to reduce traffic congestion for themselves and every driver around them.

The expanded service is available immediately to current and new LIVE Services subscribers. For more information about TomTom’s Traffic Manifesto, visit www.tomtom.com/trafficmanifesto.

Included in Apple’s “Q&A on Location Data” press release this morning was a rare and concrete statement that pointed to a future project the company is working on. “Apple is now collecting anonymous traffic data to build a crowd-sourced traffic database with the goal of providing iPhone users an improved traffic service in the next couple of years,” reads the release. Currently, iOS offers its users traffic-data through the bundled Google Maps application. It is unclear whether Apple is collecting this information to supplement the aforementioned offering, or — as rumors suggest — to build a new application that is less reliant on Google. Either way, it is an unusual statement from the Cupertino-based company about a future service.

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At SXSW, Google’s VP of  Location and Local Services, Marissa Mayer, took the stage and dished out some interesting Google data, including mobile stats. During her talk, Mayer revealed the following statistics we found interesting:

• 40% of all Google Maps usage is from mobile devices, and Christmas and New Years day mobile usage surpassed desktop usage for the first time.
• 150 million mobile users on Google Maps
• Google Maps Navigation, included on Android handsets, has guided users 12 billion miles a year, and the latest version with traffic routing saves users 2 years per day in time that would have been spent in traffic.
• Google Maps could get smarter, and become contextually aware. For instance, if you were trying to catch a flight, Google Maps could see your flight schedule to see when your flight was, then look and analyze real-time traffic data and weather conditions to try and figure out the exact time you should leave
• Google would like there to be better Google Maps for iPhone. “We like being the default provider, but we’d like to get some of these updates out to a broader audience. That’s still a debate/question we’re considering.”

With Google’s Android explosion continuing, it looks like there will plenty more Google Maps and Navigation users over the next few years.

Oh Google Maps, is there anything you can’t do? Via a blog post just moments ago, Google announced an incremental update to its Maps application for Android. The update, which is still technically in beta, brings real-time traffic routing right to your smartphone. “You don’t have to do anything to be routed around traffic; just start Navigation like you normally would, either from the Navigation app or from within Google Maps,” reads the announcement. “Before today, Navigation would choose whichever route was fastest, without taking current traffic conditions into account.” The software will work in both North America and Europe, and is waiting for you in the Android Market. Enjoy.

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According to the recent findings of Web app performance watcher Compuware Gomez, the addition of the iPhone 4 to Verizon Wireless’ network has had no noticeable affect on network performance. This could mean sales of the highly anticipated Apple smartphone aren’t quite as impressive as many thought they would be. It could also mean that Verizon’s network is so beastly that it’s gobbling up all that new traffic and laughing at the competition — namely AT&T, whose network has been the target of countless iPhone-related complaints over the past few years. Finally, it could mean that Apple’s move to dump Infineon’s chipset and baseband in favor of a Qualcomm offering was a wise, albeit late decision. Granted, Compuware Gomez is only using four days worth of data in its assessment, so it could mean none of these things. For the time being, however, Verizon Wireless subscribers can rest assured that their network is handling the added stress of Apple’s iPhone 4 in stride.

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Here’s a shocking statistic. California based search giant Google accounts for 6.4% of all Internet traffic. That’s right, every time you google something, compose an email in Gmail, or watch a YouTube video you’re helping the Mountain View company generate 6.4% of the Internet’s traffic; a number that is up more than 1% since January. The information comes courtesy of online security company Arbor Networks who also note that “only one global ISP handles more traffic than Google.” Arbor speculates that Google’s share could be even greater — somewhere between 8 and 12 percent — if you included traffic handled by Google’s “Global Cache deployments.” That is a lot of traffic.

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