Open up your mind and say, ahh...

The majority of college students today use smartphones — although three-quarters don’t foot their own bills. Not surprisingly, this has changed the classroom dynamic. Some 88% text during class; 40% use their phones for last-minute test prep; and a quarter take their devices out during each class.

This infographic, created by HackCollege, delves into the intricacies of how college students in the U.S. use their mobile devices. The leading two operating systems are Android and Apple’s iOS, holding an almost equal market share of 43% and 42% respectively.

And the tidbit we pull out in honor of Halloween: 25% of college students who are smartphone owners have used their devices in mischievous ways.

How have cellphone behaviors changed since you were in school? Do you think mobile has redefined the college experience? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Created by: HackCollege

Google and Apple continue to eat up more of the smartphone market, while RIM and Microsoft continue to lose ground.

According to new data from comScore, 82.2 million people in the U.S. owned smartphone as of July 2011, a full 10% increase from April 2011. During this time, Google and Apple were big winners. Google is the market leader with 41.8% market share (up from 36.4% in April), while Apple is #2 with 27% market share (up from 26%).

The news isn’t as bright for RIM, Microsoft or Nokia though. RIM’s BlackBerry was the big loser, as its piece of the smartphone market dropped from 25.7% to 21.7% in just three months. Microsoft also experienced a drop from 6.7% to 5.7%. Nokia’s Symbian OS, which is on its way to retirement, dropped from 2.3% to 1.9%.

comScore also reports that 234 million Americans 13 and older use some type of mobile device, whether it’s a smartphone or not. Among the entire smartphone market, Samsung is the leader with a 25.5% share of U.S. mobile subscribers. LG and Motorola are next with 20.9% and 14.1% respectively. Apple is forth with 9.5% of the total market, an increase of 1.2% since April. RIM rounds out the top five at 7.6%.

Among these 234 million mobile Americans, more of them are using their phones for a variety of tasks. A full 70% of U.S. mobile subscribers are texting, up 1.2% from April. 41.1% use their phones for web browsing (up 2%) and 40.6% have used a downloaded app (up 2.8%). Social networking (30.1%), playing mobile games (27.8%) and listening to music (20.3%) are all up as well.

It’s tough to predict what will happen to the mobile market in the next few years. One report asserts that Windows Phone will overtake iOS by 2015, though we highly doubt that possibility, even with Nokia switching to WP7. For now though, Apple and Google are in a comfortable position, and it doesn’t look like there are any challengers ready to knock them off their perches.

Half of consumers are using their phones to help make shopping decisions, suggesting that old-style feature phones have a place in the market, according to a new survey.

The report, by Arc Worldwide, based on a survey of 1,800 U.S. mobile phone users and a smaller qualitative study with 30 mobile shoppers, shows 50% of consumers are using their mobile devices while shopping. Since the smartphone penetration rate in the U.S. hasn’t yet hit 50% that means that many consumers are using feature phones. In fact, such shoppers are the majority — 80% of those users are consulting their feature phones for purchases.

William Rosen, president and CEO of Arc, puts shoppers in two groups — heavy and light users. The former tend to be wedded to their phones and love experimenting with new apps. The latter view their cellphones as an inferior, on-the-go version of their computer. While many marketers are focusing on the former, Molly Garris, digital strategist at Arc, says that light users will remain the majority for some time. She suggests the best way to address the market right now is via multi-tiered campaigns aimed at users with smartphones and feature phones. Garris says Sephora is a good example of such a marketer; the brand has in-store displays directing shoppers to m.sephora.com, which can be accessed with a feature phone, but Sephora also has a barcode-reading app for those with smartphones.

Otherwise, the report also finds that what is becoming a considered purchase has been redefined. “What’s casual is now more considered,” says Rosen,”and what’s considered is more casual.” For instance, shoppers are finding that bringing their phone with them helps them research big, considered purchases like cars on the fly, but phones can also add a layer of complexity to simple purchases, like coffee. “Nothing more casual than buying a cup of coffee,” says Rosen. “But now Starbucks is using it to broadcast your location and pay for coffee.”

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, sjlocke

Here’s a crazy infographic on cell phone usage. If you can’t see it, click here.

Via: Online IT Degree