Tag: tablets

Though it has long been believed that light interrupts sleep, this research focused specifically on mobile device screens.

Scientists and doctors have known for many years that exposure to light can interrupt a person’s natural sleep patterns and make it harder to obtain the rest we need, but recently the light from tablet computers was put to the test by a team of researchers from the University of Bergen.

What they found was that people who use tablets and other mobile devices causes harm even when used in the dark.

The researchers looked into the impact of using tablet computers at bedtime when compared to reading a traditional print book. What the scientists discovered was that after reading a tablet screen for only 30 minutes while in bed, a negative impact on sleep can occur. The results of this study were published within the Sleep Medicine journal. The intention of the research was to determine whether the backlighting of the screens of mobile devices actually had a meaningful impact on the quality of sleep a user would receive.

The researchers compared the use of tablet computers with the results from people reading print books.

The study involved the participation of 16 students with an average age of 25.1 years. The research participants were permitted to sleep in their own homes and beds in order to ensure that the results were not compromised by an alteration in the participant’s sleep environment. The researchers then used a polysomnography tool in order to be able to detect sleep disorders in any of the participants. Before the study, none of the participants suffered from sleep struggles.

When the participants read from print books, the problem with sleep struggles was deemed nonexistent among the participants who already did not have problems with insomnia.

On the other hand, the tablet computers appeared to have an effect on the level of sleepiness of the users. It is suspected that the light emitted from the device screen may have played a role in this impact. That said, it’s important to note that while it may have taken more time for tablet users to doze off, the duration of sleep was the same regardless of the use of a digital screen or a print book.

As smart mobile devices take their hold on the general population and make shopping easier through apps, mobile commerce is on track to grow 300% faster than traditional eCommerce by 2016.

Coupofy.com, a leading database of online coupon codes has observed mCommerce’s growth firsthand. In 2014 there were 560 million mobile coupon users who redeemed 16 billion coupons, this is expected to rise to 1.05 billion users and 31 billion coupons by 2019!

Data researched by Coupofy suggests that between 2013 and 2016 mobile shopping will have grown 42% compared to regular eCommerce’s 13%, and mobile users will spend a total of $600 billion in 2018, a 400% growth from 2014’s $200 billion.

Denmark, Norway, Sweden, China, and Spain are leading this growth, each seeing a rise of around 50% in mobile shopping popularity between the same time period. Emerging markets like India and Taiwan saw a 60% increase between 2012 and 2014 as mobile devices became more prevalent among their populations.

There has also been a parallel increase in overall mobile internet revenue streams, with more consumer apps being paid for, more businesses adopting mobile based work environments, and subsequently more advertisers and investors spending their budgets on targeting mobile users.

It’s no surprise that leading traditional eCommerce site Amazon.com is leading the charge in mCommerce, with 110% growth in 2014, earning revenues of $16.8 million. They are followed by the likes of Apple ($14 billion), Chinese store Jingdong Mall ($5.8 billion), Google Play ($4.4 billion), and QVC ($1.86 billion).

With increasing mobile device use among lower income consumers in Asia, their huge populations are set to account for almost of half of mobile spending by 2018. Some 68% of all Chinese online consumers say they have already shopped with a smart phone.

The most lucrative mCommerce market is Computer/TV/Multimedia, managing an average order value of $212. Apple Users spend on average $15 more than Android users per transaction, while Tablet users spend $36 more than their smartphone cousins. In the battle of the sexes men spend $24 more than women, but women spend the majority of their money on clothing & accessories while men prefer sports products.

Proving that user friendliness is a key driver of mCommerce growth, mobile users prefer shopping apps to their device’s browser.

This exciting new data can be seen in full with the following Coupofy infographic: http://www.coupofy.com/blog/mobile-commerce-growing-300-faster-than-ecommerce-infographic