On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

3DTV owners make good use of their purchase by watching 3D content on a regular basis, according to Strategy Analytics' latest research.

The analyst says 41% of 3DTV owners in Europe and the US watch 3D content at least once a day (if not several times a day), while over 66% claim to watch at least one 3D show weekly.

These findings should be encouraging to content producers looking to work into 3D content-- it appears there's an audience for 3D after all. And if there's quality 3D content, 3DTV ownership should also rise.

Strategy Analytics says “3DTV is confounding the skeptics and gaining traction with early adopters.”

The typical 3DTV owner has two pairs of 3D glasses-- while 13% don't own any.

The anlayst says the purchase of additional glasses is "seen as a barrier," with 53% of survey participants saying they would buy more pairs of 3D glasses if prices were lower.

Ultimately, customers would rather not have to wear 3D glasses to begin with-- even if the majority of 3DTV owners are ready to put up with glasses if the 3DTV experience proves to be entertaining enough.

Go 3DTVs: Buying Intentions and Early Adopter Feedback (Strategy Analytics)

iPowerUp launches 2 PwrVault products providing extra power to either Blackberry smartphones or the iPhone 4.

The PwrVault for iPhone 4 carries a 1680 mAh Lithium-Polymer battery, toegether with an iPhone dock connector, mini-USB port (for AC/DC/USB external charging) and a LED power gauge showing power status.

Coming in the form of a non-slip rubber case, iPowerUp says it extends talk time to up to 6 hours (with up to 350 hours of standby time), while also improving phone reception.

The PwrVault Hybrid for Blackberry (for Curve 9330, 9300, 8530, and 8520 models) has the same specifications as the iPhone model, with an additional solar panel on its back providing solar-powered recharing.

It comes complete with a kickstand (for optimised solar charging) and extends talk time to up to 7 hours (with 16 days' worth of standby time).

Go iPowerUp PwrVault

Based on its Q2 results, Gartner predicts WW mobile device sales will grow to around 12% by the year's end. And smartphones will lead the way.

One can safely say smartphones are on the rise-- at feature phones' expense, as customers in mature markets go for entry- or mid-level Android smartphones.

However W. European smartphone sales show Q-o-Q decline, as replacement sales start showing what Gartner says is "signs of fatigue."

Sell-in demand also slows down in Q2 2011, with a -4% Y-o-Y decrease due to inventory buildup during Q1 2011 in reaction to potential component shortages due to the Japanese earthquake.

Nokia still leads the WW mobile device market, with 22.8% market share (down from Q2 2010's 30.3%)-- even if Gartner says its smartphone sales are low due to market competition, low Symbian demand and inventory management issues in Europe.

Samsung comes 2nd, with 16.3% mobile device market share and sales totalling 69.8M-- 5M of which being Galaxy S II sales.

Following are LG (5.7% market share for Q2 2011) and Apple (4.6% market share, up from Q2 2010's 2.4%).

When it comes to smartphones, iOS and Android dominate the ecosystem with a combined Q2 2011 market share of nearly 62%-- double that of Q2 2010's 31%.

Gartner concludes with its forecasts for 2011-- predicting mobile device sales will grow to around 12% by the year's end.

Go Market Share: Mobile Communication Devices Q2 2011 (Gartner)

The CEA reports 39% of audio-interested consumers say they're willing to step up to high-quality audio equipment-- but are in need of education on what high-quality audio actually consists of.

The findings come as a results of the CEA's latest consumer survey.

The association says manufacturers and retailers are in a position to educate their customers on what constitutes high quality audio-- for instance, 43% of survey participants say FM radio provides "superior sound quality", while 43% describe HDTV audio as "high quality."

Consumers should also do their own in-the-field research, hearing the actual difference between different offerings-- after all, quality audio is as experimental (and subjective!) a field as HD and 3D video technology.

Go CEA Study Finds