U.S. mobile social media usage rose by 37 percent in the past year, with 72.2 million Americans accessing social networking sites or blogs via mobile device in August 2011, according to research by comScore, Inc.

Almost 40 million U.S. mobile users – over half of the estimated U.S. mobile social media audience – visit social media sites via mobile each day, reports the research firm.

comScore’s research also shows that, right now, more mobile users access social media sites via their mobile web browser than via a social networking app (42.3 million compared with 38.5 million).

This is likely to change, however. The growth in users accessing social media sites via social networking app is much higher than the growth in access via mobile browser. In the last year those accessing social media sites via mobile browser rose by 24 percent, compared with the huge 126 percent growth in the audience for social networking apps.

1 in 6 Americans or 15 percent of U.S. adults now use an e-reader or electronic reading device, almost double the 8 percent in 2010. What’s more, of those Americans who don’t have an e-reader, 1 in 6 plan to get one in the next 6 months.

Based on a Harris Poll of 2,183 adults in July 2011, those with e-readers also tend to read more than American adults in general. While 16 percent of Americans read 11-20 books per year and 20 percent read 21 or more books per year, a third of e-reader owners (32 percent) read 11-20 books a year and over a quarter (27 percent) read 21 or more books per year.

Research In Motion’s (RIM’s) BlackBerry is doomed… and Apple’s iPhone will be relegated to runner-up… while Google’s Android operating system is set to become the market leading smartphone operating system. Well, that’s if eMarketer’s research is correct.

According to eMarketer, the end of 2011 will see the iPhone lose its market share leadership. At the same time, Android will end up installed on 37 percent of all smartphone handsets in the United States, a 13 percent increase since 2010.

If the conversion rates of telecommunications marketers are any indication, mobile ads are about 600 percent more effective than standard banner ads.

Research by MediaMind shows that, among telecommunications marketers at least, the conversion rate for mobile ads is six times or 600 percent the performance of standard website banner ads.

The number of mobile social network users is expected to grow from 1.1 billion worldwide in 2011 to 1.9 billion by 2016, representing a cumulative annual growth rate of 11.8 percent over the next 5 years.

Based on research from Visiongain, the outlook for mobile social networking is positive as market players and users alike experience changes in monetization models, fervent competition between vendors, and localization trends.

Most consumers prefer to submit customer feedback, reviews and surveys via texting on their mobile device than via the web, according to research by Buzzbeeper.

Based on Buzzbeeper’s customer trials, consumers not only prefer submitting reviews and feedback via texting, but also do so with a greater degree of engagement.

Google’s recently released Sites for Mobile is a helpful tool that lets you build a mobile landing page i.e. a page viewable by mobile browsers. In just minutes, and without any coding, you can have a mobile version of your website.

Sites for Mobile is free and comes with several templates for e-commerce i.e. an online store, local businesses, restaurants, lead generation and social media. You can also integrate Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and other social accounts into your mobile site.

More than 8 out of 10 or 84 percent of U.S. hotels, bed and breakfast establishments (B & Bs) and innkeepers say it’s important to let travelers book accommodation via a mobile device, according to a poll conducted by TripAdvisor.

While 84 percent of survey respondents favor allowing travelers to book their accommodation online, the enthusiasm for online bookings varies somewhat between the type of accommodation business: 92 percent of hotels, 77 percent of B&Bs, and 77 percent of innkeepers say a mobile marketing program that enables online bookings is important.

BIA/Kelsey estimates that total U.S. mobile ad spending will grow from $790 million in 2010 to $4 billion in 2015.

In particular, the local portion of that total will rise from $404 million to $2.8 billion, growing from 51 percent of overall U.S. mobile ad spending to 70 percent by 2015.

Owners of smartphones download an average of three (3) shopping-related applications to their device, according to research by PriceGrabber.

Based on surveying 7,987 consumers in March 2011, PriceGrabber found that the average smartphone owner downloads 21 apps, three of which are shopping related.