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A survey commissioned by independent third-party mobile application store GetJar found that 40% of respondents claimed they will switch to an Android device when it comes time to purchase their next mobile phone. In comparison, only 18% said they would switch to iPhone. This, proclaims GetJar's headlining of the news, means Android will trump iPhone "two-to-one."

Of course, there are a couple of problems with this data.

IDC recently conducted a survey of IT consumerization trends on behalf Unisys. The survey found that consumerization is well underway - among the findings is the fact that 95% of the workers who responded have used technology they purchased themselves for work. However, there is a disconnect between employees and employers about how consumer technologies are used in the enterprise.

Today Nielsen is reporting that Google's Android mobile operating system (OS) has beat out RIM BlackBerry and Apple iOS to become the number one mobile OS in terms of consumer market share in the U.S. Android has now reached 29% market share, compared with RIM's 27% and Apple's 27%. However, that's only one way to slice the pie.

Nielsen also notes that when looked at from a different angle - manufacturer market share, a way to break up the market by the handset makers' individual takes - it's Apple and RIM (each at 27%) who are clearly ahead. HTC is in 3rd place using that metric, with devices running Windows Mobile/Windows Phone (7%) and Android (12%).

NFC is a term you're going to start hearing a lot more of this year, but many out there don't know what it means or only have a vague idea. Some equate the term only with mobile payments and mobile wallet initiatives, thinking that NFC is just for making purchases with a phone at the point of sale.

But NFC, or near field communication, as it's called, is more than that. It's a technology that is poised to change every aspect of your mobile life from exchanging business cars to "checking in" via location-based apps like Foursquare and, yes, even entirely replacing your wallet's contents, including credit and debit cards, cash, coupons and more.

A new report from mobile analytics firm Flurry takes a look at the demographics of the mobile social gaming audience as compared with traditional console gamers - that is, those who use TV-connected gaming consoles like the Xbox 360, PlayStation and Wii. According to the firm (and other data pulled from the Electronic Software Association), the mobile social gaming audience tends to be younger, more female and has better access to disposable income than traditional gamers.

Now that Mobile World Congress has wrapped, a number of digital analytics firms have parsed the data on social networks and blogs to determine which smartphones, tablets, operating systems and brands received the most buzz - and whether that chatter was positive or negative, in some cases.

A few general trends that were revealed included the following: nearly equal buzz for tablets and phones, Android's domination of the OS buzz on both phones and tablets, and Samsung and HTC coming out on top as the most buzzed about device manufacturers.  Do these trends match up with your experiences from attending or reading about Mobile World Congress and its related news?

In its annual mobile technology report, Forrester Research has outlined the trends it expects to see in the coming year. Technologies like 4G and LTE, Near Field Communication (NFC), barcodes and augmented reality will see increasing amounts of hype in 2011, and the use of mobile/social/location combinations will soar, the report says. But for companies, the goal should now be on developing mobile business cases and strategies, and not jumping on the bandwagons surrounding these types of disruptions.

These technologies - LTE, NFC and mobile AR - will take years to emerge, says Forrester. Strategy needs to come before technology.

New data from stat-tracking firm Experian finds that U.S. Twitter users are now spending two hours and 12 minutes per month on Twitter.com reading and replying to tweets. That's up from one hour and 51 minutes last year. However, the time spent during any given Twitter session has declined. In November 2010, a typical Twitter session was 13 minutes, 12 seconds, down from last year's average of 15 minutes, 12 seconds.

This suggests that users are "seeking more frequent quick hits," says Experian, "rather than spending longer periods of time reading through posts."

Looking for hard data detailing the explosion of the app economy? Helsinki-based mobile analyst Horace Dediu of asymco released yet another series of charts this week where he explains how he came to the conclusion that more than 60 apps have been downloaded for every iOS device sold.

In the fall of 2008, there were only around 10 apps downloaded for every iPhone/iPod Touch, Dedui says. Only two years later, the rate is five times higher.

Femtocells, the consumer-grade cell signal boosting devices sold by operators like AT&T here in the U.S., may soon offer additional value beyond simply enhancing cellular coverage indoors. The proliferation of the devices could soon contribute to a whole new class of mobile applications, using key attributes like location and presence to trigger specific actions when a user crossed into or out of a "femtozone" - that is, an area covered by these devices.