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A new feature uncovered in the second beta release of iOS 5 is great news for Web developers. It seems that native-style scrolling will be made available to Mobile Safari through a new CSS property. When used, Web developers will be able to implement native-style momentum scroll in Web pages, allowing Web apps to function more like native applications do today.

According to new statistics from analytics firm Flurry, the average mobile user now spends 9% more time using mobile apps than the Internet. That's 81 minutes per day for mobile apps versus 74 minutes per day spent surfing the Web (both desktop and mobile).

But mobile apps haven't always been more popular than the Web, says Flurry. Only last year, these positions were reversed, with users spending 43 minutes on apps versus 64 minutes on the Web.

Today, cloud platform provider Appcelerator is expanding beyond mobile and Web with a new offering designed for developers looking to build cross-platform applications. Now, in addition to building for smartphones, tablets and the mobile Web, developers can use the new Titanium Studio to build, test and deploy to desktop platforms including Windows, Mac and Linux as well as build HTML5 Web applications, all in one single development environment.

Mobile analytics firm Zokem just published a new study comparing mobile application usage on smartphones and tablet computers to the time spent Web browsing. The results are not surprising - application use is far more popular than using the Web browser on these devices, the firm found.

Also of interest, especially to mobile application developers, are the differences in app and Web usage between tablets and phones. On smartphones, apps are 6 times more popular than Web browsing, while on tablets, the difference is not as significant.

Mobile Boilerplate 1.0 has just launched, providing developers with a trusted template for building mobile Web applications. The site provides templates and documentation that can help developers create cross-platform mobile Web applications which work on modern-day smartphones, but also offer fall-back support for older BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile devices. The project itself is not a standalone framework, but works with jQuery Mobile, Sencha Touch, Phonegap and Appcelerator.

"Android is now the leading smartphone in market share in the United States," noted GetJar's Patrick Mork, beginning today's session at SXSW on the topic of apps vs. the mobile Web. Mork provided other interesting stats about the state of the mobile application industry during this afternoon's talk, including figures like this: there were over 8 billion downloads last year, there will be an estimated 50 billion downloads by 2012 and an estimated $30 billion in revenue by 2015. And there are over 600,000 apps between Apple, Android and GetJar, the large third-party mobile application store where Mork serves as Chief Marketing Officer.

The keynote speech was limited to only 15 minutes, unfortunately, as this is a topic that could be explored for hours. However, Mork made good use of the time, and presented some great slides which mobile developers may find useful. These are embedded below.

At last week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the GSM Association (GSMA) partnered with mobile analytics firm Zokem to publish highlights from Zokem's recent smartphone research study. Its report found that mobile applications are overtaking mobile Web browser usage in terms of monthly use. In addition, apps are now second only to messaging in usage activity, beating both voice and Web for the #2 spot.

The past few weeks have been filled with predictions for what 2011 will hold. Earlier today, I shared my own predictions. But what do you want to see happen on the web in the coming year?

SitePoint's Craig Buckler has compiled a list of his three biggest but realistic wishes for the web in 2011.

Last month we began a series of posts about "new logistics" with an overview of how companies can leverage Web-based tools for international marketing. These days, with the power of the Web and related technologies, logistics encompasses so much more than just moving widgets from point to A to point B. The new logistics provides sustainability and efficiency, and international marketing is just one part of this revolution.

Over the next several weeks, we will be showcasing many of the other ways the Web is untangling logistical nightmares for companies large and small. Here's a look at what to expect as we explore the rapidly evolving global choreography of goods and information.

A research project that aims to develop a standard for universal applications has just received £10 million in funding from the European Union. The project, called Webinos, is being led by the Fraunhofer Institute, the same group that developed the technology behind the ubiquitous music file format MP3.

Webinos' end goal is to create a framework for Web applications across mobile, PC, home media (TV) and even in-car devices which doesn't require the apps to be reprogrammed for each platform.