UK’s youngsters top European mobile net users

According to a study by Neilsen, the UK is the number one market in Europe for mobile Internet usage. 

The study showed that of mobile users in the 15-24 bracket, 46% had used mobile Internet in the last 30 days. The findings were gathered in Neilsen’s Mobile Youth Around the World study.

According to the report: “Among European youth, those in the UK are more likely to use mobile internet, with over 20% more usage than other European countries,”

Within the same age range, 24% had utilized mobile Internet in the same period, with 21% in Spain and 20% in Germany.

Instant messaging and email were also reported to be increasingly popular amongst young mobile users, with 22% and 23% respectively using the features through the same period. 

5m Beatles downloads on iTunes

Since becoming available in November 2010, sales of Beatles tracks have exceeded 5 million, according to Apple.

Among US iTunes users the most popular track has been ‘Here Comes The Sun’.

Apple stated that the 1969 album Abbey Road was the band’s bestselling album on iTunes, with overall album sales topping 1m.

Following a lengthy legal tangle between the Beatle’s record label EMI and software giant Apple, the Beatle’s tracks were finally launched on iTunes on November 16^th 2010.

To date there has been no public disclosure of the commercial agreements reached by all concerned parties, although some unconfirmed reports purport thatr Apple is offering better royalty payments for Beatle’s music than with standard iTunes contracts.

Single Beatle’s tracks sell for 99p with albums costing £10.99. Specific sales figures for the UK have not been released.

Marketing salaries reach five-year low

According to the annual Marketing Week/ Ball & Hoolahan Salary Survey, marketing salaries have hit a five-year low.

A fall of 4% was recorded for marketing directors at £75,300 compared with £78,500 last year, with marketing manager’s salaries dropping from an average £42,000 last year to £41,300 in 2011 a decrease of 1.6%.

The findings from 2,545 online surveys also revealed that some salaries have, after compensating for the 2010 inflation rate of 3.3%, dropped lower than the 2001 average.

The gender divide continues to widen, with female marketing directors earning £15,000 less than their male counterparts, a divide that reportedly begins with female graduate trainees earning an average of £1,400 less than their male colleagues.

Digital marketers are however faring much better in the current economic climate, with the average salary for top digital marketers weighing in at £111,700 – considerably higher than the average marketing director.

A third of marketers have said they plan to change jobs in the next two or three years, while almost half have said they plan to seek higher-paid positions this year.


The survey also reported a higher average marketing wage for positions at US-owned companies. 

(We don't know who the guy in the picture is, but he could sure use a haircut).

Call for £2.50-an-hour training wage for interns

A training wage of £2.50-an-hour should be paid to interns working for a minimum of three months as it would boost UK productivity, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CPID).

The CPID has also called for the government to offer the right to request flexible working for all employees and “a step-change in the UK’s leadership and people management skills” to enable the UK to keep pace with competitors internationally.

John Philpott, chief economic adviser said: "The government wants to foster a strong, private sector-led, economic recovery, but we have yet to see a coherent strategy for economic growth to sit alongside the chancellor's very clear-cut approach to reducing the fiscal deficit.

"The coalition needs to show greater urgency in implementing measures to help boost the long-run supply side capacity of the UK economy, which must include efforts to boost productivity by improving the way in which businesses manage the people they employ."

According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency almost 22% of 2009 graduates who were employed six months after graduating had work experience, largely through internships, representing the largest group of university leavers.

Critics of unpaid work schemes such as internships have argued that young people from poorer backgrounds are at a disadvantage to more financially secure or better connected peers.

Campaign group Inernocracy and IPPR thinktank reported last July that the majority of interns could and should be legally defined under national minimum wage legislation as workers and are therefore entitled to launch claims for back-payment of wages.

The CIPD’s has called for the government to introduce legislation to implement minimum training wages for those on extended internships or work placements. 

Apple launches Mac app store

Apple yesterday announced all the way from sunny Cupertino, California HQ that it had opened the app store for Mac OS laptop and desktop computers, following the initial announcement at the ‘Back to Mac’ event last October. 

 

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said: "With more than 1,000 apps, the Mac App Store is off to a great start. We think users are going to love this innovative new way to discover and buy their favorite apps."

Apple’s recent success has been largely attributed to the popularity of apps for iDevices, and this latest move is an attempt to create similar allure for Macs and Macbooks.

The store is brought to Mac users in the form of an OS update, from OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.4 to 10.6.6, rather than the store as an installed app. The Mac OS Software option will be replaced by the 115mb update.

Apple’s own apps are available from the choice of over one thousand apps, including iPhoto 11, iMovie 11 and Garageband, previously only available bundled with the iLife suite, they are now available from the app store for $14.99 each. Components of the iWord office suite are also available individually for $19.99 each. Prices in GBP currently unavailable at the Creatives offices as we're using stinky Windows :(  

Some programs have been drastically reduced in price, including Apple’s photo-editing program Aperture, down from $199 to $79. This move could be put down to third party software being made available through the store.

The store gives Apple the ability to reject and accept store entries (as it currently does with the iPhone app store) and allows premium tech vendors a 30% share of the price of apps sold.

Leading design software vendor Autodesk have participated in the launch, as well as Bionix and Ancestry.com.

App stores popularity has recently spread beyond Apple, with search engine giant Google launching its Chrome App store offering web-based software such as Tweetdeck. Rumours that Microsoft are developing an app store for Windows users have recently started to circulate.

To get started with Apple’s app store simply run a software update or head to apple.com/mac/app-store