The Cost to Know Your Future? About $10

HOUSTON, July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Crystal balls, tea leaves, and mobile phones have something in common; many believe they can predict the future. "Future" downloads finished 9th in a new study from Validas that ranks the Top 10 On-Deck Mobile Downloads with 92.6% paid and a $9.80 average charge.  The top five categories are navigation, content subscriptions, games, text alerts, and charitable donations.

Navigation applications rank first with 80 percent of downloads paid at an average charge of $9.74. Just 51 percent of second ranked content subscriptions were paid, but at an $11.66 average. Games, ranking third, delivered the most total downloads with 81.5% paid at a $4.28 average. In fourth, 91 percent of text alerts were paid at a $9.78 average. Charitable donations rank fifth, due in part to Haiti relief and the mGive Foundation's success, at an average of $9.16.

Verizon Navigator and AT&T Navigator rule the top ranked category. Flycell leads in paid content subscriptions, but is outpaced 3 to 1 in total downloads by ESPN's free MVP download. There is no clear leader among games, but favorites such as Monopoly, Tetris, Bejeweled, and Pac-Man are most popular. Locator and chaperone apps dominate the seventh ranked Family category; "Who will I marry?" and horoscopes lead the ninth place Future category; and Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" is among the top, paid music downloads, ranked tenth.

"This study says a lot about mobile's impact on our lives when people want their devices to tell them where to go, entertain them, keep track of their families, predict their future, and give to others," says Ed Finegold, Executive Vice President – Analytics, for Validas.

Validas examined downloads and premium text charges in 29 categories from more than 200,000 wireless bills. Rankings are based on total downloads, average and total charges, and the percentage paid versus free.

For details on Validas' complete download rankings contact [email protected].

About Validas

Validas® provides consumers, businesses and government agencies with a simple, secure online service that optimizes wireless bills and cuts bottom line costs by an average of 20 to 40 percent. Founded by wireless industry experts, Validas eliminates wireless billing and rate plan confusion to improve customer care for wireless users. The Web-based wireless bill analysis software leverages patent-pending algorithms, processes and PDF scanning capabilities to deliver powerful business intelligence in seconds. For more information visit http://www.validas.com.

SOURCE Validas