Reston, Va. - ComScore (NASD: SCOR), a provider of Internet audience measurement services, said that it has paid $44.3 million in cash to acquire Seattle-based M:Metrics, a provider of mobile Web measurement services.

Seattle - Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPhone is handily beating competitors in the smartphone category, and blowing away the cell phone market in general when it comes to using a mobile phone to access news or information, watch live or on-demand video, access social networks or listen to music, according to a report from market research firm M:Metrics. In January, 85% of iPhone users accessed news or information, compared with 58.2% of smartphone owners and 13.1% of all cell phone owners; while 49.7% of iPhone visited a social networking site or blog, compared with 19.4% smartphones/4.2% total market.

Seattle - Mobile social networking has yet to take off, as just 3.5% of U.S. consumers accessed a social networking site or blog via their mobile phones during June, according to a report from market research firm M:Metrics.

Seattle - According to a survey conducted in April, 64% of U.S. mobile phone users were aware of Apple's iPhone, and 9% -- which includes about 19 million people -- have expressed "strong interest" in purchasing one.