All versions of Samsung?s Galaxy S smartphone saw a major boost in mobile advertising impressions from 2012, according to a new study from Millennial Media.

Millennial?s February ?Mobile Mix? report looks at the different mobile trends in 2012. Despite the growth of Samsung?s impressions from the Galaxy S, the divide in impressions from iOS and Android remained unscathed.

?The percentage of impressions coming from Android and iOS remained relatively unchanged year-over-year,? said Marcus Startzel, general manager of North America at Millennial Media, Baltimore.

?This is an indication that advertisers have begun to care less about what specific operating system their campaigns are running on, and much more about reaching specific consumer audiences who will find the content relevant.?

Ads on mobile
Samsung and Apple continued to be the top manufacturers on Millennial?s platform in 2012. Apple claimed about 31 percent of impressions, and Android had a little more than 22 percent of impressions.

Each company increased their share of impressions by roughly five percent.

BlackBerry, HTC and Motorola rounded out the top five manufacturers.

With Amazon?s launch of the Kindle Fire in late 2011, the manufacturer boosted itself to the No. 11 largest manufacturer in 2012. Amazon did not crack the top 15 manufacturer in 2011.

Also new to the list of top manufacturers, Acer gained a spot as the No. 14 manufacturer.

When it comes to mobile phone, Apple?s iPhone kept its No. 1 spot year-over-year.

In 2012, the iPhone claimed 15.59 percent of mobile phone impressions. This is a 72 percent year-over-year increase. The report points to the launch of the iPhone 5 as part of the reason for the growth.

Samsung?s Galaxy S was the No. 2 smartphone, generating 4.24 percent of mobile phone impressions.

The BlackBerry Curve was the third-most popular mobile phone with 3.91 percent of mobile phone impressions.

Motorola?s Droid RAZR brought in about two percent of impressions, followed by the BlackBerry Torch and Bold devices. Each BlackBerry device generated just under two percent of total mobile phone impressions.

Other top smartphones included Samsung?s Galaxy 5, the LG Optimus and the HTC Desire.

Smartphones overall made up 75 percent of impressions, which is an increase from 68 percent in 2011.

Feature phones made up five percent of total impressions. This is a decrease from a 17 percent share in 2011.

When looking at the overall operating system mix, Android claimed 48 percent and iOS had 32 percent of impressions. BlackBerry generated 16 percent, and the remaining four percent was split between Symbian and Windows devices.

App happy
Millennial?s report looks at which mobile app categories were most popular in 2012.

The No. 1 category was games, which are also mainstays in Apple?s App Store and Google Play.

The Music and entertainment category was the second most popular app category.

Social media also continues to be a popular activity for mobile users, which placed in the No. 3 spot. Other top app categories include communications, productivity and tools, science and technology and sports.

Tablet growth
Non-phone connected devices, which includes tablets and ereaders, made up 20 percent of Millennial?s impressions in 2012, up from 15 percent in 2011.

Apple?s iPad was Millennial?s No. 1 tablet on its platform in 2012. The iPad contributed to 58 percent of tablet ad impressions.

In the weeks following the launch of the iPad mini in November, Millennial saw impressions from the devices growing by a daily average of 28 percent.

Android tablets made up 41 percent of impressions.

The second most popular tablet was Samsung?s Galaxy Tab. Amazon?s Kindle Fire, Acer?s Iconia and Motorola?s Zoom rounded out the top five tablets.

Specifically, Amazon?s impressions grew 500 percent year-over-year, showing how consumers have latched onto the Kindle Fire tablets.

Impressions from Samsung?s mobile-tablet hybrid Galaxy Note II device ? which was launched in 2012 ? grew an average of 20 percent per month.

?In 2012, 20 percent of our impressions came from non-phone connected devices like tablets or ereaders, which is up from 15 percent of our impressions in 2011,? Mr. Startzel said.

?Tablets provide advertisers with an opportunity to create rich, immersive experiences to engage consumers, and we expect tablets to continue to be a game-changing device for advertisers in 2013.?

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York