Not content with providing you the best coverage on the ground at the Cannes Lions next week (you can watch the latest episode of Cannes Eye TV online), today we launch a dedicated Cannes Eye TV app for the BlackBerry platform.

Available on video-capable devices (i.e. Bold, Storm, Curve 8900 and Tour running OS 4.6 and above), it can be downloaded via the App World icon on your BlackBerry or from the BlackBerry App World web store.

Now you'll never miss an edition of Cannes Eye TV, and can even use it to follow this blog and our live Twitter stream no matter where you are.

Update: Q&A now added to the playlist and video below.

It's becoming clear from all the feedback, blogs and tweets that Twitter's Biz Stone pulled the biggest crowd with a jam-packed auditorium at the Cannes Lions festival Monday.

We're in the process of making all of the seminar available to watch online and here's the first part, Biz's opening speech talking about how Twitter came into being, how it has grown and developed, how individuals and organisations have harnessed it, and what the future holds.

To follow we'll have Biz's answers to the questions that were tweeted in advance and during the session.

So according to a recent Ipsos Reid study, "ONLY" about one out of every 100 Canadians is using Twitter (which apparently translates to "ONLY" 1.45 per cent of the Internet population in Canada). Is it ONLY me, or am I reading too heavily into the implied message here?  

Granted, my Cannes colleague Niall recently blogged about several other studies that likewise attempted to give pause to the echo-chamber / media hype. Methinks I see a trend emerging.

The Globe's conclusion? "... the rest of Canada hasn't exactly warmed to Twitter just yet ... It's certainly no Facebook". Of course, if the measure of a technology's influence was based solely on reach or 'popularity' - the 'perspectives' being provided might, in fact, be useful. However, when it comes to Twitter (and many other social networking tools), reach and popularity are often far less important than other characteristics of the micro-blogging tool - namely (and for the sake of brevity let's make up some words shall we?): content amplificability, micro-nichification, organizational humanification, and - erm - competitive intelligence gathering... all elements that when combined with its immediacy, its capacity to enable multiple-party dialog, and its growing search potential, forces us to view 'perspectives' such as those presented in the article through slightly more contextualized lenses - about how it's used and why, and the value that is derived based on the right mix of understanding where it fits within the communications mix, who is being targeted, with what content and by whom, and expectations on benefits - be they personal or business-related.

Thankfully, Mr. Laver (the report's author) concludes his study with some concessions to the business or corporate value of Twitter, if only to validate the current hype. However, what the study fails to show is that Twitter (and most social media) is often much more than a numbers game.

It seems that nothing that see exponential growth can get away for long before questions are raised over the numbers behind that growth.

And so it is with Twitter. Three such reports are fighting for prime position to pour scorn on the figures.

First off, Mashable has seen "Twitter's growth flatline with only a 1.47% increase" in May 2009, although it concedes that the average time spent tweeting has risen 3712% in the 12 months to April 2009.

Another finding from security firm Purewire focuses on retention, with the following insights (based on a sample of 7 million users - although not clear how representative this sample is):

• 40% have not tweeted since the day their account was created
• 25% are not following anyone, whilst two-thirds are following less than ten people
• Over one-third have not posted a single tweet and nearly 80% have fewer than ten tweets
• Approximately 30% have no followers and another 30% are following the same number of people that are following them

Finally, and possibly most surprising given the source is the data from Harvard Business School which, based on a sample of just 300,000 has grandly declared that "most people only ever 'tweet' once during their lifetime". The Twitter hype has been punctured, says the BBC - ironically probably one of the biggest media promoters of the platform. Build 'em up, then knock 'em down.

I can only deduce two things from all these studies before my head explodes.

Firstly, that the one aspect of growth that shows no signs of slowing is Twitter's media coverage.

And of course, that there continue to be lies, damn lies, and now Twitter statistics.

Eric Jackson in Business Week last week accused Twitter of a lack of innovation. A self-proclaimed huge fan of Twitter, he writes:

"...I have grown baffled and annoyed at one of Twitter's greater non accomplishments: Since I've been using the service, its functionality and offerings have barely improved."

So far so good but then Eric continues:

" ...I understand that part of Twitter's power is its simplicity. But there are still no ads, search isn't easily customizable or useful, and there's been no evident push into location-based services despite the talk.."

What, no ads? I am shocked... no I am not, I am delighted.

Hopefully this is one question that Biz can answer at the First Annual Cannes Lions Tweet Up.

If you want to ask a question yourself, please follow @hillandknowlton on Twitter and the #hkcannes hashtag for information on how to do so next week.