Cellphone feels like a part of your body? A global survey has found that most people can't live without their mobiles, never leave home without them and, if given a choice, would rather lose their wallet.( Q4 ~ B7 U" J! k6 i1 C1 x
Calling mobile phones the "remote control" for life, market research firm Synovate's poll said cell phones are so ubiquitous that by last year more humans owned one than did not.
4 X7 Q6 Q$ X) ~: w* Y0 y6 R Three-quarters of the more than 8,000 respondents polled online in 11 countries said they take their phone with them everywhere, with Russians and Singaporeans the most attached.
) U2 f; @# f# _$ [5 O More than a third also said they couldn't live without their phone, topped by Taiwanese and again Singaporeans, while one in four would find it harder to replace the mobile than their purse.
" B8 W. U+ N) z! v5 x& I Some two-thirds of respondents go to bed with their phones nearby and can't switch them off, even though they want to, because they're afraid they'll miss something.
8 j4 k$ Q+ c; Y ?: J5 h p/ H3 d "Mobiles give us safety, security and instant access to information. They are the number one tool of communication for us, sometimes even surpassing face-to-face communication. They are our connections to our lives," Jenny Chang, Synovate's managing director in Taiwan, said in a statement.# a4 r. M! }) H3 D1 P, d. S9 l4 A( d
Mobiles have also changed the nature of relationships, with the survey finding nearly half of all respondents use text messages to flirt, a fifth set up first-dates via text and almost the same number use the same method to end a love affair.4 C- J9 J/ S2 w# m- @7 b% [3 k X
Apart from the obvious calling and texting, the top three features people use regularly on their mobile phones globally are the alarm clock, the camera and the games.' C5 \5 }" Q, V. N9 D6 c
As for email and Internet access, 17 percent of respondents said they checked their inboxes or surfed the Web off their phones, lead by those in the United States and Britain.
$ W+ t0 q/ P. a+ x- g, k p One in 10 respondents log onto social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace regularly via mobile, again led by Britain and the United States.
c. Z6 [ \+ \2 K1 d7 n "As the mobile becomes more and more an all-in-one device, many other businesses are facing challenging times. The opportunities for mobile manufacturers and networks however are enormous," said Synovate's global head of media, Steve Garton. |