On average, U.K. mobile service provider O2 has found, smart phone owners now spend over two hours a day using their devices, but talk only 12 minutes, and text only 10 minutes.
Smart phone users spend more time browsing the internet (25 minutes a day), social networking (17 minutes a day), playing games (13 minutes a day) and listening to music (16 minutes a day) than they do making calls (12 minutes), O2 says.
That illustrates the multi-function nature of smart phones, as well as the key role smart phones now play in a full range of “Internet access” activities.
Checking or writing emails represents 11 minutes of activity a day. Watching video consumes 9.4 minutes a day, while reading books represents about 9.3 minutes a day.
People spend about 3.4 minutes a day tacking pictures, as well.
For many people, the smartphone is replacing other possessions including alarm clocks, watches, cameras, diaries and even laptops and TVs as they become more intuitive and easier to use for things “beyond calls”.
- Over half of respondents (54 percent) say they use their phones in place of an alarm clock
- Almost half (46 percent) have dispensed with a watch in favour of using their smartphone
- Two-in-five (39 perent) have switched to use their phone instead of a separate camera
- Over one quarter use their phone instead of a laptop (28 percent)
- One in ten have got shot of a games console in favour of their handset (11 percent)
- One in twenty smartphone users have switched to use their phone in place of a TV (six percent) or reading physical books (six percent)