Mobile just for calls a thing of the past
- Luke Telford
- 2 December 2009
Photo credit: gokoroko, sxc.hu
Australians are increasingly using their mobile phones for non-voice services such as internet access, according to research by the Australian Interactive and Multimedia Industry Association.
AIMIA's 2009 Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index
found 63% of participants said they owned a 3G or 3.5G handset capable of accessing mobile data services. Nearly a third of respondents used their handsets to access social networking sites. The vast majority checked up on
their Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or other social networks at least once a month, and almost half did so daily. In the 2008 survey, only 7% of respondents used their mobile phones for social networking.
The report also found increases in the use of other non-voice communication services over the past year; 57% of respondents used MMS, 36% used email, 18% used instant messaging and 9% used text chat.
Nokia led the pack of phone ownership with 47%. Sony Ericsson had 12% of the market and Samsung 11%, while Apple grew from zero (the phone only became available towards the end of 2008) to 9% of the market.
The growing popularity of the new generation of mobile handsets has resulted in some telling statistics in mobile usage. While 90% of users were content with the service provided by their carriers, 51% said they were unhappy with the high cost of mobile data.
Along with this influx of new mobile-specific data, content and apps comes the need for a more refined mobile search function. Because most handets are too small to use in the same way as a PC, there's an increased need for accuracy, relevancy and contextual results in search. Users can't physically do as much as quickly with a mobile handset; a search function should anticipate this, according to information and communications technology advisory company Ovum.
"Mobile search should deliver answers, not links," says Mark Blowers, a principal analyst at Ovum.
Already this approach has been incorporated into the app development and marketing strategies of a number of enterprising Australian companies.
Corkscore has a database of over 20,000 wines from Australia and New Zealand to provide a purposed search function for aficionados and amateurs, while offering the possibility of entering tasting notes while at the winery.
Yapp Mobile has developed a navigation app for Vodafone that incorporates a local business directory, restaurant reviews and turn-by-turn GPS mapping directions.
These and 28 other top Australian mobile innovators were featured in Nett's Mobile 30. #
