When mobile phones began first appearing on the horizon, they aimed to make communication a wireless affair and they did so with elan for a long time, i.e till smartphones were born. Smartphones changed the way and the reason people used their phones, and while mobiles centered around just talking; with a smartphone it had become possible to - check emails, access social networking sites, play games, listen to music, among other things and if a report by the Daily Mail is anything to go by then talking using one's phone is far from being topmost on a user's priority list today. Now, a study of 2,000 smartphone users has revealed that 25 minutesa day is devoted to Internet surfing. Users also spend an additional 17 minutes checking and updating their accounts on social networking sites - like Facebook andTwitter. Interestingly, the study found that a person just spent 12 minutes talking to someone on their phone and just 10 minutes were given to sending text messages each day. The report quoted David Johnson, General Manager Devicesfor O2 in the UK, which commissioned the research, and he said,"Smartphones are now being used like a digital ‘Swiss Army Knife’, replacing possessions like watches, cameras, books and even laptops. While we’re seeing no let-up in the number of calls customers make or the amount of time they spend speaking on their phones, their phone now plays a far greater role in all aspects of their lives.Smart technology has improved in dramatically with the camera, diary, email and social media hardware and apps where design attention has been lavished. Now that it’s soeasy to use, there’s no surprise that consumers are switching to phones for these functions." Not only that, the study also found that smartphones have begunreplacing one's alarm clocks, watches, cameras, diaries, laptopsand even TVs - since they're found to "becomemore intuitive and easierto use for things ‘beyondcalls’." Elaborating on this further, the report adds that some 54 percent have replaced their alarm clocks with smartphones, while 46 percent now use their smartphone to fulfill the need of a watch. 39 percent were found to have moved over to their phone, instead of owning a camera and more than a quarter of people use their smartphones in place of a laptop. Surprisingly, the report found 1 in 10 to have given up their games console for their phone, while 6 percent ofthem have replaced theirTV with it. "Another six per cent have stopped reading books in favour of viewing the text on their phones," found the study.
