Mobile phones users prefer using handsets for net surfing to PCs

MELBOURNE - The days are long gone when mobile phone use was restricted to just talking and texting, for it is now barging into the territory of PCs, so much so, that people prefer checking their mails on their cellphones instead of their computers.

According to a report, half of users in their 30s accessed the web using their mobile device while at work or at home even though they had access to a computer.

The behaviour comes as a result of the thriving smartphone market, which got a boost with the release of the iPhone more than two years ago.

Christena Singh, author of the Sensis e-Business Report, said mobile Internet use has become mainstream with use common across a wide age range.

“While younger Australians are more likely to use mobile internet, half of Australians in their 30s are using mobile web, while more than four in 10 log on when they are in their 40s,” news.com.au quoted her as saying.

The most popular information accessed on mobile devices are maps and directions (67 per cent), the weather (64 per cent), news sites (59 per cent), social networking sites (56 per cent) and sports results (46 per cent).

Technology analyst Gartner said that the install base of computers - about 1.78 billion worldwide - will be exceeded by the mobile device, which is expected to hit 1.82 billion by 2013.

The Sensis e-Business Report, based on interviews with 1000 consumers, says children are also accessing the Internet for the first time at a much younger age. Of all children five and younger, 26 per cent use the Internet.

The figure has risen to 46 per cent for those aged six to 10. (ANI)