As of the beginning of this month, there are now a billion smartphones being used on the planet, up from 708 million a year ago, MobileBusinessBriefing.com reports, citing data from Strategy Analytics. That's 1 in 7 people on Earth, the market research firm says, and "16 years after the first smartphone [the Nokia Communicator] was launched in 1996." The iPhone arrived in the market in 2007. The … [Read more...] about 1 billion smartphones
smartphones
Majority of US teens’ mobiles are smartphones
It's as if the two just-released studies – from Nielsen and the Pew Internet Project – about US smartphone use were timed to Apple's unveiling of the iPhone 5 (a quick list of what's new about it at the New York Times) this week. Nielsen says that, not only do most of US cellphone owners use smartphones, but now the majority of teen cellphone owners in the US have them – a higher percentage of … [Read more...] about Majority of US teens’ mobiles are smartphones
Young Americans want phones more than cars?!
Wow, remember the film American Grafitti? It's ancient history more than ever now. Gartner research found that 46% of Americans 18-24 "prefer access to the Internet over access to their own car, and that teens drive less overall today than they did in past generations," Forbes reports, "highlighting the impact of technology on kids and the auto industry’s future challenges." Not a huge surprise, … [Read more...] about Young Americans want phones more than cars?!
India’s very mobile social networking
US parents may be interested to see the Times of India's account of single mom Darshana Verma "who never learned to use a computer and saved for 10 months," spending more than half a month's income on mobile phones for her two children. Verma told the Times that the access to Facebook and the Internet these phones bring her kids represents opportunities she never had. She must not be alone, given … [Read more...] about India’s very mobile social networking
Disable geotagging on kids’ smartphones!
If your kids love to take, post, and tag photos with their cellphones and they use smartphones like an iPhone, sit down with them and figure out how to disable geotagging. What's geotagging? It's a bit of software code that smartphones automatically embed in digital photos when you take them, so that – when they're posted online – people can fairly easily map exactly where the photo was taken, … [Read more...] about Disable geotagging on kids’ smartphones!