Turn over to BBC iPlayer on your Nokia Lumia
Tweet Everyone in Britain got a wonderful present in 2007 when the BBC launched its on demand TV catch-up service, iPlayer , on December 25 th . Since that festive launch, iPlayer has become a huge success and one of the BBC’s strongest brands. In fact, it was using such a significant chunk of the UK’s Internet bandwidth that it led to early rows between the public service broadcaster and the nation’s ISPs. At least part of iPlayer’s success has been the BBC’s strategy of getting the service on as many platforms as possible. After starting on the desktop computer, iPlayer has since become available on gaming consoles, tablets, connected TVs, media streamers and, obviously, smartphones. While it’s still only available in the UK, none other than Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore was moved to tweet its arrival on Windows Phone last week: Of course, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that in the future it will be made available for all the BBC’s international fans too! Programmes galore For most Britons, using iPlayer is now as familiar as changing the channels with their remote controls. You can watch, on demand, any programme that has been broadcast on the BBC’s TV channels and radio stations from the last seven days. This new app for Nokia Lumia smartphones running on Windows Phone 8 is reassuringly familiar. It opens with a list of ‘ Featured’ TV shows and as you scroll down, you also see lists for the ‘Most Popular’ and ‘The Latest’ . See something you like? Just tap on it and you’ll be taken to that programme page where another tap on the ‘Click to Play’ icon will start the stream. However, the real glory of iPlayer is that it’s a repository of everything (or nearly everything – due to rights restrictions, the odd programme is sometimes missing) that’s been broadcast over the last week. There are several ways you can find a programme. There’s a search box, but what if you don’t know the name of the programme you’re looking for? Say you caught the last 10 minutes of a show on BBC2 and you want to watch the rest of it? You can still find it by using the channel listings, which is a daily ‘timetable’ of all the shows broadcast in the last seven days, as long as you can remember what time and day the programme was on. If you fancy being a little more adventurous you can also search by category. This works well, if you have no specific programme in mind, but you feel in the mood for a bit of drama, music, or a documentary. There are over a dozen categories to choose from. Just as the TV content is easy to search, find and discover, so is the radio programming. In fact, it’s easy to forget that iPlayer also includes the hundreds of hours of radio output that is broadcast by the BBC on its national and regional stations every week. BBC iPlayer isn’t a fancy app. In fact, the only real feature of note is that you can save your favourite programmes; new episodes will automatically appear in your favourites tab when they become available. However, iPlayer isn’t about the app. What matters is that, in the UK at least, you’ll be able to watch Doctor Who, EastEnders or The Apprentice on your Nokia Lumia smartphone wherever and whenever you like.
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Turn over to BBC iPlayer on your Nokia Lumia
Nokia Tablet Shows Up in Patent Application
Illustrations of a Nokia tablet have been found by Unwired View in a patent application. It shows an integrated keyboard and cover. The tablet also appears to be foldable in different ways. Take a look at the images after the jump. Nokia haven’t announced any tablets yet, but CEO Stephen Elop has publicly expressed that they are looking at the market closely. There were rumors that a tablet was going to be announced at Mobile World Congress, but that didn’t happen . If you enjoyed this article, you might also like… Google Nexus 7 Tablet Infringes Nokia Patents Strategy Analytics: No Nokia Tablet at MWC Nokia Phi Design Patent Revealed, Looks Like a Brick Zemanta
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Nokia Tablet Shows Up in Patent Application
Giving businesses a reason to choose Nokia
Tweet Most of the people you see using smartphones may well spend the majority of their time playing Angry Birds , but the reality is that many smartphones are also used for work. The analyst firm Canalys estimates that around one in five Nokia smartphones sold in the last quarter of 2012 went to businesses. Selling mobiles to enterprise customers is important to Nokia, but how does it all work, and why should companies choose Nokia phones for their employees? We’ve been talking to David Mason, global head of Business Mobility Marketing, to find out. There are a many reasons why businesses are opting for Nokia’s Lumia family. David explains: “With devices like the Nokia Lumia 920 , your smartphone comes with the same apps out-of-the-box that you work with on your PC; Microsoft Outlook and Office including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Giving you the freedom and flexibility to work when and wherever you need.” There’s more to productivity than just providing the right tools, however; it’s important that people actually want to carry the phone they’re given. “For Nokia, it’s all about offering phones your employees will love,” says David. “It’s important, as the smartphone you use is personal; it expresses who you are, as well as being a tool for both work and your personal life.” “The Nokia Lumia comes with robust shells and tough screens. The Nokia Lumia 920’s polycarbonate unibody is scratch proof. For the Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820 there’s the option of wireless charging. Just put your phone down on a charging plate, when you get to your desk or walk in the door from work and put your keys down. That way, your phone’s always charged and you’re not running out of battery and scrambling for a charger to finish that call with your boss! “We’re also seeing businesses use Lumia to take and share high quality photos of events and promotions, sharing immediately with their social media followers. And features such as Nokia Drive with offline maps and navigation mean you can avoid roaming costs when travelling,” adds David. “For the IT department, the security angle obviously appeals, with hardware encryption and device management and other features including secure boot which help to ensure that business data on the phone is kept safe and secure.” The Lumia isn’t Nokia’s only range to offer something for businesses. David highlights Nokia Asha as another great alternative. “With Asha we also have a much lower price point. The Nokia Asha 302 and Nokia Asha 303 offers businesses email via Mail for Exchange. These are some of the most affordable business email phones on the market. “We provide a range of handsets, so the company can choose what’s right for their different employees. For example, we have companies who buy Nokia Lumia 920 to replace BlackBerry devices, who are also upgrading feature phone users to full smartphone experience with the Nokia Lumia 620 , a very affordable smartphone that still offers the full range of business features.” Why businesses need Nokia “Businesses are looking to mobilise key workers and support other employees bringing in their own smartphones,” says David. “They’re continuing to provide phones to people whose work is mobile – where never being out of reach or being able to act on information immediately is important.” “For sales teams for example, providing them with email and calendar, pushing appointments to them, and navigation so they can get to the client are important. Having the organisation’s own business apps also available for the mobile sales teams is valuable so they’re up to date on product availability when they walk into the meeting. The apps your business builds for PCs and tablets on Windows 8 can work with tweaks on Windows Phone 8; you can reuse the same core code and use the same developer tools. These are among the reasons that Foxtons, London’s leading estate agents, chose Nokia Lumia for their agents.” “Smartphones have become the norm in many markets and people bring their devices into work. So there’s an opportunity to mobilise and give greater flexibility to the people that you might not provide a phone for, letting them have access to your business email and other apps via their Nokia Lumia. We were delighted to hear that when KONE Australia recently allowed employees to choose their smartphone for work, more than 70 per cent opted for Nokia Lumia.” Offering support is one way to help companies to switch to Nokia. “There are basically two angles to support,” says David. “The everyday ‘how do I get my people started on the device’, so things like basic training, what they need to get started, mobile training guides and things like that.” “And then we offer more technical support as well with Nokia Expert Center. It’s an online service with a portal. We offer support for IT departments, so they can find out how to sort out the more technical issues they may have. Questions about what you need to do, what device management you can use, those are the elements we need to support. You can find technical documentation and get your questions answered online.” After running through all the benefits for businesses, it all comes back to what people actually want from their company smartphones, though. “The thing that really drives the market in business smartphones is what the consumer, the employee, actually wants. It’s a very personal device. If you buy them a phone they don’t want to carry, they’re not going to use it. As Janette Smrcka, IT Director of Mall of America said , ‘We’ve got a device we’re really proud to use.’” Would you like to see your company switch to Lumia? Let us know in the comments below. Image credit: cadfael1979 , neur0tica
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Giving businesses a reason to choose Nokia
Nokia helping UNESCO’s drive for mobile learning
Click here to view the video on YouTube . Tweet Mobile Learning Week 2013 gets underway today, which is an initiative organised by UNESCO and supported by Nokia that explores how mobile devices can contribute to literacy and education. With more than six billion mobile subscriptions worldwide and twice as many people accessing the Internet from a mobile device as from a desktop computer, the potential for mobile learning to empower individuals is clearly huge. Mobile learning also plays a key role towards achieving UNESCO’s Education for All goals by 2015. Nokia leading the way Nokia has been working with UNESCO, the UN’s educational, scientific and cultural organisation, since 2010 on these Education for All targets and has also been a significant partner to help promote mobile learning. Nokia’s services and technology have been instrumental in getting many of UNESCO’s mobile learning initiatives off the ground in many countries. At UNESCO’s Mobile Learning Week symposium in Paris this week, Nokia will be giving a keynote speech on Nokia Life , the suite of education and life services that has benefited over 90 million mobile phone users in countries such as India, China and Nigeria. There will also be demonstrations of two Nokia tools that have been developed to aid learning. Mobile Mathematics, or MoMaths, has already been used by 50,000 students in South Africa across 200 schools and is now being expanded as a global service. Nokia Flashcards, created in partnership with the NGO Plan , is a mobile game that supports literacy and language learning. It will be available for you to try out very soon on the Nokia Store ! Leading UNESCO’s work Professor Francesc Pedró is leading UNESCO’s work in education and technology. From his office in Paris, he spoke to Conversations about mobile learning, the part that Nokia has played and why it can ultimately benefit teachers, pupils and whole families. Can you quickly introduce mobile learning for us? UNESCO has been working in this area for the past two years. We wanted to explore how we could use existing devices, particularly for teachers and parents, to promote literacy and education. That was when mobile learning was mostly related to mobile phones but we have experienced a transformation of the concept of mobile learning since then. There are now opportunities offered by devices, like tablets, and if you look at the number of countries that are offering one-to-one initiatives using tablets or smartphones, then it is really an explosion. Currently, we are supporting countries in the exploration of mobile phones for learning purposes and we are doing this through the continuous professional development of teachers. Are there benefits to mobile learning that you might not get with traditional teaching? Mobile learning empowers the learner to continue learning because he or she will continue to be connected when they leave the classroom. Through mobile learning we are providing educational opportunities not just for the pupil but also for the family, household and social environment. We have seen this happening in a number of countries. Can you give us some examples of the initiatives where you are using mobile learning? In Pakistan we are using mobile learning to empower women and young girls and we have projects in continuous professional development in Nigeria, Senegal, Mexico and Pakistan. We are doing this to make sure that we support teachers in upgrading their skills. We are also using existing tools to provide teachers with access to videos on their mobile device that can be easily connected to a TV set so they can communicate this content in the classroom. There are many ways you can use the technology. What matters is that mobile learning is not one single thing, it is the idea of empowering individuals. What are the obstacles to mobile learning? The most important barrier is bandwidth. In harsh or remote areas where mobile learning could provide some wonderful opportunities we are ill-served either because we don’t have the devices or more importantly because there is not enough bandwidth or connectivity. Click here to view the video on YouTube . How has Nokia helped you? Nokia approached us three years ago precisely with the idea of supporting UNESCO to become a powerful voice in the area of mobile learning. Almost no one was talking about mobile learning then. Nokia has supported UNESCO financially and they have supported us in the review of existing initiatives all over the world. Thanks to the support of Nokia we are also launching the UNESCO policy guidelines on mobile learning this week. Nokia have made a very substantive contribution and we very much look forward to continuing this cooperation in the future.
Strategy Analytics: No Nokia Tablet at MWC
Strategy Analytics, a market research firm often cited by many publications, reports that Nokia will not announce a Windows tablet at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC). There have been rumors of it happening, but the firm believes Nokia will be concentrating on smartphones for MWC this year. Following extensive channel checks by our Tablet & Touchscreen Strategies (TTS) service, we understand Nokia will not unveil a tablet with a Microsoft operating system at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC). During an event in Pakistan earlier this week, an image shown on screen that looked a lot like a potential tablet got some bloggers excited. Nokia later debunked the rumor by explaining it was just an example tablet UI . Nokia has not denied or confirmed if there will be a tablet announcement at MWC, so Strategy Analytics could still be wrong. We’ll find out for sure in just a few days. In regards to smartphones, we’re hoping for an announcement of the next Nokia Lumia device with Pureview technology . Any Nokia fans wanting a Lumia tablet? If you enjoyed this article, you might also like… Nokia Hosting MWC Press Conference February 25th Nonsense or Possible? Nokia Tablet with Android 3.0 Nokia Windows 8 Tablet Rumored for Q4
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Strategy Analytics: No Nokia Tablet at MWC
Package Tracker – powered by HERE platform
Tweet Using the power of Nokia’s HERE platform, Package Tracker takes advantage of Nokia’s top-notch mapping data to create a useful and accurate parcel tracking app, with support for over 60 carriers. Whenever you order something online, or send something out into the world, logging onto the couriers website and tracking the parcel doesn’t always offer the best possible experience. It usually means that you have to be sat at a PC as the mobile-version of their website isn’t always up to scratch. This is fine if you’re sat at a PC, but what if you’re not? This is where Package Tracker comes in handy. Upon first launch, you’ll need to select the courier company from one of the 60 provided in the drop-down menu. If the courier company you’re using isn’t there, the team behind the app are more than happy to add it to future updates if you email them to let them know. You can find their email address from within the contact option in the app settings. Next, you’ll need to have your package number ready to type in, or you can also scan in the details using the barcode scanner. With support for QR, Data Matrix, UPC or EAN codes, to name only a few, you’ll be sure to be one scan away from digitally-connecting your phone to your package. Once you’ve given your package a name, which could be handy for people handling more than one package, pressing save will take you to the details page. It’s here that you’ll see more information on the journey of the package, from when it was first sent out to where it’s been, and currently is. You’re also shown the estimated delivery date and time. While these details are essential to following the progress of your package, seeing it all on a map is a much nicer experience – swipe left to see a fully detailed map. Plus, should you want to visit the website of the courier, swipe left again. To keep a constant eye on your packages, each and every item can be pinned to your Nokia Lumia’s Start screen in the form of a Live tile. These will dynamically update to show the latest news on your parcels, keeping you informed through each and every day. There’s also a Windows 8 version of Package Tracker that runs on Windows 8 tablets and computers. Activating the cloud sync feature from within the app will enable you to receive updates across all devices, at the same time. Have you used Package Tracker to track your deliveries? Do you use it regularly, or only every now and then? Let us know, using the comments section below. Image credit: lemonhalf
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Package Tracker – powered by HERE platform
Techno art: How Nokia is helping IDLE rock New York!
Tweet The electric guitar, the digital camera, 3D printing, the list of technologies that have generated new ways to unleash our creativity goes on and on. Tech has always given artists, musicians and film makers new ways to express themselves. Today, though, technology and art are more intertwined than ever. It’s no surprise then that Nokia has been helping to promote a cool new artistic endeavour in New York called IDLE . To find out more, we hooked up with organizers Katya Guseva and Luke McCann. Thanks for joining us guys. So what exactly is IDLE and what makes it so special? The mission of IDLE is to blend and merge the two worlds of audio and visuals together. We love going to music shows, we love art exhibitions, but both worlds are so tightly intertwined, that it makes perfect sense to experience them together at the same place, same time. Lots of musicians these days are turning to visuals, created specifically for their music, and visual artists have always been inspired by music. We want to bring our favorite musicians and artists together. What makes it special though (besides our excellent curation of course), is the personal approach and intimate settings, where only a couple hundred people can enjoy acts that usually gather big night clubs. New York is one of the world’s most international cities, how is this reflected in its art, music and film? You’d think so, but even though the creative scenes are blooming, there are only so many outlets and venues, that don’t require bottle service or close at 2 am. It’s hard to see a show where there’s equal attention given to the environment and the content. If the venue is all decked out, it’s probably going to lack quality of sound, or talent. If the sound and dj are great, it’s usually in a dark basement. To each their own, but with IDLE we hope to create an experience that’s going to stimulate both audio and visual senses. What sparked the idea to mix a club night with film and art? What theme unites them? When you put two minds together, beautiful things might happen. Big Up Magazine and Reconstrvct always shared similar aesthetic, however the ways we share them were different. Reconstrvct being an underground dubstep night wanted to branch out into different outlets and styles of music. Big Up, having an online and print presence wanted to do something more involved in the local scene. It all blended perfectly into IDLE. Dance music’s been around since the late 80s. Why do you think it’s stayed so popular? Dancing is the most natural thing people do. Anyone can dance, move to the rhythm. Rhythm is present in everything beginning with our heart beat, breathing, walking… If you’re talking about electronic dance music, it’s become popular with the rise of computers, and it’s not going away, now that any 15 year-old can start producing music on their smart phone. Dance is the release of all sorts of energies, be it negative emotions or joy. And people love going out to release everything they’ve been holding inside for a while. We can only hope that we manage to create an environment where people can feel free and comfortable to have a good time and dance. How has mobile tech changed the way people create music, art and film in your experience? It’s fascinating how many young and talented people are around us these days. Still in high school, they have releases on major labels, create covers for magazines and make their own music videos. We can easily attribute this to the Internet and the spread of devices like laptops, tablets, phones and their variations. What it’s done is made creating content easier, learning more accessible, and spreading lightning-fast. It brought about flood of art, music and film expressions, both good and bad. And there’s no stopping from now on. Expect your toddler being the next Warhol. What is it about Nokia that made you want to work with them? We’ve seen Nokia getting behind very cool initiatives lately, which create authentic experiences with music, art and film. And it was only logical for us to reach out with our unique idea. We’re over the moon, humbled that Nokia loved what IDLE is about, and we hope for a long and fruitful partnership. We think this is a super cool new collaboration, and hope you do, too. In the next couple of weeks, we’ll get up close and personal with some of the artists, musicians and film-makers who used Lumia 920′s to record their IDLE nights. In the meantime, we’d love to hear your thoughts on whether tech is powering art for better or for worse.
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Techno art: How Nokia is helping IDLE rock New York!
CES news that excites us
Tweet The CES 2013 expo in Las Vegas wrapped up last week, and we saw a flood of innovative technologies, great gadgets, and stuff that just made our jaws drop. Nokia is all about creating “wow” experiences for consumers, so we’re excited to see new technologies and trends that enable us to take Lumia to the next level and augment what we’re already doing in the mobile space. Qualcomm opened the conference on January 7 with a keynote that had everybody talking (watch it here ). The company announced a host of new SnapDragon processors that offers “stunning performance and extreme battery life.” The flagship chip, the Snapdragon 800, is a quadcore monster with speeds up to 2.3 gigahertz per core. It supports video recording in Ultra HD, which has four times as many pixels as 1080p and can handle 55 megapixel photos. On the wireless front, the Snapdragon 800 offers 4G LTE with data rates up to 150 megabit per second and Wi-Fi at speeds up to one gigabit per second. Qualcomm expects the Snapdragon 800 processors to show up in premium smartphones, smart TVs, digital media adapters, and tablets in the second half of the year. Almost unbreakable Our family of Nokia Lumia smartphones is equipped with the amazingly robust Gorilla Glass to protect the screen and to make sure your phone can survive the rough conditions associated with constantly being on the go. Corning, the makers of Gorilla Glass, just announced the third generation of the damage-resistant glass. Gorilla Glass 3 is designed to resist scratches even better and to retain more strength when it is scratched. Overall, Corning claims that Gorilla Glass 3 is three times more damage-resistant than is its predecessor. “Our scientists made improvements in the glass composition at the atomic level and have developed a new way to improve durability,” said Joe Dunning, Supervisor of Media Relations at Corning. What’s even more amazing is that should you actually manage to scratch the glass, it’s going to be much less visible. Engadget has a great video that shows the strength of Gorilla Glass 3. Check it out on YouTube right here! Wires no more Are you a fan of the wireless charging ? Well, we have great news from the Wireless Power Consortium behind the Qi standard used in the Nokia Lumia 920 and the wireless charging shells for the Nokia Lumia 822 , 820 , and 810 . Wireless charging was everywhere at CES, and the Qi standard is now backed by more than 130 well-known companies. The terrific thing about Qi is that you’re able to charge your phone using any Qi-compatible charger, regardless of brand. Fulton Innovations even demonstrated device-to-device wireless charging that can essentially turn any device (like your tablet) into a wireless charging pad. We were especially excited to see an armrest from Toyota that comes with built-in wireless charging. The new Toyota armrest will be able to wirelessly charge your Nokia Lumia and will be available in the 2013 Toyota Avalon with the technology package. Connect your phone to the infotainment system via Bluetooth, and you’ve officially ditched all wires. The Wireless Power Consortium is working on improving the Qi standard so that you’ll be able to wirelessly charge larger devices, such as tablets, and increase the distance between the charger and the device.
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CES news that excites us
2013: More ‘wow’ experiences for Lumia users
Tweet Boy, what a year! The year 2012 was witness to some of the most important products in Nokia’s history. We expanded the family of Lumia phones, introduced PureView imaging, and launched the world’s most innovative smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 920 with Windows Phone 8. “I’m pleased and proud of our efforts,” says Chris Weber, Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Nokia. “I think we’ve created great excitement and buzz with consumers and credibility with our customers and partners. In 2013, we need to build on that, both with current devices and as we broaden our portfolio.” We sat down with the energetic executive at the CES 2013 expo to have a chat about where Nokia is today and the path we’re on. It’s all about the experience “Creating ‘Wow’ experiences for consumers is what matters—we’re off to a good start, but there’s more work to be done,” he says. So, what are ‘Wow’ experiences? It can be the advanced PureView camera that delivers amazing low-light performance but also additive and ingenious additions such as Cinemagraph or Photobeamer or something as basic as being able to use your smartphone with your gloves on. We can’t forget hassle-free wireless charging or Nokia Music, which delivers free streaming without ads or the need to sign up. And then there are maps and location along with associated apps such as Nokia Transit, City Lens, and Nokia Drive . “I am extremely proud of the work we are doing in this space; it speaks to our legacy strength,” says Weber. “In 2012, maps truly came to the forefront of people’s attention, and in 2013, I expect to see maps take a great leap forward.” “We need to keep up the momentum, keep it going. When we talk to consumers and to retail professionals, we get very positive feedback,” says Weber. “If you deliver great experiences to the consumer, those things will win the day for you.” Win hearts and minds Where is the industry headed? According to Weber, “connected” is the keyword. It’s about taking those great experiences across all devices: computers, tablets, and televisions. That’s a clear technology trend. That said, there are some fundamentals that remain the same, and it’s actually pretty simple: “If you win over the hearts and minds of the consumers, all other things will take care of themselves,” says Weber. He makes it clear that Nokia is not going to focus solely on playing the spec game. “Hardware specifications have no value to the consumer,” says Weber. “We are looking at this differently. We want to create unique experiences—things that excite people—things they never imagined possible.” As an example, Weber brings up the topic of the connected camera, which is currently receiving a great deal of attention here at the CES 2013 expo. “We’ve got the greatest connected camera on the planet. Guess what? It’s called the Nokia Lumia 920. In low light, it does more than any other smartphone out there.“ “It fits perfectly with the trends that consumers want to tap into,” he says. We’ll continue to innovate But that doesn’t mean that Nokia is content or is slowing down in any way. As Weber keeps pointing out, there’s still much work to be done. “We’ve made great progress on the application front, especially with top apps. But if you ask where we would need to improve, we need to continue to focus on that and to grow the ecosystem.” Nokia will continue to innovate while continuing to add value, new functionality, and capabilities to current users. “We’ll continue to bring the Nokia secret sauce,” Weber concludes. Don’t forget we’re giving away 10 Nokia PowerUps this week – just tweet with #NokiaPoweredMeUp to be one of our two daily winners!
Why do we love our smartphones so much?
Tweet Trekkies, Whovians, Browncoats, Furries and Tolkien obsessives: wake up and smell the tech! Us twenty-first century enthusiasts aren’t interested in superheroes or spaceships or Klingon translations of The Fellowship of the Ring—our smartphones are more precious to us than anything poor Gollum could ever dream up. Love is in the air Experts reckon that right now there are over one billion smartphones in use around the world, which means just about 17% of the global population (or about one in seven people) is jacked in to apps and touch-screens—that’s an increase of 46.6% since 2011! But fandom isn’t about number-crunching; it’s about obsession. A 2012 Spike TV poll found that 80% of men surveyed said they ‘loved’ their smartphones. So what’s got us all gooey-eyed about them? Here, there and everywhere Well, we’re sure it’s got to do with portability. Unlike your TV, your car, or your desktop computer, your smartphone is one gadget you can use just about anywhere—and, unlike even the most streamlined laptops, netbooks and tablets, smartphones, such as our beloved Nokia Lumias , fit right in your pocket. Nielson’s 2012 Social Media report says that 46% of social online activity happens from mobile phones, with tablets only accounting for 16%—they go on to tell us that amongst 18-24 year olds, nearly a third of social networking goes on in, ahem, the bathroom. Wedded and bedded Coincidence? We think not! The portability and convenience of smartphones gives them a massive advantage in a world where a constant online presence is nigh-on mandatory. In a 2012 YouGov survey, 68% of respondents said they’d happily ditch beer, wine, chocolate, shoes, television or even their car for an entire month, so long as they could keep their smartphone; and, if that’s not enough, 22% claimed that their smartphone is the most important thing they take to bed with them. Bad news for lovers, maybe, but pretty darn good news for tech manufacturers! Lust for life So we get why smartphones have the edge over desktop computers and TVs (whether Internet TVs or regular varieties)—but what is it about the smartphone experience that makes people fall in love with it? The Spike TV report said that eight out of ten male smartphone users felt their device made their lives better, 73% said it gave them more confidence, and 72% said it made them communicate more with friends. Connecting people So if Spinoza’s right, and man is a social animal, it looks like smartphones are doing their part to facilitate that sociability. We’re spending more time on our phones, and we’re using those phones to access apps like Facebook and Twitter. Even when we’re watching TV, we’re using our smartphones to look up information about the show, or to tweet about it, or to go shopping. The old standby that women can multi-task and men can’t, goes right out the window when we think about how and when we use our phones. And if smartphones are making male users more communicative, it also sounds like they’re helping to break through the old stereotype of the taciturn man, enabling fanboys to get more chatty without losing street-cred. No wonder the boys love their toys! Image credit: CarbonNYC + Doug88888
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