Almost a half (49 percent) of mobile phone owners in the US use the handset for more than making and receiving calls, according to an online survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Ingenio which covered 4,123 adults. That 49 percent figure includes messaging, so it’s not a huge figure—some content figures are:
—Proportion sending or receiving SMS; 38 percent women, 33 percent men.
—Proportion taking, sending or receiving photos; 27 percent women, 21 percent men.
—Proportion checking e-mail; 7 percent women, 12 percent men.
—Proportion accessing the internet for something other than search and download; 5 percent women, 11 percent men.
—Proportion finding information with an internet search engine; 6 percent women, 9 percent men.

The survey also found that 57 percent of mobile users think they will use their handset for more than just making and receiving calls by 2010. That’s a small figure, probably a lot smaller than the number that will be doing so. People tend to respond negatively to surveys of things they don’t use because they don’t really understand the benefits of the service. I think what the figures show is that most people who can see a use for mobile content or data actually use it—so increasing usage is a matter of education.