Microsoft who last week launched their new 6.5 Windows Mobile operating system claims that new Australian research reveals that men are more likely to hide phone numbers from wives and girlfriends and that mobile phones are so integral to our lives that Australians deem it twice as bad to lose a phone than house keys.
And if you’re single and lose your phone – forget it! Single Australians rated it twice as bad to lose a phone compared to Australians who are in a relationship.
The research also revealed that:
- One in four Australian men claim to have secretly stored phone numbers that are deliberately hidden from girlfriends, wives and friends. This is in stark contrast to only one in twelve women who do the same.
- Almost 60 per cent of Australians admit to regularly swearing at their mobile phone, as a way to release frustration.
- One third of all 16 to 20 year olds believe it’s worse to lose their phone than their keys or wallet.
The research released by Microsoft Australia today was conducted with 1,125 respondents across Australia and found that Australians are increasingly using their mobile phones as an emotional and intellectual support system – with some surprising and unusual conclusions:
It’s no surprise that when asked about their use of phone features over the past two years, Australians indicated that they’ve begun using a wider range of features, including text, MMS and photo capabilities, and more often, with 99 per cent, 94 per cent and 90 percent of Australians respectively using these features.
The Microsoft-commissioned research also found that Australian adoption and use of text and MMS has blown sky high, with over half of respondents indicating that they text more now than they have in the past two years.
However, despite the importance that Australians place on their phones, many are still damaging or misplacing their prized possessions:
- Nearly a quarter of the population has broken their mobile phone, dropped it in water or lost their mobile phone altogether:
- 77 percent of Australians regularly misplace their phone and have to call it to locate it.
- Nearly 50 per cent of Australian males surveyed, aged between 16 and 19, have lost their phone. Only 20 per cent of females in the same age group have lost their phones.
The Microsoft survey also revealed that as Australians become more dependent on their phones, and less dependent on their own memory, they are more at risk of losing important information numbers and photos stored on their phones. Most Australians (63%) don’t know how to retrieve some of the information stored on their phones, or back it up, risking permanent loss:
· Only one third of Australians surveyed know their best friend’s phone number by memory and only half of all Australians surveyed know their own office phone number – they rely on their phones for this information. Yet, only one third of Australians have all their phone numbers backed up elsewhere.
· 10 per cent of all Australians have a secret phone number stored in their phone that they deliberately hide from someone else.
· Three quarters of all females under the age of thirty have cherished photos saved on their mobile phone, yet one third don’t know how to retrieve them, and only one third of females have their photos backed up elsewhere.
· Around one in six Australians regularly have issues accessing saved numbers. The same number of Australians are unable to download mobile phone applications.
According to Grace Kerrison, Director of Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business, “Twenty years ago, most Australians could tell you not only their office number, but the numbers of ten of their closest friends. Technology is certainly making things easier for us, but all mobile phone users need to be diligent about how they secure their important information.
Our research shows that nearly one in four people lose their phones, so Microsoft encourages Australians to use a backup service, such as our recently launched, complimentary Microsoft My Phone service.”
