Kuala Lumpur - Singaporeans are among the most attached to their
mobile phones, according to a global survey.
Market research firm Synovate's survey said three-quarters of
the more than 8,000 respondents polled online in 11 places said
they take their cellphones with them everywhere. And leading the
pack are Russians and Singaporeans.
More than a third of the respondents went as far as to say that
they cannot live without their mobile phones, topped by Taiwanese
followed by Singaporeans, while one in four finds it harder to
replace cellphones than wallets or purses.
Calling mobile phones the 'remote control' for life, Synovate's
poll said cellphones are so ubiquitous that by last year, there
were more people who owned one than those who did not.
'Mobile phones give us safety, security and instant access to
information. They are the No. 1 tool of communication for us,
sometimes even surpassing face-to-face communication. They are our
connections to our lives,' Ms Jenny Chang, Synovate's managing
director in Taiwan, said in a statement.
Mobile phones have also changed the nature of relationships,
with the survey showing that nearly half of all respondents use
text messages to flirt, a fifth set up first dates via SMS, and
almost the same number use the same method to end a relationship -
led by Filipinos, Malaysians and Russians.
'Let's face it - it is just plain easier to break up with
someone via text message than having to tell them face to face,'
said Synovate's managing director for Malaysia, Mr Steve Murphy,
noting that more than one in five Malaysians have broken up with
someone, or have been jilted, via text messaging.
The survey also found that 31 per cent of respondents have lied
about their whereabouts via text messaging.
Apart from the obvious calling and texting, the top three
features people use regularly on their mobile phones are the alarm
clock, camera and games.
As for e-mail and Internet access, 17 per cent of respondents
said they check their inboxes or surf the Internet off their
phones, led by those in the United States and Britain.
-- REUTERS
