GADGET WISE: More people are using their smartphones to connect online
SMARTPHONES ARE the UK’s most popular device for connecting online for the first time, according to industry monitor Ofcom.
The communications watchdog said 33 per cent of Britons opted for smartphones as the device of choice in 2014, ahead of 30 per cent who preferred laptops.
Ofcom said the toppling of the laptop was a “landmark moment”.
The study found that a third of all online access is via smartphones, after stark increase in use of 4G fuels rise of mobile surfing.
Ofcom compiles its Communications Market Report every year to monitor the UK’s habits.
UK adults spent nearly two hours a day on average using the internet on their phones, according to its report.
The margin of people who said they thought their phones were “more important” than their laptops for connection online was small – 19 per cent opted for tablets and 14 per cent for desktop computers – but the change is still significant, said Jane Rumble, director of market intelligence at Ofcom.
“We’ve reached a landmark moment where the smart phone has become the most important way for people to get online – just last year laptops were in first place,” she said.
Data from studies in 2014 also suggests that Britons took 1.2bn selfies last year, the BBC reported.
SELFIE MAD: 1.2bn selfies were taken last year
Some 31 per cent of Brits said they had taken a picture of themselves in the past year, with one in 10 adults taking at least one per week, Ofcom added.
It said that the rise in smartphones with increasingly good cameras was potentially fuelling the craze.
The smart phone was found to be more popular than the digital camera for taking and storing photos in 2014, with 60 per cent of adults and 89 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds using their phone for photography.
Author: Chief Editor
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