p2pnet - rss feed: Is your phone cleverer than you?
Remember those VCRs no one could ever use because you needed a PhD just to set the timers? Well, it’s happening all over again - only this time smart-phones are outsmarting their users. Nor, apparently, are they handling the tasks owners really want - especially when it comes to Net uses.
And that means consumers are holding back from using more of the applications available because the devices are complex and support from mobile operators is poor, writes Robert Jaques in vnu.net here.
A study by research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres found the most common areas of frustration to be not knowing what features are available and not knowing how to download applications, says Jaques, going on:
"Most smartphone users questioned had specifically chosen their device for its enhanced functionality, rather than because it was an upgrade or provided as a standard company phone. Of these users, half said employed their handsets for advanced messaging features such as instant messaging and MMS. Other uses included managing personal information, such as contacts and calendar (45 per cent), downloading games and information from the internet (28 per cent) and web browsing (38 per cent)."
When asked what other functions users would like to use their smartphones for, backing up information onto a PC and email came out as the two top responses with 22% and 19% respectively, the story says, adding that email is, "the number one problem for mobile network operators’ support staff" with the Sony Ericsson P800 smartphone given as a good example why.
"There are more than 12 parameters to set for the email function to work," says the study.
