Internet connectivity is what today’s mobile world is all about. We need connections to stay in touch with business contacts, friends, and family, accomplish tasks and manage many aspects of our lives. The prevalence of cell phone Internet use is on the rise.
In fact, the Pew Internet and American Life Project–from the Pew Research Center–reports that nearly 40% of adults, as of 2010, use their cell phone to connect to the internet for some purpose. This is nearly ten percentage points higher than adults who reported internet usage with a cell phone during 2009.
Using your Cell Phone as a Modem
Perhaps one of the first ways you can use your cell phone to access the internet is by using it as an internet modem. This involves tethering your phone to your notebook or laptop via a USB cord, downloading some software from your cell phone provider and then getting an internet access signal.
Most cell phone providers charge extra fees or have certain data plans you can select from if you want to use this route to access the internet with your cell phone. On the other hand, some providers include the service as no-charge with a voice plan.
Subscribing to Mobile Web
The second and perhaps most prevalent way cell phone users connect to the internet is by subscribing to a mobile web plan from a cell phone provider. Though some carriers give you the option of paying only a certain amount per month for a set amount of data usage, the majority of cell phone providers offer unlimited data plans at extremely competitive rates.
For example, Verizon Wireless offers an unlimited data plan for 3G Smartphones for around only $30 per month. Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile offer comparable plans that can give you unlimited access to the internet.
Staying in Sync with Apps
A popular trend in today’s mobile internet usage is the downloading and use of various internet applications, or “apps.” Mobile apps are programs written and designed for cell phones.
If you have a Smartphone, Blackberry, Palm, Windows Mobile or other similar device, these apps stay at the forefront of your cell phone, giving you the ability to tap or click it whenever you need to open it. Most Smartphones and cell phones are customizable so that you can download and store any number of apps that you need.
When it comes to picking and choosing your apps, most do cost money. Though some can be found with free trials or for free, mobile apps often cost anywhere between $3 and $12, on average, depending on the type of app you’re downloading and from what vendor you’re downloading it. Popular mobile apps include apps made for Facebook, Twitter and other social networking websites, game apps, contact management and personal organization apps just to name a few.
Mobile App Trends
The Apple iPhone initially started the mobile apps trend, however, many other non-Apple Smartphones utilize apps at the same, if not greater, rate since the range and availability of apps exceeds that of the Apple iPhone. Nevertheless, the catch phrase, “There’s an app for that,” indicates that apps are often considered the fuel that drives Smartphones’ functionality.
Nielsen, a consumer research organization that measures and provides statistics about what consumers watch and buy, measured internet usage among cell phone users in June 2010. The organization found that 14% of cell phone users had downloaded a mobile application within the past 30 days at the time the survey was conducted.
Among the app downloaders, free and paid game applications were the most downloaded of all applications. Across Smartphones, the three most popular apps being used include the Facebook app, Google Maps and the Weather Channel app. Similar to Google Maps, many people also subscribe to GPS apps, which can give you turn-by-turn directions to your destination just like any other GPS handheld device.
Though not as widespread, one app you can download to give you extra voice capabilities is a VoIP app such as Skype. The Skype mobile app, once downloaded to your cell phone, allows you to make calls to other Skype users and use Skype credit just as you would on a regular computer with your own internet connection.
When using Skype, the app uses your Wi-Fi connection to send and receive signals, meaning that you can essentially make and receive calls for free without the use of a separate voice plan.
Using the Internet While Traveling
Although it may seem like common sense to use your cell phone for the internet essentially anywhere and everywhere you travel, in some cases it could be dangerous. Primarily, the risk exists if you’re traveling abroad and overseas and expect to use your cell phone to access the internet.
Though you may have an unlimited data plan that afford you as much internet usage as you want, you may not realize that the terms of this “unlimited” usage stop immediately at the border.
In other words, this means that if you’re not clear on the rates you’ll pay when you leave the country and use your mobile phone for the internet, then you could save a pretty hefty cell phone bill once you return from traveling.
However, two possible solutions exist. First, you can contact your cell phone provider before you leave the country and ask to disable all data or internet-functions on your phone so that you can’t be tempted to use them. Alternatively, you could ask your cell phone provider to place limits on the usage, preventing you from racking up dangerously high bills.
Attractive Features of Cell Phones
Apart from being able to use the internet on your cell phone or Smartphone, there are lots of other features that make cell phones appealing other than their internet and data capabilities.
For starters, most internet-capable phones and Smartphones today offer a full QWERTY keyboard, meaning that you’ll need less effort to type, message and email others. Many also have touch screens, built-in speakers, digital cameras, mp3 players and radios just to name a few.
As you can see, the popularity of cell phones and Smartphones to harness the power of the internet has dramatically risen in recent years. With mobile web internet services becoming increasingly reliable and faster, the prevalence of cell phone internet usage will continue to increase both now and in the future.
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