Consumers Want More Powerful Mobile Devices... Sort Of

The digitally empowered consumer seems to be a theme this week. A recent survey by Parks Associates has noted the top functions that consumers would like to see in their mobile devices. By far the top desired function (selected by 42% of those surveyed) was taking pictures... which would seem to be good news for cameraphone manufacturers. Other top functions on the wish list were:

• Receiving location-specific information (25%)


• Watch live TV (24%)


• Browse the Internet (21%)


• Voice communication (21%)


• Listen to music (20%)

As with many surveys of this type, the results can be read more than one way. On the one hand, consumers like the idea of advanced functionality on their cell phones and other mobile devices. On the other hand, none of the features aside from picture taking polled higher than 25% in the survey (only 14% wanted an address book, a relatively mundane feature). Perhaps the takeaway from this survey might be that consumers want advanced functionality in their mobile devices... but not that badly.

Source: ZDNet