3G mobiles 'change social habits'

Increasing use of 3G mobile phones can change the way people communicate and create new social trends and tribes, a behavioural study has suggested.

The study said the combination of still and video cameras on modern phones, and the advent of high speed data transfer, can inspire a generation of users.Bloggers, film-makers and clubbers all benefit from 3G phones, it said.Analysts Future Laboratory said the report was the first ethnographic survey of 3G use across the UK.

3G is the next generation of mobile phone technology, offering a wide range of high speed mobile services, including video calling and messaging, e-mail, games, photo messaging and information services.They identified a range of new behavioural patterns among those using 3G phones, which were free of charge for the duration of the study.New technology on offer allowed a diverse range of personalities to express themselves creatively in different ways, the report said.

network and use 3G mobiles to keep friends up to date.

Alfred Tong, one of the report's authors, admitted that allowing free use of the phones encouraged heavy use, but said the study offered a glimpse into a 3G future.Without the constraints of price, we hope these results illustrate how people will use 3G as the technology spreads," he told the BBC News website.The report's authors dubbed the new generation of mobile phone users Generation C, with C meaning content.
As well as offering bloggers the chance to post instantly to their own sites, researchers saw 3G phones used as a counterpoint to retailing, socialising, and as a tool for documenting their lives.Analyst Ben Wood said he welcomed the study, but said that most mobile phone users remain concerned about looks, cost and battery life above all else."It's very hard to get people to discover these services and to use them," he said.3G operators were still seeking ways to maximise income from multimedia services without putting off customers, he added.
Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/