Tech

56% of adults own smartphones: study

Americans love their mobile gadgets — and the more versatile, the better.

More than half of all US adults, roughly 56 percent, own a smartphone, as they continue to hang up on plain vanilla cell phones, says new research.

Just 41 percent of adults carry around a phone-only portable device, down from 48 percent two years earlier, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.

The age group with the highest percentage of ownership of smartphones is 18 to 29 years, at 90 percent. That compares to just 43 percent of seniors.
Gadgets geeks are also turning to tablets and away from less nimble e-readers, the study found.

About 35 percent of adults own a tablet, while 24 percent own an e-reader like a Kindle or a Nook.

Fully 67 percent of cell owners check their phone for messages, alerts or calls even when their phones don’t ring or vibrate, the study found.

About 44 percent claim to have slept with their phone next to their bed so as not to miss any calls, texts or other updates during the night, according to Pew’s research.

The study found that 29 percent of cell owners describe their gadget as “something they can’t imagine living without.”
Not surprisingly, laptop computers continue to fall out of favor as tablet choices grow.

Still, about 61 percent of adults answering the survey said they own a laptop — which is about flat with a year earlier.