Mobile Users Want Ease Of Use, Not TV

New surveys find U.S. mobile users are slow to adopt online television...but they'd sure use the Internet more if it were easier.

New research reports from JupiterResearch and Azuki Systems find that U.S. mobile phone users have been slow to embrace mobile television service offerings, but would happily use more Internet services if they could just do it more easily.

A new report from JupiterResearch finds that only one percent of U.S. mobile phone users have embraced mobile television offerings. Although mobile video offerings were all the rage a couple years ago as mobile operators fought to introduce new revenue streams to their services, most consumers seem unimpressed, citing poor connectivity, high costs, and limited content selection as the main hurdles. However, some 15 percent of consumers surveyed expressed interest in watching recorded content from their own television setups on their mobile devices, which may bode well for Sling Media and other services that offer to push recorded content to remote devices.

According a series of surveys conducted by Azuki Systems, mobile users would be happy to tap into more content and capabilities…if only it were easier. Azuki found that mobile users spend a good bit of time talking, sending text messages, using the Web, and sending email, but a whopping 80 percent of those polled wished it was easier to get online with their mobile devices and use rich media services.

Azuki also found that 79 percent of all mobile users use text messaging, and 29 percent of mobile users over the age of 22 spend about two hours a week sending text messages. Those under 22 spend even more time texting, with some 37 percent reporting the text more than two hours a week. Half of all users say they’ve read email on a mobile device, and 52 percent said they’ve accessed the Web. Users also indicated they would pre receptive to location-based marketing, with more than 65 percent indicating they would take advantage of messages from local businesses sent to their phones or email accounts based on their locations.