Smart Phones are not so Smart

Apical Smartphone Survey Highlights Fundamental Weaknesses Being Accommodated by Users as Video Content Pervades

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Jan 21, 2014, 04:30 ET

LONDON, January 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

When asked whether or not they adjusted the brightness on their smartphone and for what reasons, two thirds (63%) of smartphone users indicated that they had adjusted the display. Half of all users (50%) do so to save power or in some way improve the viewing experience. The youth segment aged 15-24 is most likely to change the settings and 66% of this group gave any of the aforementioned reasons to adjust the display settings.

An Apical Smartphone survey independently implemented by Ipsos MORI has highlighted the impact of screen displays on smartphone power. Half of all 15-34 year old males adjusts brightness solely to save power on his smartphone and this is a one of the dominant user groups (82% of the Male 15-34 age group owns smartphone).

The survey showed that half of all users (47%) are accessing social media as a top 3 activity. Significantly, eight of out ten (77%) are accessing some form of video based internet /app content with approximately 1 in 4 saying maps/navigation, viewing photos or viewing video sites such as YouTube are in the top 3 activities beyond calls and texts.

Already one in ten users and 14% of 15-24 year olds are playing video games and one in ten (9%) watching movies on their smartphone.

However the dominant and most concerning finding was the need for half of users (50%) to manually control the brightness, attempting to extend battery life during the day and/or enabling a better viewing experience (which generally works against battery life). Given the significant trend to access multimedia over mobile, the issue will only become more acute if not tackled.

Michael Tusch CEO of Apical said "The smartphone industry's message to its customers is untenable: we'll give you bigger, brighter displays and improved graphics, from which you won't be able to benefit if you want your phone battery to last into the afternoon or use it in a range of ambient light conditions. Apical recently introduced Assertive Display, which enables phones to deliver a higher quality but importantly a seamless viewing experience and at substantially lower power, which goes some way to addressing the problem. The balance of the triad of power reduction, seamless viewing experience and quality images, is the smartphone challenge .We call upon manufacturers and industry bodies such as the GSM Association to prioritise this issue for debate and action at the Mobile World Congress, to create customer satisfaction and indeed to support 4G business models and revenue stream goals."

On behalf of Apical, Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,000 adults across Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) aged 15 and over. The study was conducted alongside the Tech Tracker survey. Interviews were conducted via CAPIBUS between 8th and 15th November 2013. Survey data was weighted to the known population proportions of this audience and tables are provided with 95% confidence level according to marketing and social research standards.

About Apical

Apical is a leader in advanced image and video processing technology for embedded applications. The company's Assertive products are derived from original research into the human visual system and are designed to maximize the performance of a wide range of image capture and display devices. Apical works primarily with OEMs and semiconductor manufacturers for whom imaging capture and display are critical components. Apical is a privately-held company based in the UK.

http://www.apical.co.uk

SOURCE Apical Ltd