Nokia: Multifunction phone demand soaring

More people worldwide are using their handsets as more than a mobile phone, Nokia found in a study released Tuesday.

The Finnish mobile giant said that almost one in two people globally use their handsets as their main camera, while over two-thirds expect music-enabled mobiles to replace their MP3 players. Meanwhile, about half of those surveyed want their mobile phones connected with their home electronics.

Nokia surveyed about 5,500 people between the ages of 18 and 35 in Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Britain and the United States.

"The results strongly demonstrate that people are buying into the idea of convergence -- they really do want one device that does it all, from taking quality images, to storing their music collections and operating a digitally connected home. Our goal is to make it easy for people to have all of these experiences with them all the time -- in a multimedia computer," Tapio Hedman, senior vice president of multimedia marketing, said in a news release.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

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