iPhone 3G dominates mobile data in Australia

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 23 September 2008 12:40

Your IT - Mobility

Finally, there's the range of applications that runs on the device. Many iPhone applications make use of the network.

For example, maps aren't stored on the handset. Instead, they are downloaded from Google as required.

With the possible exception of the BlackBerry range (for those wedded to pressing real buttons), the iPhone is probably once of the best phones when it comes to mobile email. Depending on the amount of email you receive, this is another application that can get through the megabytes over the course of a day.

And while some phones decipher QR codes internally, at least one of the iPhone applications for the purpose appears to work by sending the image of the code to a server that returns the corresponding URL.

Additionally, the iPhone's relatively large and bright screen makes it an attractive platform for watching videos on the move. Spend that 20 minutes per day watching clips from YouTube, and the downloads begin to build.

Even iPhone weaknesses can boost data traffic. For example, you can't take a photo and then send it by MMS. Instead, you need to email it.

The overseas experience has been that iPhone users get through much more mobile data than owners of other devices.

What happened in the UK? See page three.