There was an interesting article in the New York Times this week called ‘Cellphones Now Used More for Data Than for Calls‘. It reinforces the idea that due to usage demands, many phones are no longer being designed for phone calls but instead for web browsing, emailing, apps, games and text messages. It definitely makes sense when I think of how many people I know who from the beginning said that if you’re looking for a phone to make calls, don’t buy an iPhone. It’s not easy to make calls after numerous clicks to get to a contact list and make a call. Again with my NexusOne, it is more accessible to quickly browse the web or launch an app than make a phone call.

The future of mLearning is looking strong as more people make use of all the extra functionality that is built in to smartphones like iPhone, BlackBerrys and Android OS phones.

Here a few of the key points from this article:

• Although almost 90 percent of households in the United States now have a cellphone, the growth in voice minutes used by consumers has stagnated, according to government and industry data
• The number of text messages sent per user increased by nearly 50 percent nationwide last year, according to the CTIA, the wireless industry association
• For the first time in the United States, the amount of data in text, e-mail messages, streaming video, music and other services on mobile devices in 2009 surpassed the amount of voice data in cellphone calls, industry executives and analysts say
• Conversations have become shorter; the average length of a local call was 1.81 minutes in 2009, compared with 2.27 minutes in 2008, according to CTIA
• More than half of American teenagers send about 1,500 text messages each month

If you’re interested in more statistics there were also some surprising findings that came from a new youth media study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation that I mentioned back in January, which you can find here: 10 Findings from a New Youth Media Study.

@Schnicker