• People with iPhones have more sexual partners than BlackBerry users (who are second in rank) or those who have an Android handset (who come in third).
• Female smartphone users tend to have more sexual partners than men. For example, the average 30-year-old woman with an iPhone has had more than a dozen partners while men have had 10.
• 30-year-old males with iPhones had an average of four more sexual partners in their lifetimes than men of the same age with Android handsets.

The study used an interesting detailed approach to come to these conclusions. First, they posted a series of personality tests on the site for users, some of which ask for information about the number of sexual partners that the people have had. Then they looked at the data encoded in the respondents profile pictures. This allowed them to see which smartphones were used to upload photos to the site. All of this information was combined to come up with the results of the study.

Clearly, there is some room for error here. For one thing, people with many sexual partners who uploaded photos to the site using a digital camera and PC were not counted. In which case, it may be that some smartphone users are more likely to use their phone’s cameras than others. Also, there is always the chance that people are lying in these online surveys. Still, it’s an interesting study, isn’t it?

For those of you with an iPhone who feel left out because your numbers are low, there’s always Facetime porn as an alternative.

1. You love to be green. People who are interested in green living are the most likely to take full advantage of the features available on their mobile phones. They use the full-range of on-device and wireless services to support an organised, eco-friendly lifestyle. This includes using GPS, shopping lists, agendas, media devices, etc.
2. You recently moved in with a partner. If you are a newlywed or someone who has just moved in with a domestic partner then you also probably use all of your phone’s functions. This is especially true for couples with young children who use their phones for entertainment. These couples also use their devices to share information and keep track of daily tasks.
3. You enjoy staying fit. People who are concerned about fitness and their health are also among the top categories of people who use the full range of functionality on their phones. For example, they combine app downloads and GPS to track their running workouts.

All three of these groups of people tend to consider the mobile phone to be an extension of who they are. The phone isn’t just a phone; it is a way to enhance their green, domestic and healthy lifestyles. As such, the phone is a crucial part of their lives all throughout the day. The more they can learn to continue maximizing the functionality of their phones, the more integrated these devices will continue to be in their lives.

Do you fit into any of these categories? Do you use all of your phones features? Do you reckon this research is true to life? Let us know in the comments below.

But as of today this is going to change, as presumably all the legal wrangles holding up the transition have now been sorted out, so the Symbian platform’s source code will be available for download from 2pm today.  The open source nature of the OS means that developers can change the code as much as they want and implement it on anything they like.  In turn, this should increase innovation and speed up development of the platform, in a way which hasn’t been possible before.

Could this move kickstart a growth in Symbian which will see a truly modern OS developed to take on the likes of Apple and Android?  Or, as is noted by the BBC, that the open source status could be used simply for marketing purposes, in a similar way to Google’s successful stance?  We certainly want it to be the former!

The main prototype that he’s working on is a shape-shifting phone. The phone could change shape and could shift its weight from one portion of the device to the other. This would allow us to feel more intimate sensation when using our phones, making virtual experiences more physical. For example, if you were reading a very heavy book on your mobile phone then the phone would feel heavier; as you get through the book it would physically lighten up. Imagine the cool stuff that something like this could do for mobile phone gaming!

Hemmert would like to go even further than this, though, in allowing us to really interact with our mobile phones. He’s working on a concept phone that could actually mimic human emotion through something akin to a heartbeat and breathing. If something like this ever makes into the market we may find that mobile phones start replacing blow up dolls for some consumers!

The Mobile Data Association’s latest report paints a very different picture to the indifference seen at its launch, as they quote a total of 96.8 billion SMS messages were sent during 2009 in the UK alone!  This figure is up from 2008’s total of 78 billion and up again over the 56 billion sent in 2007.

The report also shares some Christmas Day and New Years Eve 2009 figures.  A mere 441 million messages were sent on the 25th of December, a drop in the ocean compared to the 874 million sent on over New Years Eve and Day!  The average 265 million sent each day puts these figures into perspective.

Do you use SMS as an alternative to calling someone?  Is it the cost, the simplicity or the convenience that makes you do this, or another reason entirely?  Let us know in the comments!

Unfortunately not every use of human ingenuity is really useful, ingenious, or – if you apply a lower intelligence limit to the species – even “human.”

1.  The Hermit Nap Station

The Hermit Nap Station allegedly allows you to nap anywhere you want: The maker’s under the misapprehension that the difficult part of sleeping in public is bothering to move a small amount of cloth over yourself.  As opposed to the literally millions of people you wouldn’t trust with unopposed access to your possessions and unconscious, unresisting body.  Add to this is the most useless alert lights since SUVs came with an “I don’t care about fuel-efficiency” LED indicator: red and green lights telling passers-by whether it’s okay to interrupt your sleep or not.  Assuming that they’re polite enough to listen, and that any light less powerful than a flesh-melting laser can be trusted as night-watchman.  And that you’re the sort of insane individual who’d curl up in a constructed cocoon in public but still be prepared to entertain visitors.

Tip:  When the project’s own camera is better focused on the young inventor than the actual equipment, it’s because even they know it’s garbage.  And I’m not sure if we’re meant to have noticed but the “shell” is a 50/50 mix of felt and gap.  It could only be a worse wrapping if it was made of hungry weevils.

2.  Robo Secretary

Secretaries serve to save their employers all kinds of trudging tasks, filing forms and fielding visitors to allow everyone else to get on with the work.  So what could be better than an android “Saya” secretary that requires constant maintenance, has to be carried anywhere it needs to go, and forces people to say everything extremely clearly several times?  Apart from anything?

We’ve all been in offices – they can’t run so much as a photocopier without the entire staff trying to fix the stupid thing once a month.  A lifelike android body would permanently cripple an entire company, especially when everyone’s too polite to search for the power switch to ‘turn her off and on again’ (the first and last line of office equipment maintenance).  The advertising boldly claims 300 words, but 700 phrases, meaning that they’ve clearly counted “Hello”, “Sir”, and “Hello Sir” as entirely different functions.  If your business can operate with only 300 spoken words, please keep up your worthy work at the Sign Language Institute.  Or the Severe Head Trauma Employment Centre.

Lifelike androids are certainly coming; the problem is the ‘uncanny valley’ – the point where things are close enough to human that the remaining flaws become horrifying. For example: We don’t find Morph disturbing, but the jerky, sick-looking lumpiness of Saya’s face is horrifying.  This at least means she’ll be able to prevent visitors from distracting the workforce.

3.  Catastrophically Costly Computer Cases

The exclusive “Zeus Computer” line of cases, are simultaneously the best and worst items on this list.  Best because, as a case to hold your computer’s guts in, they actually do something.  Worse because they’re a real product which means someone somewhere really spends almost half a million pounds on a jewelled PC case.  That isn’t hyperbole, or exaggeration-for-comic-effect: that’s a real half a million, as in “five with five zeroes after it,” pounds.  For a computer case (standard cost: absolutely nothing, coming as it does with the rest of the computer.)  And one more thing:

They look terrible.  It doesn’t matter if the ‘Jupiter’ model is pure platinum inset with diamonds; it looks like something you’d see holding glitter in the bedroom of a teenage girl with earrings the size of hula hoops.

Textaurant. This is a genius little startup catering to people who are not interested in wasting their time anymore. It’s basically a company that connects restaurants to patrons to make it easier for both parties when there’s a line at the restaurant. You can go anywhere at all and you’ll be texted when your table is ready so you don’t have to just stand in line waiting for your little buzzer to let you know it’s okay to come in. This kind of technology could end up being used in any type of setting where waits are common which would be great for busy people today!

TaxiMagic. One of the other things that you might frequently find yourself waiting for is a cab. But not anymore if you start working with this startup company. It lets you easily book a cab from your mobile phone. But that’s not all; you can also keep track of your cab’s whereabouts in real time using your cell phone. This allows you to avoid waiting in the rain or missing your cab because you want to run into a store.

KanGoGift. This is a great mobile gift giving service that we’re likely to see a lot of in the years to come. Essentially, you choose a gift for someone (let’s say a dinner at her favorite restaurant) and pay for it through your mobile web account. Then the recipient gets a text message with the information. She can head to the restaurant, show the message to the cashier there and receive her gift with no-hassles. This is a great green way to give gifts in the modern world.

SoremiAlert.com. If you’ve ever been in an emergency then you know that it can sometimes be confusing to try to get in touch with the right people to help you through this emergency. This startup company aims to make it easier. They use your mobile phone to connect you to all of the important people in your life (your boss, your kids, even your nation’s embassy as needed) as well as to make sure the right people have any medical documents and emergency information that they need. This is one mobile service that could definitely make you feel safer!

Type n Walk. This one is just for iPhone users right now but it could be useful for other smartphones, too. It’s designed to make your mobile phone transparent so that you can use it while you’re walking. We’ve heard a lot of studies done that show that people are missing out on things happening around them because they’re texting or surfing the mobile web while they’re walking. This is a way to keep on using your phone without missing what’s right in front of you. Creative!

Zokem. Have you ever wished that you could have a personal assistant who would automatically update your social networking sites so that you didn’t have to keep up with it all of the time? That’s the goal of this startup company. Your mobile phone will ask you whether or not you want to update something and you just hit yes or no. For example, when your plane lands at a destination, your phone will ask, “do you want me to publish that information?” You receive the reminder, make a quick decision and go about your day. Nice and simple.

iSites.us. This startup company provides an easy way for you to create your own apps for Android or iPhone use. It allows you to combine your RSS feed and your social networking accounts into a dynamic application that others can use. Then it submits the app for you to the appropriate app store. This level of customization is definitely what people want with mobile phones today.

Opiniator. This startup company provides a service that is designed to help other businesses specifically those in the restaurant and hospitality industries. It allows customers to use their own mobile phones to provide instantaneous feedback to the businesses. This tells you how your customers are feeling when receiving your services, information that can be invaluable to improving your business and improving your bottom line. Mobile phones are increasingly used to change the way that business is being done and this is just one more way of taking that another step further.

AdMarvel. This startup company is one of many that are hitting the ground running to make as much of an impact on mobile marketing as possible. In many ways, mobile advertising is still in the early stages. This company aims to make it easy for people like you to advertise on mobile phones.

Movylo Shop. Why make money advertising on mobile phones when you can set up your own m-commerce store and start to sell products for cash immediately? The purpose of this startup is to help you create a mobile storefront in just minutes. If you were the first to jump on the eBay store bandwagon then this is the route you’re ready to go.

MobileInvoicer.com. Whether or not you have a mobile store, you might want to be able to send invoices to your clients using your mobile phone. After all, mobile banking is something that more and more people are starting to use on a regular basis. This aptly-named company is one of many that are helping you get started on this new mobile trend.

ChompApps. Do you get overwhelmed by the sheep number of apps that are available for you to download? Do you need someone to give you succinct advice about which apps are worth your time and which you might as well just skip over? The purpose of this startup company is to provide you with exactly that advice. Use it to get Live App Reviews that can guide your download decisions.

With as much hype surrounding it as the original iPhone, there can be few interested in consumer electronics who didn’t know that Apple were holding a new product launch yesterday evening and sure enough, the Apple iPad was launched.

The iPad is a tablet computer which can be simply described as visually being a ‘large iPod Touch’.  Initially available for sale only in the USA, with other regions expected to follow in the early summer, the device is powered by a new 1Ghz Apple A4 processor and is loaded with Wi-Fi 802.11n and v2.1 Bluetooth, plus the usual Apple software including iTunes and the App Store, Mail, Calendar and Safari.  The LCD screen measures 9.7″, while the whole device is a mere 1.3cm thick and weighs a touch under 600 grams.

The iPad will be available as both a Wi-Fi and a 3G/Wi-Fi model, with a 16GB, 32GB or 64GB Flash storage version for each.  Pricing appears reasonable in the USA, with the Wi-Fi iPads costing $499, $599 and $699 respectively, while the 3G enabled tablets will require another $130 to be added on to that.

Apple also used the event to launch their iBookStore, where they will be selling eBooks for use with the iPad, plus news that current iPhone app developers will be creating new apps especially for the iPad, in order to take advantage of the new screen size.  Saying that, all existing iPhone apps will work and users will have the option of increasing their size to fill their new screen.

Notice we described the iPad earlier as like a big iPod Touch and not an iPhone?  Well, it’s because the iPad doesn’t have a phone function, or a forward-facing camera for video calls, so anyone owning one will still have to carry their mobile phone.  There was also no mention or demonstration of multi-tasking ability or Flash compatibility, and the LCD display hardly lends itself to longer periods of eBook reading pleasure.

Still, it’s sure to be a massive seller, but we have the feeling future editions will be far more impressive – just like the iPhone before it.

The upshot?  Mobile phones leaking into another aspect of life, and (like most modern technology) helping make things better.