Android Users Are (or Aren't) the Biggest Network Hogs

Telco firm Arieso claims that its new study shows Android owners as being the most voracious devourers of mobile data in the smartphone world. Using iPhone 3G customers as a baseline, Arieso measured the usage habits of the owners of several other devices, including the iPhone 4, the BlackBerry Bold and a number of Android handsets. The study showed that iPhone 4 owners downloaded significantly more data than 3G owners (41-percent more), and spent more time connected to the data network (67-percent more time). To back up the claim that the most demanding data users were owners of Android handsets, Arieso highlights that the Samsung Galaxy series of phones uploaded 126-percent more data than iPhone 3Gs.

Digging further into the study, however, reveals that Android users don't seem to be any more data-hungry than iPhone owners. Owners of the HTC Desire led Android owners in data downloads, pulling in 41-percent more than the iPhone 3G. (The same amount as iPhone 4 owners.) All Android devices and the iPhone (including the 3G) were responsible for much more data usage than Nokia handsets or BlackBerries, but the numbers don't show that Android owners alone are clogging up the nation's cellular networks. What the data does show, though, is that data consumption tends to be dramatically higher on newer devices. In particular, uploads have risen by 130-percent, likely because of higher-megapixel cameras and HD video capabilities being added to smartphones. Android may be using the most data, but only because there are more Android devices than there are iPhones. Nothing in the Arieso study suggests Android owners are particularly ravenous data hogs.

Android Users Are (or Aren't) the Biggest Network Hogs originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.switched.com/2010/12/09/android-users-are-or-arent-the-biggest-network-hogs/

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