Users shy away from instant messaging, email and internet access

Most mobile phone users just want to use their handsets to make voice calls, and are not interested in advanced features such as internet access, email or IM, according to a study carried out for AOL, Associated Press and Pew Research Center.

Some 70 per cent of respondents indicated that they did not want their phone to access the internet; 81 per cent said they would not like it to receive IM from AOL or Yahoo; and 79 per cent did not want IM forwarded from their PC to the phone.

Just over two-thirds also said that they did not want the phone to be able to send and receive email. Only eight per cent of users currently read and send email using their cell phones.

The results seem to suggest that most users are techno refuseniks, but only seven per cent said that they 'actively dislike' computers and technology, while 24 per cent had 'mixed feelings' on the subject.

The report also showed that the current market for extra features on cellphones has a lot of potential growth.

While only six per cent use their phones to play music or record video, 19 per cent and 17 per cent respectively said that they would like to have these functions.

Mobile phone games have penetrated the market further, and are now played regularly by just over a fifth of users.

Despite the results, a quarter of users claimed that they could not live without their phones, while 29 per cent said that not having a mobile would not be a problem.

The survey interviewed 1,503 American adults, including 1,286 cell phone users. The interviews were conducted from 8-26 March by Schulman, Ronca and Bucuvalas.