LOS ANGELES, Sept. 30, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A recent survey, conducted by Artificial Life, of U.S. cell phone users revealed that 46 percent use their devices for entertainment purposes, illustrating evolution of the cell phone as a prominent business tool to a must-have, multi-purpose consumer gadget.
The survey of 200 respondents shows 87.5 percent of those who own smartphones access entertainment content, such as music, games and video. In addition, 33 percent of individuals use their phone for entertainment over any other purpose, including email, GPS and Internet browsing. Validating the continued development of the mobile entertainment industry, survey results also show that 56 percent of people who do not own a smartphone desire the advanced types of features available on higher-end phones. One fourth of this group reported they want a phone with music, gaming and video capabilities and 33 percent noted they value mobile gaming in particular.
Traditionally, smartphone and cell phone users have relied on their handsets strictly for calls, text messaging and email access. However, findings such as these show that more individuals are turning to their phones for recreation and leisure. Consumer demand for high-end mobile devices, along with increasing interest in mobile social networking and entertainment, is surging due to technological innovation and phones' abilities to serve multiple purposes. Enhanced memory, robust architecture and ever-increasing speeds expand the value of feature-rich devices that are equally appealing for work and play.
More consumers are adopting devices capable of supporting sophisticated applications, shown by the growth of smartphone sales. The NPD Group notes that smartphones are responsible for 19 percent of all mobile phone sales in the second quarter of 2008, an increase of 9 percent over the same period in 2007(1).
Handango's recent Yardstick report shows entertainment and gaming applications have become the two most popular mobile tools for smartphone users, with the games category rising from fourth place into the second spot behind the entertainment category.(2) Additionally, Gartner, Inc. (3) projects the mobile gaming industry will be worth $4.5 million in 2008, a 16.1 percent increase over 2007 revenues.
This survey was commissioned by Artificial Life, a global developer of mobile applications, mobile participation TV and business applications for high-speed broadband networks.
"It's motivating to witness more U.S. consumers, handset manufacturers and carriers taking advantage of the new capabilities of 3G smartphones, including rich 3D gaming, social networking, music and videos, from anywhere at anytime," said Eberhard Schoneburg, CEO of Artificial Life. "Individuals see the value in mobile phones beyond business productivity, and are beginning to see them as tools to complement their hobbies and lifestyles in fresh and exciting ways."
About Artificial Life, Inc.
Artificial Life, Inc. (OTCBB:ALIF) is a public U.S. corporation headquartered in Hong Kong, with additional offices in Berlin (EMEA headquarters) Tokyo and Los Angeles. As a leading, full-service provider of mobile broadband 3G technology, mobile participation TV, mobile gaming, content and business applications, Artificial Life provides 2D and 3D multi- and singleplayer rich-media applications for 3G, 3.5G and 4G network-enabled mobile phones. Recognized internationally for outstanding content quality and technology, Artificial Life transcends traditional modes of mobile communications and interactive gaming. For more information, please visit www.artificial-life.com or the company's m-commerce portal at www.botme.com.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding our future results of operations, financial condition and business prospects. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Although such statements are based on our own information and information from other sources we believe to be reliable, you should not place undue reliance on them. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual market trends or our actual results of operations, financial condition or business prospects may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward looking statements for a variety of reasons. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our ability to obtain additional funding to operate and grow our business; the unproven potential of our mobile gaming business model; changing consumer preferences and uncertainty of market acceptance of our products; timely adoption and availability of 3G mobile technology; market acceptance for use of mobile handheld devices to play the interactive games; unpredictable mobile game development schedules; our reliance on a relatively small number of brands; our ability to license brands from others; our dependence upon resellers and telecommunication carriers and operators to distribute our products; our ability to successfully develop, introduce, and sell new or enhanced products in a timely manner; and the timing of new product announcements or introductions by us or by our competitors. For additional discussion of these risks and uncertainties and other factors, please see the documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-KSB filed on March 13, 2008. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this press release.
(1) http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_080819.html (2) http://corp.handango.com/PressRelease.jsp?siteId=1& CKey=1_PRESSRELEASE_PR09172008 (3) http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=706407