Teens and other casual users use smart phones primarily as a means for entertainment and casual networking. They are less likely to read email on the smartphone, for example, than a business user. They are also unlikely to use applications like Microsoft office for documents, spreadsheets or Powerpoint documents. Casual users are, however, heavy users of text messaging and applications like Twitter. Twitter is a social networking site whose sole purpose is to keep friends connected and apprised of each other’s current status. Twitter seeks to answer the “what are my friends doing?” question at any moment of the day. The service works on short messaging systems, the web and through text messaging.
Casual users are also big web surfers. They are likely to use internet applications to answer all their burning questions throughout the day, such as “Where’s the nearest burger joint?” or “Where is the nearest theatre playing that movie I want to see?” These heavy internet users are thrilled to take web browsing on the road and they don’t mind paying for the convenience of being able to surf anywhere.
Finally, casual web users are heavy users of audio and video. They are very likely to listen to music and watch videos. They’ll trade the latest funny video from You Tube and download new MP3’s. In a pinch, they’ll even watch a full length movie on their mobile device if they have no other screen available. They are also more likely than business users to download 3D games and other entertainment applications.