Research commissioned by mobile device management (MDM) company Mformation shows people are storing more “stuff” on their mobile devices.
That trend is only going to get more pronounced as more sophisticated devices hit the market and people increasingly store information on their phones, says Rob Dalgety, commercial director at Mformation. “Wherever we are now, in 12 or 24 months, there’s only going to be more,” he says.
Ninety-four percent of users surveyed store phone numbers, while 65 percent also store address and other contact information on their phones. Eighty-three percent store digital photos; 51 percent have videos; 48 percent have calendar information; and 40 percent have music downloads.
The problem is, not everybody knows how to protect that data if a phone is lost or stolen or how to transfer that to a new device when they upgrade. Not surprisingly, 91 percent of people questioned said they would be “devastated” if they lost their mobile phones. (No word on how the other 9 percent would feel.)
So, considering how important that data is, more people – 61 percent – said it should take two hours or less to get a new phone fully up and running with all their personal data.
The research was undertaken by independent research house Coleman Parkes, which asked 4,000 people in the United Kingdom and United States about problems related to mobile usage.
Mformation has a history of providing back-up and storage, much of it focused on the enterprise. But the company sees a more general opportunity to support the consumer as well, so content can be secured and managed, either when a device is lost or stolen or when a customer upgrades to a new device or changes plans.
The company has worked with Palm over the years, but Dalgety declined to comment on whether it currently supports the Pre. Mformation sells directly to carriers, including T-Mobile and Sprint, but it does not sell its solutions direct to consumers or to enterprises.