Find out whether your phone pegs you as a traditionalist, uniquely generic or a closet geek.
Francesca Griffin
We live in an age where our mobile phones are no longer just used for calling or texting each other; they are our personal organisers, on the go encyclopaedias and interactive maps.
These days it is obvious that the phone we have has become an extension of our personalities. Gazelle, the gadget recycling company, researched how the smart phone we own affects our lifestyle choices, while YouGov also runs a twice yearly report on our different smart phone habits.
Blackberry – You want to be taken seriously and browsing through your emails at any opportunity makes you feel like a real adult. It was one of the first smartphones available so you are quite a traditionalist and don’t like change. You see your fellow peers who have iPhones as overgrown children who prefer to spend their time aiming angry birds at targets. Gazelle found you the most likely smartphone owner to recycle your old device, but overall you have the most negative outlook about the future. You may have created a list of reasons that you emailed back to yourself as to why you love your Blackberry, but the real truth is you love it for BBM, and its facilitation for the late night booty-call.
iPhone – Deceptively cool, radically generic – admit it, they sold you the shiny Apple dream and you bought it… along with the must-have case, screen protector and bright coloured bumper. You are the most loyal of all smartphone owners, and you vow (on your bible app) that you will never go back to an inferior phone ever again. YouGov concluded that iPhone users are the most happy-go-lucky of all phone owners, I suspect this is because you have apps that can turn your enemies into double chinned versions of themselves and immediately circulate it. You refer to your phone by its name, no longer do you just use the word ‘phone’, but you feel the need to declare its supremacy: “Can you pass me my iPhone?” You are the most sociable and optimistic about life of all smartphone users and at any opportunity will take cringy pictures and videos with your eight mega pixel ‘iPhone’ and upload them for everyone on your social networks to umm…‘enjoy’.
Android – You are the kind of person who wears cheeky text t-shirts – ‘Wiki-ninja’ and ‘app rock star’ are probably among your vast collection. Your obsession with technology is finally considered cool. However, sadly you still don’t quite make it, but gold star for trying. And it may be a millenium before your World of Warcraft figurine ratio has any correlation with your success rate with the opposite sex. Gazelle state Android users are the hardest working of all smartphone owners and most are likely to use their apps for mapping and planning travel, (probably to conventions or meticulously planned road trips in your Kia.) It’s often considered a first smartphone, a stepping-stone phone if you will, just longing to be upgraded so you can finally be a part of a cooler clan.
It’s all ‘APPening!
If you only get one app this month let it be Just Dance 3. This free app syncs four dance moves with a song of your choice into your very own dance video. You really can be the next pop sensation!
AroundMe is a very practical app. It finds your location so you can search for places like bars, shops and hospitals nearby. I was recently in London wearing some beautiful new shoes, but they were killing me! In a desperate attempt to save my feet from a very painful end I typed in ‘Boots’ and tah dah! I found one within hobbling distance and bought everything they had to offer in the way of pain relief and plasters.
My final app suggestion is super clever and super free! ShopSavvy works by allowing you to scan any products barcode and it will instantly list where it can be brought, online or in your area, and at what price, ensuring you always get the best deal