Smartphone 'influence' over the decade

Ten years ago (Jan 9) technology giant Apple launched what has been described as its most revolutionary product - the iPhone. The gadget went on to influence changes in mobile technology - as well as how people work, communicate, and process information. "We used to call smartphones phones which basically had a keyboard and very limited internet. The iPhone changed the way that we consume the mobile internet and consumed media. As a result it changed the way people produced media. We've seen huge advances in the way that mobile internet happens with 3-G, 4-G networks. It changed infrastructure. It changed everything." Since then, Apple has sold over a billion iPhones - and prompted several companies to create their own versions. Jeremy Drumm from the auditing and advisory agency Deloitte Australia says there are about two-billion smartphones in use across the world. He says Australians are among the most prominent users. "There are 16 million smartphones in use in Australia. About 84 per cent of the Australian market is using a smartphone. So the global average is 81 per cent penetration." Jeremy Drumm says by the end of 2017, a third of the world's population is expected to own at least one smartphone. Over the past decade smartphones have helped propel social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, and are credited for playing a part in political uprisings - including in northern Africa and the Middle East. But Mr Drumm says while phones seem to be 'getting smarter' - some users have been doing some not-so-smart things with them.

AAP Image/AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato Source: AAP Image/AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato