Just because the latest MP3 player can do all kinds of fancy things, doesn’t mean those functions are actually utilized by consumers, states a new study on portable media from BBM Analytics – the first extensive examination of how consumers use their mobile technology devices from the data company.

Based on information gathered from 6,000 telephone interviews taken from the annual Media Technology Monitor report, findings suggest that the technological capability of a particular device doesn’t dictate how the consumer uses it.

For instance, sales of video MP3 players are up but only 20% of users who own them watch video on the small screen. While most cell phones also have video capability and internet access, about a third of all cell phone users (31%) use their phones to make calls only.

Audio media lends itself better to mobile technology in Canada than video media, according to the study – 33% of all Canadians use portable audio devices, while only 8% access video on-the-go.

iPhone owners get the most use out of their phones, using an average of seven functions, compared to the average use of five functions among smartphone users of other brands. BlackBerry, however, is the most common brand of smartphone used in Canada.

Among smartphone owners, texting is still the most popular activity (85%) followed by emailing (72%) and visiting social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter (33%). As well, 41% of all smartphone owners use their device to listen to some form of audio.

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