Mobile phones more important than wallets: survey

      More than one-third of workers would choose their mobile phone over their wallet, keys, laptop or digital music player if they had to leave the house for 24 hours and could take only one item, a new survey has found.

      The survey, conducted by market research firm IDC and sponsored by Nortel Networks Corp, found that while more than 38 percent of the 2,367 people polled chose their mobile phones, less than 30 percent chose their wallets first.

      Through the survey, Nortel -- North America's biggest maker of telephone gear -- was looking to find out how many workers around the world can be defined as "hyperconnected," or as those who have fully embraced devices like cellphones and laptops, as well as applications like e-mail or social networking sites like Facebook.

      The answer: 16 percent, and growing.

      The survey classified the hyperconnected worker as someone who uses at least seven devices for work and personal access, in addition to at least nine applications like instant messaging, text messaging or web conferencing.

      The country with the highest percentage of hyperconnected respondents in the study was China. Canada and the United Arab Emirates had the fewest number among the 17 countries covered in the survey.

      The survey also predicts the number of the hyperconnected will likely rise to 40 percent in five years.

      The group of hard-core communications users is followed by a larger subset -- 36 percent of respondents -- designated as "increasingly connected," the study states. These workers use a minimum of four devices and six applications.

      如果要离开房间24小时并且只能带一样东西，你会选择什么？一项最新调查发现，超过三分之一的人选择带手机，而选择钱包、钥匙、笔记本电脑或数码音乐播放器的人则相对较少。

      该调查由北电网络公司赞助，并由IDC市场调查公司开展。调查结果显示，在2367名调查对象中，超过38%的人选择了手机，不到30%的人选择带钱包。

      北电网络是北美最大的通讯设备制造商公司。该调查旨在了解目前全世界有多少人是“超连通”人士，或已成为手机、笔记本电脑等设备及电子邮件或Facebook等社交网站等应用工具的忠实用户。

      调查显示，全世界有16%的人如此，而且这个数字还在不断增长。

      该调查将“超连通人士”定义为使用至少九种应用工具（如即时通讯、短信或网络会议等），在工作和生活中使用至少7种电子设备的人。

      调查显示，在接受调查的17个国家中，中国的“超连通”人士所占比例最高，加拿大和阿联酋所占比例最低。

      此外，据该调查预测，“超连通”人士的比例在未来五年内可能会升至40%。

      调查称，除“铁杆”通讯用户外，还有一个被称为“连通增长人士”的更大群体（36%）。这部份人在工作中至少使用4种电子设备和6种应用工具。