New findings from a national survey of cell phone owners by the Pew Research Center, the Associated Press and AOL provide a detailed picture of the role of the cell phone as an integral communications tool in modern life.
Seventy-four percent of the Americans who own mobile phones say they have used their hand-held device in an emergency and gained valuable help. But 32 percent of men and 25 percent of women admit they sometimes don't drive as safely as they should.
Americans are using their cell phones to shift the way they spend their time. Forty-one percent of cell phone owners say they fill in free time when they are traveling or waiting for someone by making phone calls, and 44 percent say they wait to make cell calls for the hours when they do not count against their "anytime" minutes.
Eighty-two percent of all Americans and 86 percent of cell users report being irritated at least occasionally by loud and annoying cell users who conduct their calls in public places.
When it comes to the features Americans would like to add to their cell phones:
Cell owners describe how they use their phones:
Finally, 23% of those who currently have landline phones say they are very likely or somewhat likely to convert to being only cell phone users
For more about this report, please go here.