Americans have become more dependent on their cell phones than conventional phones. For the first time, they say they would have more trouble giving up a cell phone than a traditional phone, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said in a report. Less than two years earlier, respondents still considered their landlines the most crucial technology.

According to Pew, the cell phone is the technological tool its users would have most difficulty giving up, followed by the Internet and television. Landline phones ranked fourth in the latest survey, just above email.

"People's growing reliance on their cell phones, together with wireless internet access from laptops, suggests a shift in expectations about cyberspace," said John Horrigan, Associate Director of the Pew Internet Project. "For many people, access to digital information and resources is an 'always present' utility for answering questions and documenting what is going on around them through photos or video recording."

The new survey found that some 62 percent of adult Americans have taken advantage of mobile access to digital data and tools, including:

- 58 percent have used a cell phone to do at least one of ten mobile non-voice data activities, such as texting, emailing, taking a picture, looking for maps or directions, or recording video
- 41 percent have logged onto the internet on the go, away from home or work either with a wireless laptop connection or a handheld device

Overall, 75 percent of all American adults say they own cell phones. The data breakdown of non-voice data activities include:

- Send or receive text messages: 58 percent have done this at some point, with 31 percent saying they do this on a typical day
- Take a picture: 58 percent have taken a picture with their device; 15 percent say they do this on the typical day
- Play a game: 27 percent have played a game on their handheld device, with 8 percent saying they do this on a typical day
- Send of receive email: 19 percent have done this, with 8 percent saying they do this on a typical day
- Access the internet for news or other information: 19 percent have used their handheld device for such information access, with 7 percent saying they do this on the average day
- Record a video: 18 percent have done this with their handheld device, with 3 percent say they shoot a video on their cell phone on the typical day
- Play music: 17 percent do this with their cell phone, 7 percent on the typical day
- Send or receive instant messages: 17 percent have used their device for IM-ing, and 6 percent saying they do this on the average day
- Get maps or directions: 14 percent say they have gotten maps or directions with their device; 3 percent do this on the typical day
- 10 percent have watched a video on their handheld device, with 3 percent saying they do this on the average day

Users between the ages of 18 and 29 are most likely to use their cell phone to access applications, compared to the average of 42 percent.

More striking is use among African Americans and Latinos. Some 56 percent of English-speaking Hispanics use applications on the average day, and 50 percent of African Americans with wireless handhelds do so. These groups lagged in "desktop" online access in the late 1990s and early part of the decade, but the report shows a very different pattern for wireless access on the go. African Americans and English-speaking Hispanics are more likely than white Americans to use cell phones for data applications.

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