Investigating the similarities and differences in usage between 3G and 4G smartphones

Abstract

Drawing on log data, interview results and literature findings, the similarities and differences between the usage of 3G and 4G smartphones were investigated. We analysed a dataset of 298,345 logs generated in a month by 33 new 4G smartphone purchasers, conducted follow-up interviews, and finally compared our findings with the results published in the 3G smartphone related literature. Two main similarities were identified: (1) the length of usage of productivity-related applications was relatively short by users of both 3G and 4G smartphones, and (2) both 3G and 4G smartphone users mainly relied on Wi-Fi networks when using heavy data-consuming services, such as video and music streaming. On the other hand, two main differences were observed: (1) the application adoption period of 4G smartphone users is shorter, and (2) the contexts and purposes of applications use varied. This paper contributes to the burgeoning literature on the usage of smartphones, by synthesizing objective data collection methods with a qualitative interpretation, to examine the usage patterns of 4G smartphones, which have not received much academic attention.