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s the name implies, smartphones are very useful these days. Besides phone calls, people can now do many things with their gadgets, either for work or just killing time.

Two complete strangers bumped into one another when walking while playing on their smartphones. Nothing special and they just kept silent and continued walking with their eyes glued to their gadgets.

Today, many people are seen with their cell phones walking down the street or sitting at a foodstall. They are, however; not making a phone call, but using the mobile gadget for other things such as reading or typing messages.

Smarthphones are well named, users can do many things besides making or taking calls.

In general, a smartphone now offers many features such as text messaging, Internet browser, e-mail, social media, a camera for photos and video, downloading applications, map and GPS, mobile commerce and advertising, online banking and news and entertainment (music, movies, radio, television channels and games).

A study from market research firm Nielsen revealed last month that Indonesians spend most of their time on smartphones chatting, with nearly 80 percent using the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) chat application.

The study showed that BBM remained the top chat application in Indonesia, with 79 percent of smartphone owners using BBM for about 23 minutes a day on their devices. Other chat applications, WhatsApp and LINE, are also widely used among Indonesians totaling 57 percent and 30 percent for six minutes and five minutes a day, respectively. Other chat applications, including WeChat, Kakao Talk and Facebook Messenger, are used by between 7 and 28 percent of Indonesian smartphone users.

Another study from Nielsen showed that though lower compared to Singapore and Malaysia, smarthphone penetration in Indonesia remained among the highest in eight nations in the Asia Pacific region. Smartphone penetration reached 87 percent in Singapore, 80 percent in Malaysia, 49 percent in Thailand, 23 percent in Indonesia and 15 percent in the Philippines, according to the study released earlier this year. The other three nations include Hong Kong (87 percent, the highest figure alongside Singapore) and Australia (73 percent) and India (18 percent).

It must be borne in mind, of course, that Indonesia is the fourth-most populous country in the world with some 250 million people.

Across the Asia Pacific region, brand ranks as the most common factor impacting choice of smartphone, with consumers in the markets covered in the Nielsen report listing brand among their top three attributes when purchasing a smartphone. Operating system features are also important selection criteria. QWERTY keyboards remain relevant in Indonesia, India and the Philippines, however, screen size and touchscreen functionality are becoming increasingly important to consumers.

Word-of-mouth and social media play a significant role in influencing consumers'€™ choice of smartphone. The study showed that across Asia Pacific, most consumers list Internet reviews and blogs and referrals from friends, colleagues and family as the most common factors influencing their purchasing decisions.

While mobile commerce (m-commerce) in the majority of Asia Pacific markets is still largely un-tapped. M-commerce activity trails at just 7 percent in Indonesia. In terms of mobile advertising, Indonesia is found as among the countries with the highest resistance; only 56 percent clicked on mobile advertisements, compared to 90 percent in China, 87 percent in India and 78 percent in Japan and Hong Kong, in the surveyed period by Nielsen.

Data from statistica.com showed mobile-phone users in Indonesia grew considerably from some 130 million in 2011 to over 170 million in 2013. That number is projected to grow to more than 195 million by 2017. According to Nielsen, currently around 23 percent of the Indonesian population, or one in four people, in urban areas, have smartphones.

Another study by the Washington-based Pew Research showed that Blackberry and iPhone were the favorite smartphones in Indonesia with Facebook and Twitter as the most accessed social networking sites. Some 69 million monthly active Facebook users are currently recorded in the country, up by 6 percent from the 65 million two quarters ago, the social media giant said.

The study by Pew Research also showed that texting and taking pictures or making videos were the most common activities among Indonesian cellphone users (96 percent and 46 percent, respectively), while using cellphones to access consumer information (15 percent), health information (14 percent) and making/receiving payments (4 percent) were less popular in Indonesia.