Smartphone overtakes TV as primary screen

The smartphone has overtaken the television as the primary screen for entertainment in the home, according to speakers at yesterday’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

“At present, 80% of people sitting in front of a television are doing something else with another screen,” said Patruce Slupowski of phone network Orange.

One third is doing something which is related to the television screen — for example, chatting on Facebook or sending and reading tweets on, say, The X Factor or about a soccer match being screened on the TV.