The survey was carried out at the same time in both London and New York and highlights that New Yorkers and Londoners are both as work-obsessed as one another. Cab drivers reported that passengers spend almost half their time (44%) catching up on work, either by being on the phone or email. Unfortunately too many of these mobile devices are left behind in the back seat of the cab.

The survey figures were based on 300 New York yellow licensed taxi drivers and extrapolated amongst 13,087 yellow licensed taxi cabs in Manhattan New York. In London the figures were based on interviews with 300 London licensed taxi drivers and then extrapolated amongst the number of licensed taxi cabs in London which is 21,729 (according to the Public Carriage Office September 2008).

“We’ve become too complacent about losing personal information. This is a warning to the business community and individuals to be vigilant when travelling with mobile devices especially as more people are using the latest range of “must have” mobile smartphones to store large amounts of sensitive personal and business information,” stated Michael Callahan, Chief Marketing Officer at CREDANT Technologies.

Nearly two-thirds of cab drivers reported that mobile phone owners were reunited with devices found at the back of cabs. In London the chance of getting a mobile device back was much better than NY with 80% of cab drivers handing them into their depots or personally contacting the owners themselves.

New research commissioned by Velti revealed that 79% of UK consumers believe the growth of mobile advertising is inevitable. The survey, which polled more than 1,600 UK mobile phone users, showed that the majority of Britons are starting to accept that mobile marketing and advertising “if it was on an opt-in basis and in exchange for incentives or rewards, ranging from cash, free minutes or relevant special offers from brands”.

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