Apple iPhone driving up Wi-Fi use

Smartphones such as the iPhone can surf the web over Wi-Fi

Smartphone users are driving up the use of Wi-Fi hotspots, according to a new survey, with Apple's iPhone accounting for nearly 10 per cent of access requests in the US.

The survey results, published by mobile advertiser AdMob, showed that eight per cent of web requests in November came from Wi-Fi networks in the US and UK, roughly double that recorded in August.

Apple's iPhone represented 6.3 per cent of all requests in the US, making it the most used device on Wi-Fi networks. AdMob said that 42 per cent of requests coming from the iPhone were over Wi-Fi, compared with just 10 to 20 per cent for other types of Wi-Fi enabled handset.

The iPhone followed by the Nokia N95 and other Nseries phones were the leading Wi-Fi devices in the UK.

The integration of Wi-Fi into popular new smartphones, such as the T-Mobile G1 and the BlackBerry Bold, indicates that Wi-Fi usage will continue to grow in the near future, according to AdMob.