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Smartphone users act a bit like woman in the hair-care commercial who asks if others are like her and continue to do something even though they know it could be bad for them. 

It’s no secret that smartphone users are using their mobile devices to conduct all kinds of business, including banking, yet, according to a survey called “Opportunity Calling: The Future of Mobile Communications, Take Two” released by Oracle (News - Alert) this week, they are concerned about security when using smartphones and other mobile devices.

While the report, which is said to be a complement it a report produced by Oracle a little over a year ago called “Opportunity Calling: The Future of Mobile Communications,” revealed that a smartphone is the device used by 69 percent of mobile technology users, it also showed that 68 percent of all respondents said they don’t think—or don’t know if—the information they store and transmit via their mobile device is actually secure. It follows then that CRN reported that just 21 percent of Oracle’s study respondents said they are “very comfortable” using their smartphone to make a purchase.

Despite their trepidations, the Oracle survey found that the 3,000 people it surveyed for the report are relying more and more on their smartphone and are rapidly using their smartphone to replace other stand alone technologies. “More than 50 percent of respondents also said they see their smartphone replacing their GPS, MP3 player and camera within the next five years,” in the words of Chester Wisniewski (News - Alert) writing for Technology Spectator.

The rapid rise in smartphone replacement of these standalones was examined in more depth by John P. Mello, Jr. in PCWorld, who compared Oracle’s 2010 edition of the report to the 2011 edition released this week. He wrote that in 2010 just over 50 percent said they would be replacing their digital camera with a mobile phone by 2015, but 43 percent said they have already done so in this report.

Similarly, 54 percent predicted they would ditch their music player and be using their phone for that purpose by 2015, but 34 percent of the 2011 survey respondents declared they’ve taken that step already. The smartphone as a replacement for a standalone GPS has been slower to catch on, Mello indicated, as just 24 percent have done so even though 54 percent in 2010 thought it would happen by 2015.

What smartphone users are not hesitant about is downloading apps, with 55 percent of Oracle’s respondents saying they have downloaded free apps and 25 percent saying they have purchased apps to download to their mobile device.

And even though respondents showed a great affinity for their smartphones, they also indicated a desire to possess a tablet device as well. The Oracle 2011 report said 57 percent have or plan to purchase a tablet within the next year.

Oracle Communications Senior Vice President and General Manager, Bhaskar Gorti, summed it up by saying, “Customer demands continue to evolve rapidly.” 

He continued, “ Providers also have an enormous opportunity to enhance their customer relationships by engaging with them at every touch point, leveraging their dynamic role in consumers' shopping experience, and providing valuable information about usage, new services and mobile security.”

In other news, TMCnet reported, “In what will be its eighth announcement of corporate takeovers since the beginning of 2011 and the largest since it bought Sun Microsystems (News - Alert) in 2010, Oracle’s announcement that it will be closing on a deal by year’s end or early 2012 to buy customer service software as a service provider RightNow Technologies (News - Alert) has analysts and journalists speculating on Oracle’s motive for the purchase.”