According to market researchers M:Metrics, it’s taken just six months for the iPhone to become the most popular mobile device for accessing news and information on the mobile web. Lured no doubt by the prevalence of unlimited browsing contracts in most areas the iPhone is officially sold, January saw 85-percent of users of the Apple handset access news and information on their coveted device.

“The iPhone has certainly delivered on its hype. Beyond a doubt, this device is compelling consumers to interact with the mobile Web, delivering off-the-charts usage from everything to text messaging to mobile video” Mark Donovan, senior analyst, M:Metrics

“This data indicates that the iPhone’s widgets are and effective means to drive mobile content consumption. Two featured widgets, YouTube and Google Maps are extremely popular among iPhone users: 30.4 percent accessed YouTube and 36 percent used Google Maps. In comparison, only one percent of all mobile subscribers accessed YouTube and 2.6 percent checked out Google Maps” Mark Donovan, senior analyst, M:Metrics

Where a mere 4.9-percent of non-iPhone users watched mobile TV or video on their smartphones, 30.9-percent of those with Apple’s cellphone used their handset to consume such media; meanwhile, 49.7-percent accessed a social networking site (almost twelve times the market average). Facebook saw particularly good returns on their specially iPhone-formatted interface: 20-percent of all iPhone owners visited the site, compared to 1.5-percent of the total mobile market.

[via iPhone Buzz]