THE traditional home-delivered phone book has suffered another blow, with the arrival today of the White Pages on the iPad.
The next generation interactive app allows users to do everything from click on Facebook and Twitter feeds embedded in ads to find nearby listings via GPS.
The development comes as new figures reveal more than one in 10 Australians now use a tablet PC.
The statistics contained in the soon to be released Sensis eBusiness Report, reveal tablet use has risen to 12 per cent of the population, up 4 percentage points from a study by Nielsen this year.
It also comes as Telstra evaluates a trial in which it has stopped delivering White Pages residential phone books in Melbourne unless householders request them.
In a growing sign of the digital evolution of the traditional phone book, the new White Pages app will allow users to:
USE predictive text to offer users suggestions as they type search entries.
ACCESS touch screen interactive maps including photos.
PINPOINT the location of listings using Whereis maps powered by the iPad's built-in GPS.
LINK to sites such as Facebook and Twitter feeds, and business trading hours and special deals.
The mobile web is tipped to surpass desktop internet use by 2015.
Visits to the White Pages from mobiles increased 155 per cent in the past financial year.
