Smart phones are not taking people away from relying on traditional media sources such as newspapers or television. Instead, mobile media is tilling the spaces in people's dally routine in which other information sources either are unavailable or inconvenient to use.

"Typically, what happens with new media is that it competes with and displaces older media to a certain extent, like television did with radio, but, at least early in its development, mobile media isn't taking us away from older media--it has its own separate niche," notes John Dimmick, lead author of a study on the topic and professor of communication at Ohio State University, Columbus. Mobile media accounts for about seven percent of all media sessions, Dimmick points out.

Computers are the most popular method for accessing news, with about 24% of all media sessions occurring on desktops and 15% on laptops. Television accounts for about 29%. Newspapers and radio each check in at about nine percent

However, each form of technology has its own niche where it is particularly popular. …