Domestic Chinese companies are all trying for a slice of the 1-billion-users pie. Even companies that have no background in making phones - Internet news and gaming giant NetEase and Qihu, known for its web browsers and antiviral software - are looking into making phones.

At the Chinict Tech Stars in China conference recently, Qihu co-founder and CEO Zhou Hongyi stated that the future of the web is in mobile.

"Smartphones do everything now, you can play games, study, watch videos and go online with smartphones," says Zhou. "Smartphones have come to the point where it needs to become a mass market device like a computer, something that everyone uses, an Internet portal for everyone."

True to Zhou's words, the mobile phone has already become a main portal for Internet access.

A 42-year-old Beijing cab driver, who wished to be known only as Zhao, says his smartphone has changed his life in the six months that he's had it.

A Beijing taxi driver shows off his smartphone, a tool he uses to find fares, and for getting bookings in advance. [Wang Luxian/For China Daily]

Zhao, who drives a single shift, says he plays mobile games such as Angry Birds on his phone during breaks to avoid the rush hour. Sitting inside his taxi parked outside the University of International Business and Economics, Zhao was totally absorbed in his game.

Marketing executive at online marketing company emailvision, Xiong Jin, says she is inseparable from her phone, or rather her phones. The 23-year-old Hunan native works and lives in Beijing and carries two phones, an iPhone and an Android.

"I have two phones with two different numbers, one is from China Unicom and the other is from China Mobile. I use one as for work and the other for private calls," says Xiong. "I do a lot of things on my phone, it never leaves my side."

Xiong says her business phone is to answer calls, check work e-mails, and send replies. At the same time, she uses her private phone mainly for entertainment. One of the biggest draws is, she can use her phone to take pictures and share them with her friends immediately.

To Xiong, her phones have now overtaken her computer and television as her main entertainment outlets.

To her, her smartphone has given her more wireless mobility, compared to her computer.

"With a smartphone, information and communications have become much more convenient," says Xiong. "To me it hasn't changed my life all that much, all it's done is that the pace of life is now faster."

Contact the writer at ericjou@chinadaily.com.cn.