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Most people check their smartphone for updates even before they get out of bed, a worldwide study has found.

Ninety per cent of Gen Y surveyed worldwide said they check their smartphones for updates in e-mail, texts, and social media sites, often before they get out of bed, according to the 2012 Cisco Connected World Technology Report CCWTR.

There are 206 bones in the human body, and the smartphone could plausibly be considered the 207th for Gen Y. Two out of five said they “would feel anxious, like part of me is missing” if they couldn’t use their smartphones to stay connected.

Based on a survey conducted by InsightExpress of 1,800 college students and young professionals aged 18 to 30 across 18 countries, the report examines how Generation Y uses the internet and mobile devices to connect with the world around them. The report reveals their behaviour and attitudes about the creation, access and privacy of the enormous amounts of data being generated daily by smartphones, sensors, video cameras, monitors, and other connected devices.

Mobile devices are just the beginning. As more and more devices, sensors, basketball shoes, crops, animals and other living things connect to the internet, the volume and potential value of all the data generated by those connections grows exponentially.

Cisco believes that in the near future, people and businesses will take more advantage of communication between devices to deliver services and applications and make decisions in real time.

The full report is available at http://cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns1120/index.html .