The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project survey, from data gathered in April of this year, shows that 56 percent of adult Americans have accessed the internet by wireless means – a laptop, mobile device, game console, or MP3 player. Most use a laptop: 39 percent of adult Americans have gone online using a wireless network via a laptop computer.

The report also finds rising levels of Americans using the internet on a mobile handset, such as a cell phone or a “smartphone” like a Blackberry or iPhone. According to Pew, 32 percent of Americans have used a cell phone or smartphone to access the internet for emailing, instant-messaging, or seeking information, an increase by one third since December 2007, when 24 percent of Americans had ever used the internet on a mobile device. On a typical day, nearly one in five of Americans – 19 percent – access the web via a mobile device, up sharply from 11 percent in December 2007.

The demographic breakouts are interesting: While the percentage of white Americans who have ever gone online via a portable device has grown from 21 percent to 28 percent from December 2007 to April 2009, among African Americans it has jumped from 29 percent to 48 percent, and among English-speaking Hispanics, the number has risen from 38 percent to 47 percent.

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