I am calling from the loo to tell you 'I Love You'

Almost one in two Australians admit to using their mobile phone while on the toilet and a quarter of men believe the mobile is an acceptable way to propose to their partner, a survey reveals.

The survey, commissioned by Microsoft and completed by 2,500 people across Australia, China, India, Japan and Taiwan, was conducted to determine just how integral the mobile phone has become in society.

It found that 48 per cent of Australians admitted to using the mobile phone while in the toilet, compared to 66 per cent of Chinese people who do so.

Of the occasions surveyed, 80 per cent of people said they would use their phone while eating a meal with others, 62 per cent said they'd use it while driving and 48 per cent would do so while trying to sleep.

Married women were also more likely to check their partner's phones than married men, while 30 per cent of people admitted to using their mobiles to flirt with someone other than their spouse or partner.

A quarter of Australians would use a GPS to track their partner's whereabouts, while 13 per cent said they would use their phones during "extremely intimate moments".

It was also revealed more than double the amount of men (24 per cent) to women (11 per cent) believed it was acceptable to propose to their partner using their mobile phone.

The Synovate survey on consumer behavior, commissioned by Microsoft's Windows Mobile division, found 58 percent of Asians polled across China, India, Japan, Taiwan and Australia wanted to use their mobiles on flights.

The 69 percent of respondents in favor of using their phones while flying, said this would help keep friends and family informed of flight changes, according to the survey.

Indians are the "most social" with 69 percent most likely to use their phones in a cinema, 21 percent in a place of worship and 79 percent at a wedding ceremony.

One thing parents across the Asian region agreed about was that children under the age of 12 should not be given a mobile phone.

The survey also revealed consumer preference for different form factors. The Chinese, Indians and Taiwanese are predominantly in favour of touch screen phones with the increased language input capabilities offered by such devices.

However, the Japanese prefer a flip phone while Australians prefer the more traditional numeric keypad.