| The mobile phone is one of, if not the most | | | | technology already exists), iris scanning, face |
| important gadgets in your possession today. With the | | | | recognition number plate recognition, speed camera |
| countless possible uses, the phone designer's are | | | | radar detection and even further into the future DNA |
| looking ahead to a lucrative and guaranteed future. | | | | testing from a mouth swab all using the mobile |
| Here I look at a few of the possibilities for | | | | phone. Mobile Infra red motion detection linked to |
| tomorrow's world. | | | | your house alarm or a remote call center could see |
| Camera, MP3 player, video recorder, dictation/sound | | | | your phone doubling as a second pair of eyes. Night |
| recorder... stay with me, games machine, TV, sat | | | | vision camera-phones feeding images via the phone |
| nav, computer, PDA, remote controller, projector and | | | | network to anywhere in the world the possibilities for |
| wait for it...shaver! Yes, a person in China has | | | | this are endless. Imagine being able to check up on |
| developed a prototype phone with a shaver | | | | your pet at all hours or that your car is where you |
| attachment and Samsung have launched a mobile | | | | left it. There could also be military applications for |
| phone complete with projector aimed at the business | | | | phones that have these night imaging capabilities. |
| sector. The big players are unlikely to take up the | | | | In the medical world our fitness could be monitored, |
| shaver option as it will inevitably be a niche market. - | | | | Sony already have a pedometer as a function |
| No apologies for the pun! | | | | installed in a mobile phone, imagine if a person with a |
| It goes without saying that of all devices that are | | | | heart arrhythmia problem could be constantly |
| used in everyday life, somebody, somewhere, will try | | | | monitored via the phone, located via the phone signal |
| and incorporate them into a mobile phone at some | | | | and treated at the scene ... with the phone. We |
| stage in the near future. Your mobile phone is already | | | | seem to be getting into the realms of fantasy now, |
| more technically advanced and has many times more | | | | but to think that just ten years ago talking to a |
| memory capacity than the computer that took Neil | | | | relative via a mobile telephone video link in Australia |
| Armstrong to the moon in 1969. Okay it may have | | | | was like a scene from Star Trek, maybe it is not so |
| been 40 years ago, but don't we all still look at the | | | | incredible after all. |
| moon in awe of that great achievement? | | | | A vet could perhaps use his phone to scan a micro |
| If we combine the aforementioned projector function | | | | chip in an animal. The technology already exists in a |
| with the laser you can see the possibilities for | | | | slightly different format to pay for goods and |
| producing a life-size hologram of the person you are | | | | services and entry to stadium using the mobile phone |
| talking to, anywhere on the planet; in fact anywhere | | | | handset as a secure credit or travel card. This |
| in space, considering the signals are beamed back | | | | technology, called NFC (Near Field Communication) |
| from space via satellites. It is extraordinary to think | | | | allows the user - after downloading a secure |
| that a modern day astronaut could theoretically call | | | | application - to sweep the phone over a sensor, the |
| on a mobile phone and using voice commands, set up | | | | sensor reads the information and gain entry to a |
| a direct debit to pay his gas utility bill from the | | | | building or make a transaction. |
| surface of the moon. Not far then into the future he | | | | On the downside criminals will surely take advantage |
| could be talking to a six foot realistic looking human | | | | of the new technical innovations, and it will be a |
| being. "The thing that will really bake your noodle" (to | | | | difficult and ongoing battle for the authorities to keep |
| quote the 'Oracle' in The Matrix) is that the bank | | | | one step ahead. With this in mind it will not be long |
| teller will also be able to see a life-sized hologram of | | | | before mobile phones are totally banned on airplanes, |
| the astronaut on the moon! There would be an 8 | | | | despite British Airways recently advertising a new |
| second delay in communications, but unless a | | | | in-flight mobile phone service. The possibilities to |
| Stephen Hawking invents time travel we are | | | | build-in devices that can help in our everyday lives |
| somewhat inhibited by the speed at which light | | | | also open a whole new can of worms for air travel |
| travels. | | | | security organizations worldwide. I mention this in this |
| It's only a matter of time before a mini-chuck can be | | | | article not as a training tip for any 'wannabe' |
| slotted in to the base of a mobile phone to drill a hole | | | | insurgents but as a wake-up call to the travel and |
| and change the bit then insert a screw. Maybe a | | | | security organizations that protect our welfare when |
| phone could double as a theodolite for the surveyor | | | | we move around our ever shrinking planet. Stun guns |
| that likes to travel light or a distance meter for an | | | | are openly sold on the internet and delivered all over |
| architect or maybe a multi-meter for an electrical | | | | the world with impunity. That same technology exists |
| engineer. | | | | in mobile phones and with some modifications your |
| A chef can already use a phone to view and | | | | Nokia or Samsung could become the hijacker's |
| download a new menu but could it soon be possible | | | | weapon of choice. |
| to use it to mix a sauce and light the alcohol to | | | | Well now we have brain-stormed some possibilities |
| flambé a dish or test the temperature of a | | | | for the next big mobile phone innovation perhaps one |
| cooked chicken? | | | | of the big manufacturers will be sending me a check |
| Imagine if a gas rig worker or a miner could detect | | | | in lieu of their next mobile phone release? It will |
| flammable atmospheres, the canary population would | | | | indeed be interesting to look back at this article in |
| double in the next ten years! | | | | say ten years and see which of these predictions |
| In the crime fighting world there could be many new | | | | have made it onto the market. |
| applications for fingerprint recognition (although this | | | | |