… Usage of the iPhone a remote control is an old news. iPhone as a credit card terminal is one as well, making its hype when the Twitter co-founder aimed for this market. Mobile phone as a projector has been introduced by Samsung in their Pico phone. Augmented reality using mobile phones has already had its moment. In one of my previous posts, I wrote about NASA’s mini tricorder device for iPhone…

All these instances show a specific way to extend the mobile phone usage within different areas. When innovation happens in this direction, it is usually aiming for the most developed open platform, spreading towards the others later on, in order to get the early majority customers. Knowing that, it is understandable that iPhone gets on top of the list.

However, I’ve been often wondering what is the next big thing connected to mobile phone usage. There are several directions in which innovation arise, considering mobile phones: the mobile phones per se, mobile applications, mobile advertising, mobile  accessories etc. Most of the developments and innovation are incremental, however ones in a blue moon we see something that creates a new wave and others join for a ride.

I’d like to post my favorite new frontiers of mobile phone usage and will be happy to get your comments and additional fields of exploration:

- Will start with the result of the Cambridge Nanoscience Center and Nokia Research Center – the Nokia Morph Concept. Amazing opportunities.
- Nokia Scentsory – the phone that can smell! Read a review about it on the Gadget Review portal.
- Apple Black Hole concept. It uses holographic technology for mid-air interactions, also existing as a concept of a bracelet.
- Holographic text messages. Enjoy this video! Seams so close, no matter how far.
- Pomegranatephone: all-in-one phone: usual features + MP3player + projector + global voice translator + coffee brewer (?!) + shaver + harmonica . Watch this interactive video. Have your wow moment and at the end, click on the “Release Date”. Great fun and inspiration!

As I mentioned in the beginning, mobile phone as a remote control is an old news. But, regardless of what happens in the future, one thing is sure: we are going to be more attached and dependent on mobile phones, using them almost as a remote control for our lives: organizer, entertainment device, payment device and security center.

Forgetting your mobile phone at home – big no!… Knowing my ratio of loosing mobile phones, that’s scary!

Yes, that’s true. NASA has invented a device and a software application for iPhone (?) that senses chemicals in the air. You can use it if you are in need of finding out if there is ammonia, chlorine gas or methane in the air around you. Or, you can have accurate data (with small margin of error), about who farted in the room!

Here is how they made it: “Using a “sample jet” and a multiple-channel silicon-based sensing chip, which consists of 16 nanosensors, and sends detection data to another phone or a computer via telephone communication network or Wi-Fi.”

One would think that chemical sniffing iPhones seems like something that would be way down their list, provided we have no more data to operate. Amazing that they would like to commercialize such a knowledge and make it public. Either they’re trying to worry people or they know something. Just to get your minds going, I will post a set of extreme scenarios, being talked about on the tech forums:

- There’s no doubt that the military is not already considering this device to be used with their infantry. You can have this bio/chemo detector anywhere and have it GeoTag the location and time of detection and have it easily upload the data to Central Command or a data collection server to monitor possible Bio attack or Chemical leaks. It’s a great move and will push the use of iPhone/smartphones to a higher level.
- Since the device sends WiFi signals to a computer or tel.network, this is probably the case where it is monitored by the Federalies, this would be a perfect way for finding out who is, lets just say – making a bomb – and where that person/cell phone is.
- Radon is currently a present threat in many homes. On a global scale, it is estimated that 2,400 million curies of radon are released from soil annually. Typical domestic exposures are of ≈ 100 Bq/m³ indoors. Is this in their requirements specs?

You decide what you believe in!

I’ll just say that the geek community is now happy! They have their own mini version of Spock’s Tricorder!