Cell phones in the past were only used to make phone calls, but those days are long gone. In today’s world, where change is the only constant, mobile phones have been updated with many new technological features.

1. Mobile phone: a complete portfolio

A new technology standard called “Near Field Communications” or NFC, will turn mobile phones into credit or debit cards. A chip is built into a phone that allows you to make a payment using a touch-sensitive interface or by placing the phone within inches of an NFC reader. Your credit card or bank account is charged accordingly.

2. The World Wide Web in your pocket

Today, many smartphones already offer full HTML browsers. Nokia’s latest N and E series phones, running Opera browsers for the Symbian operating system, are among the most advanced. In the future, these mobile HTML browsers will reach even the most basic phones.

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3. Rent, rent, rent

Due to a Federal Communications Commission mandate that requires operators to locate people when dialing 911 in an emergency, a large number of cell phones sold in the United States already have integrated GPS (global positioning system) chips. . While some mobile operators use these chips to identify the location of users when they are in distress, they can also be used to support a variety of location-related services.

4. Search goes mobile

Mobile search will become a standard feature on all phones for the next three years. Most phones likely have search built into their main screens, with a prominent search icon next to the time and icons representing battery and signal strength. Some phones will have a search button on the keypad or sticking out of the case. While the big boys, Google and Yahoo, will undoubtedly have a presence on mobile devices, “white label” services, such as one available from JumpTap, will too. be popular because they allow operators to mark the service as their own.

5.TV on the move

Mobile television in all its forms is expected to explode in the coming years. IMS Research predicts that by 2011 there will be more than 30 million mobile TV subscribers in the United States. The firm also predicts that nearly 70 million phones capable of receiving mobile television will be shipped to the United States in 2011.

Consumers will have access to a wide range of television capabilities on their phones, from original and professionally produced content to repurposed clips, live streams, and user-generated clips. Experts believe that there will be an increase in the use of mobile television in 2008, when the Summer Olympics are scheduled in Beijing.

6. Simplified navigation

Have you ever noticed how many clicks it takes to find what you are looking for on your phone? It’s worse than counting how many clicks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop. But phone manufacturers and mobile operators are working hard to make phones easier to navigate and use. You can easily access, browse and explore the latest mobile software and games with your mobile phone, anytime, anywhere. These software fall into various categories of productivity, business and professionals, travel, lifestyle, and many more.

7. Brainier spokes

Today, many phones are equipped with dual radios that allow subscribers to move around differently configured cellular networks around the world, but in the coming years phone manufacturers will also incorporate Wi-Fi technology into phones, which which will allow customers to use the devices on any Wi-Fi. network access point.

8. Your own cell tower

Does your cell phone have poor reception inside your home, but it works fine when you’re standing on your porch? Mobile operators may soon be asking you to help them improve cellular coverage in your home or office with small Wi-Fi-like routers that boost cellular signals.

These routers create what are called femto cells, or small personal cell sites. And they could help solve a major problem for cell phone operators struggling to cover less populated regions or struggling to reach users indoors.

9. Picture perfect

One of the most dramatic changes in cell phone technology over the past decade has been the advent of the camera phone. Today, approximately 41 percent of American households own a camera phone. In fact, today it would be difficult to buy a phone that does not have a camera. By 2010, more than 1 billion mobile phones worldwide will ship with a built-in camera, up from 589 million camera phones expected to be sold in 2007, according to market research firm Gartner.

10. Crazy about mobile music

There is no doubt that mobile music is in vogue and will continue to grow in popularity. Mobile phone users around the world are expected to spend $ 32.2 billion on music for their phones in 2010, up from $ 13.7 billion in 2007, according to Gartner.

This content category includes everything from basic ringtones, “real tones” (uncompressed digital representations of analog signals) and ringback tones to more sophisticated full track downloads. Music in all its incarnations is the second most popular mobile data service, behind Short Message Service (SMS), in terms of usage and revenue.