Resistance is Futile: 10 New Reasons You Must Have a Smartphone

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Using a cell phones to text and make phone calls is soooo 15 minutes ago.

Apple's iPhone and app store have entirely changed how we view these ubiquitous rectangles. Smartphones -- or phones that provide access to the Internet access and seemingly billions of apps -- include the Android, Instincts, Palm Pre, Blackberry etc.

Despite a global recession, the market for high-end phones continues to expand. In the United States, a 2009 poll by ChangeWave Research revealed 37 percent of consumers already own a smartphone, while more than 14 percent planned to buy one in the next three months. Microsoft predicts smartphone sales by 2014 will make up 30 percent of phone purchases, while Pyramid anticipates that figure will be closer to 60 percent.

If you don't already own a smartphone, perhaps these 10 new ways to use them might tempt you to think trade-up.
 
1. Examine Microbes
A UCLA engineer, using software he developed and about $10 worth of off-the-shelf hardware, created a way to turn cellphones into microscopes. Aydogan Ozcan, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, formed Microskia to commercialize the technology.

In one prototype, a slide holding a finger prick of blood can be inserted over the phone’s camera sensor. The sensor detects the slide’s contents and sends the information wirelessly to a hospital or regional health center, vastly expanding the health-care footprint.

2. Watch Television
Beginning in April, eight television stations in Washington, D.C. will broadcast a signal for a new class of devices that can show programming, even in a car at high speed. "ATSC Mobile DTV Standard” will be used on specially adapted smartphones, among other appliances. The devices must be within about 60 miles of a broadcast tower for an at-home picture.

3. Read Your Voice Mail
Google, AT&T and PhoneTag, among others, allow you to receive a text or e-mail message showing you who sent a voice message and exactly what they said. The services generally score high marks for accuracy, and at least two of them allow you to click on the message and listen.

Depending on how much voice mail you receive and how much you hate slogging through it, this service could be a lifesaver. A Google Voice account is free but AT&T charges $10 per month and PhoneTag $30 per month for the service.

4. Experience Stupid Hacks
As smartphones run more like personal computers than simple calling devices, they've also become increasingly vulnerable. San Francisco-based Lookout is testing security software for phones running the Windows Mobile and Android operating systems, and will soon introduce security applications for the BlackBerry and iPhone. The software protects phones against rogue programs and gives phone owners the ability to remotely back up and erase the data on their phones. It also lets them track the location of their handset on the Web; a useful trick if you've lost or had your phone stolen. The basic software is free, with more features soon available with a monthly subscription.

5. Make Video Calls
Can you see me now? A video feature by Fring, an Internet-communication company, allows people with certain Nokia phones to make video calls over the 3G data network. No Wi-Fi, no wires, no hands required. You can make free video calls to other Fring members and Skype allows you to use Fring for two-way video calls between a phone and computer. An iPhone version is also available, but you can’t yet look at the person on the other end of the cal. Also, until AT&T clears the way for VoIP over a 3G network, the iPhone version requires a Wi-Fi connection.

6. Create Orchestral Concerts
Applications mimicking musical instruments have been the most frequently downloaded apps since the iPhone hit stores. But the avant-garde compositions by the Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra are pushing the frontiers of the 40-year-old field of computer music. The orchestra astounded a large audience in 2009 with compositions played on multiple iPhones and amplified through speakers attached to small, fingerless gloves. The sounds ranged from otherworldly tones to the mimicked sounds of raindrops, birds and freeway traffic. On reviewer said it sounded like "the musicians were flirting, teasing and admonishing each other.

7. Be Geo-fenced
Like many retailers, the North Face has had increasing trouble luring shoppers into its stores. The outdoor apparel and gear merchant is about to try a new tactic: Sending people text messages when they roam near a North Face store. The method established a virtual perimeter and, when someone trespasses on that area, a text message is sent, but only if the consumer has agreed to receive messages.

8. Be a Target for Advertisers
New technology allows advertisers to collect information about your mobile Web behavior. For example, if you bought a Beyoncé ring tone after seeing an ad for it then watched a JZ video on TMZ.com, they can use that information to categorize you as a pop-culture fan and show you a targeted movie ad. The technology is far enough along powerhouses like Apple and Google are buying up ad firms specializing in the small screen.

9. Play Big-Name Games
The fastest-growing video game platform isn't Wii, PlayStation or DS anymore. It's the iPhone. Industry-leading game developers are flocking to the iPhone, and gamers are reaping the rewards. Such blockbuster games as The Sims 3 or Grand Theft Auto, usually $30 and $40 on other gaming platforms, sell for $7 and $10 on iTunes. The iPhone's processing power makes it a formidable challenger to such hand-helds as DS, Nintendo and Sony PSP.

10. Grocery Shop Until You Drop
Smart phone applications help you build a grocery list, plot your path through the grocery store, comparison shop, select appropriate recipes and use mobile coupons at check-out. The only thing they can't do is take the food home and cook it for you, but no doubt somebody is working on an app for that, as well.