Future of cell phones

I've been thinking a bit recently about the future of cell phones and the new functionality they will take on besides just placing telephone calls. One thing that has really caught my attention is their use as a GPS/Navigation device. Two phones (the Apple iPhone and the Samsung u740) recently have really made me start to think on the possibilities.

What if cell phones had the ability to send a beacon. Imagine if you will, you're at a party and you want to explain to a friend how to get there. You just send them a MMS message with your GPS coordinates, and their phone accepts them and navigates you to the location, whether you're 100 kilometers or 10 meters away. Or imagine if while on the phone with someone, both of you could be moving in a direction towards each other and meet halfway with the help of your cells? What about a 3-way calling situation? I think the next few years are going to bring about some exciting innovation in the cellular space. I'm looking forward to it.

For now, my Nokia 6820 is still holding out. I hope to have something new by this summer. I'm holding out to see if the iPhone is all that it promises to be.


== UPDATE 9/21/2007 ==
After much frustration with dropped calls on AT&T recently, I decided not to risk 600 bones on an iPhone locked on an AT&T network. In a way I'm glad I didn't, 2 months later they reduced the price by $200. I ended up getting a Blackberry 8830 Worldphone on Verizon. I'm very happy with it. Ironically, while watching InDigital Episode 25 I saw where Helio released my idea on their phones before I ever posted that blog entry. I swear I had never heard of it, but I'm glad to know that there are companies out there thinking of these great mashups. Helio calls it Buddy Beacon.