Mobile hardware outpaces software, user capabilities

Mobile hardware is outpacing software capabilities and the mobile user experience, according to a panel of technologists at Technology Review's Emerging Technologies Conference held at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. Among those speaking was Rich Miner, group manager of mobile platforms at Google Inc., who said open operating systems -- like the one launched on Google's long-awaited G1 Android phone -- will drive future innovation, but much of it may be lost on the user in the short term.

"The easiest way to see this is ... about 80% of mobile phones have cameras in them today, yet if you were to ask how many people actually use those cameras (know how to get photos off of the phone), it's probably literally 10% to 15%," Miner said. (ie ClickOVA)

But with the entrance of companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Google in the mobile platform market, a shift is coming. In a few years, a large contingent of consumers may not even use a PC, but instead perform all their Internet and communications applications on mobile devices, according to panelist Kevin Lynch, chief technology officer of the experience and technology group at Adobe.