They tell us where to eat, how to find friends, when to make a left turn.
Oh, and they can also make a phone call.
An explosive proliferation of software applications — and easy ways to get them, most notably through Apple’s App Store — is changing our relationship with mobile phones. The always-connected era is dawning. The cell phone is becoming more a companion than merely a means of one-on-one conversation.
“I can’t live without it,” said James London, a 19-year-old De Anza College freshman, cradling his iPhone. “It’s like water or food.”
Though Apple was the first company to create an easy and orderly way for developers to sell smart phone software, the rest of the industry is trying to catch up.
Owners of all the major mobile phone operating systems — Research In Motion, Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian and Google’s Android — are gearing up online application stores. Independent app sites are also popping up, offering unauthorized software for the iPhone.
Soon, nearly every imaginable function of the office and home entertainment center will be delivered to the computers that fit our palms.
“I’m a big believer that the mobile phone will become the remote control of our lives,” said Chetan Sharma, an independent wireless industry analyst. “Anything that we touch and see and feel, and whomever we communicate with — we will control that with our mobile phones.”
Though the recession is slowing sales of so-called smart phones, futurists view app-packed mobile devices as the next tech tsunami to hit society and fundamentally change how people navigate life.
“It’s a new category of activity,” said veteran Silicon Valley forecaster Paul Saffo. “Voice (functions) are an afterthought.”
Already people are using their smart phones to locate friends at nearby bars and restaurants or find a service station with cheap gas. They stream TV to their phones, update…