Faster, easier to read, and specifically packaged for your unique interests and lifestyle.

Oh, yes; calls will be cheaper, too.

Thats whats on the horizon in mobile phone technology, and that future is likely to happen very soon. The U.S. has historically lagged far behind the rest of the industrialised world in mobile phone service advancement, but thats poised for change.

The enthusiasm, and ease, with which people of all ages, income and education levels have embraced the abundance of features their mobile phones offer them has caught the industry by surprise.

The next generation of mobile phones will continue the recent integration of PDA-type features, what the industry calls smartphone functions-- Calendar, appointment, phone book abilities-- Along with enhanced word processing, Internet and email capabilities.

To handle enhancements like those, the next mobile phones will feature larger onboard memory, bigger VGA screens for better resolution, and easier to use keyboards. The new G4 technology, already rolling out in the Japanese market, will also allow a much faster downloading speed-- Over three times the amount of data per second of current G3 phones on the market!

But perhaps the biggest change will be how these features will be packaged for the marketplace-- Not everyone needs the same advanced functions. The industry plans to respond to this by packaging specific lines tailored to meet customers specific interests and needs.

Popular Culture Fans

Were talking those who like to download music and video, and movie and TV fans-- These are fun, splashy features that the industry loves to play-up, and much of this technology is already on the market.

The enhancements will be 480x640 VGA touchscreens for better picture clarity, and greatly increased download speeds to handle video-on-demand, cable newscasts and videophone calls. Add to that, onboard cameras with clarity that rival most peoples digital cameras-- but more on that later.

Portable Offices For Professionals

These are mobile phone packages specifically designed around the needs of such professionals as doctors, financial services professionals, business executives, and sales reps. Its here that we will see smartphone technology at its state-of-the-art finest.

The need to type easily, and to read documents in the field tops the list of needs of busy professionals. That means, larger, easier to use QWERTY keyboards, the higher resolution VGA touch screens, and office software with greater capabilities. It also means that the ability to access information on the Internet, and to download large documents, will have to approach the capabilities of a personal computer.

Naturally, these advancements will greatly impact the physical design of these phones, so future smartphone models will be larger, like the popular BlackBerry, Palm Treo and HP iPaq models.

Reach Out And Touch Someone

Many primarily use their phones for communication-- With friends, relatives, and people theyve met on the Internet. Googles built-in Blogger software is tailored for mobile subscribers like these. This will allow users to search for blogs, write and submit posts, and instantly post photos that theyve snapped on their phones.

And these photos wont be what were used to. Picture clarity will jump from the current 1.3-megapixels to as high as 5-megapixels, thanks to recent advancements in tiny, tunable-focal-length liquid lenses and better zooming (4x) capabilities.

The camera features on current phones are already so popular with consumers that by 2008 camera phones are expected to account for 90% of all digital camera sales!

Wi-Fi and VoIP

Are consumers willing to shell out more dollars for all these enhanced capabilities? After all, a 5-megapixel digital camera alone is not inexpensive.

The industry is betting they will. And their confidence may lie in the sharp price drop expected in the cost of placing cell phone calls.

Voice over IP (VoIP) technology enables consumers to place phone calls over the same networks used for Internet traffic-- All the user needs is a Wi-Fi high-speed Internet connection (called WiMAX in mobile lingo.).

What this means cost-wise is that consumers will be able to place an unlimited number of calls without having to pay by-the-minute-- Theyll only have to pay the monthly subscription to their VoIP provider.

The industry bets this mix of cheaper phone bills and enhanced features centered around your individual needs and lifestyle, will be a winning combination that youll eagerly jump on.