For years now the mobile phone manufacturers have been attempting to pack increasingly sophisticated and numerous technological functions into smaller and smaller handsets. Recent years have seen the addition of functions such as Bluetooth, MP3 players and GPRS become standard features of our mobile phones.

Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia and LG and other major manufacturers of mobile handsets are constantly innovating and periodically herald the arrival of the ‘next generation’ of mobile phones. The next generation is underpinned by technological features and functions that become the norm within handsets and are fervently consumed by the public whilst the mobile phone companies hibernate for the following months seeking to unearth the next batch of technologies for the generation to come. So with the rapid development that we have seen in the mobile industry to date, what can we expect to see in the ‘next generation’ of handsets that will form the latest mobile phones and how they will differ from the current batch of phones available from mobile phone stores and online retailers.

A good place to keep up to date with the rumours emanating from mobile phone manufacturers is, of course, the online tech blogs and news sites. Recent rumours doing the rounds are that a refined version of Google Mobile Maps is being developed for integration into handsets. Google won’t be charging for the technology but mobile networks may charge a fee fort the technology. Google Mobile Maps is downloaded via the phones web browser and provides up to date directions and traffic information to your mobile. The keypad on the phone can be used to move the area of the map allowing you to plot journeys and identify traffic problems en-route. The ‘get directions’ function allows you to plot start and end points for a journey, essentially allowing your mobile phone to act as a GPS system.

Gaming is high on the agenda for mobile phone manufacturers and much work is being done to increase the functionality and playability of mobile phones to accommodate better gaming. Game developers, Square-Enix are currently developing Final Fantasy 13 for PS3 but are also developing an separate version of the game, Final Fantasy Agito, for use on mobile phones – just one example of a number of sophisticated gaming developments for mobile phones.

Increased functionality drives the mobile phone industry and this looks no different with the forthcoming generation of mobile phones. Also riding high on the agenda of mobile phone manufacturers is security, with features such as fingerprint and voice recognition technologies currently being tested.

Whatever happens – we’ll find out in 6 to 9 months just what we can do with our new mobile phone.

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By: Michael Hanna