Mobiles to beam into new age

By BBC News Online internet reporter Mark Ward at the Bluetooth Congress in Monte Carlo

Soon your mobile phone could resemble the lapel badges worn by crewmembers on Star Trek.

The development of short-range wireless technologies like Bluetooth mean that gadgets no longer need to do everything themselves.

Instead, they can borrow information, processing power or even internet access from the other gadgets to which they are now getting the ability to talk.

As a result, industry experts expect mobile phones to shrink and become repositories of personal information that can be consulted by any other gadgets you carry around.

This means they will become more like electronic wallets holding digital tickets or Cyber-cash rather than a device you can use to make and take calls.

Electronic purse

Every Bluetooth device has a unique identifying number so instead of paying to travel on a bus, train or tram, your ticket might be stored in this electronic purse and be checked invisibly when you sit down.

"The radio will link all the rest of your personal devices to the internet or the information you are interested in," said Kurt Sauter of information accessory company Xircom.

Mr Sauter said that mobile phones will start to disappear and instead the gadgets we use will be worn or carried and talk to each other over a personal network.

Already, the first voice-activated wireless headsets for mobile phones are starting to appear. These remove the need to push buttons or hold the handset when you dial a number.

When laptops or MP3 players are fitted with Bluetooth, they will be able to pipe music to this wireless headset while you walk around town.

Mobile phone companies are rushing to add Bluetooth capabilities to their phones.

The first add-on is likely to be a slim transceiver that sits next to the battery in your phone letting you use a wireless headset and connect the phone to other devices.