The Future of the Cellphone

01/16/2008 at 12:00 p.m.

Once upon a time cell phones simply supplemented wired phones. But today cell phones are much more – personal digital assistants, text messengers, cameras and in some parts of the world, tv sets. More people connect to the web through cell phones than on lap top or desk top computers. And cell phones of the future will do even more, even faster. Today on The Conversation the past, present and future of cell phone technology. Our guide will be Ben Bederson from the Human–Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland. We'll learn about a new service called Whrrl that combines cell phones, social networking and gps. Tell us what you love, and hate, about your cell phone. Tell us why you will never own one.

Guests:
Ben Bederson is a professor at the Human7ndash;Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland.
Jeff Holden is CEO and co–founder of Pelago, the company that makes Whrrl.