According to a recent article in the journal New Scientist, third world countries like Africa are leading the way in cell phone innovation that combines the power of a personal computer with the portability of a cell phone handset. Many European countries and most Asia countries are far ahead of the U.S. when it comes to multi-functionality. The Japanese have been using their cellphones for everything from gaming devices to internet portals to virtual readers for years.

Africa is now at the forefront of innovation because it is easier for people who live there to own a cell phone than a PC. Many parts of Africa now distribute health care information via cell phones, use cell phones instead of credit cards for transactions (a feature expected eventually to hit the U.S.), and social networking. Many experts believe that in the near future cell phones and PCs will become one and the same.

We’re already allowed to wirelessly surf the Internet while flying towards our next destination and it looks like in-flight cell phone use will be the next big thing. British Airways has announced that customers flying from London to JFK will be allowed to send text messages and go online from their cell phones. Actual phone calls aren’t allowed yet but that’s the direction we’re heading. The trial will start this fall on business-class only flights.

Other airlines also offer similar services. bmi and Quantas allow cell phone usage for domestic flights while the Emirates allow mobile voice calls on domestic flights.

A recent study published in the online Journal of the National Cancer Institute concludes that talking on your cell phone does not increase your chances of getting melanoma of the eye.  The study, which compared the cell phone use of 459 melanoma patients with 459 people without melanoma overturned an earlier study which used only 118 patients can came to the opposite conclusion.

Even though no hard evidence has emerged linking the cellular changes that cause cancer to cell phone use, major studies continue to be funded. Many of these studies produce conflicting information. The most recent study adds another check to the ‘safe’ column.  In the article, the researchers write, “In conclusion, we observed no overall increased risk of uveal melanoma among regular mobile phone users or users of radio sets in Germany, where digital mobile phone technology was introduced in the early 1990s.”