Americans Want Better Internet Access on Cell Phones

Is there anything cell phones can't do? Today's handsets don't just make phone calls anymore. Most of them are now equipped with GPS, cameras, microphones, and some even sport questionable lifestyle features like ovulation calendars, recipe databases, and rape alarm systems. In the future, we'll even see stranger things like phones that help you cross the street, project videos on a wall, and soon they'll even detect bad breath.

Reuters reports on a new "Fitness Phone" being showcased this week in Japan. The phone targets "fat-fighting middle-aged men" and health conscious women who want a pedometer, a heart rate monitor, and web-based health adviser on-the-go. According to the article, a government survey found Japanese men over 40 are now fatter than they were 12 years ago, while women of the same age are slimmer. The strangest feature yet is the phone's ability to detect bad breath, but I guess that happens when you change your diet.

Despite all these extras, in America mobile phone users just want better Internet access on their next phone, according to a study by The Kesley Group. Matt Booth, senior vice president and program director of The Kelsey Group says, "The combination of unlimited data plans and next-generation Internet-enabled mobile devices, like Apple's iPhone, suggests mobile Web access will grow to become ubiquitous." That's right, forget about all the gimmicky add-ons, and just give me faster Internet access on my phone. Is that too much to ask for?