adds that more tablet devices with shake and roll capabilities are in product development. Blackberry, too, looks like it will undergo an interface change. Industry reports say the device might go one better than the multi-touch with a “ multi-pres-sure” touch screen makeover, due out next year. Meanwhile, also raising the interface bar, Microsoft filed a patent in October last year for “extensive filtered lists for mobile device user interfaces,” where selected data and service provided by multiple software applications can be accessed through a group or list of items, according to reports.

Such innovative interfaces, like the Wii’s motion-sensitive controller, help to break down the barriers between man and machine, say analysts, and help to fire up application developers. The act of scrolling through a hierarchy of menus is considered an outdated way to get information. Interface innovation, as exemplified by the iPhone, has positively influenced sales of mobile devices. The number of mobile phones sold in the U.S. increased 16% from the second to the third quarter of 2007, to the tune of $3.2 billion, according to NPD Group. Smartphones, specifically, saw a 163% increase year over year, the research firm said. The iPhone helped to bridge the gap between traditional phones and more business-ori-ented phones, the firm adds. By the end of January 2008, there

were some 4 million iPhones sold, according to reports.

As the Consumer Electronics Show in January showcased, competitors aren’t letting Apple do all the touching. Sleek devices, including universal remotes, got the multi-touch treatment. HTC Touch, Verizon’s LG Venus (at $200) and Voyager to name a few have added to the realm of devices with these touchy-feely interfaces at price breaks. Devices like these helped sell 1. 14 billion phones last year, up 12% from the previous year, according to reports.

At the 3GSM Mobile World Congress held in mid-February in Barcelona, industry bigwigs, like Arun Sarin, CEO of colossal carrier Vodafone, paid homage to Apple’s influential interface. During his keynote speech at the show, Sarin told the audience to keep it simple and advised for a slash in operating systems. “The simpler we make it, the more we sell,” Sarin says on a video blog on Vodafone’s Web site (captured by a camera phone, by the way) taken just after the speech.

Once user-friendly fronts become the norm in mobile devices, operators will still have work to do. While the “Internet on the mobile is really beginning to happen,” Sarin says, operators must innovate so they are not relegated to just becoming “bit pipes.” He advised operators to consolidate the number of operating systems that are used, according to reports. His own company counts between 30 to 40 operating systems up and running on its

network right now and he suggests the number be reduced to five or under, say reports. With fewer operating systems, developers can create more compelling applications to help drive usage.

Even as market watchers say eventually the number of operating systems will dwindle, increased interest in the OS space has drawn big names. Last fall Internet behemoth Google unveiled Android, its mobile operating system. The Linux-based mobile software solution is designed under the Open Handset Alliance. Other players in this area include Symbian, Linux, and Microsoft Windows Mobile.

While operating systems duke it out, the conference showed that content remains a key issue. That this year’s show got some star power when movie mogul Robert Redford and actress Isabella Rossellini attended only underscores the importance of forging deeper relationships with the music and video industries to the mobile world.

Even with the voluminous expansion of content and move toward streamlining operating systems, with increasingly innovative interfaces becoming so addictive, it looks like whatever wireless brings us, getting there will be half the fun. c

MEG MCGINITY SHANNON ( [e-mail]) is a technology writer based on Long Island, NY.