Handhelds Go Multimedia is a good primer on the convergence of cell phones and PDAs for those not already familiar with the topic. The good news: "the hardware is basically here and now." The bad news: "Plan to choose more than one, and then a new one every 18 months or so as technology advances." So basically Moore's law has transferred from PCs to smartphones. Of course, none of this will happen until we have cell phone number portability in the U.S.

"This Next Big Thing will result from a combination of three big things: rapidly advancing handsets and PDAs, fast wireless networks, and compelling applications.

While we can't say for sure whether the Next Big Thing will be a Treo, a Pocket PC Phone, a Nokia 3650, a T-Mobile Sidekick, or one of the other devices flooding the market, we can say this with confidence: Most of us will be carrying small, powerful devices, equipped with high-resolution color displays and connected to fast voice and data networks. We'll use them to send and receive video, music, and rich multimedia messages; play games; and access a host of location-based services." [ZDNet]

Today's AnchorDesk column, Where Mobile Tech Is Headed, goes into more detail. Consensus already seems to be that wireless is the "it" technology this year, but then we knew that last year.