I happened across an opinion piece today about cell phones and banks, by Financial Express columnist Janmejaya Sinha, which brought an arresting thought to my mind: I’m part of a generation that can’t recall a time before ATM machines at banks, but some future generation won’t be able to recall a time before banking was performed using mobile phones.   In his column, Sinha references a recent Economist article about mobile money (I believe he’s referring to “The end of the cash era,” Feb. 15, 2007) that explored how people may in the future use their mobile phones for financial transactions. He argues that banks may face competition from telecom companies for some types of money-related services, like transferring funds.   Sinha suggests that, in the future, consumers will be able to use their mobile phones for managing funds.

While many of you tuned into the Superbowl last night to watch the Colts and Bears battle it out in Florida, I’m willing to bet that at least a few of my readers also paid attention to the commercials aired during breaks.   The Superbowl commercials represent an entertainment realm all their own, commenting in clever ways on the fears and dreams of Americans even as they bring to one’s attention the key features of a particular product or service. This year’s batch of commercials was as good as ever. Two of my favorites, which both have to do with mobile technology, were from Garmin and Sprint.   In the Garmin commercial, a lost motorist attempts to figure out where he is by unfolding an old-fashioned paper map.

Pretend for a moment that you run a company that makes a really kick-ass product; a product that has been hailed in your industry has groundbreaking and has had all your competitors jostling to regain market share for years.   Now suppose you develop another product similar to the first one, but with other features, that looks like it will be an even bigger hit than the first one. You’d like to dominate the market in all areas possible, but you’re concerned that the second product may cut into profits from the first one.   That’s precisely the situation Apple may soon find itself in. A recent Pike & Fischer Broadband Advisory report noted that Wall Street analysts are somewhat concerned that, when it hits store shelves in June, iPhone (or whatever it will be called by then) could cut into sales of iPod.   That’s hardly surprising, considering that iPhone includes a built-in iPod; anyone who buys one probably won’t see the need to buy a separate music player. After all, who wants to carry around two devices that both do the same thing, when one of them also does other cool stuff?   Wait, it gets worse (or better): “Some analysts worry that consumers may delay purchasing new iPods as they wait for the June release of the iPhone, which will have the same functions and much more,” Pike & Fischer said in its report.   Could be, I suppose.

Here’s something for all you mobile shutterbugs out there: Exclaim, a provider of wireless and Web applications, recently launched version 6.0 of its Pictavision photo- sharing software for mobile phones.   With Pictavision, users can transform any mobile phone that’s enabled with BREW, Java or SYMBIAN into a tool for sharing and finding video and photos through a variety of media Web sites including KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery, dotPhoto, Flickr, Adobe Photoshop Showcase, and SmugMug.   Pictavision’s interface is designed to make this sharing quick and easy. Among its features are:

• Text and voice tagging
• Background upload of photos and videos
• Multi-lingual support (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese)
• Integrated MMS

“Pictavision lets you take a photo, add a voice caption, send it as a greeting, and save it online in just four clicks, making it the easiest way to take, save and share photos and videos from a camera phone,” the product’s Web site says.   Pictavision is provided on a subscription basis, with plans starting at $3.99. It’s available through the following U.S.