Need to find Mecca, make a love connection, or check your lipstick? Depending on where you live, your cell can hook you up. From the UK to Malaysia, new services, apps, and hardware are turning mobile phones into multifunction devices - and we're not talking about PDAs and digicams. Here are five of the quirkiest extras on handsets around the globe.
USA:
Kyocera's KURV, due out in July, is an entertainment-oriented handset that lets the fashion-conscious switch features faster than their hair color. Snap on a new faceplate, or Smart Skin, and an embedded chip adds games, ring tones, and screensavers to the phone. First up: Coors Light �bertwins Diane and Elaine, whose Skin sheds ring tones from their band, Klone.
JAPAN:
Sanyo's sleek J-SA05 does more than send sha-mail (picture messages) and block one-ring nuisance calls. Press the star key, and the color LED screen morphs into a mirror for quick touch-ups before phonecam photo shoots.
SINGAPORE:
The SGH-T500 is all a girl wants in a cell - at least that's the hope of Samsung execs. Its shell (with rhinestone-encrusted external screen) flips up to reveal a color display for accessing a slew of femme-friendly apps. Included: calorie counter, biorhythm chart, and Pink Schedule for tracking menstrual cycles.
UK:
Brits with an urge to merge can get their soul mate's digits via Mobile Dateclub, a singles service available from T-Mobile and Vodaphone. Callers search for same- or opposite-sex mates based on personal criteria - and location - then get pics and profiles of matches sent to their phones. Love connections are made via text message.
MALAYSIA:
Mobile Muslims who want the 411 on which way to Mecca can download M-Qiblat. If they face north and input their city, the app will point them in the holy direction. Forgetful types can also sign up to be alerted via SMS when it's time to pray.
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