Wireless World: A looming 'cell hell'

You may have left it in the back seat of the cab. Or in the booth at the restaurant at lunch. Or even at your client's office. Whatever the case may be, it is likely that you lost your mobile phone last year. Research shows that 65 percent of Americans lost their cell phones last year -- and it cost $600 million to replace them.
Losing a phone due to absentmindedness is not just frustrating, though. It's causing anxiety in the IT departments of many major corporations, because, these days, mobile phones are so powerful that most of them are mini-PCs, containing customer information, phone numbers and pricing schedules.
A lost phone may mean a data breach these days, as e-mail isn't the only application found on the devices. By Gene Koprowski