Smartphones may become smarter still (No, not by plugging in a Core 2 Duo chip and the adaptive AI from next-gen games. That's "I, Robot" stuff.). Technology from Gentag will give your mobile device the ability to scan the air around it and warn the owner if there's something rotten in Denma... er, the atmosphere.

Gentag's vision is to turn smartphones into "smart" phones by combining low-cost smart sensors, wireless networks, RFID tech, and non-GPS-based geolocation software into mobile handsets. They were recently issued Patent No.7,109,859, "Method and Apparatus for Wide Area Surveillance of a Terrorist or Personal Threat." The patent integrates wireless air chemical sensors and software with virtually any personal wireless device: cell phones and smartphones, PDAs, pagers, and even watches.

The phone itself can be trained not only to recognize those nasty gases that terrorists would love to spray on their targets, but also the more common threats such as asthma triggers, allergens, and toxic industrial gases like carbon monoxide. The World Health Organization estimates that asthma cases worldwide are rising about 50% every decade.

It's still not the tricorder from "Star Trek," but Gentag's making a significant step towards turning the handheld into more than a personal communications, business, and lifestyle device.