Siemens develops mobile phones with alcohol sensor

There seems no end to the number of diverse and clever technologies destined to find their way into the handheld device formerly known as the mobile phone.

In recent times we've seen voice and lie detection analysis, projection keyboards, terrestrial television reception, health heart-rate and diet monitoring, location tracking, and this week there's a holographic projection screen and a breath analyser. One that can not only tell you when you're over the blood alcohol limit, but also tell you when you've got bad breath. Indeed, we could easily use this device to measure the efficiency of our breathing and track it alongside the heart rate, calorific input and output and location to micromanage our health.

Rumours have it that Siemens plans the installation of tiny gas analysis sensors into a future mobile telephone and perhaps other handheld devices. Time to market is estimated at mid-2006 and one can only imagine what technologies might be seeking a home in your pocket by then.

See also, the Tanita Breath Analyser and the Sobercheck .