New developments in mobile devices are rapidly changing the world of consumers, according to Jay Byrne, president of online market research and support agency v-Fluence Interactive, who highlights the latest applications for mobile users in a recent commentary. "For example," Byrne points out, "a new mobile technology called CellScope enables cell phone cameras to be used as fluorescent microscopes and means that mobile devices with cameras, like the iPhone, can be adapted to collect and transmit images to diagnose disease.

"We're not so far away from software or camera upgrades that would make these types of adaptation accessible to any iPhone or other mobile-device user. Similar applications could include the detection of E. coli or other bacteria in food. Imagine that your ground beef smells a little off. Take a snap with your cell phone, and learn if you've got a contaminated Big Mac. How about H1N1 (aka, Swine Flu)? Sneeze, and snap a picture; diagnosis and links to related information, services or therapeutic products could be delivered in real time."

The possibilities that these types of mobile applications afford, which inform decision-making and influence behavior at the point of consumption, are endless. Byrne asks, "Are we ready for mass access and control over food quality or disease diagnostics, like the examples noted? It won't matter if we're ready or not, it's coming." Byrne has written before on the demise of the PC being driven by mobile applications, noting, "This is just the latest nail in that coffin, which extends mobile's reach well beyond where anyone could have predicted."

To read the full mobile health and food safety commentary visit: http://www.v-fluence.com/blog/457/turning-mobile-consumers-into-food-safety-inspectors-clinical-diagnosticians-and-more