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When was the last time you saw a walkie-talkie? Look in your pocket. Several smartphone apps mimic the walkie-talkie experience of instant push-to-talk communication.

In five years, cellular carriers will be glad about today's news. But we, their customers, will see the benefits today. A new, free app called Sidecar launches today for Android and iOS, and it introduces us to the concept of "Smart Calling."

"If it can be done on the Web, build it for the Web; if it can’t, build an app."
Alex Schleifer, GM of the Media Lab at SAY Media

Thanks to Apple's iOS and Google's open source Android OS, smartphone and tablet apps have enjoyed a period of astounding success over the past few years. Towards the end of 2010, Wired magazine even declared that "the Web is dead." Who needs browsers when we have apps galore on our smartphones and tablets? Well, fast forward 18 months and things have changed. Browsers are starting to trend up again and some online businesses are turning away from apps.

Today, the latest Android challenge to Apple's iPhone was announced: Samsung's Galaxy S III. Android is the only other smartphone OS competitive with Apple's iOS and over 2011, Samsung established itself as the world's leading vendor of Android-based devices. The predecessor of the Galaxy S III, the II model, was widely considered to be the best Android device of 2011.

Previous Samsung competitors such as Nokia and RIM are now well and truly in the rear view mirror. That's despite Microsoft squeezing its bulky frame behind the wheel of Nokia. These days, it's Samsung and Apple who are neck and neck in the race for smartphone dominance - and it's daylight behind them. In fact, according to research firm IDC, Samsung overtook Apple at the end of 2011 as the world’s largest smartphone maker.

Moments after Facebook bought Instagram, the next race began - which mobile social video app would become the "Instagram for video"? Presenting a social video experience that is enjoyable not only from a smartphone but across existing social platforms is no easy task. Socialcam, Viddy and Klip are three apps that have emerged as leaders of the pack. We tested each one by recording videos, applying filters and paying close attention to the sharing mechanisms therein. What we discovered may surprise you.

Socialcam is being called the "Instagram for Video" app. With this phrase comes the idea that, like seemingly every startup nowadays, the goal is to build an awesome and thriving community, pump up the product to the level of ultimate coolness and then cash in by selling to a bigger social company that may or may not have a working business model. That's one way to look at it.

After one conversation with Socialcam CEO Michael Seibel, it seems like the future of social video isn't in selling your company to Facebook - it's in the niche communities that populate this tiny app. They are the true owners of this bustling social video community. 

The very nature of mobile-sharing apps has changed the types of imagery that people upload. There is also an added on-the-move life-streaming nature to the whole thing. Photos found on the flowing Instagram news feed don't look like the ones you might come across on Flickr.

Instagram is a community conducive to likes and comments, whereas Flickr focuses more on displaying collections of photographs in photostreams, sets and galleries, organized by tags and maps. Yet interestingly, the most-used camera on Flickr is the iPhone4. What's fundamentally different about the two sites? The privacy settings.

What will money look like in 2020 and beyond? Will smartphones, smart cards and digital wallets kill the paper bill? The infrastructure needed to change the nature of transactions is already being built. There are issues to be tackled. The evolution of currency is not something that will happen overnight. But if the technologists and transaction companies have their way, the new era of currency will be embedded within a smartphone. How will it come to pass?

In the world of social media, "celebrity" is a combination of social status and social media presence. The more likes you receive, the more "popular" you appear to friends and followers.

Up until its acquisition by Facebook, Instagram was the current site of social media celebrity. As it becomes yet another Facebook app, the photography will most likely change from what was once street photography, landscapes and architecture of early users, to the social, people-oriented imagery that floods Facebook on a daily basis.

Companies such as AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile are favorite punching bags of users and advocates and the carriers are constantly looking for an edge that will prop up their consumer mindshare. The primary avenue of differentiation for each carrier is the plans they offer. As consumers adopt multiple devices, is the era of the shared data plan right around the corner?