MEMS are like the name suggests, tiny devices. And, they're coming to Smartphones. Google's NexusOne and Motorola's Droid smartphones, as reported in The Economist, includes several microphones that are used in a noise canceling application.

Imagine that. Google and Motorola focusing on the user experience to accelerate adoption of their devices. Sounds a lot like a strategy that Apple or BlackBerry would follow.

The microphone is a silicon membrane fabricated over a tiny cavity which then vibrates in sympathy with sounds waves, changing the electrical properties of the device which then is processed and converted to an audio signal, which in turn is used to cancel ambient noise making it easier for the user to hear their conversation.