I've often wondered how mobile video will change the users' experience. No doubt, the functionality will consume vast quantities of spectrum should it hit any level of mass market acceptance. No doubt, the processor on mobile devices and battery life will be tested as never before since encoding is a particularly processor and therefore power intensive operation.

Probably, the greatest impact will be the need to hold the phone away from you when speaking, which means users will have to have their earphones or bluetooth headsets handy. No doubt some kind of camera focus-and-steadying software will help the camera zoom in on your face appropriately and keep it in focus without the jitter normally associated with holding a camera in your hand.

Lighting and backgrounds will be a challenge. Maybe, with better software, we can choose to paint in the backgrounds of our choosing - something that we currently leave to phone callers to imagine.

Etiquette will be challenged as there are places where people make and take mobile calls where seeing the background or seeing their faces will not be polite or appropriate. In these circumstances, users ought to be able to choose not to send the video feed which will enable some users to question, why can't I see you? Maybe the way around this is for the camera to substitute your avatar, much like Max Headroom and video auto attendants.