DirecTV Enables Remote DVR Scheduling From Mobile PhonesDirecTV Enables Remote DVR Scheduling From Mobile Phones

In this hyper-connected age, smartphones are becoming the universal remote for everything in life, both professional and personal. DirecTV subscribers can now use their mobile phone to schedule their DVR if they forgot to set it up before leaving the house. Is there anything mobile phones can't do?Need to check your e-mail? Grab your mobile phone. Have to check a calendar appointment? Grab your mobile phone. Need to look up directions? Grab a mobile phone. Want to discover the latest hit single? Grab your mobile phone. Need to kill some time watching the news? Grab your mobile phone. Want to play a game? Grab your mobile phone. And if you're a DirecTV subscriber, you can now use its free, remote scheduler application to browse the guide and set your DVR to record "Desperate Housewives," er, I mean, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" with your mobile phone. (I checked it out over the weekend. It really does work. No more despairing about missed programs!)

The list of what phones can do now goes on and on. Mobile banking, instant payments, video calls, video messages, and of course access to the Internet and--oh, yeah--calling features, makes them the one of the most important pieces of technology in our lives. And they are only going to become more ingrained in the way we manage our busy schedules, both at the office and at home.

Generational differences will play a role here. My parents hardly ever use their mobile phones, and when they do, it is simply for voice calls. I use my phone for everything when I am out of the house, from managing my schedule to listening to music and looking up information on the Internet. My youngest sister is never more than three feet from her phone, and is hooked into all kinds of social networking services that allow her to remain in touch with her friends via every avenue possible. Today's teens and tweens (pre-teens? what's the correct marketing slang these days?) will be tomorrow's power users. They are digital natives, growing up with digital technology as part of their upbringing. They will use their phones to do far more than Gen Xers or Boomers will.

At the rate mobile technology is advancing, mobile phones will truly be the computing and communication platform of the future (though why characters in science fiction movies never seem to have them is beyond me). I look forward to what new functionality the future will bring. Because as of yet, my mobile phone can't go to the fridge and get me a beer while I am watching TV.