This isn’t really news to anyone working in the mobile industry, but Brad Stone has a nicely written explanation of what it feels like to switch from the US devices to those overseas:

Thanks to early investments in high-speed mobile networks, Japan’s cellular telephone industry is about a year and a half ahead of America’s. Everywhere you look, it shows.

The global platform of the future is clear, even if the US is falling behind, yet a common idea of what and how security should work on these devices is less obvious. When adoption rates are king people usually are enticed by rapid release of gadgets/features, lured by status symbols and sometimes compelled by ease of use. However, they may not realize or bother to consider how their risk posture changes (both positive and negative) in a truly mobile environment:

…the three companies [in Japan] are fiercely trying to entice their customers to stay and lure new users from their rivals. Prices are dropping, new handsets are coming and the carriers are upgrading networks with even faster 3G technology. New applications on the horizon include video calls, biometric authentication (using your fingerprint to authorize phone purchases) and handsets that remotely program home electronics and open locked doors. Automobile-trapped, PC-addicted American’s haven’t shown nearly as much interest in these kinds of advanced mobile-phone applications. So there’s no telling when, or if, these futuristic features will ever make it across the ocean.