Coming soon to a phone near you

Your mobile phone is about to get a lot cooler.

How cool? In the coming months, you'll be able to dictate text messages and surf the Web just by speaking commands — no tapping or clicking required. If you're trying to figure out where to go to lunch, you'll be able to call up a map marked with local eateries your friends and family recommend. And you'll be able to film movie clips on your cell phone and send them live to somebody else's gadget.

Rapid hardware advances are making all these new offerings possible. Cell phones are morphing into minicomputers, packed with more processing power and bigger screens, and more of them are coming loaded with features like GPS. Faster connections are also driving the changes. Developers can work with tools like streaming video that wouldn't be practical with creaky connections.

Of course, everything isn't going to change overnight. Not all of these applications will work on all devices, and to use some of them, you may have to get a phone with particular features like GPS or a built-in video camera.

Most of the features are likely to first become available for higher-end devices like smart phones. But most companies say they plan to eventually roll their services out to a broader base of cell-phone users, particularly as even basic phones come equipped with more-advanced features.

Here's a sampling of the new applications scheduled to hit the market soon.

Voice controls

Plenty of mobile applications allow you to dial your phone by voice. But very soon you'll be able to carry out a lot more functions with spoken commands — making your cell phone truly "hands free."

Nuance Communications Inc. of Burlington, Mass., is developing voice-recognition technology to make it easier to send messages and surf the Web from your phone. For instance, users will be able to use their voice to search for a particular music track, then purchase the track and play it back later.

The new software will also let you dictate text messages and e-mails. In fact, the technology is a modified version of dictation tools that Nuance and others have offered on desktops for years.

Nuance is currently testing the new features with wireless carriers and other third-party providers, who plan to start offering them to consumers in the coming months.

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