Martin Cooper, inventor of the mobile phone told a privacy conference on Madrid he believes that today’s devices try to do too many things. The former Motorola researcher said "Whenever you create a universal device that does all things for all people, it does not do any things well…our future, I think, is a number of specialist devices that focus on one thing that will improve our lives"

The 80 year old was the lead engineer of the Motorola team that developed the first handheld mobile phone. "The first cell phone model weighed over one kilo and you only could talk for 20 minutes before the battery ran out, which is just as well because you would not be able to hold it up for much longer," he said.

However recent figures suggest people are looking for new devices that can handle a number of different functions. Across England, France, Italy, Germany and Spain, figures compiled by GfK, a market research organisation, found that while sales of mobile handsets had decreased by 10 per cent over the last year, sales of smartphones have increased by 140%.

Jon Agar, a senior lecturer at University College London doesn’t agree with Mr Coopers beliefs, “Martin Cooper's assertion flies in the face of current trends, and I see no particular evidence to suggest that the trend towards more 'universal' mobile phones is going to change direction," said Dr Agar.

“Mobiles are far more than mere phones - they have the capabilities and flexibilities of a computer. Designers have made use of these capacities, and will continue to do so. The future of technologies is ultimately in the hands of users - and the vast majority of users have historically been loath to add to the very small number of technologies that we carry around with us.”

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