There is no doubt that we are now in the age of the smartphone. Not too long ago, a mobile phone was nothing more than an unsightly brick-like object carried by only a few businesspeople who would jump on any new piece on technology. Gradually, as they became smaller and more advanced, mobile phones became a must have item. Consequently, there are currently around 85 phones per every 100 people in the United Kingdom, amounting to a whopping 50 million phones.

Of course, this popularity means that the mobile phone industry is well funded and therefore able to advance mobile phone technology at an incredible pace. First came phone cameras, then came integrated music players and radios, then touch screens and GPS. But perhaps the most useful and significant advance in mobile phone technology has been the inclusion of internet capabilities. The internet itself has without doubt had the greatest impact of all technology in recent memory but it's inclusion in mobile phones has opened the door for so many possibilities within today's fast paced society.

Having mobile internet access means that we can check emails on the train, look up recipe ingredients in the supermarket and even talk to friends on the street. Perhaps the last example seems rather less of a breakthrough than the other two but it was of course a reference to social networking on the go.

Perhaps one of the most interesting uses of mobile internet is the ability to shop and make secure payments from almost anywhere at any time. Having access to a company's website in our pockets means that it is very simple to browse and search for products in much the same way as sitting at a home computer. Granted, browsing websites, many of which were originally designed for a computer screen and have yet to provide a mobile version, can be a little fiddly. This is why companies are now beginning to create mobile phone applications or 'apps' and are also creating mobile versions of their sites to make it easier for consumers to browse their products.

Some firms, such as the masters of the smartphone platform, Apple, have created such an effortless mobile interface with their products that people simply enjoy purchasing items through this medium. In the case of digital media, the mobile phone is often a better interface than a computer for purchasing products because it brings about the possibility of downloading videos and music directly to a phone without having to subsequently transfer the product from a computer.

Mobile internet, whilst not entirely secure, is still vastly more secure than its desktop counterpart. However when it comes to shopping, consumer details are still only as secure as the company they are being sent to. In this respect it is wise for customers to purchase products only from online stores that they would trust if they were to be making purchases via a computer.

For those who are comfortable with using a mobile interface for browsing the internet, there is no reason why shopping on a mobile phone cannot be as convenient as shopping on a personal computer, with the added convenience of being able to shop on the move. Some statistics suggest that as much as 40% of all internet access in the UK is already mobile internet based.