In response to a question at the World Economic Forum panel on new frontiers in handheld innovation, Sony Corporation CEO Howard Stringer (jokingly?) said he was "prepared to think about" incorporating smell to make mobile computing a multi-sensory experience.

Stringer was part of a panel discussion on Friday (that also included FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Google CEO Eric Schmidt and NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker). They chatted about how the mobile phone is reshaping the consumer experience.

At the same session, Rep. Edward Markey, head of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, grilled China Mobile Communications Chairman Wang Jianzhou about the detailed information his company can collect from subscribers.

The Massachusetts Democrat said there is a "bone-chilling quality" to a company or country having access to the type of data that Wang said his firm was able to obtain. Markey asked if his corporation could "just start listening in on a device" -- an action prohibited by law in the U.S., unless permitted by a court order.

Regards

Sandeep Jaidka