Firefox

As cellphones look more like PCs of yore, they run into the same problems as PCs. Like spam.

For all of its advantages, the convergence could also cause problems. Security already is becoming an issue, and devices will be vulnerable to the same ills computers have today, including the difficulty of using the device, hard drives crashing and even threats of spam and virus attacks.

"Certainly, anything that happens on the Internet can now happen on the mobile phone," said Rich Begert, president and chief executive of Bellevue-based Wireless Services.

Wireless Services, which helps carriers roll out new services like text messaging and accompanying spam blockers, recently completed a survey showing that 43 percent of text messages in the U.S. are spam.

"Now that a device has Internet access, spam, viruses, Trojans and other devious things can happen on them," Begert said.

Related Products: Visit our store

Read more from this blogger: Souped-up cellphones like tiny PCs