The Japanese fear the coming of the “Big One,” an earthquake that will devastate all. Roughly every seventy years, a mammoth quake rocks the East Asian country; the last one was the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. With the threat looming, how can citizens prepare themselves? Simple.

According to a Tech-On! article by Eiichi Wada, new phones from Japanese company NTT DoCoMo offer emergency report alerts in specific areas that alert citizens of impending danger, due to natural disasters.

The cell phone has changed drastically since 1983. Rudy Krolopp was the lead designer of the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x. Weighing 2 pounds and costing $3,995, “the Brick” was a sight to behold.

Back then, it was spectacular enough that a phone call could be placed in the car or on the street with no cords. Now, wireless communication is a simple fact of life. People using cell phones these days can browse the web, check e-mail, listen to music and take photographs from one little console.

But these functions seem ordinary now. No earthquake detection there. Ever fear you will be stranded in the middle of the desert with a broken car and no cell coverage? Ok, maybe you don’t trek through Death Valley every day. What about a typical accident in the woods? Worry not.

Even with no love from the satellites above, the phone lies in wait for emergencies. By dialing 1-1-2, the worldwide emergency number for mobile phones, the phone “will search any existing network to establish the emergency number,” according to an article at snopes.com.

Cell phones can even help unlock cars for those with remote keyless entry, according to the article. By phoning home on the cell, the person on the other end with the spare keys can push the unlock button on the keys while you hold your phone about a foot away from the lock. Presto. The car is unlocked.

While not recommended for the layman, cell phones have been hacked for medical purposes.

“Scientists at UCLA’s California NanoSystems Institute have modded a cell phone into a portable blood tester capable of monitoring HIV, malaria, leukemia and detecting diseases,” said David Bullock in his article on Wired.com. By using the camera, a light filter and some wires, blood cells can be analyzed. This low cost method has large implications for developing nations that cannot afford pricey medical gadgets, according to the article.

It seems as if it will only be a matter of time before cell phones will be able to dispense coffee, serve as a remote control for television and radiate heat for winter warmth. The possibilities seem endless.