There's an app for that

Etisalat's announcement that it's releasing an iPhone application that serves as a mobile wallet, allowing subscribers to store credit card information, will come as a pleasant surprise for customers who until now have had very little access to useful local apps.

"Our next [iPhone] release will include bill payments, wallet management, all sorts of stuff we're doing for mobile commerce," said Rashed al Abbar, the director of mobile commerce services for Etisalat.

Hopefully, other essential apps should follow locating the nearest hospital, ATM machine or police stations. And what about visa and car registration apps?

Maybe an app that locates traffic cameras, so drivers can stop slamming on their breaks seconds before being flashed?

Or how about an app that lets you know which food outlets are still delivering in those early hours of the morning when you realise that your fridge has nothing in it except mouldy bread and an expired carton of orange juice?

Finally, we suggest a revolutionary new app, perhaps titled Alexander Graham Bell, which allows you to speak, and listen, to another person at the other end of the line.

It used to be all the rage before the advent of text and twitter but it's just too 20th century now.