I saw Casino Royale last night - yes, I know it's been out, but babysitters are at a premium over the holidays. It's a good film, definitely better than the past half-dozen or so, perhaps one of the best. As usual, it was full of new gadgets for Bond and his enemies to use, and not for the first time, it featured new mobile phones to help him stay a step ahead of world destruction, SonyEricsson's K790 and K800. And his love interest sports a nice white M600, sexy and serious at the same time. Sony laptops also feature prominently.

Past Bond movies Tomorrow Never Dies and Die Another Day have featured Ericsson or SonyEricsson handsets, so Casino Royale continues the relationship between the companies and Bond films.

None of this is surprising, but what I did find interesting is the shift in roles played by the mobile in Bond films, which perhaps mirrors a larger shift in culture. In Casino Royale, Bond confiscates his enemies' mobiles, checking numbers dialled, messages sent, or other nefarious applications, where in earlier films he might have grabbed their gun instead. It's a small thing, but it struck me that the mobile is being portrayed as the weapon now, as much as the bomb or gun.

This of course parallels modern life in the 21st century, where mobiles are commonly used to trigger IEDs and backpack bombs in places like Baghdad or London, or to coordinate attacks, as in Madrid or New York. Information and communication are the new weapons of choice. This is a new role for the world's favorite piece of personal technology, and not one I'd expect to see disappear any time soon. Look for bluetooth headsets, GPS, and more sophisticated smartphones to appear in these roles as consumers become more familiar with them.

Or maybe Bond will just throw a Wiimote at his assailant.