Mobile operators are in search of killer applications (see VIEWPOINT, page 81) to kindle interest.

CNN: The Game's the Thing?

In addition to the general intermediary role of helping you manage your other portables, Tognazzini postulates "killer applications" that are not only mere go-betweens, but also puzzlingly trivial.

ENGADGET: Editorial: iWatch app speculation is filler, not killer

We focus on building the killer applications that delight consumers, and they want to keep coming back, and then Google can help them, through advertising, get relevant information about the products that they're searching for.

NPR: Google's Android Makes Phones Act Like PCs

The "killer applications" of speedy networks (which theoretically can transmit data at 40 times the rate of conventional cellular systems) have been widely touted to be portable videophones, plus access to Internet-based broadband content: games, music and shopping.

CNN: Stuck On the Runway

The Killer Wireless-N 1202 offers superior performance for all online applications through Advanced Stream Detect technology, which identifies and prioritizes all network traffic.

ENGADGET: Alienware laptops to use Killer Wireless-N 1202 WiFi cards, guarantee a few frags at the coffee shop