Silicon.com's Jo Best reports today that Phil McKinney, CTO of HP's personal systems group, is saying the future of cell phones won't be cellular. Future devices, McKinney says, won't be using 2G, 3G, or even Wi-Fi or WiMax.

"Instead, HP predicts, the mobile will become just one of a number of gadgets in your personal area network that will get its connectivity via your watch, or a magic box in your pocket, probably using ultrawideband (UWB) wireless technology," Best writes.

By putting the connectivity in a standalone 'personal hub' device that people would carry with them wherever they go, HP's McKinney says, manufacturers will be able to simplify the actual devices with which consumers will interact.

"Ideally, McKinney believes, the device will end up in a watch form-factor -- a small device that the user will never leave the house without," Best writes. "But that's by 2016, when the 'personal hub' has gone through an iteration or two. It will probably start life as a box, credit-card-sized and several millimetres thick."