We Americans like to think of ourselves as trendsetters for the rest of the globe, but when it comes to cell phones, we're still playing catch-up with countries such as Japan and Korea.

In general, Asians use their cell phones in more robust ways than the typical U.S. resident as TVs, wallets, GPS devices, and music players. Japanese cell phones can double as a house key, a credit card, and an ID. Users can even use their cell phones to send their vital signs straight to their doctors.

In recent years, U.S. companies have made baby steps toward incorporating more advanced cell phone features, particularly in the areas of mobile banking and video broadcast. Meantime, the Asian cell phone market continues to be a good predictor of features that could soon be included in American cell phones. For example, Japan had cameraenabled cell phones two years before Americans ever went gaga for them.

Curtis Schenck, a manager of corporate relations at NTT DoCoMo USA, gave TechNewsDaily the scoop on the hottest features in the Japanese market right now. Try not to be too jealous.

1. Personal Butler

Customers don't have to Google for information, since i-Concierge acts as their butlers or personal assistants and caters to their every need. Users can input their food preferences, neighborhoods they like, and entertainments that they enjoy. When new information is downloaded into the system, they get push notifications that are based on their preferences. For example, if they like Thai food and a new Thai restaurant that is opening nearby, their cell phones will notify them.

2. Investigative Visits

This takes the Verizon commercials to a whole new level. If a users' five-bar reception signal drops to three bars or if they have a dropped call, they can call customer service and a team will be sent out to investigate the problem.

3. Barcode Reader

Japanese phones can read QR marks, which are sophisticated barcodes for businesses. If an Asian cell phone user is walking down a Tokyo street and walks past a restaurant that isn't open, they can point their camera to the QR mark and their phone's browser will automatically be routed to the restaurant's Web site.

4. Free TV on the Phone

Subscribers can surf 13 free TV channels on their phones. DoCoMo has also launched their own channel called BTV to air programs that are filmed specifically for the mobile phone.

5. Phones as Payment Systems

Osaifu Keitai, also known as the mobile phone wallet, lets users load up credit card information onto their phones. If stores have a reader, users can swipe their phones over it to pay for their purchases. Cell phones can also be used to pay for subway and train tickets.

6. Send Money to Other Subscribers

Some Asian countries allow users to send money using their cell phones. Users simply input another person's phone number and the amount they owe them and like magic, the money is transferred.

7. Internal Wi-Fi Spot

Japanese cell phone users can download a movie onto their mobile phones and show it on their TVs. This is another way to get entertainment on demand. A femtocell base transceiver station (BTS) in the home hooks up mobile phones to the DoCoMo network through a broadband line such as an optical fiber. The femtocell BTS lets a person with a cell phone download videos and music files. Through femtocell BTS, a person can set up a private wireless network for their home appliances, entertainment systems, and other devices.

8. Home Security Service

Japanese cell phone users can lock their doors and manage their home security systems remotely using their mobile devices. They can also adjust appliances and set environmental controls, so their lights and heat can be switched on before they get home.

9. Environmental Awareness

DoCoMo has deployed environmental sensors throughout Japan and people are now able to monitor air quality, temperature, and UV rays around them using their cell phones.

10. Reads Vital Signs

In the same way that we might plug headphones into our iPhones, Japanese cell phone users can plug in equipment such as a blood pressure monitor to their phones and send vital signs directly to their doctors. This helps save some people a trip to the doctor.

• Mobile Phone Use Soars
• 10 Profound Innovations Ahead
• Americans Are Info-Junkies

In today's Enterprise column, I looked at the myriad new tools and services bloggers can use to earn money from traffic to their blogs, such as audio ads, video ads and widgets that let you customize how and where ads appear. Several programs, such as Amazon.com's affiliate-marketing program, and Chitika.com, now let blog publishers have more control over ads.

I talked with several publishers making so much from their blog that they left their day jobs. One such blogger Rhett Butler, founder of Mongabay.com makes $15,000 to $18,000 a month on his site about rainforest conservation. Such success usually comes from experimenting with ad-revenue models, advertised products and ad positions. It can take several months to find the best model for a particular site.

Of course, drawing big ad money depends more on having a blog with lots of interesting and unique content that draws lots of readers, showing up high in search-engine results for your topic and having ads that pique your readers' interest. The vast majority of blogs make dimes, not dollars, a day, according to ProBlogger.net.

While the programs are expanding, some bloggers are coming up with their own ways to make money. For instance, Roger Fredericks, a golf pro who sells DVDs teaching golfers flexibility exercises, used to spend $10,000 to $25,000 a pop airing infomercials on the Golf Channel. When the network raised its rates last year, he decided to focus on making money on his Web site.

He plans to start a blog, where he will sell five-to-eight minute video-on-demand clips with his solutions for various golf-swing flaws for about $12 each. He also set up his own affiliate program that pays other sites to run ads for his products.

Other bloggers ask loyal readers for donations or have a tip jar.

Readers, do you have a blog? Do you make any money from it? If so, what works for you?