At the start of most sports events there is a coin toss. For my volleyball team, the winner gets to either pick serve or side. It was my week for the coin toss, only when it was time for the referee to toss the coin, he simply hit a button on his smartphone and we watched as a coin soared in the “air” and then, fortunately for me, landed on tails.

If not every day, at least every week, I am amazed by the things I can do on my phone. And it’s only going to continue. Cisco reported that global traffic on data networks grew by 70 percent last year. To put this in context, traffic on mobile data networks in 2012 was almost 12 times greater than total Internet traffic around the world in 2000.

Still don’t believe the trend. How about these stats?

• A survey of U.S. adult smartphone owners found that 63% of female respondents and 73% of male respondents don’t go an hour without checking their phone (Source: Harris Interactive, June 2012).
• Cell phone users between 18 and 24 exchange an average of 109.5 messages on an average day, more than 3,200 per month (Source: Pew Research Centre, Sept. 2012).

My favorite app lets me swipe my phone at Starbucks to pay for my latte. Admittedly, the ease of use is probably fueling my addiction because I don’t have to worry about carrying cash. And I like the free drink I get after 15 – which arrives with increasing frequency.

I couldn’t have completed my photo-a-day project last year without my smart phone, which is almost always with me. I could snap a photo at any time and know that I had my photo for the day. Several of them are still saved in my gallery where they continue to make me smile when I look at them.

My trainer encourages me to log walks (although he’d prefer them to be runs). I can track calories. I can set up reminders to take a 10-minute walk mid-afternoon.

During intermission at a Broadway show earlier this week, I saw a sea of tiny boxes glowing blue in the dim lights. Most people weren’t rushing to the restrooms; they were checking their devices.

Where will mobile take us next?