Eric Schmidt is not the first one to say it, but the Google CEO's view is meaningful when he pronounces the smartphone as the future --- indeed, the equivalent of the arrival of the television in terms of elevating the knowledge base of parts of the world.

Web search, smartphones and translation software are the keys to that knowledge-building, Schmidt says in an interview with The Guardian in advance of a speech he's delivering this week.

At the moment, he believes the best engineering work is being conducted on developing applications and systems to deliver content across mobile devices.

"That's a big news thing – that's equivalent to the arrival of television," he says.