I think the conditions are right for a new type of mobile application platforms to emerge in the near future.  What makes these platform unique is that they will run on anything with a small LCD screen and a handful of buttons such as MP3 players, cellphones, cameras, and maybe even the digital thermometer.  Some of these will have jacks, others will use one of many wireless capabilities.

A simplest of such platform is InfoStick, a simple pen-size devices with a single line of LCD, a button at one end, and application-specific I/O device at the other end.  All it does is correlate information collected from the 'business end' with information being emitted nearby (i.e. business card, price tag, or patient record with embedded RFID tag) when its button is pressed.  For example, a thermometer InfoStick allows temperature to be automatically associated with a patient being examined.  To download the collected info or upload new filters, you set it next to a universal charge and sync station overnight.