Now that the Terminal 5 disaster is almost over we can focus on real progress: electronic checking in without having to print out your boarding pas with an acient barcode. Continental Airlines’ electronic boarding pass pilot program lets a  security worker scan the image of a bar code on a BlackBerry.

The technology being tested by Continental uses a two-dimensional encrypted bar code, which is much tougher to copy than the one-dimensional bar code used by many airlines for boarding passes printed online

Mobile devices can so become a crucial part of traveling, that means battery chargers and reliable wireless signals will be even more critical for a stress-free trip though... ;-)