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Fall is coming, which means smartphone manufacturers will be launching new models with flashy new bells and whistles. But some forward-looking features are already part of existing phones. Here are five helpful features that other phone makers (Apple, are you listening?) would be wise to adopt. shutterstock
You'd have to be crazy to take most phones into a swimming pool. Then there's the Galaxy S4 Active, which Samsung says can be submerged in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. Our Galaxy phone worked just fine after its camera snapped this underwater pic of Etan Horowitz, CNN's mobile editor. Etan Horowitz
Snapping self-portraits with a phone can be awkward. But a countdown timer on the HTC One (not the phone pictured here) makes it easier. TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images
Every iPhone owner has felt nagged by the number of apps on the device that must be manually updated, seemingly every few weeks. But users of Android phones don't have that problem. Brandon Griggs/CNN
All smartphones allow notifications that pop up on your screen when you get a text, say, or a Facebook message. But what if the icons, or tiles, on your screen would display real-time updates, such as weather reports? "Live tiles" on Windows phones already do. From Microsoft
OK, you probably shouldn't be like this guy and play with your phone when driving. But the upcoming Moto X phone at least makes it a little safer. The Moto X lets you speak voice commands to your phone without touching it and will read your text messages aloud. Getty Images
