For too long your mobile has been a source of disappointment.

And, to make matters worse, none of the alternatives currently on the market offer what you want.

Sadly the handset manufacturers just don’t get it. But you are certain you know what needs to be done. You have this really cool new concept that will move mobile phones on to a whole new level.

Your big idea will let users – and as you visualise the handset of your dreams you once more let your mind wander. You think again of the enthusiasm and acclaim with which the world will celebrate your innovation.

You know the features and applications that will be needed. You have already made the choice between keyboard and touchscreen. You have focused on the essential and dispensed with the superfluous. And you are about to see your ideas come to fruition.

Some months ago you were scanning the blogs and, by chance, you discovered LG had announced a competition to do no less than “define the future of personal mobile communication”. What, the organisers wanted to know, did you think mobile phones should look like in 2, 5 or 10 years?

And of course, you already had the answers.

So, rather than shut up, you put up. But you left it late to enter. Fortunately you made the June 8 deadline, but only by burning a tanker or two of the proverbial midnight oil.

You detailed how your phone was going to meet consumer needs. You explained the game-changing characteristics of your conception. And you pointed out how, thanks to a few technical developments that would soon to be available, the manufacture would not prove problematical.

One month later, on July 9, you discovered you had won a prize of $20,000. Even better, LG had decided to put your phone in to production.

At last, your genius had finally received the recognition it deserved. The latest research from both Comscore and IDC suggested that your phone, your brilliantly original conception, had replaced the iPhone as the number one smartphone in all major markets.

LG were delighted. Not only had your idea given them market leadership but, for a total of $75K in prize money along with a few other less than excessive costs, they had unearthed a product that they, along with all their competitors, each with an annual R&D budget of many, many millions, had been unable to conceive.

But you had done more than merely fantasise about a phone. By entering the competition you had made your dream a reality.

Only in America, you thought to yourself. And you were right. Because, sadly, and for reasons that are still not immediately obvious, you have to be a resident of the United States to participate.