“Now let’s be sure we understand the danger of this. The inhabitants of this planet can read our minds, they can create illusions out of a person’s own thoughts, memories and experiences, even out of a person’s own desires. Illusions just as real and solid as this table top and just as impossible to ignore.”
– First Star Trek Episode: “The Cage”

The Star Trek television series was first aired on 8 September 1966 and ran for 3 seasons on NBC. It was set in the 23rd century and featured the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.

This week marks the anniversary of Star Trek’s original pilot episode “The Cage” (video), notes the Official Google Mobile Blog, and with it, the first appearance of the iconic Communicator.

As one of the inspirations for today’s mobile devices, the Communicator did more than just long-range voice calls; in fact, many of its locator and universal translation services still outpace today’s state of the art. What’s more, the Communicator was so critical to the daily workings of Starfleet that cadets’ 4-year curriculum included mandatory courses in communications engineering.

Today’s brand of mobile user doesn’t need four years to figure out their phone. But this week, and with a tip of the hat to the USS Enterprise for the Communicator’s anniversary, we did want to celebrate all things mobile by sharing some of Google’s favorite mobile tips and tricks.

All week long, we’re going to be tweeting and blogging our top tips for using Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, and more on your phone.