November 23, 2009
Multi-carrier iPhone in France doubles sales
The elimination of the iPhone's exclusivity to Orange in France has resulted in "more than double" the sales of the device and dealt a blow to the Blackberry.
[via Electronista]
November 22, 2009
Samsung Omnia II to launch with Swype's "Genius Texting"
mocoNews.net reports that the new Samsung Omnia II will include Swype's input method that they are calling “Genius Texting.”
The technology developed by Swype provides a faster and easier way to input text on any screen. With one continuous finger or stylus motion across the screen keyboard, the patented technology enables users to input words faster and easier than other data input methods—at over 50 words per minute.
See Swype demo video her.
Texting Arcade Game Tests Your Texting Speed
Spotted on Ubergizmo, a Textminator, a coin-operated arcade game that lets you put your texting skills to the test.
Apple won't repair Macs if owners are smokers?
Not related to cell phones, but wild if true. According to TechRadar, Apple is apparently refusing to repair computers that show signs of cigarette smoke.
Cell Phones Drive Social Networks
Mobile devices are the preferred tools by social network site (SNS) users over PCs in at least four Asian countries, according to a recent IDC survey reports PC World.
Read full article or full IDG report ($5000)
Authorities Warn Iranians Not To Protest -- By SMS
The Iranian news website Tabnak and several bloggers are reporting that authorities are sending text messages to citizens warning them not to take part in antigovernment protests. Spero News reports.
The reports come ahead of Student Day on December 7, which the opposition has vowed to “turn green” in support of the Green movement backing opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi.
Read full article.
November 21, 2009
Spyware Listens In On Cell Phone Calls
KKTV has a news segment on spyware that allows you to listen in on cell phone calls. They don't name the company, but in their video you get a glimpse of a web page of a company called Flexispy which offers this kind of eavesdropping as "a way to catch a cheating spouse or keep tabs on children".
The software downloaded into your cell phone allows someone to eavesdrop, see your text messages and read your e-mails. Every time that target phone receives a call or text, it alerts the phone of the spy.
The best way to protect your phone, according to KKTV, is to never let it out of your sight. The spyware can only be installed if it is physically downloaded onto the phone and it takes about 15 minutes to do so.
SMS Reminders Help people with Eating Disorders
People with an eating disorder may not want to attend a support group or meet with therapists, but a new report raises the prospect that "remote therapies" via e-mail, text messaging or through Web sites could help them recover. US News reports.
Related:
Africa: Growing Use of Cellphones for Family Planning
Another way cell phones are being used in the developing world, by providing family planning information. allAfrica.com reports.
The secrets on your smartphone
Hang on to your handset ... smartphones are a goldmine of information for thieves, writes The Sydney Morning Herald.
... “It may not be what's recoverable from the phone that is valuable but what can be further discovered online, by ringing around and using the easily accessible information,” Kim Khor, director of Khor Wills & Associates says.
Mobile phone forensics comprise an important part of crime detection and corporate security, but they are increasingly playing a role for private detectives investigating marital or work disputes.
Read full article.
Related:
-- Mobile forensics turns up heat on suspects - How forensic science is developping new tools to investigate cell phone data - even when deleted - and solve crimes.
-- Fighting Crime With Cellphones' Clues - Extracting clues and leads from mobile electronics is no cakewalk.
-- Cellphone Forensics at Crime Scenes - Logicube has developed a portable kit which can extract data from over 160 handset when needed by the police and forensic staff.
--Digital evidence is increasingly crucial to criminal investigations - Cell phones have become the new "smoking gun" for prosecutors and police in the Twin Cities and around the world.
-- UK police making Gil Grissom jealous... - The Forensic Science Service (FSS) has developed a mobile laboratory which will travel to crime scenes and carry out real-time forensic investigation and analysis.
-- The field of Cell Phone Forensics - Modern detectives are now using cell phone forensics to capture more and more criminals.
-- Police turn forensic skills on handhelds - Handhelds are likelier to lead to handcuffs for techie criminals following the release of a report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
-- Mobile phone forensics 'hole' reported - Police investigations are being hindered by the use of proprietary mobile phone technologies, say forensics experts
November 20, 2009
Power wheelchair electronics displayed on iPhones
Dynamics Controls has integrated an iPhone with its power wheelchair electronics - enabling power wheelchair users to enjoy all the benefits of an iPhone or iPod touch.
The solution connects a user's iPhone or iPod touch to the wheelchair system to display speed, battery and other wheelchair information in a great looking and easily visible way.
Lee Kwok, a wheel chair user in Christchurch says it will be fantastic to be able to buy an off the shelf product that has so many features for powered wheelchair users. "Having access to mainstream technology via a wheelchair is a huge advantage," says Lee Kwok.
[via iPhoneFreak]
Twitter available in French
Earlier this month, Twitter rolled out a Spanish language version of its service. This was the first language to gain native support beyond English and Japanese. Today, it’s announcing French support as well.
[via TechCrunch]
Best of Twitter tunes album released
Musical twitterers have found a way to condense entire compositions to fit in single, 140-character tweets. New Scientist reports.
Other users of the micro-blogging site responded by devising and posting their own compositions. Now a free to download, best-of album of 22 Twitter tunes has been released, entitled sc140.
Cell phones don't ring everyone's bell
Most of us just can't live without a cell phone and we wonder how we managed all those years without one.
But according to The Houston Chronicle, a small group of die hard folks are surviving just fine without what some describe as a high-tech digital leash.
Yet Census data show the ubiquitous cell phone is increasingly becoming the communication tool of choice for the majority. Some are even disconnecting their landlines and using cell phones exclusively.
According to the new data, the number of households with cell phones exploded from 36 percent to 71 percent between 1998 and 2005. Landline ownership during this same period fell from 96 percent to 91 percent, with many in their 20s particularly seeing no useful purpose in having a hard-wired phone. Those age 65 and older were the most likely to still have landlines — 98 percent.
Money Transfers to Become Hottest Mobile App, Says Gartner
Money transfers and payments over mobile phones will be among the top 10 most important mobile applications by 2012, market research company Gartner said on Wednesday, reports PC World.
"It's a way for users who don't have a bank account to get access to financial services," said Sandy Shen, of Gartner's.
Mobile payments came in sixth place on Gartner's list and will be used in both developed and developing markets, according to Shen.
Read full article.
November 19, 2009
Conde Nast releases 'virtual magazine' iPhone app
Conde Nast released a brand-new iPhone app Wednesday in conjunction with GQ's Men of the Year issue that provides readers with a replica of the magazine on their iPhone or iPod touch. New York Daily News reports.
Bangladeshis rush to learn English by mobile
In an ambitious new project, the BBC World Service Trust is harnessing the latest communications technology to provide English language learning for over 50 million mobile users in Bangladesh.
The first of its kind in the world, this project will provide high quality English learning tools using mobile, television and the internet to millions of people, many of whom live on less than £2 a day.
Central to the project is BBC Janala (“Window”) which uses the mobile phone as a powerful low-cost learning device by offering over 250 audio and SMS lessons to the growing 50.4 million mobile users in Bangladesh.
To make the lessons affordable, the BBC has teamed up with all six of Bangladesh’s mobile operators who have agreed to cut the cost of calls to the service by up to 75%. Each lesson is a three-minute phone call, costing about 3 taka (2.6p).
According to The Financial Times,
Part of a UK government initiative to help develop English skills in Bangladesh, it marks the first time that mobile phones have been used as an educational tool on this scale.
[via Switched]
AT&T Releases New Commercial Targeting Verizon
Spotted on Apple iPhone School, AT&T's new commercial targeting targets Verizon.
It's a reply to the Verizon's ads that compared coverage between the two networks.
November 18, 2009
App lets your iPhone blow out candles
Spotted on Gizmodo, a new iPhone app called Blower that uses its speaker to blow air. No peripherals. No attachments. Check the video for yourself.
The developers say that you can use it to "blow out candles, herbs, and refresh your skin during hot summer nights."
PCMag Unveils its First iPhone App
PCMag launched a mobile version of our online Tech Encyclopedia, which give users quick access to more than 25,000 tech terms.
In their own words: PCMag has, in collaboration with Computer Language Company, launched its inaugural iPhone app, a mobile version of its popular online Tech Encyclopedia. That's right, 25,000 tech terms, all searchable by name, in an easy-to-browse alphabetical format. Just as in the Web version, there are extensive entries, cross links to relevant terms and images that you can expand to investigate.
Thieves steal iPhones in rooftop heist
Thieves have made off with millions of dollars worth of iPhones in a daring heist from a Belgian warehouse. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
They then entered the building through a hole cut directly above where the 4000 phones, which had a market value of about $3.2 million, were being stored.
The iPhones were destined for mobile operator Mobistar, which had a long waiting list for the popular handsets.
GSMA Unveils Mobile's Green Manifesto
The GSM Association announced recently at the Mobile Asia Congress the launch of Mobile's Green Manifesto, which has been developed in collaboration with The Climate Group.
This manifesto sets out how the mobile industry plans to lower its greenhouse gas emissions per connection, and demonstrates the key role that mobile communications can play in lowering emissions in other sectors and industries. It also makes specific policy recommendations for governments and the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15), December 7-18.
Developed with the support of The Climate Group, the Green Manifesto shows that, with the right public policies in place, mobile can make a major contribution to the fight against global warming.
[via Softpedia]
Mobile Ads: Wait Until Next Year
Adweek on why mobile advertising still has some way to go.
This will undoubtedly change, although perhaps not as quickly as mobile's biggest boosters hope, according to agency executives, analysts and mobile veterans. Here are the key reasons why.
Guide to iPhone GPS Navigation Apps
Art of the iPhone has published a (very useful) Guide to iPhone GPS Navigation Apps, including their expert opinion on which two are the best: Navigon MobileNavigator and MotionX GPS Drive.
In their own words:
Using cellphones to fight noise pollution
According to New Scientist, cellphones could soon be used to fight noise pollution.
Nicolas Maisonneuve of the Sony Computer Science Laboratory in Paris, France, says that those maps are not an accurate reflection of residents' exposure to noise. To get a more precise picture, Maisonneuve's team has developed NoiseTube, a downloadable software app which uses people's smartphones to monitor noise pollution. "The goal was to turn the mobile phone into an environmental sensor," says Maisonneuve.
The app records any sound picked up by the phone's microphone, along with its the GPS location. Users can label the data with extra information, such as the source of the noise, before it is transmitted to NoiseTube's server.
Read full article and more about NoiseTube on their website.
Related, sort of:
-- Cell phones to sense our environment and its pollutants (2009)
-- Cyclists' cellphones help monitor air pollution (2008)
-- Cellphone masts can measure rainfall (2006)
-- Aero Phone measures air pollution (2004)
-- Saving the World With Cell Phones (2005)
-- Cell phones could warn of gas leaks (2003)
-- Phones that detect terrorist attacks (2003)
An App for Crossing the Border
A new tool to assist Mexican migrant workers safely cross over the border into the United States has been developed by Ricardo Dominguez of the University of California in San Diego, reports Viceland via PSFK.
Dominguez, an activist/hacker and performance artist cobbled together a cheap mobile phone and a free GPS application to make the “Transborder Immigrant Tool”.
Read more.
T-Mobile Customer Details Were Sold to Rival Company
T-Mobile UK has admitted that some of its staff may have sold customer details to a rival network. Cellular News reports.
AdMob brings interactive video ads to iPhone
... The video ads will automatically pop up as iPhone users access certain content and applications. The ads will also offer a video player so that people can control and interact with them.
[via News.com]
November 17, 2009
DENIAL-of-services attacks on cellular networks?
Patrick Traynor of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and his colleagues worry that hackers may have cellphone networks in their sights. New Scientist reports.
In a standard DoS attack, a network of infected PCs, a "botnet", would swamp a server with so many requests to view a web page that it would be unable to handle legitimate requests. Now Traynor and colleagues have shown how a cellphone network could be the vehicle for an attack that would cut off calls for millions of users.
Read full article.
Apple Concierge app for in-store appointments
According to AppleInsider, Apple plans to release a new "Concierge" application for the iPhone and iPod touch that will allow customers to schedule appointments at retail stores. Makes perfect sense.
Orange strikes Twitter TV deal
According to The Guardian, European Twitter users will soon be able to tweet to each other via their TV sets while watching entertainment and sports shows, after Orange struck a deal to integrate the service into its mobile and television offerings.
Orange said that Twitter services would be rolled out in the UK first, to be followed by France, Spain and Poland later this year. The service will be rolled out in other European markets next year.
Read full article.
Cell-phone Use - but Not Music - Reduces Pedestrian Safety
Two new studies of pedestrian safety found that using a cell phone while hoofing it can endanger one's health. Older pedestrians, in particular, are impaired when crossing a busy (simulated) street while speaking on a mobile phone, the researchers found. Cellular News reports.
... The first study, in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, found that college-age adults who were talking on a cell phone took 25 percent longer to cross the street than their peers who were not on the phone. They were also more likely to fail to cross the street in the 30 seconds allotted for the task, even though their peers were able to do so.
Each participant walked on a manual treadmill in a virtual environment, meaning that each encountered the exact same conditions - the same number and speed of cars, for example - as their peers.
The second (and not yet published) study gave adults age 60 and above the same tasks, and included some participants who had a history of falling. The differences between those on and off the phone were even more striking in the older group, Kramer said.
Related:
-- Mobile phone users cannot walk in straight line
-- 6 million people hurt in the UK in 2007 while texting and talking
-- Padded lampost to protect texters was PR stunt
-- Suggested Bill banning iPods and cellphones for NY pedestrians
Britney Spears Launches iPhone App
Britney Spears is getting up close and personal with her fans through the just-launched iPhone and iPod Touch app "It's Britney!". [via MTV]
In their own words: With the "It's Britney!" app, fans get to the front of the line with all things officially Britney. After purchasing the app, fans will receive official news first hand, get exclusive messages from Britney herself, be able to create and share images of themselves and friends on stage with Britney, have access to updated photo galleries which include real time photos, exclusive tour images as well as a photo gallery of over 100+ iconic images of Britney over the years.
Additionally, the app features a "Shake Shake Shake" feature in which Britney says "It's Britney Bitch!" every time the user shakes their iPhone or iPod Touch.
Official Harry Potter iPhone app
There are many Harry Potter apps, but Warner Bros. has just launched the first official Harry Potter app available in the US Apple store. VentureBeat reports.
The game has 14 spells for wizards-in training. Players can conjure their magic alone or duel each other by casting spells from one device. See the trailer here.
MasterCard to Authenticate Online Transactions by SMS
In the face of mounting threats from hackers, MasterCard will use mobile phones to improve security for online transactions, the company said on Monday, reports PCWorld.
The goal is to improve users' protection against phishing and man in the middle attacks, which are growing problems in the e-banking and e-commerce world, according to MasterCard.
Read full article
November 16, 2009
GCSE English Exam to include questions on text messaging
There have been as many articles on the benefits of text messging to the English language as studies condemning it's negative impact on students' writing skills, but this is the first time a major English litterature exam, the GCSE English, will actually include text messaging questions, The Telegraph reports.
As part of their answer they will be required to include examples of common text shortcuts.
The subject of text messaging will be taught from next September as part of the Studying Spoken Language module intended to make GCSEs harder.
Not all faculty members agree, to some it's the ultimate "dumbing down". Read full article.
November 15, 2009
Kashmir's impoverished residents resent ban on prepaid cell phone ban
A government ban on prepaid cell phones to prevent rebels from using them to clandestinely plan attacks has stirred resentment among Indian-controlled Kashmir's impoverished residents, who depend on prepaid connections for inexpensive communication.
[via Cellular News]
Amazon.com lets people track packages via SMS
This one slipped under the radar, but Amazon.com is now letting some customers track their packages via text message TechFlash reports.
Here's more from Amazon's FAQ sheet. Amazon doesn't charge for the text alerts, though the customer's mobile company charges whatever text-messaging rates apply.
November 14, 2009
India. Most Indians buy cars based on mobile phone advertisements
Car makers like Maruti, Hyundai, Tata Motors and others have begun advertising heavily through cellphones which is generating higher buying decisions among Indians this year compared to global buyers. The Economic Times reports.
Jet Airways flyers may now search for the lowest fares via sms
Here's a useful SMS application for an airline. Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, has just announced the launch of a new text messaging feature, allowing passengers to request the lowest current fares on the airline network on any given day of travel.
TED Talks Jan Chipchase on our mobile phones
Nokia's handsome researcher Jan Chipchase's investigation into the ways we interact with technology has led him from the villages of Uganda to the insides of our pockets. He's made some unexpected discoveries along the way.
SIM Card operated Phone Booths
Equatel is a virtual phone, a SIM payphone system that works in places where regular handsets don’t have reception.
Individuals with their own pre-paid SIM cards, can make and take phone calls from a special GSM payphone, receive and send text messages, even make payments. And all of these operations are saved.
Watch the presentation.
[via L'Atelier via Twitter/RaphaelHunold]
November 13, 2009
Doing your Laundry? There's an app for that
Procter & Gamble’s Tide brand has launched Stain Brain, an iPhone app that consumers can use to find and share ways to remove stains at home and on the go. [via Mobile Marketer]
Related app: - My Janitor iPhone App - a how to guide for cleaning everything: Title, wood, upholstery, floors, cars, clothes, windows, electronics and removing stains such as red wine, grease, oil, ink, wax, gum.
'Thatcher's dead' text message sparks government panic
Canadian Transport Minister John Baird sent a text message to a number of his political friends reading: "Thatcher has died", inadvertently causing a diplomatic crisis earlier this week.
[via The Mirror]
