http://www.textually.org/ en-us emily@netsurf.ch 2009-07-03T09:56:35+01:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/024008.htm The world's largest commercial satellite was launched into space Wednesday, with a mission to provide phone service to cellular "dead zones" in North America. [via Cellular News] ... TerreStar has shown prototypes of the phones, which are similar to BlackBerrys, and like them, would have access to data and e-mail. The phones aren't on sale yet. TerreStar plans to have the system running before the end of the year. To connect to the satellite, the handsets will need a clear view of the southern sky, just like a satellite dish. When that's not available, the sets will be able to connect to regular ground-based cellular networks. TerreStar has a roaming agreement with AT&T Inc. ]]> 24008@http://www.textually.org/ News, Buzz 2009-07-03T09:56:35+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/024007.htm Twitter users who lack an audience for their messages can now buy followers. The BBC reports. Australian social media marketing company uSocial is offering a paid service that finds followers for users of the micro-blogging service. Followers are available in blocks starting at $87 (£53) for 1,000. The biggest block uSocial is selling is 100,000 people. ... USocial estimated that each follower on Twitter was worth about 10 cents a month to a company that got them to sign up. The money would be made from adverts and sales on websites that followers click through to. ]]> 24007@http://www.textually.org/ Twitter 2009-07-03T09:38:55+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/024006.htm In Malcolm Gladwell’s New Yorker review of Chris Anderson’s new book, “Free: The Future of a Radical Price,” he said that Apple will soon be making more money from iPhone downloads than it does from the iPhone itself. The WSJ reports. He said this to make a point that businesses can still be successful charging for content. But a quick glance at the iPhone’s numbers show that he may have been a little too hasty in his assertion. ... But a bigger moneymaker than the iPhone itself? It’s not even close. Apple doesn’t break out details about iPhone and App Store profits, so it’s difficult to get a precise figure. But Shaw Wu, an analyst for Kaufman Brothers, said his “guesstimate” for Apple’s quarterly App Store revenue is a few hundred million dollars at best, out of $1.5 billion in overall iPhone-related revenues. On a per phone basis, Wu estimated that Apple gets about $600 a phone, give or take a few, based on a calculation that divides iPhone cash flow by the number of phones it has sold. (Consumers are able to buy iPhones for much less because cellphone carriers subsidize the difference). Read full article. ]]> 24006@http://www.textually.org/ Cell Phone Apps Random Stats 2009-07-03T09:23:23+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/024004.htm Reports from Iran say that SMS text messaging services have been unblocked for the first time since disputed presidential elections. The BBC reports. Defeated opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi this week called on the government to end its interference in phone networks and the internet. Correspondents say texting has been restricted since 11 June - the day before disputed elections which saw the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The lifting of the restrictions has been reported by a number of Iranian news agencies monitored by the BBC, including Tabnak.ir, a conservative website believed to be associated with former Islamic Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezai. Tabnak said that SMS services, although restored, were still blighted by technical problems.Messages up to three weeks old were being sent out, and some users were receiving multiple repeated messages, it said. Read full article. ]]> 24004@http://www.textually.org/ SMS and Politics 2009-07-03T08:22:13+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/024003.htm Speech technology is advancing quickly; even smartphones offer apps that let you speak commands and perform voice-activated searches. Now, a new app for iPhone and Blackberry can convert spoken Arabic into spoken English (and vice versa). The mobile app's speed of processing and accuracy is unprecedented for such a complex and different pair of languages. Gizmodo reports via Popular Science reports. Created by Sakhr and Dial Directions for use by the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and other military customers -- not you -- the app has implications for field personnel who need to understand foreign speech in dire situations. The app also provides a text translation. Web tools such as Google Translate can convert written Arabic to English, and speech companies such as Tell Me and Nuance convert speech to text, but this mobile app is the first to convert Arabic on a mobile phone. ]]> 24003@http://www.textually.org/ Cell Phone Apps Reviews 2009-07-03T08:14:18+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/024002.htm Monday, July 20 9:00a to 4:30p at The Inn at Saratoga, Saratoga, CA. Price: Early registration is $1695. Phone: (888) 438-9510 Age Suitability: 18 and up A 3 day intensive course on how to start your mobile App business from the ground up. This course introduces you to proven models for rapidly starting new business with a focus on what works, and what to avoid. You will explore funding and financial models, marketing and legal structures, Over the course of the class you will build your business plan and leave prepared to start putting it into practice. Class requires a business background or desire to start your own iPhone App business. [via The San Jose Mercury News] ]]> 24002@http://www.textually.org/ Cell Phone Apps Related Articles 2009-07-03T08:10:05+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/023997.htm Cartoon from Bruno Plante - Tulsa World. Captured in Newsweek, page 14, July 6/13, 2009. ]]> 23997@http://www.textually.org/ News, Buzz 2009-07-01T15:15:44+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/023996.htm Obama Administration - White House News is a new app to keep up to date with President Barack Obama and his Administration. This app will bring you daily blog entries from the Official White House blog, photos from the Official White House photographers, plus weekly video addresses by President Obama, videos of Press Briefings, Tweets from the White House's official Twitter account, and news articles from the Washington Post, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times. (Government content used within this application is in the public domain. This application has not been endorsed by the Federal Government.) [via What'on iPhone] ]]> 23996@http://www.textually.org/ Cell Phone Apps Reviews 2009-07-01T11:33:21+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/023995.htm A fun piece from TechRadar on "iBores": If you own an iPhone or if you have friends with Apple's mobile internet device/smartphone, then there is a good chance that you know what an 'iBore' is. Or, horror of horrors, you yourself are one! Over half of 18-24 year-olds in the UK claim to know an iBore, according to a Five News study of 2,050 adults aged between 18 and 24. Most of these iBores tend to live in London and the South East, claims the YouGov study for Five News. What's more, four per cent more men (29%) than women (24%) admitted to knowing an iBore. ]]> 23995@http://www.textually.org/ Cell Phone Apps Related Articles 2009-07-01T11:22:30+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/023994.htm Mobile phone charges will fall for millions of holidaymakers across Europe from today, after new regulations come into force to drive down the cost of roaming. The Guardian reports. The changes – which were originally approved in 2007 – are an attempt by officials to end what they have called excessive charges. "The roaming rip-off is now coming to an end," said EU telecommunications commissioner Viviane Reding in a statement. "Expect the new roaming rules to make it much cheaper to surf the web on your mobile while abroad in the EU." Examples of specific costs are available at the European Commission's website. ]]> 23994@http://www.textually.org/ European/ZA SMS pricing issues 2009-07-01T08:22:10+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/023993.htm Cyclists, buses, cars and even pedestrians will become mobile pollution detectors in an initiative launched on Tuesday, reports the BBC. Led by Imperial College London, the Message project will trial three types of mobile, wireless pollution sensor. These will measure traffic pollutants throughout the UK, and transmit their data via the mobile phone network. Scientists say such detailed mobile measurements could help improve the management of air quality. Four UK universities are collaborating on the project, which will deploy 100 sensors in London, Leicester, Gateshead and Cambridge. Each one will measure up to five different traffic pollutants simultaneously, including carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide. Other projects where cell phones monitor pollution: -- Cyclists' cellphones help monitor air pollution - Cellphones used by bicycle couriers are monitoring air pollution in Cambridge, UK, and beaming the data back to a research lab. -- Cell phone Air Pollution Monitor - Squirrel is a Bluetooth-enabled gadget that monitors pollution developped by The University of California San Diego and Calit2. -- Aero Phone measures air pollution - Pantech unveiled an unusual Aero phone - which looks like it might fly away - that measures the air pollution. -- Cell phones to sense our environment and its pollutants - Tiny environmental sensors in cell phones and turn phone users into roving citizen scientists who continuously sample and respond to their personal environment. ]]> 23993@http://www.textually.org/ Technology 2009-07-01T08:12:15+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/023991.htm WSJ.com is surveying iPhone users about their willingness to pay for what is now a completely free product. The quick survey asks flat out: “If full access to Mobile Reader required a paid subscription, how likely would you be to subscribe?” Answers ranger from “definitely yes” to “definitely no” with some middle ground. [via PaidContent] ]]> 23991@http://www.textually.org/ Cell Phone Apps Related Articles 2009-07-01T07:58:57+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/07/023988.htm AppsFire which launched in private beta yesterday, allows you to recommend your favorite apps to anyone. TechCrunch reports. AppsFire is actually an application that you install on you machine. Right now, it only works on Macs, but it's coming for PCs soon. And there will event be an iPhone app, we're told. Once the software is on your machine, it scans your iTunes folder to find your apps. It then opens a personal webpage on the AppsFire site and places the icons for your apps in front of you, asking you to choose your favorites. Once you do that, you can share them using the social networks, via email, in a widget, or simply get a link back to your AppsFire page. ]]> 23988@http://www.textually.org/ Cell Phone Apps Related Articles 2009-07-01T07:38:46+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/06/023987.htm With regard to my previous post, "The content published on Flexta's blog originates from textually.org" - with my permission by the way - was not entirely accurate as flexta has other content as well as their own. ]]> 23987@http://www.textually.org/ 2009-06-30T20:39:16+01:00 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/06/023983.htm Obama to the press corps: "Where do you guys get these ringtones by the way? [via Wonkette] ]]> 23983@http://www.textually.org/ 2009-06-30T14:51:50+01:00