World's Smallest 3G Handset

ZTE Corporation - China´s flagship telecommunications supplier - launched what is claimed to be the world's most compact 3G handset.

F808 weighs only 104g and measures 88.5 x 44.6 x 22.5mm.

It has a bult in 300,000 pixel camera and video phone capabilities.

Videophone dating

Over the past few years courtship has changed with bewildering speed, mainly because of new technology, reports The Telelgraph in an article on videophone dating and how it's going to be the next big thing.

"Millions of us are chatting each other up on the internet, flirting by text and picking our partners at speed-dating events. However, internet dating can have its dangers: cuddlyjohn @niceguy.com can sometimes turn out to be homicidal harry@psycho.com.

The 3G Dating Agency, launched as a trial this year, offers members the chance to send in clips they have recorded on their mobiles and browse other members' clips. It then arranges video dates for those who express interest in each other.

Edward Brewster, of 3, says: "3G video technology will revolutionise the dating game. Not only do you get to see whether a potential date takes your fancy, you also get to check out their personality.

"The response to our trial has been phenomenal. It has been so good that we are planning to launch a commercial dating service on 3 in the near future."

A spooky camera phone game.

Video games developer Tecmo has been showing early versions of «REAL Another Edition» a camera phone game that analyzes a photo taken with a camera phone and creates an appropriate ghost image.

The game uses a complex algorithm to analyze the subject of the picture, and then place an appropriate ghost, reports Wireless ign via Alan Reiter's Cameraphone report.

The game already is available in Japan where users may print photos of people with spirits next to them.

Telecoms industry survey predicts early dawn of all-in-one mobile handset

A survey, conducted by world-leading 3G handset manufacturer, LG Electronics, at Busan ITU Telecom Asia 2004, indicates that the convergence of a host of devices and availability of a range of applications on mobile handsets could have a major impact on the separate markets for digital cameras and video cameras, reports ITWeb.

"Of the respondents from the IT industry and IT media, 95% said it was very likely consumers will eventually choose a single converged 3G device (combining phone, camera, video camera, MP3 and others) over multiple devices. Of these, 72% expect to see the transition within the next two years and 24% within three to five years."

PICTURETRAIL ANNOUNCES APPLICATION TO SEND TRADITIONAL POSTCARDS FROM JAVA-ENABLED CAMERA PHONES

In a US debut of what has already become popular in Europe Picture Trail announces a new app, mobile2postcard.com, that allows subscribers to send picture postcards via regular mail to friends, family and business contacts directly from their Java-enabled camera phones.

Of interest:

-- It leverages the capabilities of the camera phone in a way that appeals to young people, parents and businesses that need hard copies of their digital images.

-- It's very easy to use – just snap a picture, type a note and pick your friend's name from a list of favorites. The card is in the mail within 24 hours.

-- It's a new revenue stream for carriers looking to expand their offerings.

Related articles and (European) services:

-- Vodafone to launch MMS postcard service (Sweden)

-- Nokia launches MMS Postard services (Denmark and Norway)

-- MMS postcards sent by the post office(Germany)

-- MMS postcards sent by the post office (Netherlands)

-- MMS postcards from Swisscom (Switzerland)

-- Vodafone sends postcards by mobile phone (Portugal)

QR Codes Getting Popular

QR codes are 2D barcodes that are widely available in Japan. Consumers, for example, use their cell phones to take a picture of a QR code and automatically access a corresponding website, reports RFID Japan.

"According to a recent research conducted by C-NEWS, more than 70% i-mode cell phone users knew QR codes and almost 60% people actually used QR codes. Not surprisingly, QR codes are more popular among younger people (<29 years old)."

PicturePhone.com - Domain Name To Be Auctioned Off For Over $1,000,000

On January 31, 2005, PicturePhone Direct intends to auction off its domain name "picturephone.com", to the highest bidder. The opening bid will commence at $1,000,000 US.

For details on the picturephone.com domain name auction look here: http://picturephone.com/domain_name_auction.htm

Hey, I own picturephoning.com and I will settle for much less if anyone is interested!! And I'll even throw in this blog. Well, maybe not :-) I also have cameraphoning.com. Hello, anyone out there?

RFID Primer

"Before considering the issues raised by this technology, it is helpful to understand the basics of its operation. An RFID system is composed of readers and tags. Readers generate signals that are dual purpose: they provide power for a tag, and they create an interrogation signal. A tag captures the energy it receives from a reader to supply its own power and then executes commands sent by the reader.

The simplest command results in the tag sending back a signal containing a unique digital ID (e.g., the EPC-96 standard uses 96 bits) that can be looked up in a database available to the reader to determine its identity, perhaps expressed as a name, manufacturer, SKU (stock keeping unit) number, and cost." Posted by RFID News via /., a technical primer on RFID.

Nokia Lifeblog to use TypePad

Nokia Lifeblog will become compatible with Six Apart's TypePad and enable multiplatform blogging.

From Christian Lindholm who is in charge of Lifeblog at Nokia, via Joi Ito.

"Our team today announced that we are partnering with Six Apart to make TypePad the preferred destination when you blog from Lifeblog. More in press release.

Fonetography exhibit to raise money for UK Mencap

Images from camera phones have even made it into the art world, reports the BBC, as "an exhibition next month in aid of the UK charity Mencap, will feature snaps taken from the camera phones of top artists."

"The exhibition, Fonetography, will feature images taken by photographers David Bailey, Rankin and Nan Goldin, and artists Sir Peter Blake, Tracey Emin and Jack Vettriano."

A selection of images from the exhibition, will be auctioned at a private launch party on 16 November to raise funds for Mencap, the UK's leading learning disability charity.

For other examples of camera phones and the Arts, click on this category in Picturephoning.com

Camera phones are 'must-haves'

Four times more camera phones will have been sold in Europe by the end of 2004 than last year, say analysts, reports the BBC.

Globally, the number sold will reach 159 million, an increase of 104%.

The report predicts that nearly 70% of all mobile phones sold will have a built-in camera by 2008.

Japan still dominates mobile phone technology, and the uptake there is huge. By 2008, according to Gartner, 95% of all mobiles sold there will have cameras on them.

QuickTime won't make quick time to cell phones

The question was surely on the minds of many as a top Apple executive spoke Tuesday at a major cell phone trade show: When will Apple adapt its QuickTime media player for cell phones, driving a wave of mobile music download stores?

The indirect answers Apple Senior Director Frank Cassanova gave, during a keynote address and one-on-one, seemed to indicate QuickTime-embedded cell phones won't appear in the near future. [via News.com]

Special Lens for Camera Phone is a Big Hit

With camera phones rapidly getting hold in the handset market, the optical lens specially designed for camera phones is gaining popularity, reports Telecoms Korea.

Currently available are telescopic lens making objects seem larger and nearer, wide-angle lens giving a wider view and multifunctional lens converging macro and wide-angle lenses.

Besides, polarizing filter restricting the direction of light wave and securing clearer pictures and color-changing lens filters are also on the market.

Baghdad Blogger/Salam Pax: Video Reports From Iraq

Is a blog still a blog when it's on TV?

That depends what your definition of the word "web." In this collection of 15-minute chunks made for the BBC, Salam Pax gives a cleverly worded and shot, irascibly non-partisan overview of reality outside the Green Zone.

Tie-in with paperback-book collection of his blogs will help get this artifact into more fests and tube slots, perhaps in updated configurations.

Variety

Cisco to launch IP phones with built-in camera

Cisco Systems Inc. will launch the built-in camera enabled IP telephony equipment in the first half of 2005, according to CIOL.

"The company has already shipped 50,000 IP telephones in India, thus becoming the first vendor in India to cross this mark.

The Indian IP telephony is expected to touch $60 million mark this year as compared to the $30 million last year".

KTFT releases Disk Jockey MP3 phone

New camera phones really sing and dance.

Telecoms Korea reports on KTFT's latest release, the DJ phone, or KTF-X5500, a new MP3 phone resembling record players' turntable, reports Telecoms Korea.

"The DJ phone adopts circular metal decoration featuring LP (Long Playing Record) and a sportive watch for the external screen.

The handset is equipped with 1.3 mega-pixel digital camera module, 2-inch QCIF TFT LCD and 55MB storage capacity."

SingTel tests video calls between fixed-line and mobile phones

Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) started trials of third generation (3G) video calls between mobile and fixed-line phones, reports the The Associated Press.

"During the month-long trial, participants are given a fixed-line video phone to make voice and video calls to 3G phones, SingTel said in a statement.

"We will be among the first operators to offer 3G video calls via fixed lines," executive vice president for consumer business, Lim Chuan Poh, said.

MOBILE'S CAM SEES THROUGH CLOTHES

Cameraphone voyeurism reaches new heights!

A new mobile phone gadget has raised fears it will be a perverts' dream. The £100 add-on will turn camera phones into X-ray specs which can see through clothes, according to Scotland's Daily Record.

"It is said to be particularly effective on dark bikinis. Originally designed for taking pictures at night, it has quickly been exploited by voyeurs.

Night-filters are the latest device used by Japan's obsessive voyeur community. Made by Japanese company Yamada Denshi, it can be bought on the internet and fitted to high-end phones.

In particular, Vodafone's V602-SH handset, not yet available in the UK, is being used with the new gadget.

Vodafone say they are deeply unhappy about the device. It is not illegal in itself - but using it to film people's naked bodies would be.

The cameras effectively give users night vision by picking up on heat to create outline pictures. Because bodies are hotter than clothes, the pictures produce an image of the body without the clothes.

Vodafone deny responsibility and have condemned the abuse of camera-phone technology.

Picture from Advanced Intelligence

RFID cell phones take shape at Nokia

Nokia is at work on a cell phone that uses controversial microchips used to store product information and signal their location, the cell phone maker announced Sunday, reports News.com.

"For instance, retailers could put RFID-embedded "touch phone here" signs on store shelves to send a coupon to the phone, or put the same sings at checkout stands to instantly transfer personal information stored on the phone in order to complete a warranty, Nokia Director Gerhard Romen said.

"It's still very early yet," Romen said Sunday when asked when RFID phones may become commercially available."

"One snag facing RFID is privacy concerns. Consumer advocates say the unchecked spread of the devices in libraries and elsewhere could spell disaster for privacy. They envision a future in which a network of hidden RFID readers track consumers' every move, their belongings and their reading habits, though most agree that such a scenario is largely impossible today for technical reasons".

Team develops live video system for ambulances

A public research institute has developed a system that can send high-definition video of a patient from an ambulance to a hospital via cell phone, reports the Daily Yomiuri.

"To accommodate the system, ambulances will be modified to carry a video camera, laptop computer and special antenna.

At the flick of a switch, paramedics will activate the system, enabling a hospital doctor to examine a patient via remote control video camera.

New technology has made it possible to compress high-definition image data enough to allow its transmission by cell phone.

The images will make it possible for doctors to dispense appropriate advice to paramedics".

"The system was developed through a collaborative project in Ibaraki Prefecture by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), the Tsukuba Medical Center Hospital, and the Tsukuba Fire Headquarters."

Mobile Naked News

Following up on a previous announcement in May of this year by Rafat Ali, Ananova is now reporting that Naked News on mobile phones is coming soon.

"Naked News, which features nude presenters reading the day's headlines, could soon be available on mobile phones.

Executive Producer David Warge said: "Naked News is the most successful transition from internet to television ever. We have shown that we offer a unique programme that attracts a large and loyal audience."

"Naked News was founded internationally in 1999 and quickly developed into a global media phenomenon. The broadcasts are available in 172 countries over the internet and through pay-per-view television in North America, the Caribbean and Europe."

TI Delivers 'Hollywood' Live To Cell Phones

Texas Instrument's latest chip offering will make sure TV junkies don't miss their favorite television broadcasts, just because they are on the go. The chipmaker's "Hollywood" enables digital TV on a single chip for cell phonesm reports Wireless Week.

"TI's new 'Hollywood' digital TV chip will combine the two biggest consumer electronics inventions of our time -- the television and the cell phone," said Gilles Delfassy, a TI. "One by one, the industry's most exciting consumer electronics are being integrated into wireless handsets, allowing consumers to get their news and entertainment whenever and wherever they want. With this new chip on the cell phone, users will enjoy digital, high-quality TV in real-time."

TI plans to begin sampling the chip in 2006.

Army wary about loose lips

Brian at FutureWire - via Clippings - picks up on a well thought piece by USA Today on how technology and the Internet is affecting our knowledge about the war in Iraq: “With cell phones and the Internet, the military's ability to censor what is reported home (by our troops) has sharply diminished.”

"During World War II, a letter that took months to arrive was the only form of communication from the front lines. Today, American men and women fighting in Iraq often have instant communications with friends and families in the USA.

And while cellphones and e-mails have helped boost morale for those serving in the military, they have also caused new challenges for commanders in the field, who can face second-guessing of their decisions almost immediately by friends and relatives of service personnel. The instant communication can also cause problems for Defense officials in Washington, who would prefer a tighter grip on reports from the battlefield."

From prison camps to the front lines, pocket cameras and cellphones — many capable of whizzing uncensored digital images home — are nearly as standard among soldiers' gear as rifles, dog tags and ammunition.

The latest example of how this is changing the dynamics of war came last week, when 18 members of the 343rd Quartermaster Company in Iraq refused to carry out a supply mission they thought would be too dangerous. One member of the unit called her mother to tell her of the decision and how she and others “are now prisoners.” Other soldiers who were friends of the 18 made similar calls.

Those calls resulted in widespread publicity, in turn triggering calls by a congressman to investigate the incident. The military has launched a review of the incident."

Protecting minors from adult content

The UK mobile phone operators, O2, Orange, TMobile, Virgin Mobile, Vodafone and 3, have jointly appointed a body to oversee the self-classification of new forms of adult commercial content on mobiles, according to Cellular News.

"The new body, which will be named the Independent Mobile Classification Body (IMCB), is a subsidiary of premium rate regulator ICSTIS, and has been formed for this purpose.

It will prepare a framework against which providers of commercial content to mobile subscribers will be able to self-classify new forms of content such as still images and video clips."

Jog Shuttle and PictBridge functions

You have to really pay attention to keep up on your cameraphone geek speak! SK Teletech, (SK Telecom's handset-manufacturing affiliate), announced Wednesday, the launch of a new camera phone, the IM-7700, intenna slide phone featuring jog shuttle and pict bridge functions.

"The jog shuttle key of the phone enables users to play MP3 files and to control zoom of camera. In addition, users can print photos by connecting the phone directly to printers thanks to ‘PictBridge' function."

China And Korea Looking At 4G Movie Phones?

South Korea and China have agreed to expand technical cooperation to jointly develop faster, more powerful mobile phones on which users can watch movies, the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication said Wednesday, reports ChinaTechNews.

"At the third round of meeting by the two countries Tuesday in Shanghai, officials from the two countries agreed to support the research of fourth-generation (4G) wireless communications system, the Ministry said.

The 4G system is still uncertain, but industry observers said the new technology will allow users to watch movies with a sharp, high-quality picture on their handsets. The Ministry did not provide details about the agreement. The next and fourth meeting will be held in Seoul next year, it added."

Lessons U.S. Can Learn

In heavily networked Japan and South Korea, young people don't think twice about using their mobile phones to create short movies, watch the Webcam inside their home or download pop songs from the Internet, reports the
WSJ.

Lesson No. 1: Phones need to be sleek and small. Bulky phones are not popular.

Lesson No. 2: Target the youth market. In Asia, phone companies went after this group initially rather than business customers.

Lesson No. 3: Teaming up produces results. Japanese and Korean mobile operators worked in close collaboration with local phone makers to devise innovative services.

Final lesson: Don't make companies bid for new parts of the wireless spectrum to offer 3G. This cost operators in Europe a lot of money. Japan and South Korea didn't hold auctions for 3G licenses, which meant Asian providers could spend money instead on research and development.

Coming Soon to Your Pocket: High-Definition TV Phones

Miniature mobile phones, which already double as cameras, Internet devices and music players, are poised to merge with the largest of home appliances, the television, reports the NY Times.

"The cellphone industry is working to build phones able to receive high-definition television signals over the air, even though HDTV has yet to make its way into most American living rooms.

HDTV phones would be in widespread tests by 2006. Already, a telecommunications company in South Korea is testing a television phone in Seoul."

Another bathroom ban on mobile phones

The City of Kitchener in Ontario has decided to ban all mobile phones, camera personal digital assistants and similar devices from its change rooms and public washrooms (via MSN News.)

Warning signs are being posted at all public washrooms and change rooms as it is feared that some owners of the devices could take a picture secretly while pretending to be dialing a phone number or looking up an appointment.

The city says the potential for pictures to be taken and possibly end up on the Internet warrants a total ban on the devices.

Shocking!

On a lighter side, in an article entitled "Phone rat shows dingaling", The Sun reports that a STUNNED Rosie Godfrey rang a helpline about her new camera phone - and a customer services man sent four snaps of his WILLY.

"The pictures showed the pervert who also sent a snap of his grinning face in an aroused state."

Rosie phoned the Orange helpline when she could not get her Samsung E700 phone to take pictures.

She was put through to Mark Tomlins in customer services ˜ and he said he would send her a picture of himself to test her phone.

Rosie immediately complained to Orange. The firm later sacked Mark, 31, from their Plymouth call centre.

An Orange spokeswoman said: "We have apologised unreservedly for the distress."