Omron Produces Face Recognition for Mobile Phones

OMRON has announced face recognition technology which can be implemented in PDAs, mobile phones or other mobile devices with a camera function, dubbed the "OKAO Vision Face Recognition Sensor." [via Mobile Media Japan].

"According to Omron, mobile devices are carrying ever more personal information including address books, schedules and payment information, and the technology has been designed to protect this information even when the mobile phone is lost or stolen.

Full processing time is approximately one second with MSM 6500".

photo from dottocomu

Fujitsu to commercialize RFID Information Kiosk Terminals

Fujitsu developed a system that uses large plasma display integrated with eight RFID readers for delivering personalized information to citizens at public venues, reports RFID Japan.

"The system is intended for places such as city streets, train stations, and airports. It responds to RFID tags (either RFID cards or RFID'd phones) carried by users and display information that is tailored for individuals. Fujitsu plans to commercialize this system, which is currently called UbiWall) this year.

For example, at an airport, (suppose a passanger's air ticket is RFID'd), UbiWall gets information about where s/he is traveling and shows a route to his/her gate. In a department store, UbiWall gets information about a customer's age and gender through his/her RFID'd phone and suggests some sales floors."

Preview the new Ferrari via MMS

To mark the presentation of the Ferrari F2005 racing car, Vodafone Italy is offering customers who subscribe to the MMS Ferrari Secret exclusive pictures of the presentation of the new car, reports Cellular News.

"Anyone who subscribes to MMS Ferrari Secret will have exclusive pictures of Ferrari's new race car sent directly to their cell phone at no extra cost, in addition to the usual images and in-depth comment explaining the secrets behind each Grand Prix race.

Other Vodafone services for Ferrari fans include the chance to receive text messages with a summary of Ferrari's official press releases, weekly test drive results and extracts from interviews with Jean Todt and the Ferrari drivers".

Cameraphone picture gives suspect up

A very entertaining story on how a picture on a cell phone gave up a suspect to the police. From the Press of Atlantic City.

"A ringing cell phone was the downfall of two men, who insisted they had no knowledge of an AK-47 used in an October shooting. They continued to stand by their story under questioning.

Then their cell phones chimed in. As Detective Kevin Doran tried to silence the rings, he noticed one had interesting wallpaper - a picture of one of the suspects holding an AK-47.

"A picture truly is worth a thousand words," said Capt. Joe Fair, the vice squad's commander.

Mobile Handset Makers Seek To Explore Dual Camera Phone Market

Leading mobile handset makers such as Nokia, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Pantech are attempting to explore a new market of 'dual camera phones' installed with two camera modules, reports Korea IT News.

"Dual camera phones allow users to make video calls while transmitting wireless data such as mobile images at a fast speed, thus reducing burden of service charges.

-- Nokia plans to launch in March a smart phone installed with 2 camera modules Featuring PictBridge functions, the new smart phone, 'Nokia 6680', can print out pictures immediately after taking them and receive e-mails.

-- Samsung Electronics will roll out 3 dual camera phone models in Europe in the first half of this year. Targeting young women users, new dual camera phones, 'SGH-Z500 will come with stylish design in compact size.

-- Pantech also plans to roll out dual camera phones in the second half of this year.

"Presently, mega pixel camera phones are mainstream models in the market, and the prospect for dual camera phone market will become clearer during the first half based on sales result of mega pixel camera phones," said an industry observer."

RFID tags for Sweden's Vasalopper Ski Racers

This year as many as 15,800 people are expected to participate in Sweden's Vasaloppet cross-country skiing competition, reports Sweden.SE.

And every skier will wear a Radio frequency identification (RFID) chip, enabling an electronic reading of their time as they pass through the various checkpoints.

The data is compiled into comprehensive time reports which are posted on the internet. In 2004, Vasaloppet´s official website received nearly 19 million hits on race day alone.

Moreover, by signing up to Vasaloppet's short message service, family and friends can follow the progress of individual skiers with information sent direct to their mobile phones."

Malaysian police sollicits camphone shots and videos from citizen reporters

The Penang police of Malaysia is solliciting camera phone shots and videos from citizen reports in order to help fight crime, reports the New Straits Times.

"From tomorrow, people in the state can send MMS and texte messges to the police.

State police chief Deputy Commissioner Datuk Christopher Wan Soo Kee said the newly introduced MMS service was an extension of the SMS service implemented last October.

“We have found the SMS to be an effective means of submitting information to the police. This is why we have introduced the MMS service now,' he told a Press conference at the state police contingent headquarters here.".

49PM's Photo Newsreader

49pm released a Photo NewsReader as mobile application, reports Gerrit Visser on Smart Mobs.

"Mobile phone users wanting to read important weblogs and newsfeeds from anywhere at anytime will benefit from 49PM's Photo Newsreader. The application will read any RSS or Atom newsfeed through a backend server which preformats the data before sending it to the mobile phone, keeping download time to a minimum.

Users add any newsfeed to the mobile application by entering the location of the feed. Or, they just enter the web location of the weblog or news page - in most cases the server will find the Atom or RSS newsfeed automatically and then send the newest posts to the user's phone."

5 Megapixel Samsung cameraphone to the U.S. this year

Upping the ante in the U.S. cameraphone market, Korean handset maker Samsung vows to introduce 3.5 and 5 Megapixel models this year, reports InfoSync World.

"Samsung today announced that it will bring cameraphones with resolutions of 3.5 and 5 Megapixels to the U.S. market in 2005. "

"Super 3 G"

Third-generation mobile (3G) networks need to get faster if they are to deliver fast internet surfing on the move and exciting new services.

Fast 3G networks are here but the focus has shifted to their evolution into a higher bandwidth service, says the Global Mobile Suppliers Association.

At 3GSM, Siemens showed off a system that transmits faster mobile data.

The German company said data could be transmitted at one gigabit a second - up to 20 times faster than current 3G networks.

"High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) - sometimes called Super 3G - will be vital for profitable services like mobile internet browsing and mobile video clips," according to a report published by UK-based research consultancy Analysys.

A number of companies are developing the technology. Nokia and Canada-based wireless communication products company Sierra Wireless recently agreed to work together on High Speed Downlink Packet Access."

Vodafone Japan to introduce RFID'd mobile phones in October

NTT DoCoMo first introduced mobile phones with embedded RFID FeliCa chips last summer.

Then, consumers started using them for buying movie tickets, paying for arcade games, paying at convenience store chain AM/PM, buying soda, etc. DoCOMo expects to sell 10 million FeliCa mobile phones by the end of March 2006. Also, it will be possible to use them as train passes next January when the mobile SUICA service starts.

What will Vodafone and KDDI, other major mobile carriers, do? Vodafone just announced that they will introduce RFID'd mobile phones (using FeliCa as well) this coming October.

KDDI once announced that they will also introduce RFID'd mobile phones autumn this year.

reBlogged from RFID Japan

Samsung Unveils Push-to-All Technology

After Push-to-Talk (PTT), Push-to-View (PTV), here comes Push-to-All (PTA). Seong-ju Lee reports on Telecoms Korea.

"Samsung Electronics announced Thursday that it succeeded in developing and demonstrating Push-to-All (PTA) technology, that enables multiple voice and video telephony and data, file transmissions.

The PTA technology realizes all functions provided by Push-to-Talk (Multilateral talk), Push-to-view (Multilateral video telephony) and Push to Data (Multilateral data transmission).

The PTD is a data communication solution that transmits various data forms such as photos, video clips and music with simple manipulation of wireless sets."

India. Another student caught clicking girls

A student from the Delhi Public School (India) has been suspended on charges of carrying a mobile phone to school, reports the Hindustan Times.

"According to school authorities, the student had a camera phone and had allegedly tried to take photographs of female students.

"The school had banned mobile phones on its campus after a sexually explicit MMS scandal involving two students a few months ago led to a scandal in its sister school in Delhi.

Mobile phones have been banned on the campuses of most schools in Ranchi. DPS is the first school that has suspended a student for violating the ban."

Related articles:

-- New Delhi video footage of sex at school cause scandal

-- Tech voyeurism the new curse of teendom

-- Sex-case Delhi schoolboy bailed

-- Ban on camera enabled cellphones on campus

-- Schoolboy quizzed over sex video

-- Delhi sex: MMS boy destroyed mobile phone

-- Delhi schoolboy sparks global porn row

-- More revealing than a wet sari

-- EBay Fights India Arrest Over Sale of Sex Video

-- 'Baazee case will set precedent'

-- Court Grants Bail to EBay's Indian Exec

Sony Ericsson and Esteemed Photographer Robert Clark Embark on First Photojournalistic Study of North America Captured With a Camera Phone

Sony Ericsson today announced the kick-off of the Image America tour with award-winning photographer Robert Clark.

Clark will journey across North America, capturing spontaneous pictures with Sony Ericsson's S710a camera phone.

As a renowned photographer whose work has appeared on countless magazine and book covers, including National Geographic and Sports Illustrated, Clark is well known for his intimate and captivating photographs.

The Image America tour begins today as Clark leaves his hometown of New York City and ventures across the United States and into Canada. During the tour, Clark will make visits to over 25 states and countless cities and towns. [cf press release]

Left, recent work by Robert Clark. Uighur family offers up a traditional meal. Goa Chung, China

'Capture your imagination' with Nokia

Nokia has launched 'Capture Your Imagination', a mobile imaging photo contest in India with a cash prize. The jury for the contest will comprise of eminent creative personalities who will judge the images received on picture quality, likeability and creativity.

The 'Capture your Imagination' contest is open to imaging phone users over 18 years of age. As part of this initiative, Nokia will organize mobile road shows, which will traverse through 10 cities in the country. These vans will be supplemented with 'Capture Your Imagination' booths, which will assist participants during the contest.

The contest will enable people to capture their best moments using Nokia camera phones and print them instantly. Nokia will also invite people to MMS their pictures to 5555 for participation in the contest, upload their pictures on the contest Nokia Image Webist or email to contest@nokiaimagine.in.

In addition to the grand finale, Nokia will give away imaging phones to most creative images during the contest. Participants sending the first 100 entries will win redeemable Kodak print coupons.

ANALYSIS - TV for mobile phones almost ready for prime time

While TV on mobiles is being tried out in nations across the world, it is not yet available to the wider public. But the communications industry has rarely been more united in its embrace of a new technology and the anticipation of success, reports Reuters.

"Tapping the well-entrenched TV viewing habits of the public, market research group Gartner expects that real-time TV to mobile phones will be commercially available across Europe in 2007. The technology itself may be ready sooner.

"Imaging was last year; music is this year; video is next year," said Hugh Brogan, chief executive of British handset maker Sendo.

Orange France said the first 35,000 subscribers of its 3G network watched an average of 25 minutes of live television on their phones in the first two months of operations. Hutchison Whampoa's 3G network "3" in Britain delivered 10 million video music downloads to its subscribers in six months.

But these often patchy video clips should not be confused with clear television images on a mobile phone. Digital TV will come on a separate broadcast network of around 60 different channels.

Consumers will be able to tune into these broadcast networks for as many hours as they want without clogging up the network. It will free up the phone network for those data services such as video telephone that have to be delivered on demand and in real time and for which operators hope to command higher prices.

The new phones will have to deal with both broadcast TV and cellphone communications signals. Nokia said it would launch a model by next year that will be able to receive the European digital broadcast standard for mobile phones, called digital video broadcast for handheld (DVB-H)".

Telemedicine Study: Picture phones used to make diagnosis

Researchers in Switzerland reported on Monday that picturephones could be used to help diagnose and suggest treatment for some serious wounds in patients in remote locations far removed from a physician, reports
Keralanext.

"The report from University Hospital of Geneva looked at leg ulcers in 52 patients that were examined both in person and remotely by doctors in a nearby room who had only pictures of the same wounds taken by a first-generation camera phone.

They found remarkably high agreement between doctors who looked at the wound in person and those who saw the image.

If visiting nurses in remote locations can send such pictures in for consultation, "the transport of the patient ... to the hospital or the physician's office could be replaced, and this approach could potentially save the health care system money," the report said.

"We were able to show for the first time that telemedicine for chronic wounds is feasible under routine conditions using this new generation of mobile telephones and direct transfer via e-mail," the authors said.

The report was published in the February issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

Related articles:

-- Phones for health

-- Mobile phone cameras lend doctors a hand

-- Doctors should think twice before diagnosing based on a camphone shot

-- Firefighters are testing an emergency photo messaging scheme to help save more lives

-- Doctors use picture phones .

Australian Mobile Soap: «Girl Friday»

Girl Friday is a mobile interactive drama from Australia. MMS Episodes are sent weekly on mobile phones (it's unclear whether they are video clips or just pictures).

The soap opera story line reflects the way devices (such as your mobile) are changing the way we communicate in everyday life. As Girlf Friday tries to deal with the sagas of career, love and family we journey with her as a friend and confidant. [via network_performance]

Synopsis

Girl Friday's life changes when she finds a mobile phone on a tram on the way to work. She soon becomes engaged in the mysterious life of the stranger's phone. All the while she has paper clip trouble at the office; is searching for the mother she never knew, and is clawing her way to the top of the local karaoke charts.

Other mobile soap operas:

-- Hollyoaks pushes mobile service with exclusive TV pics - Mersey TV, the maker of UK Channel 4's teen soap 'Hollyoaks ', is hoping to cash in on the mobile text alert trend by offering subscribers unseen exerts of the show.

-- Cellpop, The First Cell Phone Drama That is not for your Mama! Cellpop follows the lives of the people who make the hit music we listen to. Each day a new episode is delivered straight to your phone.

-- MMS Soap on Spanish Telefónica Móviles - Móviles has launched FanTESStic, an interactive series with real actors created exclusively for MMS

-- -- Launched on the Internet and closed in the late nineties, the Internet's first Soap, «The Spot» is back - on (Sprint) mobile phone.

-- «InYrShoes» - The plot of a UK soap called «InYrShoes» is not decided by scriptwriters, but by viewers sending text messages at the end of each episode, featuring a cliffhanger or dilemma.

-- Jong-Zuid: First picture soap opera for mobile phones The Netherlands came up with the first Picture Soap, Jong-Zuid, starring famous soap opera actors.

O2 teams with Kodak for online photos

O2 has sealed a deal with Kodak to offer online photo services to the mobile operator's customers through a jointly branded service, reports Netimperative.

"The O2 and Kodak Mobile Service will allow consumers to store, share, print and personalise pictures and videos directly from their mobile phone.

The service, which goes live in March, allows consumers with MMS or WAP enabled devices to upload, download, share, view and order Kodak prints and have them delivered to any postal address within days."

Paris Hilton's phone hacked and posted

This story is all over the Web, on how hackers have posted the mobile phone address book of hotel heiress and amateur porn celebrity Paris Hilton on the Internet, putting the phone numbers and e-mail addresses of, among others, Eminem and Christina Aguilera in the public domain. [via TechWorld]

"A copy of Hilton's T-Mobile mobile phone address book appeared on the website of a group calling itself "illmob.org". The address book contains information on over 500 of Hilton's acquaintances. It is not known how the information was obtained, but the release of the contact book may be further fallout from a hack of T-Mobile's servers that came to light last month.

A second site posted all the details plus photos taken using the phone's in-built camera by Ms Hilton, plus several emails sent through the device.

PS. I've had a nagging thought since I posted this a couple of hours ago. Were these photos really in Paris Hilton's handset? They are all pictures of her, and who takes pictures of themselves - with their own cell phone?

Nokia Makes Its First Appearance at World's Largest Annual Photo Imaging Convention

Seven years after introducing wireless image sharing to the world, Nokia is joining the world's photography leaders at the 2005 Photo Marketing Association (PMA) convention.

Nokia will be demonstrating not only its range of megapixel-plus imaging phones, but also new technologies that allow these high-quality images to be edited, shared, stored and printed. [Company Press release]

"When Nokia took the industry's first steps toward mobile imaging in 1998, few people could have predicted that in less than a decade the camera phone market would grow larger than the conventional digital camera market, yet that is where we stand today." -- David Watkins, director of imaging for Nokia.

UFO sightings and video phones

The dramatic rise in the number of flying saucers reported over Scotland is caused by... video phones, reports The Sunday Mail, sighted via The Cameraphone Report

"The illusion of an extra-terrestrial force is sparked by the phones being pointed into the sun. This creates an image of a blurred object that appears to hover before flashing a 'ray gun' into the ground.

Ron Halliday, who has been investigating paranormal phenomena for more than 20 years confirmed a string of reports based on phone videos. The Stirling University-based expert, who is also chairman of Scottish Earth Mysteries Research, said: 'The shape of the UFO is consistent with other alien sightings across the world.'

'The limited sensor in a camera phone cannot cope with the brightness and a solid black blob appears in the image in the middle of the bright area. The rays coming down can be explained by the flares created from photographing into the sun, causing the sensors to overload.'

Interesting, an article in 2004 titled : UFO sightings and camphone shots - New trend? - reported that Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) sightings documented by camera phones were proliferating around the world.

62-year-old 'happy slapped'

Another "happy slapping" agression in is in the news today.

icBerkshire publishes a first hand account of a 62 year old man who has been the victim of "happy slapping", a violent craze where an innocent person is hit about the head by a teenager for fun - while an accomplice usually captures the action on a camera phone.

The police is looking for witnesses.

"The man had just left the Harrow Market shops in Langley, and as he walked along Station Road he felt a sudden blow to the back of his neck. The pensioner stumbled forward in shock, and turned round to see a Asian teen running away

The youth did not speak to the man, threaten him or try to steal anything during the incident, which took place on Wednesday, February 9

In other cases of 'happy slapping', the attack has been captured on a camera phone by the assailant's friend. It is not known if this particular incident was recorded."

Related articles:

-- Happy slap culprits face suspension

-- Schools Ban Camera Phones Amid 'Happy Slapping' Craze

-- Putting the photos in perspective

Competing standards in the mobile TV arena

Scandinavians and Koreans, two of the most adventurous groups of mobile users, are betting on mobile TV. The BBC reports from 3GSM.

[...] All is not simple and straightforward in the mobile TV arena.

There is a battle for supremacy between two competing standards: Digital Video Broadcasting for Handsets (DVB-H) and Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB)

"DMB offers twice the number of frames a minute as DVB-H and does not drain mobile batteries as quickly."

The Japanese, Koreans and Ericsson of Sweden are backing DMB.

Nokia, by contrast, is backing DVB-H, and is involved in mobile TV trials that use its art-deco style media phone, which has a larger than usual screen for TV or visual radio (a way of accompanying a radio programme with related text and pictures).

But even if the standards battle is resolved, there is the thorny issue of broadcasting rights.

A New Book Describes The Powerful Impact Of Digital Photography On Business Productivity...

A new book titled "Going Visual, Using Images to Enhance Productivity, Decision Making, and Profits", by Alexis Gerard and Bob Goldstein, published by John Wiley & Sons, reveals the dramatic bottom line results obtained when businesspeople make common use of imaging devices -- such as digital cameras and camera-phones -- to enhance their interpersonal communications.

Business case research demonstrated these profound process improvements benefited companies of any size and industry.

cf Press release

Best photo of a sleeping family member contest

Malta's Public Broadcasting service Hallini Norqod has launched an MMS contest for "best photo of a sleeping family member" sent by picture phone.

Visitors vote by SMS.

First prize wins Lm1000 Malta lires cash (or $ 3'000). [via di-ve.com]

Related: --Photos from flickr, tagged: sleep (1012 photos as of today)

Snowphone for Skiers

Going skiing this year? You might like to check there's going to be some snow at your resort first then.

Orange UK users can now access live webcams and snow reports to see what the skiing conditions are like on the slopes before heading off.

Apparently, you just need to text SNOW to 247 and you can get onto all sorts of snow-centric content as well as restaurant suggestions and bar guides in the area.

reBlogged from Shiny Shiny

QR Code Chocolate

Nippon COMSYS Corporation and Mary's Chocolate co-developed a technology for printing 2D barcodes (QR Code) on the surface of chocolates, reports RFID Japan.

"This technology could be used to allow consumers to access a website by taking a picture of a chocolate using their mobile phones".

At the moment, QR codes can only be printed on white chocolates. Note that QR codes themselves are also made of chocolate.

What's in your bag?

Very cool. Spotted on wonderful elastico.

flickr is publishing photos of emptied purses. "What's in your bag?" A cell phone of course. Send flickr photos of the contents of your own bag. 229 photos so far.

FIFA Soccer group considering mobile-phone broadcasts

With video emerging as a new mobile-phone application, the international ruling body for soccer is dangling the possibility of mobile-phone broadcasts of the World Cup tournament. [via Comms Design/EE Times]

[...] Even when mobile rights are granted, will not likely choose an "exclusive" partner, but might prefer to select "one client in each territory." This could amount to as many as 213 different rights deals.