Call for Cameraphone ban on Golf Tournaments

Ernie Els last night called on golf chiefs to ban cameras and mobile phones at all major tournaments, reports The Daily Record.

The world's No.3 golfer snapped after being tormented by the sound of ring tones and clicking cameras throughout his second round of the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai.

Officials at this year's US Masters introduced airport-style metal detectors and bag scanners at the main entrance to Augusta and confiscated all mobile phones and cameras. Els said: I am in favour of a system that would see phones and cameras taken off spectators.

The South African was put off on many occasions including the sixth tee where a ringing mobile phone forced him to back away from his drive.

He said: 'It just seems like everyone has a camera and or a mobile phone that can also take pictures. 'Most of the time I take it in my stride but it is almost part and parcel of coming over here."

500 Channels on Your Mobile Phone?

An interesting post by James Pearce for Moco News.

"It seems that every TV channel is gearing up to go mobile. “The Weather Channel's mobile content experiment has ended. Now it's a mobile content business…Next year ESPN will target avid sports fans with its branded cell phone service…NBC Universal is developing content specifically for mobile devices.

What should be understood is that a “channel” on a mobile phone is not necessarily the same as a “channel” on a television set. It's not necessarily an unending stream of content, in most cases it will simply be an aggregation of short video segments, which is probably the best way to go.

The weather channel can offer forecasts for specific areas, Fox Sports can offer coverage of individual games, etc. This is a very good opportunity for TV stations which can offer content for a channel with very little extra investment.

“For mobile content to work as a business, there will have to be a certain amount of original production,” said Burgess of NBC…”As much as 50% of NBC Mobile's content is original.” There's also talk of ads, which content producers are hesitant to include at the moment for fear of scaring off consumers, but which are inevitable in the future…

Full Lenght Movies on Your Mobile Phone

Modern cult classic 'The Shawshank Redemption', which stars Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, is to become the first full-length movie to be available for download by mobile phone after a deal between Nokia, Granada Ventures and Rok Player, reports Revolution Magazine via Mike Masnick over at TechDirt Wireless.

"The film will cost Nokia phone holders £16.99 ($32.45) and is available to buy from mobile phone stores and online via RockPlayer.com "with Rok Player, your favourite movies can be watched on the go!"

Paul Holland, director of publishing at Granada Ventures, said: "Soon people will be able to access their favourite shows, sports and films on demand and on the move wherever they may be.

In addition, Rok Entertainment has signed a licensing deal with Sony/BMG Music to allow music to be downloaded and is currently in negotiations with film studios and TV firms to secure more content."

Cameraphone snappers edge on "jumper"

A dark cloud of morbid fascination lingered over Edinburgh on Monday as the first rush hour of the week loomed, reports the Scotsman.

Crowds gathered to stare at a "jumper", balanced precariously on a 2ft ledge, 100ft above the glass roof of Waverley Station.

Onlookers with "camera-phones held aloft, manoeuvred themselves into the best spot to get a snap, a hush descending when the man appeared to wake from his slumber and start to move.

"Just jump," shouted one sadistic voyeur".

In this age of 24-hour news reports and instant access to footage of everything from murder scenes to war zones, it appears that we have become hardened to even the most basic human emotion: compassion.

All credit then to the lone individual who, when encouraged by her companion to stay and watch, was overheard to ask: "Why would I want to watch someone die?"

Thankfully, no-one did die and the man was finally rescued early on Monday morning after he fell asleep, enabling firefighters to secure a harness around his waist before hoisting him to safety."

Bug-eyed lens may mean slimmer camera phones

The multitude of lenses that make up an insect's eye is providing inspiration for a new generation of super-slim camera phone, reports New Scientist.

"Conventional camera lenses cannot be shrunk below a few millimetres in thickness before reducing the field of view. But a compound lens, made from hundreds of tiny "micro lenses", can be made around one-tenth of the width, while retaining the same field of view and quality of image.

A prototype compound eye, consisting of scores of polymer micro-lenses has now been developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering in Germany, Swiss company SUSS MicroOptics and the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.

[...] Nick Jones, a mobile phone expert at analyst firm Gartner, UK, says size of a cell phone camera depends primarily on the mechanism used to focus and zoom. But he says a smaller lens could perhaps be integrated with an optical sensor to make a cheaper overall camera system."

World's First 3G Video Conference Service With New TV Commercial

3 Hong Kong is introducing a pre-book 3G video conference service.

Using their 3G video mobile phones, up to four 3's customers can participate in a video conference at any time, from Hong Kong or different parts of the world.

"The extraordinary power of this pioneering service will be demonstrated in 3 Hong Kong's new TV commercial series that premieres tonight on major TV channels with Leon Lai once again playing the main role", according to 3.

Survey: TV for Mobile Phones Set to Reach Masses

About 125 million consumers will be watching television on their mobile phone in five years from now, a new survey found on Thursday, reports Reuters.

"Handset makers will sell 130,000 TV phones this year, rising to 83.5 million by 2010, research group Informa said.

Mobile TV signals will be handled by special chips on a mobile phone that sit alongside the chips that process the mobile phone's calls, music and streaming video clips.

The difference between TV and streaming video services will be that the TV signals are broadcast to all users at the same time, while streaming video will be delivered on demand by mobile operators."

Nokia has said it will introduce a mobile TV phone in the first half of 2006 and expects volume sales as early as in the second half of 2006. Samsung Electronics from Korea has also showed its first TV phones."

Video phones intereract with TV viewers

Interactive TV - or "Participation TV" takes on a new meaning with video phones.

Monique Van Dusseldorp has written an interesting post for E-Media Tidbits on Italy's success with video phones and their high penetration rate in this country (almost 1 million people own a 3G mobile video phone). Monique gives somes examples of how they are being used:

"Telecom Italia's broadband portal, Rosso Alice, includes a 24-hour video chat community, with local heroes broadcasting their own shows, but also offers eight hours of live television per day.

In the programs, those with a video phone or webcam can interact with the TV hosts, sing songs, tell jokes, provide cinema reviews, etc. The caller's video image is visible on screen, next to or behind the hosts, who sit in a Flash-produced digital studio.

And the system is now making it to mainstream TV as well. From April 27 onward, public broadcaster RAI Uno's morning show, Mattina, is using it to invite the audience to call in and respond to the day's issues and studio guests".

Welcome to the future

This is what happens when copyright, camera technology, and the human desire to capture and share collide.

"Welcome to the future" is a provocative video By Chuck Olsen, the filmmaker/blogger who made the documentary "Blogumentary.

A reality check for the music industry.

Click here to view.

[via Darknet via Pointblog]

Nokia N90 - camera phone with Carl Zeiss optics

The N90 is Nokia's attempt to grab the high-end back. Its headline facility has to be its integrated two mega pixel camera which features Carl Zeiss optics – a first for a Nokia phone. TechDigest reports:

"The N90 boasts a macro option, an autofocus, flash and a 20x digital zoom. The phone also grabs video too in MPEG4 and 3GP formats and has an 8x digital zoom.

The 3G/Edge handset also features MP3 and AAC music players and has good quality speakers."

Mobile phone picture of spider helps save bite victim

When chef Matthew Stevens was bitten by a spider while cleaning in his Somerset pub, his camera phone helped save his life. He used it to take the spider's picture. The Guardian reports.

"[...] His condition worsened - but only when he showed them the picture did staff realise how badly he had been bitten. The photo, forwarded to the Bristol Zoo was identified as one of the most venomous spiders: the Brazilian Wandering Spider.

Photo on a phone leads to "honor killing"

File under barbarians.

A 27 year old man has reportedly shot his older sister in a so called "honour killing" after he saw a picture of her on a friends mobile phone screen, according to Cellular News.

"The man told police he shot and killed his sister to cleanse his family's honour because he saw her photo on his friend's mobile," the source told The Jordan Times.

This is the 5th person killed in an honour crime in Jordan this year".

"Happy Slapping" footage

Following yesterday's post on "Happy Slapping", appallingly in the news again, Alfie Dennen sent me an e-mail this morning, linking to some corroboratory footage he's put together on his blog. "I dug up quite a bit and hacked them together into a streaming media file. It's not for the squeemish, these kids are clearly criminals", he writes.

The first few minutes look like kids fooling around but later on, you will see shocking footage such as a young woman being violently hit in a bus, as well as a sleeping gentleman and a boy knocked off his bike. Horrifying.

Nokia launches a fitness cameraphone

Nokia is introducing the Nokia 5140i camera phone, adding a handset for active-minded consumers to its product lineup, reports Geekzone.

With the Fitness Coach application, the Nokia 5140i offers an 'always-on' personal trainer that encourages users to go the extra mile or finish the last set. The Fitness Coach application also enables to track sports performance over time or sharing of results via SMS with coaches or team-mates. Click to view.

Related fitness phones:

-- LG Develops Health Care Battery Pack for Mobile Phones - LG' new handset, the LG-KP3400 sports the health care battery pack, which will provide customized service for each user.

-- 'Well-Being' Fad Hits Cell Phone Market, Too - Handsets providing various sorts of health care functions such as measuring fat layers and blood-sugar level are being released one by one.

Saudi Arabia. Camera Phones Still Banned at Schools

Arab News reports that although mobile camera phones have been legal in Saudi Arabia since last December, their use is still not permissible everywhere - like in school. And this goes not only for the students, but for the teachers as well.

"Unlike their pupils, teachers are still allowed to bring regular cell phones to school whereas students are forbidden from bringing any such devices beyond the school's front gates.

Kids are not frisked at the gate, but could be by a class teacher. Some teachers bring their camera phones to school. Unlike their students, teachers are not searched."

cf Related articles.

Concern over rise of 'happy slapping' craze

I'm sorry to see this craze is in the news again which means it's still going on, worse, according to this article in The Guardian, it's spreading. Apalling.

"Happy slappers" is a youth craze in which groups of teenagers armed with camera phones slap or mug unsuspecting children or passersby while capturing the attacks on 3g technology.

According to police and anti-bullying organisations, the fad, which began as a craze on the UK garage music scene before catching on in school playgrounds across the capital last autumn, is now a nationwide phenomenon.

And as the craze has spread from London to the home counties to the north of England, so the attacks have become more menacing, with increasing numbers of violent assaults and adult victims.

[...] As police have become more vigilant, so the gangs have become more sophisticated, seeking victims in parks or public areas where their crimes are unlikely to be spotted by the authorities or captured on CCTV."

More on happy slapping craze:

The Mobile Weblog wrote an interesting piece in January on a Tango ad as being the origin of the Happy Slapping fad.

Just fyi the Museum of Hoaxes thinks the fad sounds suspiciously like an urban legend. (I disagree - too many reputable newspapers have written articles and conducted interviews with victims and the police),

Related articles:

-- The Happy Slap collection

-- Sick beating is filmed for fun

-- Happy slap culprits face suspension

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

-- Putting the photos in perspective

How to encode a message on food (Part II): Bento

Yuji Hayashi's project was to encode a message on Bento using Nori (toasted seaweed) and rice. He argues QR-encoded bentos will create a new communication channel between moms (who make bentos) and kids (who eat them) and describes a scenario in which a divorced mom says things like "I'll marry again" in a black and white pattern created using Nori and rice.

So, Mr. Hayashi and his mom struggled for three hours to create something like this. However, unfortunately, his mobile phone couldn't decode it. Lessons learned: Nori is deformed when it absorbs moisture from cooked rice. He thinks he should have used Kombu seaweed instead, which is more robust. He also suggests that someone should develop "Nori for the age of information technology. "

reBlogged from RFID Japan and Daily Portal

How to encode a message on food (Part I) : Chocolate

QR Code Blog explains how to make "QR Code Chocolate" using black and white chocolate bars and a sheet of inkjet/laser photo paper.

[via RFID in Japan]

mobuzzTV - Cool and Sticky Content

mobuzzTV is mobile video entertainment tailor made for cellphones, a channel which broadcasts "daily visual snacks to the content curious generation".

Its available through (European) operators or by downloading online. See how to page .

It's fast, it's fun, it's cheeky, it's irreverant. It's fabulous. It's exactly what mobile entertainment should be. It's about art, it's about tech, it's about entertainment, it's about the lighter side of world news and it's my new favorite place for finding new stories and just having a good time.

In their own words:

Do you generally go online to check on the latest trends and information? Are you a fan of blogs? Do you appreciate a lighthearted, even irreverent take on current events? But do you hate being tied to your computer? Then MobuzzTV may be just what're looking for.

Daily news, celebrity interviews, cyber news, and a variety of other features, mobuzztv strives to keep you informed and entertained no matter where you are.

QR codes are so 2004. Get ready for ColorCode

Get ready for ColorCodes and the company behind it is ColorZip.

"Unlike barcodes and QR codes, which are inherantly offline technologies, ColorCode merely encodes URL-like data locators (think tinyurl), which means to interpret the code you have to retrieve its corresponding data online".

[...] In effect, in instance where ColorCode does not replace QR code, it will simply incorporate it and become the next standard. See samples left, and expect to see a lot of these codes very soon."

via Usernomics
via Wireless3Yen.com
via Engadget.

Nokia to debut new phone at NY film fest

Nokia celebrates the art of filmmaking as a signature sponsor of New York City's Tribeca Film Festival, reports Strategiy.

Making its United States premier at the Festival will be the new Nokia 6682 - a 1.3 megapixel imaging phone with video-editing capabilities.

Festival attendees will be able to demo the new phone and even take a shot at creating their own movies.

The Nokia 6682 is a state-of-the-art imaging phone which lets users channel their inner movie mogul by shooting and even editing high resolution video and digital images."

Cell Phone Video At Center Of Police Controversy

Bringing to mind the Rodney King beating videotaped by an amateur, an incident in Chicago involving police brutality of a traffic violator was recorded by a witness through the video of a camera phone, reports NBC5.com.

"Through the camera, Chicago police officers appear to strike and kick an uncooperative suspect, and through the video, it appears that the people in the car disregarded police instructions not to get out of the car and do appear to resist arrest.

One attorney said the force was unjustified and said he is filing a lawsuit next week on behalf of what he calls victims of police brutality.

The man who recorded the video said tensions between the police and residents in his community are common. "We know the police have had a history of doing things like this," said the man, who also requested anonymity. "So, I just record every time."

Related article:

-- Citizen captures police act of racism on camera phone

Flickr Peep Show

Mediamatic's newest exhibition is about asking for photos.

Specifically, asking for photos tagged with certain
keywords. Anyone can ask for them on Flickr.com and see
them on his computer screen, but now you can also SMS them
to our server, and the tagged photos will show up in the
installation on the ground floor of the Post CS building, Oosterdokskade 5, Amsterdam as of May 1st.

Samsung Releases Telematics Phone with National Map in It

Samsung Electronics unveiled a new 1 Mpixel cameraphone (Model SPH-S1100) which features road maps of the whole nation. [via Telecoms Korea]

"The phone enables users to receive real time traffic information and navigation. Very useful to entry-level cars without GPS."

Pantech&Curitel unveiles a swivel bar type phone

Pantech&Curitel unveiled Thursday the swivel bar type phone(model PT-S100) for SK Telecom. [Telecoms Korea]

Features :

-- 1.3-megapixel camera
-- Auto Focus
-- Text-to-Speech (TTS)
-- FM Radio
-- Mobile Banking

First 3G mobile drama in Asia to be released in Singapore

The first drama in Asia to be viewed on the third generation (3G) mobiles will be available in mid-June in Singapore, according to Channel NewsAsia report on Wednesday night via English.eastday.com.

"The Chinese language drama, "PS I Love You", comprises 30 episodes with each lasting three minutes."

The series, which stars young actors from Taiwan and Singapore, is being shot entirely outdoors and it will be released on mobile phones before reaching any other media and video market.

Cameraphoning under the Influence

"Until recently, party animals only had to be cautious of drunk dialing, made even more common with the explosion of cellphones, reports The New York Post who has collected a series of mortifying anecdotes.

"What could have been just another forgettable night, may turn into a nightmare, thanks to a "friend" who snaps digital photos, send them around by cell phone or posts them on the Internet.

Kiss-and-tell photos can be embarrassing - and damaging - but photos taken of other regular late-night bar shenanigans can leave party people with a equally red-faced e-memories".

Related article:

-- Trying To stop Drunken calls - With Christmas parties approaching, the Australian branch of Virgin mobile has launched a new service to stop people from making incoherent phone calls they may later regret. With the “dialing under the influence” service , people will simply dial a number followed by the phone number they don't want to call, effectively blacklisting it until six o'clock the following morning.

Mobile Phone Reads Your Face, Predicts the Future

Zenitum Entertainment Computing, a Seoul based startup, announced Wednesday its new mobile entertainment service called “Mobile Face Reading” available on SK Telecom, reports Telecoms Korea

"Based on traditional face reading science, the service can read a person's fortune based on a photo taken with a cameraphone and uploaded on to the service via MMS.

Once the photo is uploaded, the system automatically detects and calculates facial features. This geometric information is fed to the fortune reader to get the final reading results.

Users can get also request “Whole Year Fortune,” “Romantic Relationship,” “Women-Only Fortune,” “General Everyday Fortune,” and “Erotic Forecasts.” With one more photo of your lover, the service will let them know whether or not they are made for each other."

Related - but on the level - not an entertainment service:

-- 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."

Keyboard Car

Here's something you don't see every day: A car covered with keyboard keys.

Why is it in Picturephoning.com? because it was photographed in Hollywood with a cameraphone.

[via J-Walk Blog]

U.S. Cellular and Verizon Wireless announce MMS interoperability

After AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless, announced the first agreement to offer intercarrier Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) last August, now U.S. Cellular and Verizon Wireless are offering interoperable MMS, meaning that U.S. Cellular subscribers with cameraphones can now exchange pictures and other types of multimedia messages with Verizon Wireless subscribers. [via Wireless Week].

Cross-carrier MMS is viewed as an essential element for the widespread adoption of MMS.