Geneva has a "Rodney King" racial brutality scandal on their hands

The Geneva Police Department has a "Rodney King" racial brutality scandal on their hands, documented by an a eye-witness with a camera phone. The video has been broadcasted on all the TV news stations.

Last week two policemen brutaly arrested a 33 year-old South African school teacher who was crossing the street. She was thrown to the ground and handcuffed, they didn't even smooth down her skirt and left her on the sidewalk with her underwear exposed. The policemen claimed she "looked like an illegal immigrant because of the color of her skin and the way she was dressed". The two policemen have been suspended.

[via Le Matin and JRS.net]

Similar racial incidents captured by citizen reporters which made headline news:

-- 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.

-- Citizen captures police act of racism on camera phone - A blatant act of racism by the Portland police was snapped by a "citizen reporter" armed with a camera phone. The story and the photos were published in the Portland Tribune and broadcasted on television.

3 becomes first mobile firm to own a TV station

Italian mobile phone operator 3 yesterday became the first mobile company to buy a TV station, snapping up regional Italian broadcaster Canale 7 as part of its plan to launch a nationwide digital TV service for mobiles. The Guardian reports.

"Canale 7, based in northern Italy with a network that reaches about 40% of the population, owns a digital TV licence. 3 intends to use the licence for a nationwide mobile TV network to complement its wireless network. The aim is to create what the company believes will be one of the world's first "triple-play" mobile services - ie, offering a telephone, TV and internet access in one device.

Hello Kitty camera phone

mobile|blog.it reports on a limited edition Hello Kitty cameraphone, made in Taiwan and sold in Hong Kong.

According to ThreeGMobile.net, "Japanese cutie cartoon characters successfully conquer the heart of Asians. Thus it is not strange to see many special cartoon edition mobile phones in the markets. Such cartoon limited editions are mainly from Taiwan.

With the help of local retailer, Hello Kitty and Chinnamoroll camera phoneshave finally arrived in Hong Kong. Like other special items, the price is quit expensive. The Hello Kitty model costs HK$3380 or around $422.- and Chinnamoroll costs HK$1780 or around $229.-."

FlipClips

Gadget Candy spotted FlipClips, a fun service that lets you turn your digital video clips into a paper flipbook. How cool is that?

How does it work?

-- Start by uploading a video under 30 seconds in length. flipclips.com accepts most common digital video formats, including MOV/QT, AVI, DV, MPEG4, MPEG2, Motion JPEG, and 3GPP.

-- Choose a book size that meets your needs. You can choose from the large-format Greeting Card and the fun, portable FlipBook for shorter videos. Longer videos look great in the premium Story Book.

Korea to Launch Terrestrial DMB Service

Korea will begin terrestrial digital multimedia broadcast (DMB) services on Thursday, reports Digital Chosunilbo. The homegrown technology allows users to watch TV broadcasts and other multimedia content moving at up to 200 km/h on their cellular phones, PDAs and laptops.

"Unlike the satellite DMB service which started earlier this year for a fee of W13,000 (about US$13) a month, the terrestrial DMB service will be free of charge. Users will be able to enjoy the service on the subway starting from next January.

The government said the service will start in the metropolitan area but will be expanded throughout the country by the end of next year."

Forget the rules - viewers vote to direct the drama

An Australian team has launched what it claims to be the world’s first interactive comedy drama series, available on television, mobile and broadband platforms, reports informitv.com.

"Forget the Rules follows the three-way friendship of Lisa, Pepe and Pony, living in a shared household in Melbourne.

The show screens three times a week in three-minute micro-dramas on the Australian music network Channel V, on 3 mobile phones, and is available over broadband on the web.

Each week ends with a dilemma, inviting the audience to vote on what happens next. The production team then write, shoot and edit the follow-up over the weekend. The show is designed to run as a continuing serial, and has a commitment for at least a 52-week run. The programme format is available for international distribution."

Links to related mobile soap operas.

Nokia defines The Mobile Web

Nokia's new browser sets a high bar for the mobile web with an astonishingly smart use of the zoom and fish eye UIs. These screenshots demonstrate what Nokia accomplished through cooperation with Apple and using WebCore and JavascriptCore components which form the basis of Apple's Safari browser. [via mobile jones]

Here's the zoom UI example:

Tagit has launched its mobile image recognition technology with Nokia Phones

Tagit has launched its mobile image recognition technology, reports Slashphone. With the help of this technology the camera-phone will be able to connect with any media channel and obtain information about any advertised brand product or enterprise service.

"With one snap of the camera phone the user can captures the "tagged" image. The Tagit application software then decodes and enables the user to obtain information about the product or service in both text and visual form.

The user may then decide to make a purchase through the transaction feature in Tagit, which will connect the user directly to the e-commerce site of the business."

Fashion ideas sent by SMS and MMS

A British women's fashion retailer, TopShop, is enabling young women to resort to their mobile phones to find just the right thing to wear for any occasion. The Inquirer reports.

"The service, put together for Topshop by Skywire, has three basic options. Ladies can send a text message to 81144 followed by the word Hold, Style, or Advice.

Testing 'Style' allows the phone users to book an appointment with one of Topshop style advisors. 'Advice' enables the shopper to ask a typical question – such as "What jeans should I wear with a pink top?" – and receive an answer from one of the store's fashion advisors.

The mobile technology enables Topshop customers to receive picture messages of recommended clothing. The INQ suspects that Topshop hasn't exactly publicised this facility too well. There are only four pictures so far in the style gallery." But it's a promising start.

Sports in your pocket

ESPN is betting that its own cell phone service will bring the next big thing in sports. CNN reports.

"ESPN on Friday started selling its own branded cell phone on its Web site. The Mobile ESPN phone is programmed to make it easy to watch video highlights and get scores, as well as updates and alerts about games in progress. The phones go on sale in stores nationwide on Feb. 5 – Super Bowl Sunday.

... Even if you don't have the ESPN phone, you can visit its mobile Web site for scores and articles, as well as watch its sports highlights on the millions of cell phones already capable of getting video.

... More 4 million unique visitors are already accessing ESPN's Web site by mobile device each month, or about four times the average audience that tunes into the network's late-night SportsCenter show.

"We're producing two to three hours of video every day for that service," said Manish Jha, the senior vice president and general manager of Mobile ESPN.

... Experts say that sports will probably be one of the major drivers for people signing up for wireless broadcasts.

Trident: Tamagotchi meets Barcode Battler?

Earlier this month, Preamble Corp. released Trident, a virtual pet game for camera phones.

Players feed their virtual pets by scanning QR codes. Then, in "battle mode," the pets fight with each other. In order to win a battle, players should feed thier pets the right food (or QR code) and thereby raising/strenghening the pets and collecting key items. For example, if a fight can last long, you may want to feed lots of good food before the fight.

reBlogged from RFID in Japan

Related toTamogtochis and cell phones:

-- Vodafone's new "cell mates" - a cross between a mobile game, a tamagotchi and a screensaver

-- Shuku Keitai 'Tamagotchi' capts cell phone signals

-- Jamster's 'Living Wallpaper' for mobile phones

-- The Tamagotchi's next step: Invading your cellphone

Police stations may ban camera phones

A one-minute video clip showing a woman being forced to strip naked and do ear squats in a police station has sparked an outroar with both the Malaysian government and opposition calling for the police to be taken to task, according to Malaysia Kini.

The clip, apparently filmed on a mobile phone, purportedly shows the naked woman being forced to squat as she is watched by a woman in uniform, reports the BBC via Smart Mobs.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the incident was a severe blow to Malaysia's image.

A Malaysian police spokesman said officers were checking to see who made the recording and where it was filmed.

... The officer, who wears a Muslim headscarf, stands in front of the woman, who is forced to strip naked, grasp her ears and squat repeatedly.

The pictures are accompanied by the sound of verses from the Koran being recited, although it is unclear if this would have been audible to the woman."

Texas Photographer Snaps Up Grand Prize in Cingular Photo Contest

For Joshua Ortiz one click turned out to be worth $50,000, reports The Houston Chronicle. Mr. Ortiz was named the winner of Cingular's "Raising the Bar" photo contest for his photograph showing the shadows of five children -- all siblings -- holding hands.

Mr. Ortiz, a graduate student in communications at Texas A&M University, took the photograph with his Cingular Wireless Sony-Ericsson S710 camera phone.

In July, Cingular asked photographers to submit images that resembled the Five Bars imagery in Cingular's "Raising the Bar" advertising campaign. Photographs were submitted, weekly winners were named throughout the summer, and grand prize winners were narrowed down to five finalists. Nationally acclaimed photographer Robert Clark -- an avid user of Cingular's Sony Ericsson's S710 camera phone -- helped choose the grand prize winner."

Related to Robert Clark:

-- Perfect pics from cell phone - Renowned photographer Robert Clark set across America to showcase the abilities of the new high-resolution Sony Ericsson 710a - 1.3 megapixel camera phone.

Web sites invite people to share their video clips

A host of startup video sites have popped up in the last few months, reports the Detroit Free Press. Youtube.com, Vimeo, Sharkle, ClipShackand Blip.tv all aim to be video versions of Flickr, the Yahoo-owned site that has drawn millions of people who post photographs, then discuss them.

Google's new video.google.com has even bigger aspirations: to become a TV network of sorts on the Internet, offering personal footage that can be shared and TV programs that can be purchased.

The free video sites are similar to Flickr and other photo-sharing sites such as Kodak Easyshare Gallery and Shutterfly, but with a big difference. The photo-sharing sites exist to sell prints and gifts."

NFC trial with cell phones in Caen, France

Some 200 mobile phone users in Caen, in the northwestern part of France, are learning first hand what Near Field Communications (NFC) technology is all about, reports Contactless News.

"Want to buy something? Wave your cell phone. Want to use a car park? Hold your cell phone up to the reader. Want information on a tourist site? Hold your cell phone...well, you get the idea. As the Caen trial illustrates, the cell phone is becoming the “Swiss Army Knife” of the modern world.

"What we have in Caen is a world first -- not the first NFC trial, but the first in the size and number of applications," said Christophe Duverne of Philips Semiconductors."

Related article: - French NFC Payment Trial Kicks Off

Tagging Kids and Cars To Prevent Traffic Accidents

NTT Data, Nissan, and other three companies developed a system that can alert drivers when kids are nearby. This system is designed to, for example, prevent traffic accidents in residential districts where it is difficult to visually check the presence of kids (or cars). The companies will conduct a pilot test in Aoba-Ku, Yokohama city next month.

"200 kids will participate in this pilot test. The kids will carry RFID-tagged "good luck charms." RFID tags and alert devices are installed in about 100 cars that will be used for the pilot test."

Twenty WiFi base stations will be installed in a 2km2 area, each of which can detect the presence of an RFID tag within a 100-300m radius. Based on the data captured through this infrastructure, the system determines if a kid and a car are too close with each other, and if the alert device in the car should be activated."

reBlogged from RFID in Japan.

ITV and 3 in mobile TV link up

According to Netimperative, broadcaster ITV has partnered with mobile network 3 to bring a range of ITV shows to 3’s mobile video service, beginning with the latest series of “I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!”.

... "3G handset owners will be able to watch “I’m A Celebrity’s” Bush Tucker trials on the handset before they air on terrestrial television.

... The ITV content will be designed specifically for the mobile platform and will include highlights and behind the scenes footage."

Search technology comes to the camera phone

A unique marketing scheme is one example of using images to get info without typing. News.com reports on "mobile visual search".

"By early next year, cartons of milk sold by a European dairy manufacturer will have images of CD art printed on them. Accompanying each image will be a message urging people to take a picture of the art with a cell phone camera. Then, if the cell phone photographer sends the snapshot to a database operated by a marketing outfit, a free song will be sent to the phone from the band's sponsoring record label.

In the United States, people will also be able to use their cell phones to take a picture of a movie billboard, and then send the image to a similar database that returns a film trailer, locates a theater showing the movie advertised on the billboard or allows the user to buy tickets to the movie.

It's all part of what several upstart companies have dubbed "mobile visual search"--technology promoted as an easier, more efficient way to get information on the go, without having to type on a tiny keypad.

... Facial and object recognition technology has been around for years, and has become a cornerstone of security applications used in airports and by the military. But now, companies see the opportunity to adapt the technology to improve the mobile marketing and search business."

Mobile Assess my Breast

Now you can get videos of Assess My Breasts on your 3G phone - a mobile version of a boob-centric "am I hot or not ". Anyone wanting to participate and be rated, can send in their own camphone shot to a designated short code.

Read what James Pearce has to say about it in Moco News. There are some interesting aspects to this service beyond the normal “babe wallpaper”.

Related, sort of:

-- Rock star's bum appeal - In what some may consider a tasteless camapaign (I do), a Chilean rock star is asking female fans to send him pictures of their naked bums for publishing on a website.

-- Camera Phones used for butt-rating site People are using cameraphones to take pictures of other people's butts and and submitting them to a hot-or-not style site called Mobile Asses.

Mobile Nanny

South African-based Red Stripe says it has a technological solution to combat the distribution of pornography to minors on mobile phones via MMS, SMS, WAP and 3G, reports Red Stripe.
[via My ADSL]

"Called "Mobile Nanny", the product has received the support of Childnet International, says marketing director Shaun Wilson.

Wilson says Red Stripe could attempt a roll-out of the system, but this would not be the most effective method. It would not reach all the children who have access to mobile content, as it would be up to parents to purchase the product. "

Video of Blunt single gets mobile premiere

The video for the new single from James Blunt will today receive its global premiere on mobile phones, part of a trend that the industry predicts will next year see them becoming as important as radio and television in promoting artists.

... "In some weeks, artists can sell more videos at £1.50 each than they do conventional singles. The most popular video to date has been for dance track Call on Me by Eric Prydz, which has been downloaded more than 500,000 times."

The trend for showing music videos first on mobile phones was kickstarted last year by EMI's Robbie Williams, who made the promo for Misunderstood available to 3 customers. But it is only now that a wide range of artists are planning to do so as a matter of course, with Madonna, Charlotte Church and the Pussycat Dolls among those involved."

Picture from The Guardian.

Mobile video of TV chef Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver is a famous TV chef. He made his name from the BBC TV series 'The Naked Chef' and a book of the same title. Well, now - in a fabulous business gets the (video) message idea, he's offering video clips of himself and his recipes to Vodafone 3G users. The Guardian reports.

"Vodafone customers can sign up for three-minute clips of him in action in the kitchen from his US show, Oliver's Twist. Picture messages with a list of the ingredients can also be downloaded to mobile phones in place of shopping lists.

Users can search for recipes according to an event - such as a dinner party - or by ingredient. More than 100 recipes are available on Vodafone live! with 3G. "

Santa Claus appears in Osaka aquarium

File under only in Japan - not related to cell phones. Unless, we're just hoping, picture was taken with a cameraphone.

A Santa Claus appears in an aquarium in Osaka on Nov. 18, swimming along with a shark. He will appear in the aquarium three times a day through Dec. 25. [via Kyodo News]

Vodafone Releases First Mobile TV Figures

Vodafone has released the first customer usage figures for its mobile TV services which it offers with broadcaster Sky. Apparently users have accessed more than one million streams in the first two weeks of going live (it launched on Nov 1)… reports Moco News.

"There are 19 mobile TV channels including 24-hour news, sport, entertainment and documentary programmes and the service is free until the end of January. This is only available in the UK until the end of March next year.

Vodafone views the result as very promising for mobile TV services":

Rock star's bum appeal

In what some may consider a tasteless camapaign (I do), a Chilean rock star is asking female fans to send him pictures of their naked bums.

Julio Carrasco, frontman of Los Muebles, launched the campaign which he calls 'an "a**hole for Los Muebles'."

He made the appeal through the Chilean media for fans to post their pictures to website a malasya.blogspot.com/ Carrasco told Las Ultimas Noticias he hopes to get 1,000 pictures of the bottoms of female fans". Six pictures have been sent in so far.

[via Ananova]

MMS Helps Brits Overcome Brazil’s Sexy Postcard Ban

Mobile postcard company Mobycards is encouraging travel companies targeting British travellers to Brazil to overcome the proposed ban on saucy postcards by offering customers the opportunity to send personalised branded postcards from their mobile phone.

The Rio state assembly has approved a ban on the sexy images of bikini-clad beauties which are ubiquitous at newsstands throughout Rio de Janeiro.

Mobycards, which powers the lastminute.com mobile postcard service, is a twist on the traditional holiday postcard enabling travellers to send personalised physical postcards that arrive through the mail direct from their mobile phone.

3 to premiere Madonna video on mobiles

Mobile network 3 has struck an audio and video content deal with Warner Music, premiering Madonna's latest single ‘Hung Up’ on 3 to launch the partnership.

"Warner Music is the third major record label to supply fill-length audio and video tracks to the 3 network, following deals with Sony BMG, EMI and independent service Vidzone."

[via Netimperative]

HSBC bank bans cameraphones to protect Wills

This is fun. From The Inquirer.

In an effort to stop bank workers from benefiting from Prince William' s work experience stint at HSBC's HQ in Canary Wharf, the management have banned the use of cameraphones.

Obviously the existence of online sites like scoopt.com – where registered users can sell pictures taken with their cameraphones – has come to the notice of top brass at HSBC.

The ban was just part of a series of instructions circulated to employees in an email memo leaked to The Sun".

Jail Game With RFID

A number of adventure-seekers are strapping RFID tags and PDAs onto their wrists in order to take part in a new interactive game. The goal: to escape from Mazzinia, a futuristic high-security jail.

Named La Fuga (The Breakout), the game opened this month at a former bank not far from the Real Madrid Stadium in northern Madrid. The facility can host up to 300 players at a time, each of whom tries to solve quizzes and pass through different obstacles in order to escape."

[via RFID News]

Insurance company encourges use of MMS photos for accident claims

In a perfect example of how business is getting the (multimedia) message, Channel News Asia reports on a Singapore insurance company which is encouraging motorists involved in accidents to expedite their claims - by sending in photographs taken at the scene with their cameraphones.

"The photos can show the position of the vehicles and the damages sustained, making it useful for follow-up investigation.

It can also help prevent claims for aggravated damages after the accident to inflate repair cost.

NTUC Incomes expects to solve half of its disputes through this new initiative."