Cellphones team up to become smart CCTV swarm

Software that turns groups of ordinary cameraphones into a "smart" surveillance network has been developed by Swiss researchers from the Institute for Pervasive Computing in Zurich. New Scientist reports.

"The software employs Bluetooth to automatically share information and let the phones collectively analyse events that they record. This provides a platform for a group of phones to act as smart network capable of, for example, spotting intruders or identifying wildlife."

Read full article.

Consumer Gadget checks the ethical background of consumer products

One of the phone projects from the europrix nominees:

Designed for mobile browsers, Consumer Gagdet is consumer's new best friend. It is a browser application that allows consumers to check the ethical background of any consumer product.

Consumer Gadget can fetch the ethical information via EAN barcodes.

Digital TVs can now ‘fetch’ content from NSeries handsets

Nokia NSeries users can broadcast their media content from their smartphones to their digital TV or audio system – and even use their handsets as a remote control, following the release of EZfetch.

It’s described as a ‘wireless, high definition digital media player’, letting you show pictures and play music, movies and podcasts on your TV or Hi-Fi.

It works by connecting to a wifi-enabled NSeries handset (And other USB Flash drives) and ‘fetching’ the content from it.

[via Pocket Picks]

YouTube Costume!

Spotted on Core77, a YouTube costume.

78 Percent Of Mobile TV Viewers In Japan, Korea

Analyst firm Berg Insight has released a report that there were about 38 million viewers of mobile TV in Japan and South Korea in mid-2007, representing about 78 percent of the total mobile TV audience (implying that there are about 49 million mobile TV users globally).

[via MocoNews]

Make it a safe Halloween

Parents who let their children go trick-or-treating alone might want to equip the candy-hunters with cell phones. That way they can call or text home to say “I’m on Second Street, heading toward the library” and parents will know exactly where they are. McAlester News-Capital offers some practical advice.

Cell phones have alarm clocks, which can be programmed to go off when it’s time for the trick-or-treaters to head home.

Also, emergency numbers can be pre-programmed into the phone so children can get help quickly.

“A cell phone is a great safety tool for kids during Halloween,” said Michael Edwards, director of sales for U.S. Cellular. “If you keep it fun for them, they’ll be more likely to use it. Invite children to use camera phones to take pictures of their friends’ costumes or their favorite decorations. Get kids interested in the phone and they’ll be more comfortable using it when they need to.”

Wireless picturephone prototypes headed to history museum

A couple of wireless picturephone prototypes (circa 1993) have recently been acquired by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

[via Engadget]

Streaming Cell Phone Video

AT&T if offering a service called Video Share that allows users to stream live video while still carrying on a conversation. [via cbs 3]

"It's sort of like video chatting," said Ellen Webner with AT&T Wireless. "You can see the pictures and chat about them at the same time."

Video search makes phone a 'second pair of eyes'

Video-equipped cellphones could soon offer simple way to find useful information about the surrounding world. New Scientist reports.

"Currently, the best way to use a cellphone to find information about, for example, a product or an ad on a wall is by entering an internet search query with the keypad. Soon, however, it may be easier to simply record a video clip of an item of interest and have your phone tell you about it instead.

Researchers at Accenture Technology Labs in France have developed technology that makes this possible using any ordinary 3G cellphone equipped with a video camera.

The prototype system, dubbed the Pocket Supercomputer, offers a simple way to seek out useful, hard-to-find information, says Fredrik Linaker who led the system's development at Accenture."

citizen journalists covering the wildfires in California

From dramatic cell phone camera images of flames as they choked off neighborhood escape routes to chilling online narratives of evacuation, citizen journalists covering the wildfires in California this week gave new meaning to the concept of reporting a natural disaster from the ground up. The Baltimore Sun reports.

"I'm not knocking what we do in the mainstream media, but citizens are bringing the highly personal, close-up nature of these fires home to viewers in a way that traditional reporting just doesn't do," said Nancy Lane, senior vice president/editorial at CNN.

Mobile Video Audience Grew To 8 Million: MMetrics

The US mobile audience has grown by more than one-third this year to eight million, according to a new study by mobile market research firm M:Metrics. Online Media Daily reports.

"With 6.8 million viewers, viral clips have proven to be the most popular category of mobile video.

... Viewership for video delivered on-deck increased 28% since January to 2.7 milion. The increasing numbers are a promising sign for mobile publishers and advertisers, say MMetrics analysts."

...Video watchers represent only a tiny fraction of all cell phone subscribers in the U.S. Those who watched over-the-air mobile TV broadcasts and/or video clips at least once a week amounted to less than one percent."

Nokia's Point&Find Technology Both Useful and Creepy

Nokia has used its The Way We Live Next show in Finland to reveal the company's Point&Find system.

In a nutshell, the cell phone company is developing the technology to allow you to point your Nokia cell at any object — restaurants, cinemas, and maybe that cute girl you see on the bus to work each morning and the information will immediately be downloaded to your phone.

[via Gizmodo]

Reuters, Nokia collaborate on project for reporters on the go

Reuters and the Nokia Research Center have announced that they are working on a joint project to enable journalists to file and publish stories and multimedia news content from handheld devices instead of computers. News.com

"Called Reuters Mobile Journalism, the initiative relies upon connecting peripherals to Nokia's high-end Nokia N95 device--a Bluetooth-enabled keyboard, a small tripod for video interviews, and a microphone that can plug into the mobile handset--as well as software to make it easier to put together text, images and streaming media."

Iran students protest over jail sentences

Iranian students on Monday staged a protest against the jailing of three colleagues, shouting slogans against officials and proclaiming the prisoners' innocence, Iranian news agencies reported, according to the AFP.

"Three students from Tehran's Amir Kabir University were last week given jail sentences of up to three years on charges of anti-Islamic images in four student newspapers.

... Photos taken by mobile phones at the scene showed students holding pictures of the jailed students and banners held by protesters had slogans against some of the country's officials, the ISNA report said.

ISNA had blurred the faces of the students at the gathering in their pictures for their security."

Picture and related article from RadioFreeEurope.

Snitch-chips embedded in UK school's uniforms

According to the Times Online, children are being tracked by micro-chips embedded in their uniforms in a trial at a secondary school.

"The devices are used to monitor pupils’ movements and register their arrival in class on the teacher’s computer. Supply teachers can also be alerted if a student is likely to misbehave.

The chip connects with teachers’ computers to show a photograph of the pupil, data about academic performance and whether he or she is in the correct classroom. It can also restrict access to areas of the school. The radio frequency identification system is being tested at Hungerhill School in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Ten pupils began wearing a chip sewn into their uniforms eight months ago."

The scheme has drawn criticism from human rights campaigners. “Tagging is what we do to criminals we let out of prison early,” said David Cleater, from Leave Them Kids Alone, which campaigns against the finger-printing of pupils. “It is appalling.”

Related: - UK school uniforms may soon have GPS

[via The Arch Blog via boingboing]

"Mobile Fitting" Lets You Try On Glasses Via Your Cell Phone

New technology enables users to "virtually" try on glasses via their cell phones. Gizmodo reports.

"Customers take a quick snapshot of themselves and then combine it with images of glasses downloaded from the merchant's mobile website. This "Mobile Fitting" service is currently being utilized in Japan's Megane Top ("Top Glasses") superstore."

Free TV shows may air on cellphones

Local US broadcasters are quietly planning to beam the stations to cellphones, video iPods, in-car DVD players and other gadgets that would be equipped with TV tuners. The high-quality digital broadcasts likely would start after the transition to digital TV ends in 2009. USA Today reports.

Nurse fired for camera prank

File under appaling. According to The Telegraph, a nurse was kicked out of the profession yesterday after she urged an assistant to put a brown paper bag over a dementia patient's head and then took a photo with her mobile phone.

"Debra Phillips, 36, cut out two eyeholes and drew a smile on the bag before the care assistant placed it on the elderly man's head, it was said.

She was seen pointing her camera phone at the patient and heard saying "let's take a picture" before showing the picture to colleagues and sending it to her boyfriend, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.

Phillips claimed she had been playing "peek-a-boo" with the man, known as Patient A. But yesterday the NMC found her fitness to practice was impaired by reason of her misconduct."

Related (horrific) stories:

-- Care-Giving Facility Beating Caught On Cell Phone Camera

-- Cellphone videos showed workers at an Anaheim facility striking disabled clients

-- L.A. Teens Taped Homeless Beatings on Cell Phones

Sprint Launches Original TV Programming for Phones

Sprint jas just launched SEE (Sprint Exclusive Entertainment), its own network of original TV programming, at no extra charge to customers.

"SEE's brief on-demand programs average approximately two minutes in length and focus on three major areas - sports, music and entertainment news. The programs are shot at various on-site locations and at a brand-new studio managed by production partner Intersport. SEE delivers more than 150 programs each week that are hosted by well-known personalities. "

[via Mobiledia]

Nokia N95 8GB ships pre-loaoded with full version of "Spiderman 3"

The 8GB version of the high-end Nokia N95 handset will be hitting stores very soon - it starts shipping today, according to Tech.co.uk.

The phone's memory is beefed up to 8GB - enough to hold up to 20 hours of video, or 6,000 tracks.

... Nokia has teamed up with Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) to offer a Nokia N95 8GB pre-loaded with Spider-Man 3, it said. The handset also includes a unique Spider-Man 3 message and ringtone, wallpaper and screen saver especially crafted for the new device. "

Cell phone doubles as home surveillance gear

SingTel, the Singapore-based telephone company, has released a home surveillance camera that lets people view the images via their mobile phones. News.com reports.

"The Mobile LiveCam is 0.3-megapixel camera equipped with a SIM card, a built-in microphone and a 512MB memory card for recording video-streaming images, SingTel said in a statement.

The surveillance camera operates on a 3G network. To view the images captured, people dial the camera's assigned number using their 3G mobile phone. They can use the numeric keypad on their phone to remotely control the camera, which SingTel said is able to pan, tilt and zoom in. "

P.&G.'s Web Installment

The company that brought soap operas to radio, then television, Procter & Gamble, is trying the same strategy online with “Crescent Heights,” a new show intended to reach young viewers where they watch the most — their PCs and cellphones. The New York Times reports.

"The series, which is more sitcom than soap, focuses on a recent college graduate, Ashley, who moves to Los Angeles from Wisconsin to start a career in public relations, and her emerging circle of friends and romantic interests. Written, directed and produced by Hollywood veterans, the three-minute episodes are as polished as any television sitcom.

“Crescent Heights,” which Tide is promoting on its television commercials, print ads and packaging, is too new to affect sales. “The reaction so far has been great,” Mr. Crociata said. “We feel like we’ve hit on something that’s entertaining and, in our testing, has shown it’s influencing purchase intent.”

Mr. Crociata said the series, which was taped in an initial set of 10 segments, will help Procter & Gamble evaluate its broader strategy regarding online entertainment. At least one other Procter & Gamble brand, Always feminine care products, has rolled out a scripted online entertainment series."

TIME Seeking out Cameraphone Photographer of the Year

Attention all aspiring photographers: The Times continues its search to find the Cameraphone Photographer of the Year, in conjunction with Sony Ericsson and Times Online.

"The competition sets a new theme each week and readers are now invited to send in their images for the fourth assignment, entitled “work”.

For details of the brief, how to enter and prizes – including a nine-day holiday a weekend break in one of five European cities and a Sony Ericsson K810i phone and Bluetooth printer – visit timesonline.co.uk/cameraphone

[via the Times Online]

Related: - World Press Photo of the Year 2006

Cellphone check-ins get a global standard with bar codes

According to the IHT, the trade association representing international airlines announced a global standard Thursday that could speed the adoption of cellphone check-in services using bar codes, and eliminate paper tickets.

"Airlines have been slow to adopt a system based on mobile technology because of competing regional formats. The formats permit a passenger to register a phone during booking to receive a text message containing a bar code that becomes a boarding pass. The bar code can then be read directly from the phone's screen.

The International Air Transport Association standard will enable new scanning equipment to read several regional code formats, including Aztec and Datamatrix, which are available now in Europe and North America, and QR in Japan.

The group aims to shift entirely to bar code boarding passes by 2010. Among the few airlines that now offer mobile check-in services are Air Canada, Air Berlin and Spanair.

Just One More Before Bedtime!

The New York Times reports on children paparazzi in Hollywood. [via Ypulse]

"... Since February, Blaine, 15, and his best friend, Austin Visschedyk, 14, have been spending late nights skulking around nightclubs, restaurants and private parties, staking out the likes of Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton (older women, all), declaring themselves the youngest paparazzi in the business.

“They’re pretty shocked to see us,” said Blaine, a thin, soft-spoken shutterbug who runs his own photography company, Pint Size Paparazzi.

In one sense, the boys are another example of precocious Hollywood youngsters, following their show-business dreams a little ahead of schedule. Viewed another way, however, they may be unprepared innocents, colliding with one of the roughest sides of the entertainment industry.

... “I’m going to let this go as far as it takes me,” said Blaine, fidgeting with his V800. “I want to be friends with the celebrities more than take photos of them. I kind of wish I was going to the parties with them.”

Austin has sold photos to The Daily News in New York and OK! magazine, among other publications, while an image Blaine shot of Ms. Spears extending her middle finger recently fetched $500 at a local art show.

“What struck me originally about them is that they both have a good eye,” said Brad Elterman, an owner of Buzz Foto, an agency that brokers sales of celebrity photos."

Project-a-Phone Launches Mac compatible version

Project-a-Phone has launched a lower cost version of its cellphone display projector.

Project-a-Phone hardware securely clamps the phone in place and delivers a live video feed of the screen image to a PC through a USB cable. The Windows software displays live video, lets you record video and audio, takes still images individually or in a programmed sequence, and can display multiple screens simultaneously.

The ICD-1300 is the first Project-a-Phone model whose hardware is Macintosh compatible.

Matt Gross, Director at uLocate and co-founder of Boston Mobile Mondays commented, "In our Mobile Mondays meetings, members often demonstrate applications. With the ICD-1300 I can finally run these demos from my Mac."

[via Cellular News]

Pet Shop Boys include QR codes in new video

English synthpop duo, Pet Shop Boys just released their new video for “Integral” which includes embedded QR codes.

Viewers with a mobile phone and a small piece of software can take pictures of the codes, and then be transported to a website about personal freedom. [via Digital Experience]

“Integral” is a critique of the Big Brother surveillance state with the slogan “if you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear”. The QR codes are linked to websites containing info about issues of civil liberties. All the QR codes are available as downloads and people are asked to use them in their own videos, and upload them to a dedicated YouTube group."

African readers get access to information via cellphones

According to the AFP, a South African newspaper Sunday became the first on the continent to offer readers the opportunity to access information via cellphones with Internet connectivity.

"The Sunday Times is inviting readers to take a picture of a front-page bar-code with the camera on their mobile phones, which will then give them automatic access to a website of one of the Springbok rugby team's chief sponsors.

... The bar-code technology has been in widespread use in Japan where it was invented in the 1990s but, according to Daniels, it is the first time that it has been used in Africa.

"In Africa, this is major. They all have cellphones but they are not online yet. This could help in bridging the divide between print and new media as well as the technological and social divide."

Nokia signs video deals with CNN, Sony, others

Nokia has signed partnership deals with seven companies including CNN and Sony Pictures to bring video content to its top-of-the-range multimedia phones. [via Reuters]

"... Nokia said it would also bring video content from India's IBN news channel and videos from Jamba, RooftopComedy, ROK and Versaly Entertainment to its N95 models.

It has previously signed similar deals with Google's YouTube and Reuters."

Mobile Barcodes Driving Magazine Traffic

The French Association of Multimedia Mobiles (AFMM) has said that the use of mobile barcodes in magazines in the past few months was very successful. mocoNews.net reports.

"With 15 to 25 percent of traffic to the websites of magazines Public, Closer, and Voici being generated by the codes.

People have to download an application—Flashcode—in order to access the content, and there were about 30,000 downloads of the software in July and August.

... “One of the main priorities now will be to gradually pre-equip mobile devices with the Flashcode software, so that the user doesn’t have to download it,” said Nicolas Guieysse, from the AFMM."