Privacy scare after photo of Japanese royal princess posted on the Internet

A tiny photograph that may or may not show a member of the Japanese royal family was posted on Mixi (part of the scary internet). Somehow, this very dull photograph showing a girl in a school uniform smiling has created an uproar over what is supposedly a horrible violation of her privacy.

Noriyuki Kazaoka, Vice-Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency said: “We cannot confirm that it is (Princess Kako), but from the perspective of protecting private information, we think that generally, going ahead and posting photographs on the Internet without consent cannot be called appropriate behavior. We hope that this sort of thing does not happen again in the future.”

[via Japan Probe]

Street Photography

Street photography on flickr via boingboing.

Above photographs by Waxy, Taken on January 11, 2009.

iPhone to get direct TV and movie downloads?

Apple will begin to allow downloads of movies and TV shows through the iPhone, according to the hottest rumor --complete with supposed screenshots.

[iPhoneBuzz]

Websites 'keeping deleted photos'

User photographs can still be found on many social networking sites even after people have deleted them, Cambridge University researchers have said, reports the BBC.

They put photos on 16 popular websites - noting the web addresses where the images were stored - and deleted them.

The team said it was able to find them on seven sites - including Facebook - using the direct addresses, even after the photos appeared to have gone.

Facebook says deleted photos are removed from its servers "immediately".

"However, URLs to photographs may continue to exist on the Content Delivery Network (CDN) after users delete them from Facebook, until they are overwritten. "Overwriting usually happens after a short period of time."

Read full article.

New '2D barcodes' for cameraphones

ScanLife and Jagtag want you to get in the habit of using your cellphone camera as a magic wand to extract digital content from inanimate objects. USA Today reports.

ScanLife and Jagtag supply technology that let you use your camera phone to do the scanning. They can deliver anything you might see or hear on a Web page to your handset, paid for by publishers or advertisers.

Camera Phones to Interpret Visible World for Blind

iVisit, a company out of Santa Monica, California that specializes in video teleconferencing applications, has teamed up with the National Institutes of Health to turn a mobile phone's camera into an eye for the blind.

Using advanced image recognition software to identify what is in front of the phone, the system reads off what it is seeing.

Read full article in MedGadget.

Mobile phone footage of schoolgirl giving birth on YouTube in bid to cut teen pregnancies

According to The Daily Mail, UK NHS Trust released a graphic film clip of a young girl giving birth on a school playing field.

The idea being the shocking footage, filmed on a mobile phone, of a bloodied girl in the midst of childbirth, will shock teenagers into not getting pregnant.

But critics say it will not accomplish anything, and may make children worried about giving birth in the future.

Although it uses actors, the film was so controversial it was removed from YouTube within 24 hours after disgusted members of the public complained. It later mysteriously reappeared on the site.

Teach your dog to take photos

Silly. Kodak shows you how to get your dog to take picture of his day so you can see just how he/she sees the world.

[via stuff]

12-Megapixel LG Phone In The Works

According to übergizmo, LG will be releasing a new 12-megapixel cell phone later this year.

Samsung testing shutters for mobile cameras

Samsung Electronics is in the process of developing a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) shutter for camera phones, according to electronista .

A shutter could overcome the problems associated with quickly transferring the image data, which can lead to long frames or distortion when capturing moving objects.

Even in Mobile Video, the Action Is on the iPhone

A conversation with the head of a video technology company helps to explain why, in mobile video and other areas, so much attention is paid to the iPhone.

Read New York Times Bits Blog.

New Samsung phone makes video calls even in the dark

Samsung is planning to launch a video call enabled mobile phone- SCH-W760, using infrared rays according to Telecoms Korea via Fareastgizmo.

The slider type Samsung SCH-W760 users can make video calls even in the dark although the screen will show only black and white.

Jimmy Carr could face police investigation after 'taking photo inside court'

UPDATE MAY 15:Jimmy Carr, will not face legal action after apparently taking a photograph inside a court building and posting it on microblogging site Twitter, police have confirmed.

Initial post May 14: British comedian Jimmy Carr is facing a police investigation after apparently taking a photograph inside a court building, reports The Telegraph.

Carr, 35, who was in court on Wednesday to answer a charge of speeding at 50mph in a 40mph limit posted the picture on his Twitter website.

He is believed to have used his mobile phone to take a picture of a sign banning photographs from being taken inside the magistrates court in Sudbury, Suffolk.

The Suffolk Magistrates Courts' notice stated: "It is a criminal offence to take photographs in court buildings".

Seems pretty harmless. It's clear he meant no disrespect because he didn't take a picture inside the courtoom. Read full article.

White House ( Flickr) Photostream app

White House Photostream is an iPhone/iPod Touch app that provides you with easy access to the official White House Flickr Photostream.

Now you can keep up-to-date with the President and his family through the official White House Photos.

Soccer World Cup Will Spur Mobile TV Adoption—In Africa

The mobile industry is always looking for the next big event, such as the Olympics, March Madness or the inauguration, to usher in the next wave of adoption. The latest buzz is that the soccer world championships will have the same effect—not in traditional cellular markets, but in Africa. MocoNews reports.

Reuters reports that more than 10 mobile TV broadcasting networks will be launched in Africa in time for the 2010 World Cup, which is taking place in South Africa, and FIFA, the major soccer governing body, said it will also be offering live coverage, specifically tailored to mobile phones for the first time. Billions are expected to tune in for traditional broadcasts.

GirlsWithiPhones.com: Autoportraits

Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? Find out on GirlsWithiPhones.com. The male counterpart which I won't like to is the same principle of auto portraits with an iphone, but gone hard porn.

[via Trendhunter]

Phone pics out tot's eye cancer

According to The Sun mother discovered her baby had a deadly cancerous tumour after taking the baby's picture with a new camera phone.

Every time she photographed the eight-month-old a strange glare from Thomas’ eye appeared on the snap.

The glare from the camera revealed light sensitive cells in his eye which could not be seen face-to-face — a sign of the killer disease.

“To look at him before you would never have seen anything was wrong. “His vision was fine and he was just like any other happy, smiling eight-month-old.

... Elizabeth and schoolteacher husband Neil now want other parents to check their children’s eyes. She added: “Many people would take the photograph and just think it was a problem with the camera, especially if it’s a phone camera. “I do think what if I had not got a new phone.

The obvious question is what cameraphone?, but so far the story doesn't say.

Picture and video messaging finally coming in iPhone 3.0 update

Addressing what is easily the biggest, most glaring omission in the device’s featureset, Apple looks set to introduce picture and video messaging to iPhone when it releases its 3.0 firmware update this summer.

[via Pocket Picks]

Nokia Point and Find video

Nokia Betalabs have put together a video highlighting the key features of their Point and Find service that enables you to get up to date info about a product or service, on your phone.

In the above video, Sophie-Charlotte Moatti of Nokia explains how the service works. Once you’ve downloaded the app from pointandfind.nokia.com, you can fire it up and point your device’s camera at a movie poster. The app will quickly locate the movie and with it a host of options, including reviews, ratings and even your nearest cinema.

[via Nokia Conversations]

Australia. Parents get sext message

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, parents in Australia will be urged to snoop on their children in a bid to halt an alarming rise in the number of teenagers sending sexual images of themselves via mobile phone.

A NSW State Government campaign starting this week will remind youngsters and their parents that the growing practice of sending saucy pictures through cyberspace can have lifetime consequences.

Horrified by increasing evidence that more and more vulnerable girls are capitulating to their boyfriends' demands for sexy pictures, Community Services Minister Linda Burney will hit the airwaves to warn against such momentary madness.

Schools will receive no-holds-barred fact-sheets warning parents that "sexting" can haunt their kids for life, damaging careers and relationships. In a blunt warning, the fact-sheets explain it takes only the click of a button to "forward them or load them onto the internet.

Read full article.

Ewan MacLeod launches Mobile Developer TV

Ewan MacLeod, founder of SMText News which became the Mobile Industry Review is launching a new venture called Mobile Developer TV which will publish on camera interviews of the best and the brightest in mobile development.

He aims to publish one TV show per week to start with. Each show will center on one or two people in the mobile development space. iPhone App developers, certainly. But he's also interested in the whole spectrum — from Blackberry’s App World, to Nokia’s Ovi, to Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace and beyond.

Ewan is interested in interested in talking to and profiling:

-- Mobile application developers (iPhone/Blackberry/Nokia/J2ME/Samsung/Microsoft/Android).

-- Companies whose primary business is NOT in the mobile space — but who have developed or are developing mobile applications.

-- Companies who supply services to/work with mobile developers.

If you’d like to feature, drop Ewan a note: ewan@mobiledeveloper.tv.