Webcam knows how to snub shoulder surfers

In crowded cafes and on public transport, it's easy for people to read the info on your laptop or smartphone screen. Now Sony Ericsson is patenting an answer, reports New Scientist.

Some privacy settings already let you hit a button to blank your screen when you sense a shoulder surfer is lurking. But we are often too engrossed in our work to notice such interlopers, say inventors Martin Ek and Bo Larsson.

As many netbooks and laptops now have webcams, and some smartphones have front-facing cameras, the pair have developed software that can tell when more than one face is in front of the device - and blanks the screen till they're gone.

Read full article.

Mobile TV's Last Frontier: U.S. and Europe

Free-to-air mobile TV is common just about everywhere except the United States and Europe, where operator resistance, technical standards and licensing hurdles have interfered with the spread of the technology. But that may be about to change, according to one handset maker.

[via The New York Times]

NY1 is proud to introduce the NY1 iPhone App

New York cable news outfit NY1/NY1 Noticias has launched a free iPhone app that provides users with high-quality video, and further invites them to take part in the newsgathering process. Broadcasting & Cable reports.

The app, available for free download from Apple's iTunes Store, features full text and high-quality video of NY1's top news stories, Living coverage, and features.

You can watch the NY1 Minute and "In The Papers" on the way to work, view full movie and Zagat restaurant reviews while you're out for the evening, and check the latest New York City weather anytime. Compatible with the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, the app lets you forward any story to your friends via e-mail, Facebook or Twitter, and also allows you to receive optional news alerts.

Users can also use the app to report news tips and send on-scene photos and video directly to the NY1 newsroom.

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Lost Finale Featured Promotional QR Code For True Blood

Mobile Behavior picked up on blood red QR code that flashed during a True Blood commercial, during Lost' final episode last night.

According to True Blood Newsblog:

This Sunday during the Lost finale on ABC, HBO will air a True Blood promo. Embedded in the promo is a special QR code that will allow you to view an exclusive clip from season 3. And trust me, we’ve seen a snippet of this – y’all won’t be disappointed! Well actually, most of you will be, ‘cuz the promo will be available in the NY, L.A. and Philadelphia markets only.

To see the clip, you’ll need to DVR Lost and look out for the True Blood promo. Embedded in the True Blood promo is a special QR code. To access the clip, simply take a picture of the QR code on your smartphone. This will require a QR code reader, here are the apps suggested by HBO:

Inigma – www.i-nigma.com/Downloadi-nigmaReader.html

NeoReader – get.neoreader.com

Google debates face recognition technology

Google executives are wrestling over whether to launch controversial facial recognition technology after a barrage of criticism over its privacy policies. The FT reports.

Facial recognition has the potential to be the next privacy flashpoint. Google already uses the technology in its Picasa photo sharing service. This lets users tag some of the people in their photos and then searches through other albums to suggest other pictures in which the same faces appear.

However, Google has held back on launching the technology more broadly. It was not included, for example, in the Google Goggles product, launched last year. This allows people to search for something on the internet by taking a picture of it on a mobile phone.

Privacy campaigners have raised fears that adding facial recognition to Goggles would allow users to track strangers through a photograph, making it into an ideal tool for stalkers and identity fraudsters.

Google’s dilemma is that other companies, such as Israeli start-up Face.com, are developing face-recognition tools, and Google fears that it could lose an important advantage by further delaying a product launch.

Read full article.

Photopaddles physically 'Photoshop' your pics

Spotted on Cnet, photopaddles by designer Steven Haulenbeek meant to be placed between your camera phone and your subject to create a humorous effect.

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Images of Child abuse 'big business online'

There are around 450 criminal gangs around the world making money from images of child sex abuse, the UK's Internet Watch Foundatino has said, reports the BBC.

Most of the gangs operate a pay-per-view system, charging a monthly fee of around £55 for access to images and videos.

Much of the material that becomes available commercially was originally traded privately between sex offenders.

Read full article.

Sharp Develops 3D Camera for Cell Phones

Sharp announced that it has created a new camera module that would allow mobile phones to capture 3D images and video.

[via phone scoop]

UK Police trial new audio-visual phone

New technology to help people who have difficulty using voice telephones is being trialled by the Avon and Somerset police, reports the BBC.

The system brings together voice, video and text simultaneously in phone calls.

A video-relay service is also planned so that deaf and the hearing-impaired can communicate via sign language interpreters.

... People who would benefit from the system can sign up to take part in the project for free at www.myfriendcentral.com

Read full article.

Goggles search by sight software, now translates text into 15 languages

At the Mobile World Congress last February, Google CEO Eric Schmidt showed off a new prototype of Google Goggles.

Goggles allows for search by sight, you take your phone out, point it at something of interest, take a photo then Google directs you to relevent search results.

Now a new version of the software incorporates text translation so if you take a picture of some text, you will have the option to translate it. Still in development at Google Mobile Labs, TIME tech writer Peter Ha was able to give it a try in a couple of restaurants near Google headquarters in New York and was impressed. Watch video.

Available for Android phones it will ultimately be platform neutral. It can "read" or visually scan words in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish and translate them into any other of those languages plus about 10 more, including Afrikaans and Albanian — with additional languages coming soon.

Related: - Google Goggles to translate text in photos

Audiences, and Hollywood, Flock to Smartphones

It might be hard to imagine watching “The Office” on a screen no bigger than a business card. But tens of thousands of people — by the most conservative estimate — are already doing just that. The New York Times reports.

... Owners of iPhones and other smartphones are actually watching long episodes and sometimes complete films, so a growing number of media companies are vying for people’s mobile attention spans.

Read full article.

iTunes adds movie rentals to France, Ireland

Big news for Europe via MacWorld.

Apple announced on Friday that both France and Ireland would be receiving the ability to rent and buy movies from major US and European film studios,

... There have been a number of issues for Apple in the past when trying to secure international licensing rights—but with France and Ireland becoming the seventh and eighth countries respectively to gain this feature, there’s hope that Apple is finally starting to pick up steam on its 2008 promise to bring digital movies to an international audience.