Phone 4' FaceTime appeals to porn industry

Apple may keep the app store safe from adult content, but according to this article by the AP, the porn industry is jumping on the the iPhone 4' FaceTime videoconferencing feature, with video-sex chat ads appearing on Craigslist.

Here's one ad found under New York:

SEEKING ATTRACTIVE WOMAN FOR FACETIME VIDEOCHAT MEETING AND SAFE FUN

Date: 2010-07-01, 10:47AM EDT

Hi there. I am an attractive, sincere, fit, 40 year old gentleman. And I have a new toy. my Iphone 4! As you know, this has videochat (facetime). So, i am seeking an attractive woman who also has an iphone 4 for meeting and progressing to some hot iphone facetime fun. Are you open-minded and willing to give this a try? If so, please email me with "facetime" in the header so I know you are real. I would love to give this a go! I am happy to exchange pics first before connecting live if you want. I am for real and sincere. I hope you are too. I am seeking someone who is any age, just physically fit and likes safe, exhibitionist fun.

PostingID: 1820574448

Seeing the World Around You Through Your Phone

The New York Times on the wonders of augmented reality.

These apps, like Goggles (free, for Android phones) and Layar (free, for Android and Apple devices), are like space-age glasses. Point your smartphone in any direction and look through the camera viewer, and it will reveal information about what it sees.

Want to know the artist responsible for the print hanging in that restaurant? The name of the building with the enormous gargoyles? The last selling price of that house up ahead?

Pull out your smartphone and press a button.

There are limits, of course, even for apps like Goggles and Layar, which are two of the more promising entrants in this category. Neither will recognize your plate of beef stroganoff and tell you what’s in it, nor will they tell you the name and number of that beautiful stranger in the corner.

But those limits are nothing compared to the jolt you’ll get when they work.

Read full article.

US Airways pilot pleads guilty to upskirt photo

It's been a while since we've heard one these stories. When camera phones first became popular in 2003, they were described by many news outlets as a useful tool for perverts or "peeping tom's secret weapon".

Anyway, here's the story. An airline pilot who used his cell phone to take photos up a teenager's skirt at Philadelphia International Airport has pleaded guilty to invasion of privacy.

[via Cellular News]

Time Out New York Kids enhances magazine experience with augmented reality

Time Out New York Kids, a go-to guide for active parents on where to go and what to do with their family in the city, has enhanced its August cover with mobile augmented reality, letting users unlock video and 3D content via their mobile device. [via Mobile Marketer]

Once the application is downloaded, users can hold their smartphones up to the cover and watch a video of the PS 22 chorus - an elementary school that's a YouTube sensation that just won a Webby award - performing “One Day” by artist Matisyahu. Watch video demonstrating how it works.

[via aka Luffeman]

Concept: Nadia Camera Tells You How Cool Your Pictures Are

Ever wanted someone to give you a second opinion on that amazing shot that you just took? If you don't have an experienced photographer friend to follow you around the whole day, the Nadia camera concept might be of interest to you, as the design will take the image that you've captured and compare it against the ACQUINE quality inference engine, and will rate your picture on a percentage scale.

Read more and watch video demo in Ubergizmo.

Royal family opens Flickr photography account

Rare pictures of the Royal family have been posted on the internet after Buckingham Palace opened an account on photo sharing website Flickr. Interesting, no results for a "Princess Diana".

The development follows the launch of the updated royal website, British Monarchy Twitter account last year and the Royal Channel on YouTube in 2007.

[via the BBC]

Wal-Mart Radio Tags to Track Clothing

According to the WSJ, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to roll out sophisticated electronic ID tags in 3,750 U.S. stores to track individual pairs of jeans and underwear, the first step in a system that advocates say better controls inventory but some critics say raises privacy concerns.

Starting next month, the retailer will place removable "smart tags" on individual garments that can be read by a hand-held scanner. Wal-Mart workers will be able to quickly learn, for instance, which size of Wrangler jeans is missing.

... While the tags can be removed from clothing and packages, they can't be turned off, and they are trackable. Some privacy advocates hypothesize that unscrupulous marketers or criminals will be able to drive by consumers' homes and scan their garbage to discover what they have recently bought.

Read full article.

Stanford 'Frankencamera' platform

Stanford's open-source digital photography software platform, "Frankencamera," which allows users to create novel camera capabilities, is available as a free download for Nokia N900 "mobile computers" starting today, reports PhysOrg.

Anyone will be able to create new features for the camera by writing aps that control all the camera's functions -- focus, exposure, shutter speed, flash, etc. Cameras could be taught new tricks with downloadable apps, analogous to iPhone apps.

Read full article

Taking Photos In Public Places Is Not A Crime

Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit has a piece in Popular Mechanics about the growing trend of cops bullying photographers who take pictures in public places, and why officials who believe such photography is against the law are mistaken. [via boingboing]

Today, most people walk around with a camera of some sort in their possession. Point-and-shoots, DSLRs and tiny video cams--not to mention cellphones--have become ubiquitous. And yet it seems that in many public locations, security officials are touchier than ever about letting people actually use those cameras. Our guardians of public safety often have the idea that shooting pictures in public places might be a precursor to some sort of terrorism. It's an understandable concern, but misguided. I believe there is a good case to be made that having lots of cameras in the hands of citizens makes us more, rather than less, safe.

Read full article. Illustration by Rui Ricardo, courtesy Popular Mechanic.

Related:

-- You can picture this. Know your rights

-- Street photographers fear for their art amid a climate of suspicion

Camphone pictures posted to Twitter can leak your location

Be warned: If you take a snapshot with your iPhone or other camera-enabled gadget, it may divulge more information about you than your photographic abilities. CNet reports.

At the Next HOPE hacker conference here on Friday, a security researcher demonstrated how he scanned over 2.5 million photo links posted to Twitter and extracted exact latitude and longitude coordinates embedded in over 65,000 photos -- typically without the user's knowledge.

"It's a privacy fail," says Ben Jackson of Mayhemic Labs, who plans to release the software and data collection this evening.

Read full article.

Doctors in Japan use iPhone and iPad for health care and fitness applications

Jikei University Hospital has launched an iPhone application designed to assist diagnosing stroke symptoms in patients and is partnering with Fujifilm to develop a system for other hospitals to use the application. Fareastgizmo reports.

Dr. Hiroyuki Takao, a member of the hospital's neurosurgery department, developed the application, which examines CT images of brain from various 3-D angles. The software enables the hospital to quickly decide whether surgery is necessary. Looking at CT images of brain aneurysm patients on their iPhones, for example, doctors not at the hospital--perhaps at home, or remotely based--can give their opinions based on images of the aneurysm's shape.

One fee-paying application available in Japan allows for the quick transmission and examination of data relating to patients' electrocardiograms, pulse and body temperatures. Other applications include a guidebook to providing treatment in emergency situations and one for properly dispensing medicine. Letters of referral for patients needing emergency treatment can also be sent to hospitals that have agreed to accept them. During patient consultations, doctors also use the larger display iPads to assist them with explanations.

Cell C takes QR code technology to new heights

Cell C has introduced Cell C PhotoCode, a new technology that allows South Africans to access information on their mobile phones by using QR codes, the new generation barcodes used extensively by retailers. MediaUpdate reports.

As explained on their website:

PhotoCode is Cell C's unique spin on QR Code technology - the new generation of the barcodes that are printed on most products we buy today. While the series of stripes in a traditional barcode contain data like an item's price and weight, QR Codes can be used to encode a much wider variety of information. These two-dimensional codes can then be read by mobile phone cameras using code-reader software, whether the code is in print or on-screen.

Cell C has developed its own PhotoCode reader and will be introducing the general public to the exciting concept of PhotoCodes with the help of various media partners.

Read website">more.

British Airways launches check-in app

British Airways has joined the growing technological revolution in aviation with the launch of apps allowing passengers to check-in with a smart phone. Breaking Travel News

The moves will allow members of the BA Executive Club to use their iPhone, Blackberry or Android to display new Mobile Boarding Passes on their phones. These can be scanned at check-in to speed up and enhance the boarding process.

The move follows similar launches at airlines around the world, with Southwest Airlines and Etihad Airways leading the way earlier this year.

Tokyo trials digital billboards that scan passers-by

Digital advertising billboards being trialled in Japan are fitted with cameras that read the gender and age group of people looking at them to tailor their commercial messages. PhysOrg.com reports.

A consortium of 11 railway companies launched the one-year pilot project last month, and has set up 27 of the high-tech advertising displays in subway commuter stations around Tokyo.

"The camera can distinguish a person's sex and approximate age, even if the person only walks by in front of the display, at least if he or she looks at the screen for a second," said a spokesman for the project.

If data for different locations is analysed, companies can provide interactive advertisements "which meet the interest of people who use the station at a certain time," the project said in a statement.

Read full article

PhotoBag for iPhone

If you take a lot of photos with your iPhone, you're probably aware of how hard it can be to search through your camera roll to find a certain picture. The PhotoBag app can help you sort and find iPhone photos you've taken more easily.

Read full review in Business Week.

Apps Adding Data to Cellphone Images Take Off

French electronics company Parrot SA plans next month to release a toy helicopter with a twist. The WSJ reports.

The AR Drone has a pair of cameras to relay video to iPhones or iPads, which function as the remote control. The device also recognizes certain objects, such as other AR Drones, and can add graphics to the video feed, creating a videogame played out in the real world.

The $299 toy is the latest example of an effort to commercialize augmented reality, a technique in which extra information or graphics are added to ordinary surroundings. From virtual mirrors that superimpose a shade of lipstick on a potential buyer's face, to restaurant reviews that pop up when a person points a camera phone at a restaurant, proponents say the technology has a range of possible uses beyond videogames that mix the real and virtual worlds.

Read full article.

Calvin Klein QR Code Billboard Campaign on Houston Street

The messaging states "Get It Uncensored," playing to the billboard's reputation for suggestive and controversial themes, most of which are served by fashion brands. Upon scanning the QR code, users are redirected to web-based video with Facebook and Twitter integration.

Read full article.

Number of Mobile viewers during the World Cup

mocoNews.net on mobile viewers during the World Cup.

ESPN says its FIFA World Cup App was downloaded more than 2.5 million times. On average, one million people accessed it each day during the tournament. The company also says its Mobile TV offering had nearly one million unique users who watched more than 2 million hours of coverage in total.

Univision’s Futbol App was downloaded more than 450,000 times on Apple’s App Store.

Read full article.

Barcode Art

Spotted on PSFK, digital artist Scott Blake's barcode art.

He exhibited two of his pieces as a vendor at OFFF – barcode portraitures of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. When a barcode is scanned, a video with a particular theme would be play on a laptop. For example, every one of the 1944 barcodes on Marilyn Monroe’s portrait would play a short clip of her entering or exiting doors in one of her films when scanned.

Read full article.

Apple - iPhone 4 - TV Ad - FaceTime

Spotted on TechCrunch, Apple's Face Time commercial.

YouTube Mobile gets a kick start

[via Google Mobile Blog]

Do you need glasses? there's an app for that

According to Discovery News, a quick photograph with your camera phone can now diagnose astigmatism and give you your contact prescription.

Scientists from MIT have developed a new app for smart phones that, when combined with a thin, cheap lens, could give inexpensive and accurate eyeglass prescriptions to smart phone owners. The research could help millions of people around the world see better for less money.

The combined app and screen works like an old, analog camera with a manual focus lens. Unlike today's digital cameras, which focus automatically, the new app and screen requires the user to bring patterns into focus.

After loading the app, a user attaches a short, conical viewfinder to the screen of their high-resolution cell phones and peers in. A series of patterns appear. The user aligns the patterns by pushing buttons on the phone. The more button is pushed, the worse a person's eyesight.

The app repeats this process four times, one for each axis of the eye. During the process the app also measures other abnormalities, such as astigmatism. Once all the patterns have been lined up, the app spits out a person's eyeglass prescription.

Start to finish it takes about two minutes to deliver a full prescription.

Read full article.