Phone footage exposes teacher caning children

Secretly recorded mobile phone footage has exposed a teacher at a Catholic boarding school in north-eastern Thailand who whacked dozens of students on the buttocks with a cane wrapped with electrical wire. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

An Art teacher was fired after he was exposed hitting at least 40 students, according to Nongkran Prathumtri, an administrator at St Mary's School in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima.

The footage of last week's canings was aired on Monday on Thai television.

Read full article.

NASA brings historical photos to Flickr Commons

NASA is now providing images detailing its early years on Flickr's Commons archive, the space agency announced on Monday. CNet reports.

NASA's new Commons page displays nearly 200 photos taken throughout the venerable organization's early history. They're arranged in three photo sets, including "Building NASA," "Launch/Takeoff," and "NASA Center Namesakes." The photos available on Flickr aren't available exclusively on that site. In fact, since 2007, NASA has been working with the Internet Archive to display its historical photos.

But according to NASA, it decided to bring some of those images to The Commons to both make them more readily available online and give users a bit more "insight about NASA's history."

A NASA spokesperson said that the organization plans to gradually add more photos to Flickr over time.

Read full article.

Physicians use photos from patients' cellphones to deliver 'mobile health'

"Mobile health" does not mean a clinic on wheels. It is an emerging field within telemedicine that comprises all aspects of care generated from or available on a portable mobile device such as a cellphone. The Washington Post reports.

Doctors already use traditional forms of telemedicine -- teleconferencing and videoconferencing -- but Sikka said "mHealth" goes further, eliminating the need for scheduling conference rooms and reserving equipment.

MHealth could especially benefit patients living in isolated areas and those who don't want to spend the time, money and energy waiting for evaluation of a superficial injury, Neal Sikka, an emergency physician at George Washington University, added.

Read full article.

Steven Levy on FaceTime and Sharing the View

A great read from Steven Levy in Wired on the the iPhone 4's Facetime feature, making everyone a potential live-video broadcaster.

... For now, FaceTime is available only when both parties are using iPhone 4s over Wi-Fi connections. But let’s assume that those restrictions fade away. (Apple says that it sees FaceTime as an open standard, so users might eventually be able to connect with heretics peering into Droids or BlackBerrys.) Will we want to make FaceTime calls? Personally, I found using FaceTime to transform a phone call into a video conversation rather stressful. The effort might be worthwhile for couples separated by vast distances, but for most chats, who needs (or wants) to see the other party? Besides, phone calls are much more pleasant and productive when you preserve the illusion that the other party is giving you their undivided attention, a deception that’s impossible to maintain under the unblinking gaze of a camera.

Also, using FaceTime in public places is awkward. You have to hold the phone at arm’s length—otherwise, your face fills the screen like some Diane Arbus outtake. To observers, this maneuver makes you look like a dork.

I’m still really excited about FaceTime, though. But it’s because of what happens when you use it with the other camera—the one on the rear of the phone. When you do that, FaceTime turns your phone into a live videofeed.

So instead of seeing you, the other person on the call can see what you’re seeing. I expect people to use FaceTime when they go to concerts, meetings, or the zoo. (“Look, Grandma, Timmy’s taunting the tiger!”) Another inevitable development will be a FaceTime equivalent of the iPhone’s Send to YouTube video option: a one-click way to share your current reality with the world.

This makes everybody a potential live-video broadcaster.

Read full article. Image from Daily iPhone Blog.

VisualFriend: A dating site for iPhone 4 owners

VisualFriend is a dating site which takes advantage of the iPhone 4's Facetime feature.

In their own words:

Our easy to use search tool allows you to view pictures on member’s profiles and their answers to our out-of-the-“norm” questions. Or, you can head over to our interactive chat forum where you can meet with members from any city of your choice. The chat rooms are packed with people ready to meet you now! As soon as you step into one of our chat rooms, you will quickly be greeted by other members.

[via intoMobile]

Porn Industry Successfully Commercializes iPhone’s FaceTime

According to Mac Observer, adult Web site company iP4Play.com, which announced Tuesday that it has successfully brought commercial porn to Apple’s FaceTime with the iPhone.

According to the company, the first paid adult video call over FaceTime on the iPhone took place on August 13th, 2010, and that it is now closing in on its 1,000th such call.

... The company said that 93% of its customers so far are male, and that most of the calls have been five minute calls. In addition, the company said that most of the calls have been from the U.S., but that many have also come from China.

Related: - iPhone 4' Facetime appeals to Porn Industry

[via @mobile fringe]

Google rolls out faster mobile YouTube to the world

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Google rolled out the latest version of its mobile YouTube site outside the U.S on Tuesday, a browser-based application that is as fast as a client application for mobile devices, according to a product manager.

The upgraded site became available in the U.S. last month but is now available worldwide. Google wanted to improve how YouTube functions through a mobile browser since the site is being accessed about 100 million times a day that way. Traffic to YouTube through mobile devices was up 160 percent in 2009 over 2008.

Read full article.

iPhone 4 camera rendered 'useless' by mysterious fault

According to Tech.au, photos taken with the rear facing camera of the iPhone 4 under florescent indoor lighting causes photos to have a blue tint that appears as a circle from the centre of the photo. The tint is so bad it renders photos under these conditions effectively useless.

[via The Sydney Morning Herald]

Facial recognition software to go public

Face.com's software can identify unnamed faces and then collate photographs of that person is to be released to the public amid concern among privacy campaigners. The Telegraph reports.

The program works by scanning the relative positions of the eyes, nose and mouth and claims to be accurate in nine out of 10 cases. It can then search the internet for further images of the same individual and, in tests, unearthed untagged photos which had not previously been seen by some of the people in them.

The managers of Face.com told the Sunday Times that 5,000 developers were already using it.

Such software has previously been the domain of Governmental organisations such as the UK Border Agency or inside social networking platforms.

Proponents of the technology said it could enable families to unlock their history or trace those lost in humanitarian disasters such as the floods in Pakistan.

The Information Commissioner's Office said there were no legal restrictions on the use of facial recognition software.

Read full article.

Related: Recognizr, a Facial recognition phone app is described as a "stalker's dream"

ACLU challenges Illinois eavesdropping act

It's not unusual or illegal for police officers to flip on a camera as they get out of their squad car to talk to a driver they've pulled over. But in Illinois, a civilian trying to make an audio recording of police in action is breaking the law. The Chicago Tribune reports.

"It's an unfair and destructive double standard," said Adam Schwartz, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.

With cell phones that record audio and video in almost every pocket, the ability to capture public conversations, including those involving the police, is only a click away. That raises the odds any police action could wind up being recorded for posterity.

Opponents of the act say that could be a good thing and certainly shouldn't lead to criminal charges.

The ACLU argues that the act violates the First Amendment and has been used to thwart people who simply want to monitor police activity.

Full statement from the ACLU website:

Vevo Brings Music Videos to the iPhone

Vevo released its first mobile app yesterday, making all of its music videos available on the iPhone and iPod Touch. The release makes those music videos available for the first time on the iPhone, where users previously didn’t have access to them without purchasing and downloading them from iTunes.

[via NewTeeVee]

MobileASL sign language by cell phone

Researchers at the University of Washington have begun testing new technology that allows for American Sign Language to be transmitted over U.S. cellular networks, taking advantage of the video conferencing features now available on many mobile phones. TechFlash reports.

From from the UW press release:

The MobileASL team has been working to optimize compressed video signals for sign language. By increasing image quality around the face and hands, researchers have brought the data rate down to 30 kilobytes per second while still delivering intelligible sign language.

MobileASL also uses motion detection to identify whether a person is signing or not in order to extend the phones' battery life during video use. Transmitting sign language as efficiently as possible increases affordability, improves reliability on slower networks and extends battery life, even on devices that might have the capacity to deliver higher quality video.

Click on YouTube link for video explaining the research and showing the phones in action.

Full press release.

Add Mini Lenses to Your Cellphones

Spotted on Design Taxi, Photojojo’s mini lenses.

The glass lenses come in two variations—wide-angle/macro and fisheye—and can work with any camera phone.

Read full review.

Racy photos on cell phones, computers leads to rise in teen 'sextortion'

According to The Los Angeles Times, fFederal prosecutors and child safety advocates say they're seeing an upswing in such cases of online sexual extortion.

They say teens who text nude cell phone photos of themselves or show off their bodies on the Internet are being contacted by pornographers who threaten to expose their behavior to friends and family unless they pose for more explicit porn, creating a vicious cycle of exploitation.

Read full article.

Camera Phones Fuel Kashmir’s ‘Intifada’

As was the case in Iran, short video clips of protests by Kashmir’s mainly Muslim population and clashes with Indian security forces, often shot on cellphones and passed from device to device or posted on the Web, have been used by activists to document their own struggle and to inspire more resistance. The Lede reports.

In a documentary for the BBC World Service last year on the role of new media in Kashmir’s revolt, Suvojit Bagchi explained that in 2008 Kashmiris were galvanized by video showing the final agony of a cellphone salesman named Shaheed Tanveer who was shot and killed during a protest that summer, a year before Neda Agha Soltan became an icon of Iran’s protests.

This graphic footage of Mr. Tanveer’s last moments — and the wounding of another man who survived — was shot by a 15-year-old boy on his phone and uploaded to YouTube.

Read full article.

A new 'indie' genre: iPhone 4 filmmaking - and it's not porn

CNN reports on artists and bloggers making movies with the iPhone 4.

Some artists are optimistic about the iPhone 4's potential as a mobile video-editing tool.

Users say iMovie app has potential to open doors for those with great ideas but no money.

Read full article. Image above, Michael Koerbel and Anna Elizabeth James collaborating on one of the first short films shot and edited entirely on the iPhone 4.

PBS to air the first documentary about presidential photographers

PBS will premiere a National Geographic special, "The President's Photographer," on Nov. 24. The film features interviews with prominent photographers and tells the stories of how they captured historical moments. Among the iconic national events covered are the Nixon resignation, Sept. 11 and President Barack Obama's inauguration.

... In a clip, Obama discusses his relationship with his photographer Pete Souza. "Pete and I are like an old couple," he said. "We certainly know each other, and we're family."

Dish Network extending live TV to iPhone, Android

Satellite television services provider Dish Network will extended streaming media services to mobile platforms including the iPad, iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, enabling subscribers to view live TV on their smartphones and connected devices at no additional cost.

[via Fierce MobileContent]

FaceTime 3G data consumption tested: about 3MB per minute

A 5-minute call resulted in 14.7MB of data transfers -- including both uploading and downloading -- for the 3G-riding iPhone, which breaks down to a rate slightly lower than 3MB per minute.

[via engadget]

Four Ways Camera Phones Are Better Than Cameras

It's getting harder to make the case that a stand-alone camera is a must-have device for casual snapshooters. In fact, there are four ways in which a puny-lensed, small-sensored camera phone offers a better overall photography experience than a dedicated snapshot camera.

Read on in PC World.