Prize for cell camera innovators

Researchers from a Scottish university are set to be honoured today for their role in developing the mobile phone camera. [via scotsman news[

"Electronic engineers Peter Denyer, David Renshaw, Wang Guoyu and Lu Mingying worked on camera technology at Edinburgh University from the early 1980s that resulted in the tiny cameras now used by millions worldwide every day.

They are to be awarded the £80,000 Rank Prize – set up by the late Lord Rank to recognise scientific advances that have benefited mankind – at a ceremony in London for their work in developing and commercializing the technology."

Korea Developed a New Technology for 4G

Korean researchers developed a new mobile telephony communications protocol and the new system is seven times faster than HSDPA of 3.5G.

"...The technology used in the system is cellular-based 3.9G and is highly likely to be adopted as the standard for 4G. ETI will hand over the technology to Samsung and Samsung will release related products from the end of next year. "

[via The Electronic Times Internet]

Zoom lense for the iPhone

Spotted on Cameraphone Report, a 6x18 zoom lens lens for the iPhone by Conice.

TV glasses connect to cell phones

Spotted on The Guardian, technology correspondent Bobbie Johnson at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas watching a movie projected inside a pair of glasses.

The glasses connect to any kind of media device- iPod, cell phone or Zune and enable you to watch big screen TV privately.

Kenyan bloggers and mobile phones keep world informed

With news blackouts in force in Kenya it is up to the bloggers to keep the world, and indeed many of the media, informed of the terrible atrocities being perpetrated in what was just a week ago a relatively peaceful country in Africa. Mobile phones are being used to update Kenyan blogs and video shot of the violence in Kenya via mobile phone is being disseminated by mainstream news media.

Kenya has one of the most vibrant blogging communities in Africa according to the Internet and Democracy project team at Harvard in the United States in this blog entry on the impact of ‘Blogs, SMS and the Kenyan Election': “Blogs and mobile phones have played critical roles since violence erupted,” according to the blog post which is hosted at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

... According to the Internet and Democracy blog, only 3.2% of Kenyans have internet access, so mobile phones are a far more useful tool in disseminating information.

[via BizCommunity. Image from The Telegraph]

South Korea. Internet-TV Law Is Approved

South Korea's National Assembly passed a law allowing telecommunications companies to offer real-time broadcasting over their broadband networks.

The parliament passed the law on Internet Protocol TV, or IPTV, which offers real-time television programs and interactive services such as e-commerce over the Internet, according to the National Assembly's Web site.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

An end of year chat with mobuzz.tv's Anil de Mello

It´s New Years Eve....a time to look back and reflect....so Olivia sat down for a chat with Anil de Mello about mobuzz.tv´s past, present and future.

Also, Anil and Olivias thoughts on the 2.0 bubble (or not) and the demise (or not) of Facebook.

NTV Predictions: Mobile Video

NewTeeVee has asked their panel of experts whether mobile video will still suck in 2008.

Selections from their responses can be found here.

“More importantly, here’s the fundamental logjam of mobile — demand is increasing slowly, and the telecom companies and content owners are unwilling to cede control to each other. One has eyeballs and the other has videos, but the monetization is minimal and big companies will battle for control as startups quietly resolve the situation.” - Kevin Nalty, “self-proclaimed viral video genius” (a.k.a. Nalts from YouTube):

"... the rumored 3G version iPhone will probably arrive in 2008 and all mobile video problems will be solved.” - George Ruiz, head of new media at International Creative Management (online video talent agent)

Convert URLs for easy mobile phone access

DigitlURL is a web service that allows mobile phone users to access internet sites using numeric addresses, rather than traditional URLs. It was launched last month by Melbourner Andrew Gray. LifeHacker reports.

"Numeric addresses can be much easier to enter on phone keypads, particularly if the URL is long and complicated (as they so often are these days)."

You can find some more information at DigitlURL's blog.

Chinese farmers offered subsidised TVs, mobile phones

Chinese farmers will be given a 13-percent discount on televisions, mobile phones and other electrical appliances under a new subsidy scheme to boost rural spending, state press reported Monday.

... Once the scheme is expanded, air conditioners and washing machines will also attract a subsidy, according to the ministry.

[via the AFP]

China dials up money for mobile phones

Chinese regulators have given a vital push to the burgeoning cell phone TV biz by establishing a 400 million yuan ($54 million) government fund to develop the technology in the next three years. Variety Asia

"The coin is to help Chinese firms develop domestic mobile TV standards to avoid paying royalties to foreign firms to use their technology, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The fund will be run by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. "

Related: - Korean Mobile TV Technology Adopted as Global Standard

Upcoming standard to separate cameraphone wheat from chaff

Cell phone cameras have breached the 5-megapixel mark, but the image quality on many of them isn't that hot. A 22-member consortium named the I3A hopes to give consumers some guidance on image quality by developing a set of standards. [via ars technica]

"The 13A's list list of group participants reads like a Who's Who of influential corporations in a variety of areas. Companies participating include Texas Instruments, Nokia, Phillips Lumineds Lighting, Sony Ericsson, ST Microelectronics, Micron, Motorola, Eastman Kodak, and AMD.

The ultimate goal of the I3A's work in this area is to produce a range of standardized tests that could span the entire range of digital photo devices and provide consumers with an easy-to-understand rating system. "

Worlds Largest Photo Mosaic

Not related to cameraphones, just amazing.This mosaic which shows a child smiling has just achieved an entry in the Guinness World Record. It is 40.6 meters long and just under 14 meters wide. A total of 95,000 pictures of smiling children were used.

[via Spluch]

China's CCTV.com wins Beijing Games new media rights

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Tuesday it had awarded the Beijing 2008 Games internet and mobile phone platform rights for China to the digital arm of Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

The IOC has already sold over-the-air TV rights in China for the Games to CCTV.

Income from broadcasting and new media rights for the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympics have already risen nearly 40 percent from the previous two-Games package, which includes the Beijing Olympics, and will be in excess of $3.0 billion.

The IOC estimates some 15 percent of that will come from new media including the internet and mobile phones.

[via The Guardian. Image from the China Digital Times]

New Apple TV spot

New Apple TV spot.

[via Oneplus infinity]

Nokia debuts mobile video service

Continuing its acceleration into the multimedia business, Nokia announced Medeo, a new mobile streaming video service.

Accessed through the www.nokia.mobi portal, the ad-supported Medeo service focuses on entertainment-themed content like Hollywood news, film trailers, celebrity interviews and red-carpet footage, and is now available via Nokia Nseries and Eseries devices.

[via Fierce Mobile Content]

Mobile Greeting Card Creator

CellySpace has launched a do-it-yourself, web based MMS service for users to create multimedia greeting cards and send them to their family and friend's phones.

Dubbed the "MMS Composer", this service allows users to upload pictures and audio files from their computer, edit them into a slideshow and then send them for immediate or scheduled delivery.

MMS messages are optimized to fit mobile phone formats and can include audio, video, text and images.

[via Press release]

SendMe Mobile Works With Corbis to Roll Out the Red Carpet for Mobile Phone Users

SendMeMobile, the premier mobile media company, and Corbis, a creative resource for advertising, marketing and media professionals, today announced that they are partnering to bring the red carpet to mobile phones users.

SendMeMobile.com members now get exclusive front-row access to images shot by celebrity photographers -- from A-list stars at Hollywood's most high-profile events to emerging talent from top rated television shows and film.

This collection of celebrity and artist photographs from major events is shot by celebrity photographers, including world-renowned Frank Trapper. Trapper, who just published his book "Red Carpet, 20 Years of Fame and Fashion," is the first photographer to be part of this new program.

Press release

Are mobile Torrents the first big trend of 2008?

According to ZDNet the first big open source trend of 2008 is already on the horizon: Mobile Torrents.

Mobile implementations of the
BitTorrent Protocol are nearly certain to be part of whatever Google Android comes up with, and if not someone will have one for the open platform straightaway.

... Getting this trend off the ground won’t be easy. The BitTorrent throttling which draws enormous objections when done on the Internet may be standard business practice at AT&T or Verizon wireless.

The latter may be available to new devices, but that doesn’t mean it’s, like, open. They still want to get paid."

[via Inquirer]

Cameras that know who you photographed

This is wild. And could be the next cameraphone feature.

News.com reports on several technologies that make digital photography qualitatively different from the film photography of the past.

Autotagging for one - which enables users to sift through pictures by date (but you have to remember who you shot when) and more interesting, face recognition technology, which is software that can "trained" to recognize a set of people, based on the premise that most people take pictures of the same 25 to 30 people.

[via Smart Mobs]

How smart does your phone need to be?

Mobile phones come with ever more features; whether we use them is crucial to a billion-dollar industry. The BBC reports.

Take camera phones. They were derided at first. Today half of all mobile phone users in the UK take pictures with their mobiles, and a quarter send them on.

Camera phones have been a "phenomenal success" says Paul Goode, senior analyst at m:metrics, a consulting firm.

Now the industry hopes that mobile data - web, e-mail, music downloads - will be the next goldmine. "

ClassifEye technology guards camera phone identity

ClassifEye has developed fingerprint authentication technology which is compatible with most camera phones, to prevent identity theft.

The solution does not require any additional hardware such as fingerprint sensors, USB keys and code generators, making it cost-effective and easy to deploy.

A camera phone user simply downloads the ClassifEye software directly to the device.

The user then takes a picture of his finger with the phone’s camera. The software authenticates the user’s fingerprint and authorises immediate access to the phone.

The process takes less than a minute and eliminates the need to remember a password. It is also significantly more secure than a password.

[via Camera Core]

Cigarette Machine Can See Who's Too Young To Smoke

Not related to cameraphones, just interesting. Kyoto-based vending machine maker and marketer Fujitaka Co. has developed a new kind of machine that integrates a camera and face-recognition software to judge whether purchasers look old enough to buy cigarettes.

The vending machine has an "adult recognition" button, and when this is pressed a tiny camera takes a photo of the customer and analyzes certain features such as wrinkles and sagging around the eyes and mouth as well as the frame of the potential buyer's body to determine a general age.

In a test with 500 people ranging in age from their teens to their 60s, this software was able to identify adults with 90% accuracy.

Distinguishing teenagers from twenty-somethings is more difficult. So when the software cannot make a judgment call, the customer needs to insert a license to prove their age. If the machine can make a match with the license photo, it will sell cigarettes."

[via Nikkei.net

Hollywood Writers Say They'll Strike

Hollywood writers said they would strike for the first time in nearly 20 years but left open the door for last-minute talks to avert a crippling walkout. Associated Press reports.

... Union leaders said they would delay the action if producers showed movement in contract negotiations — especially on the key issue of paying writers when TV episodes are sold or streamed over the Internet.

The stakes are high for writers, actors and directors. While the revenue generated by Internet sales and rentals of films and TV shows is minuscule compared to DVDs, the guilds say Internet revenue eventually will become dominant.

"Every incremental window of distribution has added revenue and profitability to the business model," said Anthony DiClemente, an entertainment analyst for Lehman Brothers Equity Research. "Digital is likely to be a positive thing for the studios."

Studios argue that it is too early to know how much money they can make from offering entertainment on the Internet, cell phones, iPods and other devices."

E-Paper Displays Video

MEMS -based electronic paper for cell phones is fast enough to show video. Technology Review reports.

"A novel electronic-paper display developed by
Qualcomm can deliver high-quality video images, making it more versatile than other e-paper technologies. The display employs microscopic mechanical switches that turn pixels on and off at rates more than fast enough to display video.

The first versions of the display will be monochrome; one is featured in an Audiovox Bluetooth headset, released this week. A two-color display will be used next year in a phone made by the Chinese phone company Hisense. Full-color versions will follow. "

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.

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]

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]

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. "

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]

Harness new technology to deal with eyesight issues.

Technology executive and investor Conrad Lewis knows a thing or two about vision problems, so he's putting his money where his eyes are, writes Bert Hill for the OttawaCitizen.com.

"His idea is to use this technology to allow individuals losing eye sight to maximize the abilities they still have. Since the onset of blindness can take many forms, and even the legally blind have some remaining eyesight, the technology would be adapted to each case.

"With the cellphone and iPod gaining more power everyday, Lewis believes such devices will be the means to deliver video and special image enhancements to people with fading eyesight.

Headset technology that lets youths on Tokyo subways watch videos on their iPods and MP3 players could soon be helping the visually impaired.

"The technology isn't quite good enough yet, but the day is rapidly approaching. We want to ride the mass market."

eSight has developed a prototype that integrates the early technology and is showing it to investors. Mr. Lewis said a European research foundation has tentatively promised an $11-million investment."

iPhone goes 3G

It looks like the European version of the iPhone will go 3G after all. Apple has apparently signed a $56 million dollar deal with wireless company InterDigital, which will supply "2G and 3G technologies" to Apple over the next seven years. [via Tech.co.uk]

"The deal covers various 2G and 3G cellular technologies encompassing bandwidth allocation, roaming and power efficiency controls, and most likely also includes some type of packet data coding and delivery," Boenning & Scattergood analyst Michael Ciarmoli told eWeek."

Cameraphone and MMS Combine to Offer Music Information

This is fabulous. A record label is launching a service that enables music fans to get information about music, simply by taking a photo of the CD case and sending it via MMS to their server.

"MMS & Buy is about impulse purchase through picture taking: You are looking at a CD in the store or passing by a promo poster. Aim your mobile, send the picture as MMS, immediately get ringtones, video clips, concert tickets and further information about the music.

The company says that the service is based on image recognition engine and supports recognition of printed and electronic media , TV/ LCD screens, CD/DVD covers, Posters and T-Shirts.

MMS & Buy launches in the UK focusing on Music CD's, starting with the Top 20 UK singles. "

[via Cellular News]

China celebrates army via mobile phones

Just in time for tomorrow's 80th anniversary of China's People Liberation Army, mobile phone users can download highlights of the war. RTE News reports.

"Subscribers to China Unicom, the smaller of the country's two mobile telecom operators, is offering film clips of the Korean War and stirring military anthems.

"I believe it will be popular since we have so many military fans in China,' company official Yu Peng said. 'We have more than 300,000 pictures of weapons and military figures in our database along with clips of hundreds of movies, such as 'Battle for Berlin', 'Normandy Invasion' and 'Shang Ganling', a movie about the Korean War.'

... Customers will also be able to get military news sent straight to their handsets from the army's own newspaper."

Oki Japan Bring Iris Scanning to Existing Cellphones

Oki Japan has developed software that brings iris recognition security to existing cellphones, reports Gizmodo.

"Before now, biometric security has meant either hugely expensive military systems or cheap, novelty peripherals.

The software can be used to add another layer of security on any device that has a camera of at least 1 megapixel and is claimed to only give one false positive for every 100,000 scans."

Satellite Multimedia For Mobile Phones

According to Science Daily, ESA’s Telecommunications Department is supporting the development of technology needed for satellite systems to broadcast digital multimedia content such as video, television programmes, radio, and data to mobile telephones and vehicle-borne receivers.

"... High-power satellites in geostationary orbit have the ability to broadcast to large coverage areas and reach huge numbers of users. The proposed system will employ a mixture of satellites and Earth-based repeaters. Satellites ensure global coverage and repeaters make it possible to receive the signals inside buildings.

The system will be able to be integrated into modern mobile telephone and vehicle-mounted receiver designs at very low cost, making it ideal for the mass-market. "

Nokia Extends Web Push With Twango Purchase

According to The Wall Street Journal, Nokia plans to announce today that it has bought an online photo- and video-sharing start-up in the latest of a series of acquisitions to expand beyond cellphones into Internet-related services in search of new sources of revenue.

"The world's largest maker of cellphones by sales and market share is acquiring Twango Inc., a closely held Redmond, Wash., media-sharing Web site. "

Turn Your Camera Phone Into a Digital Scanner

qipit allows camera phone users to copy and share documents for free.

How does it work? Take a picture of a document with your camera phone. Send the picture from your phone or via email to copy@qipit.com. You'll receive a link to the online digital copy of your document.

[via MobileCrunch]

National Geographic launches How to Cameraphone book

National Geographic seeing that most of us are now taking pictures with our mobile phones rather than our digital cameras have released a book entitled - The Camera Phone Book. Photography Press reports.

"National Geographic, who has leant its name to everything from camera bags to clothing, has said the 160-page book has been created by two top professionals and illustrates how to get the most out of your camera on your phone."

NTT DoCoMo testing new, high-speed mobile network

Japan's largest mobile phone carrier NTT DoCoMo had began testing a new cellular network nearly 100 times faster than its current system, an Associated Press report said via America's Network.

"The company had started testing equipment it hopes will yield download speeds of up to 300Mbps.

Current maximum down speeds are 3.6Mbps. Completion of the new network is scheduled by 2009, the statement said."

Digital-cameras go wireless to compete with cameraphones

The integration of wireless technology into digital cameras -- which started two years ago but hasn't gone mainstream until recently -- is part of an effort to fight back against camera-equipped cellphones and make digital cameras more of a stand-alone device, reports The Wall Street Journal.

"... As portable camera cellphones continue to grow in popularity, many consumers are abandoning point-and-shoot digital cameras. The upshot: U.S. digital-camera sales are projected to fall 2.6% by 2010, according to research firm IDC. In contrast, U.S. camera-phone shipments are expected to rise nearly 75% by 2010."

Click here to look at some Wi-Fi digital cameras.

Related: - Casio adds YouTube to Exilim camera mix

Can Beijing get its 3G act together for 2008 Olympics?

With less than 400 days until the opening ceremony on Aug. 8, 2008, Chinese workers and officials appear on track to have everything ready. Everything, that is, except 3G, or third-generation mobile technology. PC World reports.

"China remains one of the few Asian countries without 3G service.

When Beijing won the bid to host the games, officials promised a "High-Tech Olympics" to highlight new technologies and showcase China's economic development. 3G was going to be one of the technologies on display."

Citizen Mobile Videos to save the Earth

Friends of the Earth is asking members of the public to record videos with their mobile phones to pledge support for a new campaign, The Big Ask, to help push for tough new climate change laws.

"Friends of the Earth will send a copy of each video message to each sender’s local MP. The campaign has attracted celebrity support from the likes of Jude Law, James Blunt, Johnny Borrel and KT Tunstall."

[From Pocket-Picks]

Eyewitness capture terrorists burning car on camera and film

Eyewitness Thomas Conroy too this picture of the terrorist vehicle crashing into the Glasgow Airport's Terminal One building in Glasgow. Another witness filmed the car on fire with his cameraphone. [via BBC]

Paris didn't eat or drink out of fear guards would take cameraphone pics of her on john

According to The New York Daily News, the mysterious health condition that led Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to release Paris Hilton from jail was her fear of guards filming her with cameraphones - while on the john.

"It was apparently the one time she was camera-shy.

Paris Hilton was so terrified guards would snap a cell-phone picture of her on the toilet that she didn't eat or drink for three days, which left her facing a life-threatening collapse, a source told the Daily News. She also was not taking prescribed medication while in jail, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said.

The stainless steel lavatory in the hotel heiress' 12-foot-by-8-foot cell was in plain view of a large window in the door, which guards could look through 24 hours a day.

"She was absolutely terrified that one of the guards or staffers would get her with the cell-phone cam and it would wind up on the Internet," a Hilton insider said yesterday.

"She didn't eat or drink a single thing for three days because she didn't want to use the toilet. She was in real danger."

Hilton also suffered from "extreme claustrophobia" and began hyperventilating and freaking out.

"She cried the entire time, and that wasn't helping the dehydration," the source said.

Jail medical officials became concerned that severe dehydration and a buildup of waste and toxins in Hilton's body could cause a complete collapse and "even kill her," the source said."