Localizing where a picture was taken

According to Roland Piquepaille, Carnegie Mellon University "researchers are trying to estimate the geographic location of a single photo by comparing it to a database of 6 million pictures accurately geolocated by flickr users. Their method allowed them to correctly guess the location of an unknown photo 30 times better than with pure luck."

Mobile music video service Napster Clips debuts in Japan

Napster has just launched its first mobile music video service, Napster Clips in Japan.

This new service puts a premium on unlimited access to a high-quality digital video service that would complement Napster’s music subscription service. In partnership with Japan’s NTT Docomo, Napster is offering this service via the mobile operator’s new N960IL onefone mobile handset.

[via Gadgetell]

OmniVision Develops Sensor To Improve Camera Phones

In a development that may provide a significant improvement in camera-phone picture quality, semiconductor maker OmniVision Technologies Inc. said it has developed a "radically different" image sensor that can squeeze many more pixels on a tiny chip.

The new technology will allow cellphone makers to offer resolution comparable to that found in the latest digital cameras. But will probably be several years before the new chips appear in lower-end handsets.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

Google fuzzes out faces in privacy push

Google has rolled out a new technology which automatically blurs any human face appearing in street-level photographs taken for use in its mapping services by its fleet of camera-mounted vehicles. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

"The blurring technology, which will be retrospectively applied to all existing Street View images and incorporated in all future releases of the popular mapping feature, is intended to mollify concerns about the potentially intrusive nature of the service.

Google will shortly previewed the face-blurring technology on the Street View images found on its Manhattan maps. Detail of the changes were announced on an official Google blog today.

Are cellphones ruining the concert experience?

What if you gave a concert and the crowd refused to watch? Asks The Dallas Morning News.

"It's not as far-fetched as it seems. As more and more concertgoers fiddle with cellphone cameras and fidget with BlackBerries, some people say mobile technology is ruining the concert experience.

"It's extraordinarily irritating," says Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame. "All these people holding up these horrid little squares of bright light."

"It's like they're not even there," says jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. "It's like, 'Why don't you put that away and listen to the music?'

Its not just a case of cranky baby boomers griping about the young and the restless. Plenty of younger artists and fans are also getting fed up with the tech intrusion.

"As a performer, it's frustrating to look out and see a sea of cellphones instead of faces," says Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein.

"There's definitely a problem where people are so busy documenting the moment that they forget to just live in the moment."

Better Reading on the Small Screen

A research project could help people transfer paper documents to their phones and read them more easily. MIT Technology Review reports.

"In a recent demonstration, researchers showed how the technology, called Seamless Documents, could store a scanned document in a database and analyze its structure and content.

The analysis identifies sections and paragraphs, and automatically extracts key phrases that summarize the sections. So when a person pulls up the document on a phone, she can jump to a section labeled with a keyword, or just skip to the last paragraph on a page.

In addition, as the user scrolls through the document, software on the phone automatically resizes images, section headers, and plain text, as different elements of the document layout come into view."

Democrat wants to require disability-friendly Internet phones, video

At the moment, most TVs and telephones must be outfitted with special features for people with hearing, vision, and speech impairments under U.S. law.

Now an influential Democratic congressman wants to expand those requirements to their Internet counterparts. NewsBlog reports.

"The bill (PDF) being drafted by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) would require, at least in some cases, dramatic changes in the way Internet phone- and video-related products are designed, while making it more difficult than under existing law for companies to claim exemptions from those requirements."

Big Moving Pictures

Big Moving Pictures (BMP) is a rolling television network – the company provides everything that a conventional television network does (content, distribution, sales) but without a signal that goes to your home... instead, the ‘signal’ comes to you directly at major outdoor events, via large video screens and sound systems. And soon, even to your video-equipped mobile phone and the Web.

The BMP production integrates tightly with the event you’re attending, including packaged content about the performers or competitors, information about the day’s program, and live camera shots from planes, car, motorcycles, boats and even skydivers! All with terrific music, narration and the feeling that you’re experiencing something truly powerful and exciting.

[via Gizmag]

Sprint Employee Sends Nude Photos to Customer's Phone

A Dayton woman is suing a Dayton man and Sprint Nextel, claiming she received unsolicited text messages and nude digital photos of the man soon after he exchanged her Nextel telephone for a Sprint telephone at The Sprint Store in Miamisburg.

[via Switched by engadget]

Gadget to bring back Berlin Wall for tourists

The multimedia handheld device mentioned here doesn't make phone calls, so it's unrelated to cell phones, but the concept is really interesting. From the AFP.

"Tourists in the German capital disappointed to find little of the Berlin Wall left will from next month be able to have it reappear before their eyes with a gadget unveiled Monday.

A handheld multimedia device, available for rental from May 1, will allow visitors walking through the city to see what the Cold War barrier looked like at the spot where they are standing.

The MauerGuide (Wall Guide) using GPS navigation technology, presents pictures, video footage and audio recordings on the history of the Berlin Wall at five prominent sites along its former route, manufacturer Antenna Audio said in a statement."

Halo launches new security solution

Halo Security Systems has launched an ingenious new product, which takes the worry out of protecting your property.

The Halo 3G RemoteView uses mobile phone and camera technology that allows the owner to hear and see any remote location in real time. The Halo 3G RemoteView automatically alerts the owner should it be triggered by a sensor. It phones the owner’s mobile phone and provides crisp images and audio so you can make a decision as to whether your presence is required!

Halo 3G RemoteView just requires a SIM card and can even operate with a Solar Panel so you don’t even need a power source.

[via HGV Ireland News]

New Service automatically saves camphone pics and sends them to your computer

Alltel Wireless and Ontela have partnered to launch a new service that unlocks photos trapped inside wireless phones. PhotoCopter automatically sends all photos taken with a camera phone to the user’s personal computer or online photo album.

Time Warner Cable To Launch Hispanic-Targeted Digital TV, Phone Service In L.A.

Time Warner Cable's Los Angeles division will launch Hispanic-targeted digital TV and phone packages with a regional event on April 24, reports Multichannel News.

"The video package will be marketed under the name Paquetazo (the package of all packages) and will be priced at $34.95 a month. The package will be a block beginning at Channel 805 and includes a mix of Spanish and English language channels.

Subscribers will also have access to 4,000 hours of free Spanish- and English-language video-on-demand programming."

For Tomorrow's Cellphones, It's About Speed

Joel Espelien of Packet Video explains in the WSJ how faster networks will change the way we use cellphones.

"Most phones even low end will have Wi-Fi. They'll be designed from the ground up for a world in which devices are connected to always-on data networks. They'll have built-in Web capability and built-in multimedia capability for movies and music and pictures.

With a newer phone, you might be able to see not just your friends, but what they are doing now, the latest pictures they uploaded and some messages based on pictures you might have sent them.

... There will be a lot of video that is on-demand. Many shows are already on the Web, and people will be able to have access to them using Internet streaming."

Vote-rigging fears spark polling booth mobile phone ban

Camera phones have been banned from Italian polling stations amid fears over vote-rigging by the Mafia, according to Amateur Photographer.

"The government crackdown follows previous cases of the Mafia tempting Italians to vote for a particular politician – and telling them to prove who they voted for by photographing their ballot paper.

In previous elections the Mafia paid voters the equivalent of £35 for a picture of their ballot paper, according The Scotsman newspaper.

Voters who fail to hand over their phone at polling stations face a £700 fine or six months in jail, reports the newspaper's Nick Pisa in Rome.

In one such case a man in north-east Italy was reportedly arrested after being caught taking a picture during the elections, which started yesterday.

'Police were called after the noise of a camera click was heard from his booth,' adds the article. 'The mobile phone was confiscated.' "

The WiFi umbrella

Spotted on Popgadget, a WiFi camera umbrella.

The high-tech brolly allows you to take pictures with a built-in camera. These can be uploaded to Flickr (a photo-sharing website) via a wireless internet connection and within two minutes you can watch downloaded photo-streams on your umbrella screen with a simple wrist-snapping movement.

Invented in Tokyo (where else?) the Pileus umbrella also has GPS and a digital compass, which uses Google Earth to help you navigate yourself around the world. They are working on incorparating a video camera as well.

Video glasses anyone?

Vuzix has teamed up with UK wireless operator 3, to offer video glasses. TrustedReviews reports.

"Beginning this week, Vuzix's flagship model of 'iWear video glasses' will touch down in selected 3 stores around the country (to both try and buy) and will also be available from the threeaccessories online site.

The 'AV920' creates a viewing area the equivalent size of a 62in TV when worn and can connect virtually any device from iPods, DVD players, mobile phones, games consoles and camcorders.

It's designed for train and plane journeys and comes with its own built in headphones (though they are detachable should an owner wish to use their own)."

Projectors to magnify cell-phone cinema

Recognizing that it's not much fun to watch movies on a tiny cell phone, a number of companies are racing to develop gadgets that project what's playing on the small screen onto walls, table cloths and other handy surfaces. [via the Associated press]

"Pico projectors" that are small enough to carry around in a shirt pocket are expected on the market later this year. Eventually, the technology will be tiny enough to be built into phones and portable media players, the companies say.

Image left: Russell Hannigan, of Microvision Inc., demonstrates a handheld projector hooked up to an iPod during the CTIA wireless show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in this Tuesday.

Related articles linked to cell phone projectors.

LOLcats goes mobile

Since our cat Virgule became a full fledged member of our family last September, I finally understand why cats are such a popular topic on photo and video sharing sites.

Now, thanks to ICanHasCheezBurger, starting Wednesday, fans of LOLcats will be able to get updates of the funny, iconic felines on their cell phones.

To get started, text 'LOL' to 44566 and follow the link the the poster kitten of the day. Or, visit http://frengo.com/ichc/ from your mobile browser.

[via News.com]

Mobile Video News Out of CTIA

NewTeeVee has a round up of the related mobile video news out of the CTIA.

Some highlights:

-- NBC will create live video in support of the upcoming Olympics; it has inked a multicarrier deal to give AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Research in Motion subscribers access to more than 60 WAP sites including NBC, USA and Bravo; and may be interested in.

-- Fox Mobile Entertainment launched the aptly-named Fox Entertainment Mobile Network, which will feature content from hit shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, Nip/Tuck and The Dog Whisperer. More...

"No cell phones when you vote," Italians told

Italians were told on Tuesday that they will have to leave their beloved cell phones outside the ballot box when they vote in a national election this month. Reuters reports.

"A statement from the Interior Ministry said cell phones "or any other device that can take still pictures or video clips" will have to be checked outside the polling station during the April 13-14 election.

Mobile phones are ubiquitous in Italy. Last year Eurostat said that by 2005 there were more mobile phones than people Italy -- 122 phones per 100 residents.

The ruling, the first of its kind, was apparently issued to head off corruption".

Sony Films headed to Mobile Phones

Sony Pictures Television is looking to launch the first movie network on mobile phones in the United States.

"The studio has signed a deal with AT&T and MediaFlo USA to launch the linear channel as one of two exclusive channels coming to the newly announced AT&T Mobile TV with FLO service in May.

The channel, to be known as PIX, will be stocked with such titles as "Ghostbusters," "Philadelphia" and "Stand by Me."

[via Reuters/Hollywood Reporter]

China to launch trial service of homegrown 3G mobile phones next week

China will launch trial service of its homegrown next-generation mobile phone standard next week, news reports said Friday, possibly moving its giant market closer to the long-anticipated rollout of new services, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

"Companies expect a multibillion-dollar wave of spending on equipment once China awards licenses for third-generation, or 3G, service. But Beijing has delayed a decision while it tries to develop its own system to compete with global standards.

China Mobile will test the standard, known as TD-SCDMA, by issuing 20,000 phones and 5,000 data cards on Tuesday in Beijing and seven other cities, state television and other media said.

The reports gave no indication how long the test would last, whether it would be expanded to other areas or when licenses might be awarded."

TMZ Creating Mobile Site

Gossip Web site and syndicated TV show TMZ is creating a stand-alone mobile Web site.

The new site will feature all of the photos, videos and snark that make the normal site such a hit with gossip hounds, generating 11 million unique visitors per month.

[via Broadcasting & Cable]

AT&T Set to Offer Live Video to Cellphones

AT&T in May plans to begin offering a long-awaited mobile-TV service, using a Qualcomm Inc. network called MediaFlo that broadcasts live video to cellphones. The WSJ reports

MediaFlo's networ sends TV programming to cellphones, using frequencies associated with a conventional TV channel that broadcasters must vacate as they shift to digital TV transmission.

Until a federal deadline for the shift -- now set for February 2009 -- MediaFlo has largely been setting up in cities where the channel was vacant, or in some cases has persuaded broadcasters to move early."

Queen mentiones the cameraphone in speech at banquet

In her speech at a banquet at Windsor Castle, in honor of the Sarkozy's visit, the Queen describes the many ways France and Britain enjoy cooperation and exchanges - including through the Internet and the cameraphone. [BBC video]

I have a sense that our two countries are working increasingly closer together. The Internet, the Eurostar and even the camera phone have helped transform the way our respective populations interact. Images are sent from a blink of an eye...

Rumor: Digg founder claims 3G iPhone to do video chat

Digg founder Kevin Rose, whose first-generation iPhone rumors fell short of their mark last Spring, is citing different sources this year in predicting that the 3G version of the handset will boast video chat capabilities.

[via Apple Insider]

Street photographers fear for their art amid climate of suspicion

With public concern rising over paedophilia and terrorism, street photographers face new difficulties. The TimesOnline reports.

"... In the past year, the photography blogs have buzzed with tales of harassment, even violence. There's the war photographer who dodged bullets abroad only to be beaten up in his own South London backyard by a paranoid parent who (wrongly) thought his child was being photographed. There's the amateur photographer punched prostrate in the London Tube after refusing to give up his film to a stranger; the case of the man in Hull, swooped on by police after taking photographs in a shopping centre. “Any person who appears to be taking photos in a covert manner should expect to be stopped and spoken to by police ...” ran the Humberside force's statement.

Now, a new poster campaign by the Metropolitan Police is inviting Londoners to call a hotline if they don't like the look of a photographer. “Thousands of people take photos every day,” runs the text. “What if one of them seems odd?” The poster states that terrorists use cameras for surveillance.

... Street photography doesn't just document what our environment used to look like; it shows us how it really looks now, freezing the moment to reveal the weirdness and magic of the split second ..."

[via
del.icio.us/regine]

Terahertz video transfer is foretaste of future wireless

Video footage has been transmitted using a terahertz wireless signal for the first time, reports New Scientist.

"Although the link spanned just 22 meters it marks a significant step towards using much faster chunks of wireless spectrum, by harnessing radio waves oscillating a trillion times per second.

The speed at which wireless data can be transferred is limited by the vibration rate of radio waves. Today's fastest wireless technologies, including WiFi and third generation (3G) mobile networks, operate in the ranges of gigahertz (a billion times per second) and megahertz (a million times a second) respectively."

Read full story.

$22,000 bill for downloading 4 episoes of "Friends" via Vodafone UK

The wife of a city executive cost her husband £11,000 ($22,000) after she downloaded four episodes of the sitcom "Friends" through his mobile phone while abroad. The Telegraph reports.

"The woman used the broadband package on his Vodafone mobile phone to order the programs, which would have been free had the download taken place in Britain.

However, her husband flew to Germany on business while the download was still in progress and it resumed after he touched down, incurring the massive fees.

The pair, who have not been named, discovered the unwelcome bill after the executive arrived back in the UK and Vodafone called his firm to alert him.

Ed Richards, the chief executive of industry regulator Ofcom, said it would investigate the huge fee.

He said: "We will be looking to take action."

Not even Adobe knows when Flash is coming to the iPhone

When Apple released the iPhone last summer, it did not support Adobe’s Flash Player, which meant Internet videos and other Web sites developed in Flash would not work on the phone writes Moco News.

"Google’s YouTube was one of the only video-sites that bothered to re-format some content, and even still only some of its videos became viewable on the iPhone. So, seven months after the iPhone’s release, the question remains: will Apple support Flash?

Adobe’s patience is thinning “No one aside from [Apple CEO] Steve Jobs has any idea if or when it’s coming,” Ryan Stewart, Adobe’s chief spokesman wrote on his blog last week. “Everyone I talk to doesn’t know anything.”

[via engadget:mobile. Image from MyiTablet]

Flickr is key prize in Yahoo Takeover

Stephen Wellman, writing on Information a couple of weeks ago, suggests that mobile phone maker Nokia should buy Yahoo, with the number one carrot being Flickr, "the best Web 2.0 application for storing and sharing digital photos". directtrafficmedia reports.

He argues that Nokia "would be able to leverage its global dominance in the camera phone market and create a truly compelling synergy between its hardware and Yahoo".

It seems more likely, though, that Yahoo will be bought by Microsoft, which wants to improve its Online Advertising position so that it can compete more effectively with Google.

But some Flickr users are not happy about that outcome, with more than 3,000 creating a group entitled "Microsoft: Keep Your Grubby Hands Off Our Flickr", Computer World reports.

PDG – Personal Display Glasses for mobile phones

Mobintech, a Denmark-based group, believes it has found the solution to the mobile phone industry's problem of trying to offer television and video services on a tiny screen. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

"The logic of our product is that everyone wants to push mobile television at the moment but there are obstacles," says marketing director Soren Peterson.

"The first is the size of the screen. If you're watching football you can't see the ball. If it's boxing, you don't know who is hitting who."

The group's proposition is a chunky pair of futuristic-looking glasses that connect to the phone, which when worn by a viewer give the impression of watching a 30 inch (76cm) television at a distance of two metres.

In their own words: Watch your favorite TV shows and videos directly from your mobile phone on a pair of display glasses with a big 30 inch flat screen in front of your eyes.

Canon Hopes To Use The Photographer’s Iris For Copyright Protection

Canon has filed for a
patent they hope will ervolutionize digital watermarking when it comes to photographs.

Future cameras from the company could have a ‘REG’ setting on the Mode dial that will actually take a photograph of the user’s iris as they look through the viewfinder.

This image, which is as unique as a fingerprint would be added to the photo’s metadata once a series of shots have been captured.

[via OhGizmo]

Samsung's MBP-100 mini projector goes mobile in March

The MBP-100 mini projector casts a 20-inch display from cellphones or presumably appropriately jacked portable media players of all kinds.

No details at the moment but it's expected to hit S.Korea in March and hopefully go global soon thereafter.

[via Engadget:mobile]

What is Robert Redford doing at Mobile World Congress?

Robert Redford will be participating at a keynote interview at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona starting today.

Apparently topics will include the 4th screen (mobile phone screen) as a medium for independent filmmakers to reach new audiences on a global basis.

[via I4U]

Bluetooth to Piggyback on Wi-Fi

Linking Bluetooth and Wi-Fi may make it easier and faster to transfer large amounts of music between computers and cell phones, or send pictures from a camera phone to a printer, or video from a camcorder to a TV.

Michael Foley, director of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, said the first devices with the technology could be on the market in the middle of next year. The industry group behind Bluetooth, which has more than 10,000 member companies, plans to announce Monday that it is pursuing the technology and will make it available next year.

[iva Physorg.com]

What is Robert Redford doing at Mobile World Congress?

The GSM Association got Robert Redford to participate at a keynote interview at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week.

Apparently topics will include the 4th screen (mobile phone screen) as a medium for independent filmmakers to reach new audiences on a global basis.

[via I4U]

Paramount Pictures Creates New Mobile Entertainment Unit

Paramount Pictures is creating a new global business unit to focus on "developing mobile entertainment and alternative distribution models." The Viacom studio plans to announce Paramount Mobile Entertainment officially Monday

[via Moco News]

Embedding a 3G Video Camera into Clothing

A UK company has launched a "wearable CCTV" jacket which uses 3G cellular to transmit video images back to a central office. The company says that its WCCTV 3G Covert Backpack is ideal for agents who need evidential quality recording of suspects on the move. The backpack houses all of Wireless CCTV's body-worn technology in a covert package.

... Using 3G mobile phone technology, images and sound can be remotely monitored by a supervisor, who can evaluate the situation in real-time and despatch assistance or advise the agent on possible courses of action.

... A Panic Alarm button allows agents to notify the supervisor that they need immediate assistance.

[via Cellular News]

Verizon Rejects Hollywood’s Call to Aid Piracy Fight

More often than not companies in similar positions have similar views. But when Hollywood asked the two big phone companies to help with its fight against piracy, they responded in opposite ways. Saul Hansell in his New Times blog Bits reports.

"AT&T, as we wrote, is talking about developing a system that would identify and block illicitly copied material being sent over its broadband network.

Verizon, however, opposes the concept. I spoke to Tom Tauke, Verizon’s executive vice president for public affairs, on the subject. He said the company’s view combines a concern for the privacy of its customers with self interest. It may be costly for it to get into the business of policing the traffic on its network. Indeed, phone companies have largely spent a century trying not to be liable for what people say over their lines."

[via Gizmodo]

Kodak says sensor boosts camera power in phones

According to Reuters, Eastman Kodak Co on Monday introduced chips that can boost the picture-taking power in mobile phones, and help manufacturers cut development costs.

" Kodak says its KAC-05020 Image Sensor is the world's first 1.4 micron, 5-megapixel device that allows capture of high quality images in small cameras, with quality that equals what is available from current devices using larger, 1.75 micron pixel designs.

"It will help manufacturers reduce their costs...because of the size - you can put more chips onto one wafer, for the same amount of money," said Fas Mosleh, CMOS Sensors Marketing Director at Kodak. "This is the kind of technology that can help upgrade all camera phones to a real camera."

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."