Uphill struggle for mobile gaming

The vast majority of people in the UK now own a mobile phone. Whether it is for use in an emergency, chatting to your friends or keeping in touch with the office, few can deny the benefits, reports the BBC.

"But whilst voice and text services are the main uses for the handsets, comparatively few people are downloading and playing games with them.

... Games as a genre are advertised as a benefit of various mobile services but nobody seems willing to spend money on high profile campaigns to raise awareness of specific titles. The result of the lack of mainstream advertising.

"According to a report from a Scottish games company, only 5% of consumers have ever downloaded a mobile phone game and more than a third of total users were unsure whether they could do that or not."

Africa's cellphone boom creates a base for low-cost banking

The second article in a week on low cost (mobile) banking in Africa, this time by the thoughtful and well written Christian Science Monitor.

"Cellphones are already used for music downloads, text messaging, and video games. But here in South Africa, they are beginning to perform another function: personal piggy bank.

It's a high-tech solution designed to help poor people here who never have had access to banks, cash machines, or credit cards. And it's another example of using digital technology to fast forward development in remote areas.

Earlier this month, one of South Africa's main cellphone networks and one if its largest banks launched a new cellphone banking system that they hope will bring millions of poor South Africans into the official economy for the first time.

The venture hopes to build on the rapid spread of pre-paid cellphones to create a whole new banking system, one designed for low-income users that have long been under-served or ignored by traditional banks.

MTN Banking replaces a physical bank with a system that uses a patented security mechanism, and requires only a phone call and a government-issued identity number to subscribe. There are no monthly charges, only fees for each transaction.

... For many poor South Africans, the system offers a first step into a world that can help them save, send, and receive money. With a few key punches, they can send money to a relative or pay for goods without ever seeing a paper bill - a benefit in a country with a high crime rate."

related article: - Cell phones as currency (The Guardian)

Over 600 SMS alerts for "Clean Air" campaign

If Malta is anything to go by, it seems that authorities calling out for citizens to report on other citizens works. But if such initiatives proliferate, will we always know when we cross the line, between performing a civic duty and becoming an informant?

In just three days, 639 reports of emissions have been logged with the Malta Transport Authority under its new Emission Alert SMS 4 Clean Air campaign, reports The Times of Malta.

"Motorists and commuters are being urged to assume the role of enforcement officers by sending a text message to 5061 1899 with the registration number of the vehicle belching out the offending smoke."

Related: - Malta launches "Emission Alert" by SMS

Safe Tan Alert by SMS

The MedSun Website analyses sun rays and offers a personalized service informing subscribers by SMS, how long is safe for sun exposure according to skin type and the recommended UV protection factor.

Mobile user need only to sign up online and answer a few questions. A computer using a specially developed algorythms analyses satellite images: weather, clouds, ozone, temperature and then matches the data with individual skin types. The system, developed by FlyBy is updated every 15 minutes.

The system has been launched so far in Tuscany and Sicily and is still in a testing phase. [via Corriere della Serra]

Related:

-- Sunburn alert phone unveiled - Developped by Japanese firm Macnica, a tiny ultraviolet light sensor is mounted on a mobile phone to warn users of bright, sunburn-causing sunshine. With the help of a built-in GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) system, the phone could then also log the sunshine readings into a central database, creating a "sunburn map", said the report"

SMS reminder: Wear your helmet

With less than a week left for the government notification on compulsory wearing of helmets to take effect, traffic police in the city of Ahmedabad have started a campaign to bring awareness among citizens regarding the compulsion, according to Ahmedabad Newsline India.

The police have tied up with cellular service providers to send SMSs to all their subscribers regarding the date of implementation of the notification."

Handsets' Deadly Use: Detonators

More and more terrorists are using cell phones to remotely detonate bombs — and there's not much authorities can do about it. At least, not that they can say, reports Investor's Business Daily, in a very interesting and thorough article on this issue.

"Cell phones have been connected to terrorist bombings in Madrid, Bali and Israel. Many roadside bombs in Iraq are believed to be triggered by cell phones. (more examples in Cell Phones used by terrorists)

... The very factors that make cell phones so easy and affordable to use also make them easy to use as detonation devices. Radio jamming gear can prevent cell phone detonations, but cops don't have easy access to such gear or the ready authority to use it. Carriers, too, are limited in what they can do to stop cell phones from being used to detonate bombs.

It's a complex, delicate situation. Few in government or industry care to talk about it publicly.

Unfortunately, it's easy to use cell phones as detonators. Handsets are so similar, terrorists encounter the same circuitry in most any phone. Phones can easily be disassembled.

"It takes about a minute and a half using a screwdriver" to connect a cell phone to a bomb, said Howard Melamed, president of Coral Springs, Fla.-based CellAntenna. It sells gear to jam cell phone signals.

Melamed says there are two main ways to use a cell phone as a detonator. One method is to connect a bomb to the wires of the phone's ringer. The bomb can be exploded with a call to the phone.

The other way is to connect a bomb to the phone's internal alarm clock, to detonate at a preset time.

Walls concedes that design makes it easy to convert cell phones into detonators. But cell phones can't shoulder all the blame, he says. Many other electronic devices use radio airwaves and also can be made into detonators. Authorities believe garage door openers, cordless phones and toy remote controls have been used as detonators of roadside bombs in Iraq.

Electronic jammers could prevent detonations. If a bomb is known to be in an area, the jammer interferes with signals reaching the phone, hence preventing ignition.

In July, the Pentagon began issuing the third generation of its Warlock electronic jammers to soldiers in Iraq. The latest version is handheld. Other versions are vehicle-mounted or require manpower.

Israeli security's had ready access to cell phone jamming gear because of that nation's long history of terrorist attacks, but not so elsewhere.

... jammers are fine in places like Iraq where the U.S. military has full authority to stop all cell phone communications in a battle zone. But in the U.S., jamming signals knock out all communications, even those of civilians. Oelrich says few government agencies want to risk the wrath of angry consumers who can't make a cell phone call.

More than that, the fact is that jamming devices work only when a bomb is detonated through calling a cell phone. A preset explosion using the cell phone's clock can't be prevented through jamming, since no signal goes over the airwaves.

... cellular networks also can be designed to allow only outgoing calls in certain locations, such as subway tunnels. That way, terrorists couldn't call a cell phone to set off a bomb."

South Korean Teenagers, adept at blind texting

Interesting insight on teenagers in South Korea from The New York Times. This part caught my eye, related to cell phones:

"Hye Jin, who has had a mobile phone since the seventh grade,sends text messages without even glancing at the keypad. In class, she looks straight ahead, holding a pen in her right hand, punching away messages with the left on her phone under her desk.

Some boys have taken this rebelliousness further by carving holes in their desks, through which they look down at their phones."

Mobile video footage of a hostage beheading

A man has been convicted of showing video footage of a hostage beheading in Iraq to a woman on his mobile phone, reports the BBC.

Subhaan Younis, 23, showed hotel worker Charlotte McClay graphic images of a man having his head sawn off.

He has been found guilty of committing a breach of the peace by showing explicit video images of the murder. In evidence Younis, a part-time shop worker, told the court that he had downloaded the images onto his mobile phone from the internet.

He claimed that he had told Ms McClay that he was going to show her a beheading and said he believed she was interested in seeing it."

Horror film viral sends victims phone message

Interactive marketing consultancy New Media Maze has launched a new viral marketing campaign to promote the release of The Ring Two on DVD, reports Netimperative.

"Commissioned by DreamWorks Home Entertainment, the viral campaign is being billed as the ‘scariest viral ever' to hit the internet and mimics an actual scene from the movie.

Visitors to the DVD launch site www.7daysleft.com are invited to scare their friends by entering their email address and mobile telephone number.

The site then sends an email to the visitors friend, inviting them to click on a link, and watch the video.

As they're watching it, their mobile phone rings, and a voice whispers “Seven days” down the phone. The viewer is then given the option to send the viral to five of their friends.

“We've already launched the viral in Australia, where the it has really taken off – there's already been over ten thousand interactions with the viral, from a very small seeding base,” Smith added.

Don't answer your phone when it's plugged into it's charger (?)

A Nigerian man has supposedly been killed when he answered his phone while it was plugged into the wall to charge, reports Techdirt.

The man answered his phone, then "after a few seconds electricity flowed into the cell phone unrestrained and the young man was thrown to the ground with a heavy thud", resulting in a weak heartbeat and burnt fingers, and he was dead on arrival at a hospital.

The source for the story in the Nigerian paper is a flimsy "message" forwared from a friend, but nonetheless consider yourself warned that while mobile phones are useful, they "can also be an instrument of death."

This piece of news should be filed away with the "Cell Phone Charger Fire Destroys Entire N.Y. Home" story - where a house burned down in Duchess County New York, when a cell phone charger heated up and short circuited.

Survey says: 35.9% of US teens bought cellphones for texting

According to a recent survey by the IDC and SMS.ac, 35.9% of teens acquired their cellphones for the sole or main purpose of texting, while only 13.3% of them wanna get all old skool and actually talk. [via Engadget]

Cops lose plea over racist text messages

Four UK policemen sacked for exchanging a racist text message have lost a bid to win back their jobs, reports Manchester Online. They were the first serving officers to be dismissed by the force over a racist text message.

"The offensive text found on the four officers' private mobile phones was written in the form of a joke.

A police inspector reported it to his bosses after one of the men showed him the message. A 10-month investigation was held and the four were sacked after an internal disciplinary tribunal."

Three of them were based in Salford and the fourth was based in south Manchester. The officers - who have not been named - admitted "sending, receiving or showing a racist text message to colleagues."

Cell phones are a $570 bln industry in 2005

Cell phones are a $570 bln industry in 2005 according to Strategy Analytics, reports ZDNet.

Worldwide cellular user base will increase from 1.7 bln people at the end of 2005 to 2.5 bln people by the end of 2010, a 38% penetration rate."

Shanghai to register legal names of all mobile phone subscribers

All mobile phone subscribers in Shanghai, new and old, will have to register their legal names with city authorities beginning September 1, according to according to Interfax China.

"Mobile phone and Xiaolingtong subscribers will now need to show their Citizen Identity cards and register their legal names when buying a new SIM card. Telecom operators will be required to confirm and register the legal names of new subscribers in a database.

"Shanghai police began cooperating with telecom operators and banks in the city earlier this August to fight a new wave of fraudulent SMS messages that have been sent to mobile subscribers across Shanghai recently.

The most common of these messages offers to sell narcotics, guns, counterfeit certificates, and other contraband to the receiver, if they will transfer money to a specified bank account. Once money is transferred, senders of the SMS messages disappear."

Who needs a wristwatch?

Strip your wrist and grab your hip. Times are changing. Or at least the way people keep time. The News & Observer reports.

The cell phone is becoming the modern watch, replacing the bands that have wrapped wrists for generations.

It seems watches might be taking it on the chin," said Neely Tamminga, a senior analyst with Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis who follows Fossil, a U.S. watchmaker that has had sluggish domestic sales.

That's not to say the industry's time has passed. U.S. consumers spent $3.8 billion on watches at fine jewelers last year, 6 percent more than in 2003, according to market researcher LGI Network.

But just because they're spending more doesn't mean they're buying more. The number of watches sold at those upscale retailers declined by 4 percent.

Meanwhile, mobile phones have evolved into the must-have accessory of the age. They snap pictures, shoot video, play games, keep calendars, send e-mail and -- get this -- let people talk.

Cell phones eliminate the fuss of figuring out the time. Because they are connected to networks, most show the exact time, every time. They automatically adjust for daylight-saving time and when taken into new time zones.

And gadget makers have learned not to overlook the simple feature that became standard about seven years ago.

Watchmakers aren't wasting time responding to the cell-phone threat. In February, a group of French watchmakers and jewelers sued a mobile-phone operator for airing a television commercial showing watches and a grandfather clock being trashed."

Related article: - Watchmakers cast nervous eye on mobile phone challenge

Cell phones meant for charity get sold on eBay

Some Cingular Wireless customers feel deceived and angry after cell phones they thought they had donated to charity, were instead sold on eBay, reports WBIR.com.

"Colorado realtor Lydia Bliven got a new cell phone in July and offered to donate her old phone. "Our impression was (that it was going) to a local battered women's shelter," says Bliven.

John Ebbinghaus had a similar experience at a Cingular Wireless store.

"The salesperson asked 'Would you like to donate the phone?'" Ebbinghaus recalls. "I said yeah, that's no problem, what do you donate it to? And he mentioned a women's shelter."

But the phones never made it to a women's shelter. Both of the phones were purchased on eBay by Carol Winslow in Norfolk, Virginia.

A Cingular Wireless spokesperson said that the company "takes this situation very seriously." Anne Marshall of Cingular says this was a case of "an employee acting improperly."

According to the Coloradoan, it could be difficult to charge the former Cingular employee who allegedly took phones intended for charity and sold them on eBay, because customers who donated phones had given them to Cingular. For theft to occur, it has to be something of value," O'Malley said. "That's hard to assess because they basically gave it away."

Student TV network tests Bluetooth marketing

SUBtv, the new media channel which broadcasts into 90 universities around the UK, is conducting a number of bluetooth marketing trials across its network, according to Netimperative.

"SUBTV conducted trials in the University of London Union and the London School of Economics.

The firm said that more than 25% of students have opted in to accept commercial messages on their bluetooth-enabled mobiles, after seeing a promotion of the offer on the SUBtv screens.

Peter Miles, SUBtv chief executive said: “Students are the most media-savvy group of people in the country and they are aware that bluetooth can be a spammer's paradise with the ability to send and receive large files at no charge.”

Race Is on for Cellular System for the Subway

The decision to introduce cellphone service in New York city's underground subway stations touched off a flurry of interest in the telecommunications industry yesterday, as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority began soliciting bids for a 10-year contract that will involve immense technical complexity and probably be worth $50 million to $100 million. The New York Times reports.

"...The proposal specifies that the winning bidder must allow other wireless companies access to the network. For example, if Verizon Wireless - the dominant carrier in the Northeast - prevails, it must let customers of rival companies place and receive calls in the subways.

The system will allow riders to make phone calls, check the Internet and send e-mail messages dozens of feet below the street. The contract will cover station platforms and mezzanines, pedestrian pathways between stations, and stairs, escalators and elevators. For now, service in subway tunnels is not planned.

Cellphones are used in underground subway stations in Hong Kong and Seoul, South Korea. In London, officials announced plans in March to begin an experiment with cellphone service in 2006 and to make service available in all underground stations by mid-2008."

Hamster-powered phone charger

A 16-year-old boy invented a hamster-powered mobile phone charger as part of his GCSE science project, reports Ananova.

"Peter Ash, of Lawford, Somerset, attached a generator to his hamster's exercise wheel and connected it to his phone charger.

Elvis does the legwork while Peter charges his phone in an economically and environmentally friendly way.

"Every two minutes Elvis spends on his wheel gives me about thirty minutes talk time on my phone."

The teenage inventor was given a C for his project and has been awarded a D overall for the course."

Text message claiming 40% petrol discount is a hoax

A text message that has been circulating in Singapore claiming that all petrol stations would offer a 40 percent discount on Tuesday, between 4pm and 8pm as part of Singapore's National Day celebrations, is a hoax.

But that hasn't stopped queues from forming at petrol station in several parts of the island.

Channel News Asia contacted petrol stations like Shell, which said this was not true, and that the traffic congestion was causing safety problems. (Thank Alessandro!

Bluetooth Ads Prompt Virus Concerns

A newly developed Bluetooth advertising scheme could make mobile phone phones viruses more commonplace by teaching users bad habits, I.T. security experts said today, reports NewsFactor Network.

The technique, known as Bluestreaming, has been pioneered by British firm Filter UK. It involves beaming pictures and music direct to people's mobile phones.

"This is dangerous from a user behavior point of view," explained Patrick Runald, senior technical consultant at F-Secure.

"We're trying to tell people not to accept things on their phones if they are beamed at them. All mobile viruses rely on the users accepting them in order to spread."

The commercial director of Filter UK pointed out that the marketing method itself cannot be hijacked by mobile virus writers.

"It would be very difficult for a virus writer to spoof a campaign like this," commercial partner Fred Durman said.

"Mobile viruses are applications and phones will always ask if you want to download and activate an application. Since these are music and picture files there's no need for the request. Customers should never install unrecognized applications."

Related articles:

-- Commercials by cell phone

-- Bluetooth marketing and privacy concerns

Thailand mulling plan to block mobile coverage in restive south

Thailand is considering blocking mobile phone coverage in restive southern Thailand in an effort to curb bomb attacks, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said, reports Today Online.

"There are many bombs triggered by mobile phones, so we are exploring many ways (to counter this)," Thaksin told a press conference on Thursday.

He said the information and communication technology ministry was working with telecoms providers on methods to block signals and introduce a single frequency to verify mobile users."

DoCoMo to keep people in touch in disasters

NTT DoCoMo Inc. will introduce a new system in 2006 to separately restrict voice communications and packet transmissions through mobile phones for its FOMA high-speed third-generation service in an attempt to enable its users to communicate with others in disasters, reports the Daily Yomiuri.

"Under the new service, the company will not restrict packet transmissions through e-mails or emergency message services and enable its FOMA mobile phone users to more easily reach their relatives and friends through these services to confirm their safety at the time of disasters.

Packet transmission involves sending and receiving information in tiny bits of data. Voice communications block a communication circuit until the conversation is over, but a lot of data can be sent through packet transmission at once".

Farmers fight crime with technology

Australian farmers could soon be using their mobile phone or the internet to open the farm gate from anywhere in the world, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

"Technology developed at the University of New England in NSW will enable farmers to remotely control and monitor livestock movement by using their mobile phone or the internet.

It will also eventually allow them to monitor and control the farm gate and water trough levels.

Currently, the system has been developed to allow in-built alarm systems in the farm gate and water trough to send an automatic mobile phone text message if an unannounced visitor opens the gate or the water levels fall too low.

"Farmers can use the system for security surveillance as well as for stock monitoring," Mr Doyle said.

"It will be particularly useful for farmers working several properties at once, and for those who also have a job in town.

"It will save them travel time, as well as fuel costs and other expenses."

Cellphones Catapult Rural Africa to 21st Century

Africa is the world's fastest-growing cellphone market. From 1999 through 2004, the number of mobile subscribers in Africa jumped to 76.8 million, from 7.5 million, an average annual increase of 58 percent. South Africa, the continent's richest nation, accounted for one-fifth of that growth, according to The New York Times.

"Asia, the next fastest-expanding market, grew by an annual average of just 34 percent in that period.

Africa's cellphone boom has taken the industry by surprise. Africans have never been rabid telephone users; even Mongolians have twice as many land lines per person. And with most Africans living on $2 a day or less, they were supposed to be too poor to justify corporate investments in cellular networks far outside the more prosperous cities and towns.

But when African nations began to privatize their telephone monopolies in the mid-1990's, and fiercely competitive operators began to sell air time in smaller, cheaper units, cellphone use exploded.

It turned out that Africans had never been big phone users because nobody had given them the chance.

One in 11 Africans is now a mobile subscriber."

Nokia 20Lives

Darla Mack reports that Nokia is launching new interactive adventure, Nokia 20lives, following the highly popular Nokia Game.

Nokia 20Lives presents a next generation online and mobile experience, combining elements from games, movies, fashion and music business.

Starting on September 19, participants of the new game will have a unique opportunity of stepping into somebody else's shoes - not only once, or twice, but 20 times.

The web-based Nokia 20Lives will be played in 21 countries across Europe in 11 languages. [Press release]

Motorola Phones Let Parents Monitor Kids

Motorola plans to make phones that would let parents monitor their children's whereabouts and censor obscene content, Chairman and CEO Edward Zander said, according to the AP.

"While parents need to adapt to the emerging youth culture surrounding mobile phones, adults are right to be concerned about what their kids are listening to, watching and reading, he said.

To meet those concerns, Motorola is planning models that would inform parents of their children's whereabouts and carry censorship software, he said.

Malta launches "Emission Alert" by SMS

Another story for my new "citizens turn into informants" category. This time the Malta Transport Authority has embarked on a campaign called Emission Alert, through which it is calling on people to send an SMS with the registration number of the vehicles that are emitting too much fumes and the authority will then call these vehicles for an inspection. Yesterday, the Jakarta Post reported on a similar campaign.

"Vodafone and go mobile users may send an SMS to number 5061 1899 with the registration number of the vehicle emitting excessive fumes. The authority will call the owner of the car for an inspection of the vehicle within three days."

ADT chief executive officer Gianfranco Selvagi said the system the authority had in place was “fool proof”. But when asked how the authority was going to ensure that it does not take action against owners of cars who may be victims of pranks, Mr Selvagi replied with a non-answer, saying he did not wish to divulge this information since he was inviting people to test out the authority's system."

Top Ten Business users of SMS

SMS gateway company Kapow! has issued a press release revealing its list of the top-ten business sectors using SMS as an effective communications tool.

1. Recruitment agencies - Send SMS job alerts to candidates

2. Entertainment information services - ringtones, logos, jokes, competitions...

3. Clubs and bars - notify customers, who have opted in, about special drinks promotions and events

4. Internet service providers and hosting companies - SMS is being used to notify engineers when systems go down or other problems

5. Couriers - Informing them by SMS to where to collect and deliver mail.

6. Schools, colleges and universities - SMS in case school is closed, truancy alerts, exam results, homework assignments...

7. Hair salons, dentists and surgeries - SMS reminders for time and date of appointments

8. Mechanics and body shops - Notify customers when their cars are ready.

9. Charities - Alert people about fundraising activities or use SMS as a means to collect donations

10. Insurance companies - Send quotes and cover confirmations by SMS

Tease not sleaze on mobile phones

A reality check from The Guardian on mobile porn in the UK. "For customers who want them, there are wallpapers, screensavers, videos, animated scantily clad women and even "moantones" for those who find that Crazy Frog just doesn't do it for them.

But the figures do not match the hype. In its report into the mobile entertainment industry last month, industry expert Informa predicted that the market for erotic content for mobile devices will be worth $2.3bn (£1.3bn) by 2010 compared with just under $1bn this year. Within five years there will be more than 114 million regular users of adult services compared with 65 million now.

They may look good, but these figures are dwarfed by the overall mobile market. There are already well over 1 billion mobile phone users, and by 2010 that will have passed 3 billion, according to research by Gartner. Informa's prediction for the entire mobile phone content market, including music and gaming, is $43bn by 2010. Adult services will account for just 5% of the market.

Graeme Oxby, marketing director of 3, the UK's newest mobile phone operator, admits: "It is not very important in terms of the volume of usage. It is dwarfed by music and football and comedy.

"It was massively important on the internet partly at a time when next to nothing was charged for apart from access. For mobiles it is just a bit of the cake.

... "Operators are saying that it is not the big revenue driver, but they cannot be seen to be promoting adult content because it affects their brand as a mobile operator," she says.

The mobile phone operators' biggest fear is that adult content will be viewed by children".