Nokia Shows Off Chinese Pen-Input Phone

In an event held today in Nanjing Nokia unveiled the Nokia 6208c, a new pen input device which caters for a number of different customers, specifically those in China. The touch screen on the 6208c is optimized to write Chinese characters and messages in the most natural way, with a pen, a stylus attached to the back of the phone.

[via Cellular News]

Paul Frank designs some 3G iPhone cases

Spotted on Shiny Shiny, 3G iPhone cases designed by Paul Frank.

Thai PM Spams Citizens with SMS

According to Tom's Hardware, Newly elected Thai Prime Minister decided to spam the entire nation of Thailand right before the holidays.

Abhisit Vejjajiva was elected the Prime Minster of Thailand on December 15,2008 and was formally emass SMS messagesndorsed by the Thai King on December 17,2008. As one of his first official acts as the political leader of the country was to send to a large portion of the nation’s mobile phone users.

He had assigned the deputy leader of the Democratic Party to enlist the help of three cellular network providers in sending out a message to all their subscribers. The message was a plea for help from the Prime Minister for assistance in solving the country's political crisis.

There was no cost associated with the reception of this message but it did urge those interested to respond with their postal codes at a cost of three baht ($0.10 USD). The massive spam message has already caused critisism from organizations such as the Foundation for Consumers, a similar body to the FCC.

Colleges, offices scrap land lines

According to USA Today, the public college is one of a growing number of businesses and organizations across the USA that are shedding traditional land lines and replacing them with cellphones or voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) technology in an effort to save money during tough economic times.

There are no national statistics available on how many of the nation's businesses have cut the cord. Lisa Pierce, vice president of Forrester Research, estimates about 25% of businesses are starting to phase out desk phones. More than 8% of employees nationwide who travel frequently have only cellphones, says Bill Hughes, an analyst with marketing consulting firm In-Stat.

Texting and tweeting through Obama's swearing in

Crowd control at President-elect Barack Obama's January 20 inauguration ceremony will present quite a challenge: On top of the 240,000 ticketed guests who will descend upon the National Mall that day, millions more are expected to join. Ten thousand charter buses will converge on the Washington area. Metro riders have been warned to be prepared "to stand in close proximity to several thousand people."

To manage all of those people, inauguration organizers are turning to text messaging and Twitter. cnet news reports.

In an advisory released Monday, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies warned that making calls from cell phones that day may be difficult and that critical messages should be sent via text message.

The organization is also urging inauguration-goers to check out the District of Columbia's inaugural Web site. There visitors can sign up for Alert DC, through which DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management sends text notifications and updates during a major crisis or emergency.

For help navigating the crowded streets of Washington that day--emergency or otherwise--the Presidential Inauguration Committee has set up a Twitter account.

iFog app

Things have started to steam up in the App Store. A trio of newly released apps allow you to steam or fog up your iPhone’s touch screen and then draw designs on the virtual fogged up glass.

iFog, iSteam and Zephyr.

Blow in your iPhone’s mic to haze the screen, using your fingers to draw and write messages on the steamed-up screen.

[via MacWorld]

Nokia phones with the portrait of Stalin sell in Moscow

Update The cellfreak has tracked down a picture of th Stalin phone in one of Moscow's brick and mortar stores, and found out how this phone ended up getting sold in the first place. 

Nokia mobile phones with the image of Joseph Stalin appeared in the sale in Moscow shops, APA reports.

Nokia officials said they had no relation with a phone with Stalin, and called such a move a great blow to the brand of the company. “Even if Nokia was on the brink of ruin and release phones or panel with a portrait of Stalin was the only chance to save our business, Nokia will be has not done that”, said a Nokia official.

Haven't found a picture of the Stalin phone so far. Will post as soon as I do.

iSmoke

iSmoke is a realistic interactive smoke simulation for the iphone using a physically based algorithm.

Thought iBeer was neat? Wait until your friends see realistic looking smoke billow out of the pipe when you breathe onto the end of your phone. Swish the smoke around with your finger and watch it swirl and dissipate. It even responds to changes in the orientation of the device.

Watch the video.

[via fashionfunky]

SMS Restored In Kashmir

After a five month ban text messaging has been turned back on in Kashmir, reports 160characters.org.

Confirming the lifting of ban, principal secretary, home, Khursheed Ahmad Ganai said, “We have withdrawn our earlier order banning the SMS services because we feel the suspension is no longer required.”

The service was closed down in August after it was alleged that some Hindu right wing activists were using SMS to spread rumours following the Amarnath land transfer controversy.

The iPhone's Golden Touch

Tapping into the Apple phone craze, accidental entrepreneurs rake in millions by creating popular applications. The Washington Post reports.

... Thousands of people are writing applications for the iPhone and selling them through Apple's App Store, which is part of the iTunes online marketplace. Apple launched the App Store in July and has delivered more than 300 million downloads of more than 10,000 applications (some choice samples: a free Bloomberg stock-market terminal and a 99-cent "iBeer" that sloshes around when you tilt the phone).

"We've never seen anything like this in our careers," Apple chief executive Steve Jobs told Wall Street analysts on an earnings conference call in October.

Apple won't say how much money the App Store is taking in, nor will it say how many of the 300 million downloads were free apps and how many cost money (most apps are free; the others cost anywhere from a buck to $10). Apple gets a 30 percent cut of revenue generated by apps.

But for Apple right now the money isn't the point. The big thing is the race to become the dominant mobile-computing platform, the way IBM-standard PCs running Microsoft operating software -- first DOS and then Windows -- came to dominate personal computing in the 1980s and early 1990s.

'Mirror' for the iPhone. Fluff

According to a Press release, the humorous iPhone Mirror app uses "a highly complex proprietary algorithm that instantly turns the screen black (for maximum reflection) while offering a choice of mirror frames so you don't look stupid staring into your iPhone". "We've spent almost 8 months in R&D developing technology to put a blackbackground on your iPhone" said CTO of Juice Wireless and the mastermind behind the Mirror apps.

OK, so it doesn't really work as a mirror at all. What's interesting are the lengths gone to promote the new app, with a Reuters write-up and and it's own YouTube video.

Twitter becomes a winner for big marketers

SMS-based social network Twitter.com is becoming an important part of the marketing mix for companies looking to humanize their brands. "There's something so gratifying about being able to connect in real-time and in a real way," said a spokesperson for Dunkin' Donuts.

[TV Week via Smart Brief]

More Texts Than Calls in USA

In 2008, U.S. mobile subscribers sent and received more text messages than they made mobile phone calls according to Nielsen Mobile figures.

As of Q2 2008, a typical U.S. mobile subscriber sends or receives 357 text messages per month, compared to placing or receiving 204 phone calls.

[via 160characters.org]

What Carriers Aren’t Eager to Tell You About Texting

Text messaging is a wonderful business to be in: about 2.5 trillion messages will have been sent from cellphones worldwide this year. The public assumes that the wireless carriers’ costs are far higher than they actually are, and profit margins are concealed by a heavy curtain.

... But the carriers will have other opportunities to tell us more about their pricing decisions: 20 class-action lawsuits have been filed around the country against AT&T and the other carriers, alleging price-fixing for text messaging services.

[via The New York Times]

Will it Blend iPhone app

You Tube sensation Will It Blend? has been downloaded over 100,000,000 times. These videos were catapulted to superstardom when millions watched Tom Dickson put his iPhone in a blender.

Now, these videos are featured in their very own iPhone App called Will it Blend.

[via TUAW and Gizmodo]

Why Wal-Mart is key to iPhone domination

As the world's largest retailer (and company), Wal-Mart commands a significant amount of respect. In fact, I think the company is the most important retailer to any company in any industry, let alone Apple and the tech industry, writes Don Reisinger for cnet news.

But Friday's announcement that the iPhone will be coming to Wal-Mart store shelves on Sunday has changed the face of the cell phone industry. In effect, it means that Apple, one of the most important hardware companies in the space, will see its popular mobile phone be made available to millions of more customers.

It also means that Research In Motion and every other company in the market that's trying desperately to compete with Apple simply won't be able to do it.

Lucky Luke iPhone app

Lucky Luke, one of the most popular and best-selling comic-book series in Europe, has come out with a new book called "L'Homme de Washington" and has launched simultaneously in comic book form, an iPhone app version.

The Comic Book reading technology was designed by Ave!Comics and though this issue for now is only available in French, it's worth checking out just to see flawless you can read a comic book on your iPhone.

Scientists: Cell Phones cause Kidney Failures

Mobile phones were at the centre of a new health scare last night after claims they can seriously damage the heart and kidneys. MINA reports.

Earlier reports have already linked their use to brain tumours, headaches and premature ageing. Now scientists sat exposure to the phones' low-level radiation causes red blood cells to leak haemoglobin. The build-up of haemoglobin, which carries oxygen around the body, can lead to heart disease and kidney stones.

Google gives employees a smartphone instead of a bonus

According to Blogging Stocks, Google is giving it's employees a $400 Google smartphone instead of a cash bonus.

Google, Inc. employees who were counting on those luxurious $20,000 bonuses may have expectations that won't be fulfilled this year. Instead of handing out large bonuses as in the past, the world's largest search company is handing out Google-powered cellphones instead.

5,000-10,000 new Twitter accounts a day: study

Micro-blogging service Twitter is gaining 5,000 to 10,000 new accounts a day and most of its users have joined this year, according to a study released on Tuesday.

[via Yahoo Tech]

No iBoobs for iPhone

According to stuff, Apple has rejected an iPhone application that lets you wobble a pair of virtual breasts.

The iBoobsprogram for the popular iPhone smartphone was refused by Apple's application store because it was deemed "objectionable content", according to online reports.

The ban comes despite the virtual breasts being covered by a black bra.
People can wobble the breasts by lightly shaking the phone.

iChampagne iphone app for New Year's Eve

iChampagne is an iPhone/iPod touch celebratory champagne application: shake it up and pop the cork!

Keep shake, shake, shaking your iPhoneiPod Touch until the cork pops and the champagne flows! Shake it extra hard and youll hear the room cheering and trumpets of course! sound.

[via DVICE]

Kraft Rings Up iPhone iFood Assistant App

Kraft has become one of the first packaged goods brands to go the iPhone apps route, writes MediaWeek.

The food giant has unveiled iFood Assistant, a new service-oriented application which offers a mix of recipes, user reviews and instructional cooking videos. The downloadable app is available on both Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch for 99 cents.

Overall the app contains 7,000-plus Kraft-tested recipes, various corresponding shopping lists and nearby store recommendations, and iPhone-ready video demonstrations for on the go chefs. Plus, iFood Assistant features several content sections which are updated on a daily basis, such as Dinner Tonight and Recipe of the Day.

A Nokia Gun Phone. Maybe.

A Nokia gun phone. Maybe.

[via The Raw Feed]

Related links to other cell phone guns

Average person will soon have two mobile phones

According to a new study, the average mobile phone owner now has an average of 1.8 handsets and the figure is expected to rise to two mobiles for every person soon. The Telegraph reports.

The rise in ownership is thought to be because more people have one mobile for personal calls and another for work as companies give employees Blackberry devices to keep in touch out of hours.

Rolls-Royce Phantom mobile phone store in India

Spotted on engadget:mobile, a converted cell phone store in the back of a Rolls-Royce Phantom. Out of India.

Multi-Touch Swipe Gestures for iPhone Keyboard

MacRumors reports on a new Apple patent application called Swipe Gestures for Touch Screen Keyboards.

Apple suggests the use of swipe gestures to be used on top of the iPhone's on screen keyboard in order to provide the user with quick access to common keys.

The patent application is authored by Wayne Westerman.

Fun looking home phone

Spotted on DVICE, the "BeoCom2 Phone" from Bang & Olufson, a fun looking landline phone.

Over 4 Billion Mobile Phones in the World

GSM focused trade body, 3G Americas says that a historic milestone was achieved for the wireless industry in December 2008 with 4 billion connections to mobile devices worldwide.

[via Cellular News]

Vatican-approved app for the iPhone

The Vatican is endorsing new technology that brings the book of daily prayers used by priests straight onto iPhones. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications is embracing the iBreviary, an iTunes application created by a technologically savvy Italian priest, the Reverend Paolo Padrini, and an Italian web designer.

The application includes the Breviary prayer book - in Italian, English, Spanish, French and Latin and, in the near future, Portuguese and German. Another section includes the prayers of the daily Mass, and a third contains various other prayers.

After a free trial period in which the iBreviary was downloaded approximately 10,000 times in Italy, an official version was released earlier this month, Padrini said.

The application costs euro 0.79 ($A1.60), while upgrades will be free. Padrini's proceeds are going to charity.