Archive for March, 2008
Virgin Mobile turns Spitzer woes into ad copy
Virgin Mobile Canada knows how frustrated people can get with the lack of personalized service these days. Faster than Eliot Spitzer could say, “Um, oops,” the company came out with a print ad that features the newly former New York governor, aka Client #9, musing as follows under a thought bubble: “I’m tired of being treated like a number…”
“At Virgin Mobile,” the ad goes on to say, “you’re more than just a number. When you call us we’ll treat you like a person, not a client. Whether you’re #9 or #900, you’ll get hooked up with somebody who’ll finally treat you just how you want to be treated.”
[via News.com]
Mobile phones make politics more accessible for ordinary Chinese
During this year’s annual full sessions of the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, mobile phones have played a role in promoting “democracy with Chinese characteristics,” reports Xinhuanet.
“For several consecutive days, we were seeing a dozen mobile phone messages coming in every second through our platform,” said Ms. Xu, a staff with China Mobile who asked to be identified only by her surname. “Surprisingly, all the questions were addressed to Premier Wen Jiabao.”
By Tuesday, a campaign called “Ask the Premier,” jointly launched by Xinhuanet.com and China Mobile for their 100 million plus mobile phone users, had collected over 250,000 short messages, a substantial portion of which were from blue-collars, farmers, and students.
The Chinese government encourages grass-root citizens to “orderly participate in politics” to expand democracy, according to Beijing-based political observer. “
Smart Goggles that could make lost keys, mobile phones or iPod a thing of the past
Japanese scientists have invented a pair of intelligent glasses that remembers where people last saw their keys, handbag, iPod or mobile phone, reports The Daily Mail.
“The spectacles - which come with a built in camera, display screen and computer brain - can even identify unfamiliar plants or faces.
In fact, the only thing it can’t help you find are your glasses.
The Smart Goggles are the brainchild of Prof Kuniyoshi at the University of Tokyo. They contain a compact video camera which films everything the wearer looks at - and a viewfinder which fits snugly in front of the right lens.
To use the glasses, the wearer first wanders around a house or workplace for an hour or so, looking at the objects he or she may later want to find in a hurry.
Each time the camera focuses on a object - such as a set of keys, a mobile phone or a purse - the wearer says the name aloud. The name is then recorded and stored into the memory.
Once the names have been programmed in, the glasses will try to find the right name for any object they come across. The names appear in small type on the viewfinder.
If they are unable to recognise an object they make a guess and - if they get it wrong - learn from their mistakes.
At some point in the future, if the wearer is trying to find their keys in a hurry, they simply name the object. “
SMS Demo: A Unique SMS and Language Translation Technology
SMS Demo is a new service which enables anyone from their cell phone anywhere in the world, to send a text message to another cell phone, landline phone, email, or fax and have It automatically translated in over 30 languages in both text and audio.
Free trial applications and video demos are available here.</p
68% of Americans feel "disconnect anxiety"
According to a recent study from Solutions Research Group, 27% of Americans feel “acute” anxiety when disconnected from the Internet or their mobiles; 68% feel some level of anxiety. [via BizReport]
“This goes for both mobile and computer connections. More than 80% of those surveyed reported that their mobiles are always with them and always on. Nearly 40% report logging on to the Internet via their computers while in bed and more than 60% admitted to using their Blackberry’s in the washroom.
American’s are logging on for safety, work and social life and for navigation according to the report. Many users report that they feel safer when connected via mobile or computer and many say they need constant connections because of a hectic work or social life.
Age of Disconnect Anxiety - download the U.S. research summary here.
Speaking your mind: Voiceless phone calls
A neckband that intercepts nerve signals allows you to talk on the phone without emitting a sound.New Scientist reports.
“With careful training a person can send nerve signals to their vocal cords without making a sound. These signals are picked up by the neckband and relayed wirelessly to a computer that converts them into words spoken by a computerised voice.
A video (above) demonstrates the device being used. The neckband, called the Audeo, was developped by Michael Callahan, co-founder of Ambient corporation.
The Audeo has previously been used to let people control wheelchairs using their thoughts. ”
Talibans win. Operators shut down networks after 5pm
Mobile phone operators in Afghanistan have begun to switch off their networks during the night following threats from the Taliban, reports the BBC.
“Ten mobile phone masts were attacked in recent weeks, the latest on Tuesday night, the Afghan government says.
Last month the Taleban threatened the companies, alleging that the networks were being used by Afghan and Nato troops to target them.
… Since a threat by the Taleban last month to target the towers unless the phone companies switched off their signals at night, 10 such facilities have been attacked, six of them completely destroyed.”
Related:
– Taliban blow up 4th telecom Tower
– Taliban blow up Afghan phone tower
– Taliban highlights militants’ mobile tracking fear
– Taliban Threaten Phone Companies
iPhone SDK Downloads Top 100,000
Apple has announced that more than 100,000 copies of the iPhone SKK software platform were downloaded in the first four days since its launch on March 6.
[via Cellular News]
Loans by text message send young Swedes spiralling into debt
According to the AFP, the simplicity of obtaining SMS loans in Sweden is increasingly luring youths into debt.
“The first (SMS) loan was given in the middle of March 2006,” said Janne Aakerlund, a spokesman for Sweden’s debt recovery agency Kronofogden, adding that the first bill collectors were sent out just three months later.
Since then, the number of un-repaid text message loans has soared: in 2007, Kronofogden was tasked with collecting debts from 20,000 such loans, 35.9 percent of which were granted to people aged 18 to 25.
“There is reason to be seriously concerned about this development,” head of the Swedish Consumer Agency, Gunnar Larsson, told AFP.”
Related:
– $300 Loans by Simply sending a Text Message
– SMS loans could be ruining your Christmas season
Shell shock
An MIT materials scientist’s research on abalone sea snails has helped transform battery technology and may end the era when cell phones die if they’re dropped and PDAs must be replaced if they get dunked in the tub. [via MIT News Office]
“Thanks to those sea snails and a eureka moment, Angela Belcher, Germeshausen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Engineering, is developing smart nano-materials–hybrids of organic and inorganic components–beginning with a rechargeable, biologically based battery that looks like plastic food wrap.
… With MIT colleagues Paula Hammond, Bayer Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Yet-Ming Chiang, professor of materials science and engineering, Belcher grew the first biologically based, nano-scale rechargeable battery–the one that may end short-lived cell phones.
Belcher’s MIT battery is comprised of a virus she and her colleagues engineered to latch itself to cobalt oxide. It does look like a clear film. Transparent, efficient, it could one day be poured onto the object it’s powering, like a coat of energizing paint. “
