Stand telephone calls in planes and be a hero

Imagine working like a dog for months and finally finishing your Friday work to board the plane to your much awaited holiday destination. But while having a peaceful flight with your wife and getting a nap is in your best intentions, people around you are speaking ceaselessly on their telephones. To the point that you cannot concentrate to even read or eat. (continued)

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Google’s 2D barcodes struggle to bridge paper ads and web

Airlines are already aware of the virtues of 2D barcodes and we will possibly see airline electronic boarding passes in the near future. Google has been quick to foresee the advantages of 2D barcodes, one of them being that a mobile telephone with a camera can read it, and with the right software automatically convert it to a conventional web address for immediate access.

Although simple as a concept, it is an ingenious way to bridge printed material with the web, where for the moment Google is unmatched. Barcodes could give instant access not only to web pages but also to very specifically targeted ads, depending on date or geography. And all this with maximum comfort, without even typing a single character of a web address.

2D barcodes exist from the 80s and are so far utilised mostly in industry. It was in 1999 that the Japanese Denso-Wave came up with the idea of reading a barcode photo with a mobile telephone. Since then, Japan has become the only market where 2D barcodes are widely used. Of course, the fact that the rest of the world has largely not even heard of or seen any of these codes presents a formidable obstacle.

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Convert your cellphone to dual SIM with the Duo SIM Card Adapter

It was only yesterday that I wrote about what I expected from a good twin SIM mobile telephone and service. Following your consideration of the DuoSIM 228, there is one more option. It comes from Malaysia, costs only $28 and needs a simple addition to your current device…

We are talking about the DuoSIM D2 Dual SIM Card Adapter a very simple device that combines two SIM cards in a single SIM mobile telephone. All you have to do is install it with care and then do of the relative settings.

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5 expectations from a twin SIM cellphone and service

Forced to use two mobile devices -one personal, one professional- three years ago I did a little market research on the options I had for a twin SIM telephone. Carrying two devices at the same time is incredibly annoying. Another thing that is also infuriating is the situations when I was speaking on one device while the other was ringing, becoming even worse at the office where the landline did me no favours…

The fact that I still use two cellphones is evidence that the solutions and answers I got were not so satisfactory. The Vodafone people steered me away from the twin SIM solution -the official explanation was low reliability- while TIM -now called Wind- offered a two-in-one SIM solution that had quite a few limitations.

Hearing about the new DuoSim 228 Mobile Phone my interest was renewed. For this reason, and bearing in mind that the manner of using two numbers with one mobile device also depends heavily on operator service, I decided to list a combination of expectations for a convincing twin SIM device and service:

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4 reasons Japan might be first to adopt e-paper

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From all countries, Japan seems to be the best prepared to start widely using e-paper. As Reuters reports, Japanese companies are already very active in e-paper R&D, while the first colour versions have started to appear. We are talking about thin sheets of fabric that accept electronic signals and can be bent or even folded like traditional paper.

Apart from companies that see new product opportunities and try to create the necessary push, here is what could generate consumer demand for e-paper in Japan and to an extent world-wide:

1. BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are flexing their industrial muscle. Both business and consumers need ever more paper and as a result A4 paper prices have recently risen by 20% to 30%. Forests are depleted at alarming rates, therefore prices are bound to increase even further.
2. Japan consumers have the right culture for the adoption of new mobile ideas. Things done by the Japanese on mobile phones, the rest of us only bother to do on laptops or large desktop screens. Take for example novels that are both written and read on cellphones. I bet practical epaper would be perfect for those long hours in the Tokyo metro…

Favourite tech picture of the day – 21st of April 2008

After flights we cannot even enjoy a bank robbery without a phone ringing… Outrageous! (Source: Textually via Engadget)

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Cellphones become electronic airline boarding passes

Modern cellphones sport an outstanding array of functions that could not even be imagined a decade ago. Now their use is extended beyond voice and data to special two dimensional barcodes that can replace paper boarding passes. Continental Airlines is currently offering that functionality to its US customers and is a step ahead of electronic ticket booths that eventually print out a paper boarding pass.

Japanese cellphone novels become best sellers!

It is common for novels to inspire films or films to inspire games -and vice versa- but cellphones inspiring novels? It’s already happening in Japan, and in fact last year novel downloads that were written on cellphones and are read on cellphones have outsold traditional print publications! And not only that, the more popular forms of those successfully make it to print form. Five of last year’s print top ten -including the top three- were originally cellphone novels!

The writers are typically young women that can type really quickly with their thumbs on their tiny cellphone keyboards. Most writers and readers belong to a generation that grew up with a cellphone planted in their hand and consider it an extension of their body. In fact, it is not uncommon for young people to feel more at comfort with a cellphone than with a computer, as it can be carried and used everywhere, even at places where no other activity is possible, the metro, waiting for the bus…

Google’s new directions, Microsoft’s example

There’s a lot of speculation as to the new directions of expansion that Google is going to take. First of all comes the 700 MHz auction in the US and whether Google will take it seriously or is just testing the water. Then there is the green energy sector that is more of a certainty despite the fact that it is a completely new area for an internet company. So in which direction is Google going to chose to go? In my opinion in the largest possible number of directions, and here is why:

• In just a few years, Google has grown to enormous size with a stock valuation above $500 and enough cash to buy a number of large companies. Investors are used to a company offering enormous performance in the small term and this is not going to change. Something must be done to keep them satisfied and when you have 80% of the online search market sooner or later you have to look elsewhere…
• Google’s dominant market position already has enemies and with time it is going to get worse. Expansion via diversification looks all the more attractive. A recent interview of Microsoft’s Dan’l Lwein a couple of months back at the Gigaom show more or less underlines the fact that a huge company has to investigate all possibilities, in all possible fields. Google is in the same league, it cannot afford to let opportunities go and has to search for them quite actively.

Where mobile telephone games come useful

 

The autumn period of each year is when most console and PC games are released, at least the ones that aim really high in terms of success with gamers. Behind all the advertisement and review frenzy another parallel industry, that of casual games, is quietly building strength. Those of us not having the time to explore all missions of GTA or to finish all levels of Halo 3, are happy finding a few quite moments to enjoy some flash games between our work duties. If your mobile telephone is one of the later models with a relatively comfortable screen and joystick you can use it for making waiting times seem shorter and for stress relief. Here is a few examples:

• Doctor’s waiting room: Do not touch the magazines that all other ill people have read. Provided you are not feeling extremely ill, just use your mobile but remember to mute the sound…
• Dentist’s waiting room: Headache or not, here stress relief is the priority!