Send a hug

Wish you could reach out and hug someone? With the Hug Shirt, you can. It uses Bluetooth technology to send and receive embraces. Wearing a Hug Shirt, the sender hugs herself. Sensors in the shirt send the data (hug pressure, skin temperature, heart rate, length of hug) via Bluetooth to her mobile phone which in turn sends it to the receiver's phone, which relays it to his shirt, replicating the sensation.

Co-creator Francesca Rosella says the Hug Shirt, made of snug-fitting Lycra and cotton, feels as close to the real deal as it can get. They are available in a number of colors and styles for men and women and are washable! » Continue reading

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Women are better multi-taskers than men

Multi-tasking, or doing more than one activity at a time, is a way of life for everyone these days. Between work, family and social life, people are finding themselves busier than ever. But the results of a recent global online survey conducted by Nokia indicated that women are better at multitasking than men with 60 percent of respondents, both men and women. Only six percent of women believe that men are better at doing more than one thing at a time.

From the total of more than 5,000 respondents, 79 percent consider themselves multitaskers, with 50% describing themselves 'productive' and 31% 'busy'. The majority of men and women in the Scandinavian countries of Denmark and Norway indicated they can do several things at once. The most relaxed were the Finnish people at 74 percent.

An overwhelming 80 percent of respondents believe that having a mobile phone makes them better at multitasking.

According to the survey, mobile phones are helping people be more productive. Sixty-two percent of respondents do two or three activities while talking on their mobile phone, including internet browsing and shopping. Seventy-five percent of women said they prepare food and 50 percent put on makeup while using their mobile phone.

Although the majority of respondents claimed they do more than one thing at a time while on their mobile phone, 48 percent indicated the call was their main focus. When asked what was the most fun activity to do while on their mobile phone, most said "being in bed," although no more specifics were given.

Multitasking while on your mobile phone can certainly lead to amusing situations. Forty-seven percent of respondents to the Nokia survey indicated that they have sent a romantic or controversial text message to the wrong person and 56 percent of women did that. » Continue reading

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Technology blues

What happens when technology gets ahead of infrastructure? Residents of villages surrounding Belur in the state of Karnataka in India, have mobile phone and mobile connections. What they didn't have was power supply. For more than a week, no electricity-based device was working in Alehalli Hoblli.

But what stung them most was that mobile phones could not be charged. So they came all the way to Belur town to charge their mobiles. Shopkeepers in Belur were cashing in: they were demanding Rs.10 for charging a phone. » Continue reading

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Women swoon for hi-tech woo

Men looking to further their romance with flowers may want to think tech instead. A small Amazon.co.uk study at the University of Hertfordshire, UK, measured women's reactions to gifts: They showed most arousal when imagining getting electronic gadgets. In addition, a study of 1000 people found six in ten women said their love lives suffered if they had no mobile phone or hand-held computer with them. » Continue reading

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Printing 3D

I just dropped my mobile phone and the outer casing has broken. What do I do?

Probably go to the suppliers and check if they can encase my phone in a new body - not a cheap or easy task. The new casing costs almost a fourth of the price of the phone.

Exact replacement

Your spectacle frame has cracked. It is difficult to find the exact replacement, which will take the place of the same costly and well-worn pair of glasses. You are forced to compromise and order the nearest fit. Theses are the scenarios of yesterday and today. Now take a peak at tommorow -- not sometime in the distant future, but later this year:

You 'capture' the shape of an object - like a mobile phone case or a spectacle frame -- using special softare; then you turn on your 3-D printer, which looks exactly like your normal laser printer, only slightly larger.

You ensure that its 'printing' medium -- not ink in a cartridge but one filled with finely powdered plastic -- is adequate; you press 'print' on your PC -- and a new phone case or whatever, is created slowly, layer by layer, in front of your eyes. It dries in seconds and is ready to use -- may be after some sand papering to smooth the edges.

Congratulations, you have entered the era of three-dimensional (3D) printing.

Desktop Factory, a spin-off from the US based IdeaLab, promises that by end 2007, it will offer a consumer model of its 3D printer for under $5,000. IdeaLab's technology makes use of a halogen lamp to heat powdered plastic that adheres to a roller and a focused laser beam to fuse it, to form a one dimensional image of the object required.

Thus far the process is very similar to the way an image is fused in a laser printer. The 'image' is rolled on to a plate and prints as a layer, much as it would on paper in a normal printer.

Now is where 2D becomes 3D. The process is repeated again and again, depositing more layers, stacking one on top of another, in the 3rd dimension, to form the solid object. Heat is applied again to fuse all the layers into a single object.

Remember how one made paper mash items in school, by pasting layers of soaked and gummed paper on a mould to create bowls and vases? » Continue reading

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Are you annoyed with unsolicited SMS (Texts) advertisements on your mobile phone?

If yes, you will no longer be annoyed as you can get paid for receiving such messages.

mGinger.com pays you to read ads on your cellphone! Moreover these ads will only be about your interests. Not only that, you get to decide what time you want to receive these ads.

mGinger pays 20 paise for every message you receive. It sends a maximum of 10 messages a day. However, you can further reduce this number if you like. But who would want to reduce ones earnings? You can further increase your earnings by referring others to mGinger so that when they sign up, you get 10 paise for every message they receive and when they refer others, you get 5 paise for every message your friend's friends receive.

TIP: If you want to increase the chances of receiving maximum number of messages in a day, select as many interests as possible and time slot as long as possible. Ofcourse, you need to select the Maximum Ads per day as 10 (or whatever the maximum number is available from time to time.)

This service is still in beta. That is you will not receive any ads as of now. But since this is going to be the next big boom, you can take the advantage of signing up right now and building up a network so that as soon as the service is rolled out of beta you start making the money. This is not a get rich quick scheme or something where you can earn at home but based on my calculations you can easily make enough money to free up your cell phone bill. The sky is the limit to earning more as it depends on how successful you are in building your own network of referrals. So get started now as it's still too early.

Have fun calculating how much you can make... and sign up. You're sure to like it.

NOTE: This service is currently available only to subscribers in India. » Continue reading

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Lenovo-Designed Olympic Torch for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing

When everything is going hight-tech, why not the Olympic torch?

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympiad Games of XXIX (BOCOG) in the presence of the International Olympic Committee, unveiled the Lenovo-Designed Olympic Torch for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Lenovo's design, the "Cloud of Promise," was chosen over 300 competitor themes and will be carried by torchbearers around the world in the Olympic Torch Relay preceding the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Lenovo is also the TOP (worldwide) Sponsor of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Since its inception in 1936, the Olympic torch has come to represent the history and culture of its host country and city. Lenovo's unique approach for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch incorporates a sleek and modern design with historical Chinese symbolism. The primary theme of the torch’s artwork is clouds, which are intimately associated with Chinese culture, and are often represented in works of Chinese architecture, drawing and painting, furniture and story-telling.

Design of the Torch

The torch, fashioned from a polished aluminum-magnesium alloy, measures 720 millimeters x 50 mm x 40 mm (28.35 inches x 1.97 in x 1.56 in) and is exceptionally lightweight at about 1,000 grams (2.21 pounds).
Additional features of the torch design include:

• Primary coloring of deep red and bright silver, a fusion of traditional Chinese art and contemporary design, blending symbols of Chinese culture, philosophy and art;
• A handle designed not only for comfort, but to emulate the unique sensation of one hand holding another thanks to a coating of rubber-based paint; and
• An embossed pattern of clouds, which represent the ever-developing Chinese culture.

Lenovo's award-winning design team spent more than 10 months on the design of the torch. Altogether, more than 30 Lenovo design specialists were involved in the torch project including the core team of 10. The team was truly multinational, including designers from Germany, Singapore, US, Japan, New Zealand, Italy and China. The experience and specialties of the designers were equally diverse, and included majors in graphic design, chemistry, engineering, materials, anthropology, art and history. For months the teams engaged in intensive brainstorming, including game playing and creativity exercises, to help them look at the torch design from many different perspectives.

And if you enjoy watching videos, here is one for you from Lenovo. » Continue reading

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Samsung's WEP-420 Bluetooth Headset for the upmarket consumer

The Samsung WEP-420 Bluetooth Headset looks elegant and supposedly has a good sound quality, after all, it has been designed by Danish manufacturer of upscale audio products, Bang and Olufsen (B&O), for the upmarket consumer.

The WEP-420's buttons are neatly hidden behind a sliding cover. The special sliding cover increases the overall sound quality of this headset. To enhance its value, the WEP 420 comes packaged with a uniquely designed charger cradle that may be used as an interior decoration item.

Showcased for the first time at CeBIT 2007 in Hanover, Germany, the WEP 420 Bluetooth Headset is available from just $89.99 at Amazon.

Samsung also showcased at CeBIT 2007 the yet to be launched WEP-500 micro headset. It is round in shape and has easy-to-use features. It is expected to be launched this quarter in Europe and Asia. » Continue reading

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Is your cell phone Germ-free?

Your cell phone is probably covered with bacteria, says University of Arizona microbiologist Charles Gerba. "Everywhere we go, we can contaminate them," he says. In a study of 50 phones, all had bacteria; two had bugs that can cause skin infections -- a risk if you share your cell. To clean your stuff, use disinfecting wipes or buy Motorola mobile phones because some of its phones have an anti-microbial coating, which prevents bacteria from growing. » Continue reading

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Maps to download to your Phone and MP3 Player

Forget carrying around chunky guidebooks. Several websites now offer maps that can be downloaded to your phone or MP3 Player, Choose from thousands of diagrams of cities and transport networks from all over the world. You can even zoom in and locate the closest ATM or hotel, and customize your map to suit your itinerary. For starters, try:

• mgmaps.com
  
• ipodsubwaymaps.com

» Continue reading

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Hands-free, not risk-free

It's hazardous to use a hand-held cell phone while driving, so many people turn to hands-free models. But they're also dangerous say researchers at Israel's Assaf Harofe Medical Centre. They had 41 people sit in front of a bowl, stare at the center and hit a button when they saw a light twinkle. First they took the test without distractions. Then they did it while using a speaker phone--and, on average, missed twice as many lights, "Missing one point may be important while driving," says the study's author. "That could be a car braking." To be safe, park, then chat. » Continue reading

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Nokia N95 out at last!

Almost six months after announcing the Nokia N95 (in September 2006), Nokia has started shipping the Nokia N95 in key European, Asian and Middle Eastern countries, and in the coming weeks will be available in more countries in those regions.

The Nokia N95 is an all-in-one multimedia computer with a unique 2-way slide design, the first smart mobile cell phone with integrated GPS functionality, a 5 megapixel camera and support for high-speed mobile networks, making it easier to watch and record videos, listen to songs, take high-quality photos, browse the internet, or catch up on email while on the move.

It supports High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), WLAN (Wi-Fi), EDGE and WCDMA networks.

The Nokia N95 sports a Carl Zeiss optics on the 5 megapixel camera, built-in stereo speakers, a standard 3.5 mm audio connector and support for compatible microSD memory cards.

The integrated GPS works with the Nokia Maps application which includes maps for more than 150 countries, enabling users to explore the world, find specific routes or locate services such as restaurants and hotels and covering more than 15 million points of interest. You can also purchase additional features, such as city guides and voice guided navigation.

The innovative 2-way slide design makes it easy to switch between different modes, going from reading maps to watching a video with a simple slide.

The Nokia N95 runs the S60 software on Symbian OS.

Am waiting to get my hands on it as soon as possible. » Continue reading

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Organic power for computers & electronic devices

Research Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Tennessee and the US Naval Research Laboratory have proved what Popeye already knew -- spinach is an excellent source of energy. They have taken up developing a spinach-based material to coat portable computers and mobile phones. The aim: for the electrical devices to recharge themselves from sunlight, similar to the way plants use chlorophyll to convert light into energy, harnessing photosynthetic power of spinach in the field of electronics.

The phone is no longer red or blue; it becomes green. So what? - Shuguang Zhang, associate director of MIT's Center for Biomedical Engineering

Started in 2004 with some financial assistance from Intel, the project is expected to take around 10 years to be completed when electronic devices will turn green.

For further information read MIT's official news release and The Boston Globe article.

If you have any updates on this project, do keep us informed. » Continue reading

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The all new Camera Phone Kit from Sony Ericsson for Wanna-be pro photographers

Sony Ericsson has just announced a Camera Phone Kit, specifically for use with its Cyber-shot camera phones. The kit includes a Cyber-shot branded protective case for the phone, which can be attached to a belt using a belt clip provided along with the kit or kept in a bag, a micro tripod with flexible legs and friction feet that allows you to hold the camera steady for the self-timer and a tripod connector.

The tripod is 97mm high and the protective case weighs just 49 grams and comes in black.

The wanna-be photographers can now act a little too smart flaunting this micro tripod.

The Camera Phone Kit IPK-100 will be available globally from Q2 2007. You can buy it online from the Sony Ericsson e-shop. » Continue reading

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Nokia sets stage for mobile advertising with Nokia Ad Service

Nokia recently announced the launch of its Nokia Ad Service, a service similar to Google Adwords and Google Adsense, but for mobile advertising and providing an end-to-end solution for advertisers and publishers.

Connecting advertisers to mobile internet publishers

The service will enable advertisers to target and display banner, text link and interstitial advertisements on mobile internet applications and services.

Publishers will be able to generate revenue from the traffic that they generate by placing a piece of code onto the desired location on the mobile web application or service.

Nokia Ad Service will take a cut out of the advertising revenue that the publishers in the network earn.

The service is operational in Europe as of now and will be available globally in the second half of 2007.

For more details on Nokia Ad Service visit http://www.adservice.nokia.com/ » Continue reading

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Google Reader for Mobile Phones - A feature request

In continuation to Amit Agarwal's post "Google Labs Gathering Dust, No New Product Since 5 Months" I would like to add another feature request to Google.

Google has made the web version of Google Reader to imitate Gmail. However, Google is yet to come out with a mobile version of Google Reader similar to that of Gmail. Google reader currently does have a mobile-friendly interface that works within a WAP browser but it requires signing in every time you need to browse your reading list.

Alternatively Google can add Reader capabilities to Gmail itself, like Yahoo! Mail Beta so that all the info (email and feeds) can be found in one place. » Continue reading

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Key to professional photography with your mobile phone

You might have the latest mobile phone with a 10 mega pixel camera, but do you have the skill to shoot great pictures? Having a good camera phone is just half way to taking good professional photos, the rest depends on how you use it and it's pro features.

Snap It! by Doug Harman will guide you in taking great pictures with your mobile phone, developing an eye for detail and working within the limitations of your camera phone. It does not only cover the basics of photography, but also teaches you to make optimum use of your gadget. Not just that! It easily slips in to your pocket just like your camera phone so that it is handy just when you need it.

The book begins with Camera phone features and composition to ensure that you get your basics right. Doug Harman then highlights other essential features such as zoom lenses, sensors, pixel count, etc. that will aid you in achieving professional-looking images. He packs hundreds of simple tricks like shooting indoors & outdoors, composition tips etc., which are explained through sections like Basics. The fun chapters to read are the ideas on capturing parties, people, holidays, pets and arty shots. The information on transferring your photos using Infrared technology, Bluetooth or WiFi proves to be extremely beneficial too.

The book is well balanced in terms of text and visuals. Though at times the text seems to get repetitive, for example in topics like macro photography and beaming. And talking about images, not all do justice to photography. Photos are not at their best, especially while addressing topics like landscape photography, shooting animals and portraits. But the commendable aspect about the book is that every featured photograph has an explanation, which helps gain a better understanding of the subject and the situation it was taken.

Remember, camera phones too can be an equally authentic means of visual documentation. So, whether you are an advanced photographer or a novice, following the simple guidelines in Snap It! will help you take better pictures. You will not get the detail and high quality prints like digital camera, but they will help you capture those candid moments and share them instantly with family or friends. So, grab this book as soon as possible and start experimenting with your camera phones.

Buy Snap It! at Amazon.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Amazon, Doug Harman or his Publisher at the time of writing this article and will not get a penny for the sales of this book. » Continue reading

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