Month: October 2005

P990: Sony Ericsson Offers 3G and Wi-Fi

Sony Ericsson P990 Offers 3G and Wi-FiSony Ericsson has beefed up its flagship P-series smartphone range with the new 3G P990 phone.

The new phone builds on the huge popularity of the P-series – the single most popular smartphone design on the planet – and bolts on 3G, 802.11b Wi-Fi connectivity, adding BlackBerry Connect and VoIP support into the package.

The phone offers all the benefits of UMTS including video calling, high-bandwidth multi-media downloads and the ability to surf the Internet using the new Opera 8 browser which can work in landscape mode.

Sony Ericsson P990 Offers 3G and Wi-FiNaturally, Sony are keen to shove their oar into Blackberry’s waters, with the P990 prepared for all major push e-mail clients enabling full e-mail access with attachments.

As usual, the phone sports a removable numerical keyboard which can be flipped out to reveal a 35-key QWERTY button pad on the camera’s body.

Hardcore texters with fingers the size of prime beef sausages may have trouble using the teensy weensy keys, but as any Treo/Blueberry-owner will tell you, a hardware keyboard is a lot more fun than poking around a screen.

There’s also an improved autofocus camera onboard, offering 2 megapixel resolution, digital zoom and a photo light.

Although the P990’s touch screen display is physically smaller than its predecessors, Sony’s boffins have managed to squeeze in more pixels, upping the resolution to 320×240 with 262k colours.

Sony Ericsson P990 Offers 3G and Wi-FiThe P990 will be the first commercially available smartphone to use the enhanced Symbian OS version 9.1 and the UIQ 3.0 user interface, which has been optimised for one handed use.

Boasting 80MB of RAM with support for Memory Stick Duo Pro cards up to 4GB, delivery is expected in Q2 of 2006, with variants of the phones including P990i Dual mode UMTS (2100MHz) – GPRS 900/1800/1900 for Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa and P990c Dual mode UMTS (2100MHz) – GPRS 900/1800/1900 for Mainland China

Sony Ericsson P990

FinePix Z2: Fujifilm’s Superslim Camera Announced

Fujifilm FinePix Z2 Superslim Camera AnnouncedFujifilm has announced the Fujifilm FinePix Z2 Zoom, a new member of the superslim Z-series, offering 5.1 megapixel resolution and sensitivity up to ISO 1600.

Declared a “sensitive supermodel that’s naturally slim” by some cheesy PR hack, the FinePix Z ramps up the feature set and improves on its well regarded predecessor, the Z1.

The camera is housed in an attractive wraparound, glossy shell-design body, measuring 90 x 55 x 19 mm (3.5 x 2.1 x 0.7 in) and weighing just 130 g (4.6 oz).

Fujifilm FinePix Z2 Superslim Camera AnnouncedThe FinePix Z2 Zoom comes with the same reinforced glass 2.5″ screen, but now boasts a higher resolution of 232,000 pixels, and the camera offers a wider aperture range up to F8.0, improved metering (256-zone, up from 64-zone) and a longer maximum shutter speed of four seconds.

Like several other recently released cameras, Fujifilm have improved low light performance by ramping sensitivity up to ISO 1600, letting users indulge in moody, dimly lit scenes.

Fujifilm claim that their Real Photo Processor will help users create more natural-looking images, without the harsh effects often caused by camera flash or the blurring caused by camera shake or subject movement.

Getting carried away with their self-professed ‘chic’ claims, Fujifilm suggests that the camera’s continuous shooting feature (max 2.2 fps, up to 3 frames) might be ideal for capturing “catwalk catastrophes”.

Fujifilm FinePix Z2 Superslim Camera AnnouncedIn the real world, the camera’s 3x optical zoom (36 – 108 mm, 35 mm equiv) means that anyone looking to snap a Kate Moss exclusive will have to be pretty close to the catwalk, with the camera’s slow f3.5 – 4.2 lens meaning that higher (and noisier) ISOs would be needed to capture any drug-fuelled stumblings.

The flash isn’t likely to help much either as it can only muster 0.6m – 2.3m coverage at the telephoto end – about par for the ultra compact market.

Naturally, there’s a movie function onboard, capable of capturing 30 frames per second VGA video with sound.

Fujifilm FinePix Z2 Superslim Camera AnnouncedAdrian Clarke, Fujifilm’s Director of Photo Products, was on hand to talk about irony: “It’s ironic that most ultra-slim cameras struggle where they are most frequently used – in low-light social situations, such as parties. With four times the sensitivity, combined with iconic design, the FinePix Z2 Zoom is a camera that truly qualifies as an evening companion.”

The FinePix Z2 Zoom will be available from UK retailers in white or black finishes from November 2005, with pricing to be announced closer to the date.

Fujifilm

Yahoo Podcast Search Site Launches

Yahoo Podcast Search Site LaunchesKeen to get their size nines stamped all over the fast-growing podcasting revolution, Yahoo have launched a spanking new podcast service designed to make it easy for punters to rummage through the zillions of audio files available and find the stuff that interest them.

The beta Yahoo Podcast service aims to let folks search podcasts by keyword, categories or user-generated topic coding (‘tagging’), with the home page flagging up notable podcasts, based on popularity, user recommendations and ratings.

Yahoo Podcast Search Site LaunchesSurfers will also be able to listen to or subscribe to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds for individual shows, episodes or entire series.

“We intend to be the most comprehensive source for podcast content,” said Geoff Ralston, Yahoo!’s chief product officer.

Yahoo Podcast Search Site LaunchesThe service will offer a unique feature that lets users find content quicker by speeding up playback without the the broadcaster’s voice sounding like Mickey Mouse on helium.

As Geoff Ralston explained in an interview with PodTech, “You can hear someone and understand someone talking at a much higher speed. The problem is that when you speed it up naturally the pitch goes up, but we done some work to lower the pitch down. So it actually stays relatively normal and much more comprehensible.”

Although Podcast search services aren’t new – companies like AOL, Blinkx, Odeo.com and Podcast.net already offer services – Yahoo’s heavyweight clout make this move significant, with Ralston commenting, “We feel like we are really getting ahead of the curve with this.”

Yahoo Podcast Search Site LaunchesUnlike rival Podcast search sites, Yahoo! isn’t bundling in tools for creating podcasts at the moment, although that’s likely to happen in the future, with Joe Hayashi, Yahoo!’s director of product management saying, “This is all about discovery for now. Step One is all about growing the ecosystem.

With search engines constantly trying to dream up new advertising revenue-boosting services to retain and attract punters, it can only be a matter of time before the other Internet big boys respond with their own Podcast services.

Yahoo! Podcast

T-Mobile Web’n’Walk – Is Google Behind It?

Anybody who really thinks that T-Mobile is behind the new “Web’n’Walk” offering it trotted out last week, has really not being paying attention. It’s Google Talk, a VoIP service normally available for PC users, now sneakily able to go out over 3G data services.

The question to ask is: if Web’n’Walk is all T-Mobile’s doing, why is Google the Home Page of the new service?

Answer: the system is seen, inside Google, as a Trojan Horse to hook the mobile phone companies on VoIP and other Google Web services – and it is really part of the fierce rivalry building up between Skype (eBay) Yahoo (France Telecom) and Google (T-Mobile) to control the nascent “presence” business, with Instant Messenger and voice as the lever.

Exactly why all these people want to be in the presence business is another story – but anybody who knows what is really happening in the advertising business won’t need an explanation. The question, as far as the mobile phone operators is concerned, is whether they will actually end up with the slightest profit.

Officially, the new service gives you the Web in your pocket. This is not new; the Opera press release went out announcing Web’n’Walk back in June! it would only have been in any sense new last month, if we were discussing the “3” Internet service was being leaked, since Hutchison had previously been resolutely adamant that its users would have access only to the “3” web in a walled garden. That news was known to NewsWireless readers back in broke in early September: Hutchison will be opening up its 3G phones to full Internet browsing shortly.

Indeed, the only real surprise in today’s announcement is the discovery that the Danger-designed HipTop phone, which achieved such fame as the Sidekick in the North American market, will be one of the 3G announcements from T-Mobile later this year (according to Silicon.com).

But 3G phones that can access the Internet are not a T-Mobile invention. There’s no sudden change in the way people use the Internet, and 40 megabytes of data per month isn’t worth £30 of anybody’s money, even with 100 minutes of talk time. As Tim Richardson reported on The Register, it’s hype: “Hyping up the launch of its new service T-Mobile said it believes Web’n’Walk will lead to a considerable growth in total internet usage and, ultimately, more internet traffic being carried by mobile than by fixed line.”

It will do no such thing. What it does, is open up the mobile companies to a cuckoo’s egg; Google Talk, Yahoo! Messengerwith Voice, or even MSN Messenger – not to mention Skype- all on an IP backbone.

The idea that UMTS is a suitable IP backbone will be exposed in due course. Some of the gilt will flake off as soon as next week, when the first nationwide Flash-OFDM technology network will be rolled out by Flarion in a major European capital.

UMTS will work – sort of – but it adds latency to voice which rival systems won’t suffer from – rivals like IP Wireless, like Flash-OFDM, like WiMAX-WiFi mesh networks. Effectively, it turns the expensive mobile data networks into bit pipes, fit for carrying Internet Protocol traffic – at several times the price of rival systems.

Can UMTS really compete?
T-Mobile group CEO Rene Oberman [right] either knows nothing about home broadband, or this is an attempt to bamboozle the market. “T-Mobile will turn on a High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) network next year that will provide download rates of up to 1.8Mbps” he told Iain Thomson, who reported that T-Mobile appears to believe that the average download speed for home fixed line broadband ranges from under 264KB to 1MB.

In fact, by the time T-Mobile gets HSDPA working for a minority of its 3G users (a tiny fraction of its market) typical cable modem speeds will be ten megabits in the UK, and ADSL2 will be matching that.

Costs of home broadband, however, will continue to be flat rate, not £30 and upwards for no more data than will allow you to transmit a couple of dozen five megapixel photos. And you will only ever get 1.8 megabits out of a 3G HSDPA wireless mast if you are right next to it, and nobody else is trying to use the same cell for mobile data. Let’s not even mention the fact that the upload speed will remain below 64 kilobits per second – slow modem speeds.

What T-Mobile gets out of this deal, is some breathing space. It is making forward-looking pronouncements, and allowing investors to imagine that this will mean “jam tomorrow” after all.

NewsWireless

SPH-V8400: “Flying Mode” Offered By Samsung Phone

Samsung SPH-V8400 Phone Offers Samsung Electronics have announced a new slim-line phone with an automatic “flying mode” function.

According to what we’ve picked up off the Web, the new “shirt pocket” sized SPH-V8400 comes with a “flying mode” option, which (supposedly) “automatically” turns itself off when a punter gets on board an airplane.

‘Flying Mode’ functionality is already built into many smartphones/PDA phones and simply turns off the phone functions of a device.

This lets passengers play around with the other gizmos on their phones in-flight, without fear of getting a slap from an air hostess for breaking the laws about using mobiles in the air.

We’ve no idea how Samsung could get the phone to automatically turn off its calling functions as soon as a Torremenilos-bound punter gets on board, so we’ll be looking closely at the full specs when they become available.

Samsung SPH-V8400 Phone Offers It’s quite an attractive looking phone, with the pocket-untroubling 15.9 mm case coming in a natty black and silver finish with a large-ish LCD and a small sliding keyboard.

The phone is a fairly traditional affair, with a circular controller dominating the front display and large start call/end call buttons exactly where you expect to find them.

The camera comes stuffed with all the usual technology widgets, with an MP3 player onboard and a 1.3-megapixel digital camera and basic photo editing functions.

Unusually, the phone ships with an “electronic dictionary” and offers USB disk, file viewer, and voice dialing functionality.

Samsung will be showcasing the SPH-V8400 at the 2005 Korea Electronics Show that starts Tuesday.

Samsung
Korea Electronics Show 2005

One In Five Americans Has Never Been Online

One In Five Americans Has never Been OnlineA new study has revealed that one in five Americans is without home Internet access and have never been online, potentially hindering their access to crucial information and services.

The survey by the non-profit Pew Internet & American Life Project has highlighted the existence of a digital divide running along lines of age, race and income.

American wrinklies are lagging far behind in Internet adoption, with only 26 percent of folks 65 and older going online, compared with 67 percent of the 50 to 64 group.

One in five American adults (22 percent) remain completely untouched by the Internet and have never been online or received an email – roughly the same percentage of the population as in 2002.

One In Five Americans Has never Been OnlineNot surprisingly, the study also found that people with lower incomes and less education also registered lower percentages of Internet adoption.

Although around 70 percent of white Americans use the Internet, only 57 percent of African-Americans are online, with an emerging divide among those who have high-speed “broadband” Internet access and those on cranky old dial up.

The Pew study found that the majority of those using broadband are affluent and well-educated and that 66 percent of households earning $75,000 (~£42,260, ~€61,825) or more annually have a high-speed broadband Internet service at home.

This compares to just 21 percent of households on low incomes ($30,000 a year, ~£16,900, ~€24,730) possessing a high-speed Internet service.

One In Five Americans Has never Been OnlineBroadband makes it easier for surfers to whiz around the Web and download music, view videos, enjoy free VoIP calls and access online services and important information on topics like health and finance.

The differences are similar between those who have college degrees and those who have high-school degrees with Susannah Fox, associate director of the Pew project, commenting, “What’s starting to emerge … is an elite group of people who are pulling away with what they can do online.”

Fox added that businesses and governments should not forget the needs of the unconnected population and ensure that offline sources for health and government material is made available.

The study estimated that 53 percent of Internet users now have a high-speed connection at home, up from 21 percent in 2004, while a separate report last week by Nielsen/NetRatings, estimated that around 42 percent of the US population has broadband Internet service, up from 36 percent in January.

Pew Internet & American Life Project

3 Announce Mobile Music Video Deal with EMI

3 Announce Mobile Music Video Deal with EMI3G network operators 3 have announced a partnership with EMI Music UK to supply full-length music videos directly to the company’s 3 million customers.

The deal will let music fans delve into EMI’s extensive back catalogue of music videos as well as download new releases from big sellers like Kylie Minogue, Coldplay, Jamelia, Joss Stone, Norah Jones and Gorillaz.

Material from all of EMIs other labels – including Parlophone, Relentless and Virgin – will also be made available.

3 Announce Mobile Music Video Deal with EMIThe tie-up with EMI means that 3 subscribers can access a veritable cornucopia of audio/visual delights on their phones, with the new video material adding to the wireless operator’s bulging music catalogue, which includes full-length video and audio titles from Sony BMG and indie music videos supplied by VidZone.

3 has proved a trail-blazer in the UK for music video on mobile, being the first mobile network to launch full-length music videos over mobile over a year ago and world-premiering a Robbie Williams’ single on their network.

The service has proved a hit too, with over 10 million full-length music videos being downloaded in the 6 months following the launch of 3’s Video Jukebox in August 2004.

Graeme Oxby, Marketing Director 3 UK, was chuffed: “3’s mobile music service is growing every day. Music is one of our most popular services and with this deal our customers can enjoy the latest music videos from top artists like Kylie, Robbie and Coldplay. 3’s expertise in 3G means major record labels like EMI Music UK recognise the strength of a partnership with the UK’s leading video mobile company.”

3 Announce Mobile Music Video Deal with EMINext up on the back-slap promenade was Dave Gould, Commercial Manager, Digital Media for EMI Music UK: “We’re delighted to bring videos from EMI Music UK’s labels to 3. 3 is a leading network in bringing mobile music to its customers and we’re really excited about working with them to allow fans to catch up with their favourite artists anywhere and at anytime.”

Wrapping up the music industry love-in, Peter Jamieson, chairman of UK record companies trade association the BPI, purred: “The UK recording industry is committed to making music available wherever and whenever the music fan wants it. We welcome the increasing range of repertoire now available on 3.”

3 network
EMI

Free Mobiles; Technology Terror?; RIAA Boycott – Teenage Tech News Review

Free PhoneHandy… Literally!
Engadget has a story on how Montclair State University in New Jersey is handing out free phones to it’s students to enable them to easier communicate with each other. The handsets feature software which allows them to receive “channels” of information, which users sign up for. These channels include things like the dinner menu and the location of the university’s shuttle buses, as well as channels students have set up of their own.

I can admit I am actually kind of jealous of this: I would love the ability to be able to do this at school, checking up on when holidays are, what’s on the menu, and what my time-table’s like. Sadly, I think my school would have some difficulty in preventing the chavs from selling them on eBay, which of course is an entirely different issue.

This is the problem with technology like this: Those most likely to adopt it are, by default, young people, who therefore can’t afford it. Give it to them instead then, and a select few will take advantage of that. Technology like this, for now, is only for older people I think. This isn’t to say it isn’t exciting though: I still find socio-technological implementations, usually referred to as MoSoSo (Mobile Social Software), fascinating, as although there isn’t yet much of a market for these sorts of services, there will inevitably be, and when there is, it could well change the way we communicate with each other forever.

SMS Text MessageSounds nasty!
Everyone over here in Europe likes to text, or “txt” for short. I’m not entirely sure how popular the practice is over in the US, but in the UK it’s used mainly by teenagers, although others use it too, because of it’s extremely low cost in comparison to making voice calls.

The New York Times is reporting that apparently, using SPAMming techniques, it should be possible to flood a cities GSM infrastructure by sending as little as 165 text messages a second into the network. This is made possible because text messages use the same communications infrastructure and network that voice calls are made to as well. Imagine what could happen if someone flooded a network, so that no calls could be made, and then at the same time a co-ordinated terrorist attack occurred. People would be unable to call the emergency services, and wide-spread carnage and destruction would occur.

This is particularly scary for me, as I would be at a loss in an emergency without my phone: It’s central to how I find people and communicate with them, and when I really need to get in touch with them, I wouldn’t be able to. This reliance and taking for granted of technology is something that most of my generation are likely guilty of, and when everything does kick off and there’s no electricity, phones or water, I would have severe doubts that a lot of them would be able to cope with it.

It was only really recent events (London bombings) that brought this to my attention, but it has made me realise that reliance on technology could be very turned around and be used against us.

RIAAThat lot again
Yes, that’s right, the RIAA are at it again: A short time ago, a case against a mother on her daughter’s behalf of file sharing was dismissed in court. Now, the RIAA are back, but this time, they’re not suing the mother but her 14-year old daughter.

People like the RIAA make me so, so angry: At 14, no-one really knows what they’re doing. So a little girl downloaded some of her favourite songs from the Internet. That little girl was probably a paying customer as well, but her pocket money just wasn’t enough, and she just wanted to hear one more song by her favourite artist, but couldn’t afford it. Her friend said “you can get it for free from here”, and so that’s what the girl did. Next thing she knew, the very company she was a customer of, was sending threatening letters to her, demanding thousands of dollars in compensation.

Is this the right way of treating your customers? I know for sure it is one great way of driving them away. If you are in my position at the moment, of having a good few thousand songs you enjoy, then stop buying music unless it is from your local bands or from an independent label. It might sound an unrealistic expectation, but I have found so many great bands on the Internet and locally at pubs and other music venues, that I am quite confident I will never be giving another penny to those greedy folks over at the RIAA.

You can do something about it though, by going to www.boycott-riaa.com. Every little helps!
That would be my rant for the day, have a nice weekend :-)

PerfectDraft – It Does What It Says

PerfectDraft - It Does What It SaysThe 2006 world championships draw closer and if you‘ve not yet considered your Christmas gift list, this might be just the thing you were looking for.

The consumer electronics brands Philips and InBev have been considering how to enhance the daily lives of the greater population. Keeping our daily ration of beer at the temperature we love it, is a serious issue. So they’ve come up the PerfectDraft home-draught beer system.

The system carries a real tap handle and a display that indicates volume and beer temperature. It is designed to keep six litres of a variety of beers fresh for up to 4 weeks at an optimal temperature of 3 degrees C.

OK, six litres sounds low for the daily ration, but at least it’s cold.

And whilst those soccer guys show their muscles on television, I don’t have to leave the room to get more beers from the fridge. Once again, Philips helps us women to stay out of kitchen.

Philips PerfectDraft

Bible Converted Into Text For SMS Generation

Bible Converted Into Text For SMS GenerationAussie God squadders looking to get down with Da Yoot have translated all 31,173 verses of the Bible into SMS text-speak.

Although other services have offered daily SMS Bible scriptures in the past, the Bible Society in Australia is claiming to be the first to translate all 31,173 verses of the Bible into text.

Looking, we suspect, like an old uncle in a backwards baseball cap, Bible Society spokesman Michael Chant enthused, “The old days when the Bible was only available within a sombre black cover with a cross on it are long gone.”.

“We want to open it up for people of all ages, backgrounds and interests, and the SMS version is a logical extension of that,” he added.

Salvation-seeking, Bible-bashing SMS fans can access the translated text over the Internet for free and send individual verses to family or friends via text messaging.

The entire new and old testaments were converted to text in just four weeks by one, clearly obsessively dedicated, individual.

Bible Converted Into Text For SMS GenerationThe translations were based on the Contemporary English Version and remained faithful to the grammar, with just the spellings being altered.

Here’s some examples:

U, Lord, r my shepherd. I will neva be in need. U let me rest in fields of green grass. U lead me 2 streams of peaceful water. (Psalm 23, verses 1-2).

Wrk hard at wateva u do. U will soon go 2 da wrld of da dead, where no 1 wrks or thinks or reasons or knws NEting. (Ecclesiastes, chapter nine, verse 10).

Respect ur father & ur mother, & u will live a long time in da l& I am givin u. (Exodus, chapter 20, verse 12).

Mr Chant felt confident that the text version would appeal to young people, suggesting that it could also be used to encourage, motivate and reassure people in all sorts of situations, with verses sent out daily ‘read like a horoscope.’

“People might want to send a verse to a friend in need, instructors might want to add verses to SMS bulletins to youth club members, or other people might just want to send a daily Bible recording to themselves to meditate on while they’re on the bus or having lunch,” he said.

An article in The Sydney Morning Herald calculated that sending the entire Bible by SMS would take more than 30,000 messages and cost almost £3,440 ($6.080, €5,050) at 10p for each message. You could buy around 1,500 pints of beer for that. We know what we’d prefer.

Trabsl8it text translation
Sydney Morning Herald
other Bible SMS services