Mobiles

PixSense today announced the launch of their new location tagging feature, Media Map, on the PixSense PSP (preserve, share, publish) Platform. Media Map automatically captures the geographic location and the time that photos or video were taken by the subscriber’s cell phone. The captured data is automatically integrated with an online interactive map. It is also added to the subscriber’s online gallery where it can be effortlessly categorized by date/time, location, or event. Subscribers can now easily send an entire album based on a trip or specific timeframe to friends, without having to send each photo individually.

The location tagging feature expands the fundamental PSP functions for mobile generated media, which include one-click media saving, sharing, web posting and mobile community building. Photos and videos captured on a subscriber’s cell phone can be uploaded to the online media or social networking site of their choice for sharing or archiving. And with the PSP Platform, subscribers are able to share any mobile media from cell phone to cell phone, cell phone to web or web to cell phone.

“Our Media Map feature opens up a whole new level of functionality and convenience for mobile users,” said R. Paul Singh, president and CEO of PixSense. “I can recapture every memory of every photo and video I took on a recent trip abroad, by mapping out each step of my trip. This allows me to visualize my travels in a new, interactive way.”

PixSense will be demonstrating Media Map at the 2008 Qualcomm BREW Conference, at booth #209.

T-Mobile has launched the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic candybar handset today in your choice of red, orange, or purple accent colors. The 5310 XpressMusic offers dedicated music playback keys, a 3.5mm audio port, and a microSD card slot.
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According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, technologies such as NFC are enabling a completely new segment of mobile applications - proximity services or local services - but the industry first needs to settle several critical technical and pedagogic issues.

The market is still guarded and fragmented, but in the long term consumers will not accept to handle multiple devices, cards, accounts and passwords. A long-term pragmatic view and initial cooperation is necessary to enable the paradigm shift that will morph the mobile phone into a terminal for communicating with intelligent objects in the environment. ”Local contact-less services are already available to over 50 million mobile users that can shop, travel and get information by just waving their phones over readers”, said Sabine Ehlers, associate analyst, Berg Insight.

In Japan for example the service is well-established and a great success in terms of number of readers installed, service partners linked and subscriber terminals in use. When it comes to actually applying the technology however, the mass of consumers apparently need time to change deep-rooted behaviours. In Europe the development is held back by uncertainty about business models and the lack of coordination between different players. Especially mobile operators regard the new business field with caution due to its lack of obvious revenues for network owners. Berg Insight does however identify several important contributions from the operators, and reasons why they cannot afford to stay outside this exciting new field. The report gives a thorough technical background to the contact-less mobile field, identifies the best strategies for initial services and how to progress from there, and discusses experiences from a large number of trials and services from around the world. 

see what’s happening in Japan here

AT&T has recently started offering its data customers free access to its WiFi hotspot network. In order to partake in the service, users must already subscribe to a $60 or more AT&T mobile broadband data plan.
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Last week, Sharp has announced that it had achieved the world’s highest power density, 0.3W/cc, for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) for mobile equipment. This new technology enables efficient power generation from a small cell volume. Thus, the use of this technology can make it possible to develop fuel cells that have almost the same volume but a longer continuous.

An example of mobile phone powered by fuel cell

Because fuel cells use energy produced by the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, they have a small impact on the global environment. Also, fuel cells are expected to become the next-generation power generating devices because of their high generating efficiency that comes from converting chemical energy directly into electrical energy. In particular, DMFC have a simple structure in which power is generated through a chemical reaction between methanol supplied directly to the power generation part and oxygen in the air, making them suitable for miniaturization.

In the future, through continuing to pursue the development of this elemental technology, cell volume can be further miniaturized, and the creation of cells with the same volume but a longer lifespan than the currently mainstream lithium-ion batteries can be achieved. 

via [slashgear]

Now 70 Million Friendster Users Worldwide Can Stay in Touch Anytime, Anywhere
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Mobiado has just unveiled their new luxury phone, the Professional 105 ZAF with a thickness of 10.6mm. The entire front and back of the phone has been crafted from large pieces of sapphire crystal, providing a modern minimalist look with a wear resistance second only to diamond.

The phone frame is precision CNC machined from aircraft aluminum to create a strong yet light body, polished, and then anodized it to produce a ceramic surface for the toughest of uses. The iconic Professional 105 ZAF is available in six designer colors (black, black satin, blue, grey, red, and silver).

The Professional 105 ZAF is unlocked, quad-band GSM/EGSM and dual-band WCDMA network operational. It works within North America, Europe, Africa, Asia- Pacific, and South America where GSM/EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 and WCDMA 850/2100 networks are available. It is equipped with a 2 megapixel camera and video camera, more than 1 GB internal memory, 2″ display with up to 16 million colors, Bluetooth and micro USB connectivity, and a music player that supports AAC, eAAC+, and MP3 audio formats.

Professional 105 ZAF Specifications

• WCDMA 850/2100
• GSM/EGSM 850/900/1800/1900
• Weight: 162g (including battery)
• Dimensions: 109.3 mm x 47.5 mm x 10.6 mm
• Display: 2″ (320 x 240 pixels) QVGA display supporting up to 16.7 million true colors
• Stainless steel keypad
• Series 40 5th edition
• 2 megapixel camera
• Music player supports AAC, eAAC+, and MP3 audio formats
• Video playback supports H.263, MPEG4, and 3GPP formats and codecs
• Video streaming supports 3GPP and H.263 formats
• 1 GB internal memory with up to 920 MB user free memory
• Java MIDP 2.0
• Micro USB
• Bluetooth standard 1.2 + enhanced data rate (EDR)
• Up to 3.5 hours talk time
• Up to 9 days standby time

Nokia and KONAMI today announced that KONAMI mobile titles will be added to the N-Gage mobile games platform. The mobile version of METAL GEAR SOLID will be the first title in the games line-up.

The new version of the classic game features original content that can only be found on the mobile platform. Players face the extreme tension of solitary infiltration in this version of the tactical espionage action game developed in conjunction with Ideaworks3D and utilizing its Airplay 3.5 SDK. An in-game camouflage system utilizes colour samples from the scenery of the real world captured by the handset’s camera. Moreover, additional controls are introduced that are made especially for mobile devices.

“We’re excited to see KONAMI tap into the performance and community features we’ve built into the N-Gage platform,” said Gregg Sauter, Director, Third Party Games Publishing, Nokia. “METAL GEAR SOLID on N-Gage will raise the bar with respect to graphical detail and made-for-mobile features. We look forward to the launch of this great franchise on N-Gage.”

DeviceAnywhere offers remote access to Palm handsets for more efficient application development on Palm smartphones
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DeviceAnywhere offers remote access to Palm handsets for more efficient application development on Palm smartphones
Read the full story here.