Posted on Engadget:
"It looks like Motorola isn't about to let Apple have the goofy, non-existent product spotlight to itself, with a recent patent application of its revealing some plans of its own for a head-mounted display."
Motorola patent application reveals cellphone / HMD combo craziness - Engadget
NTT DoCoMo Debuts Motion-Sensing Phone for Mobile Gaming | Digital Media Wire
Tokyo - NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile network in Japan, on Monday introduced a new handset from Mitsubishi that features a motion sensor for use in controlling action in mobile games, Reuters reported. Set to ship next month in Japan, the D904i lets users swing the phone like a sword or tennis racket, similar to the remote for Nintendo's Wii video game console. NTT DoCoMo also introduced two phones from Sharp and Matsushita in its 904i series that use built-in cameras to detect motion.
Also mentioned:
Games are among the most popular contents downloaded onto mobile phones in Japan, where most of the users are signed up to so-called third-generation (3G) networks that allow fast and interactive data communications. Earlier this year, DoCoMo, which caters to 54 percent of Japan's mobile phone users, introduced a phone that features a touch-sensitive screen and a model that gives off a relaxing scent. (!)
Related Links:
http://www.nttdocomo.com/pr/2007/001335.html
http://tinyurl.com/2w826q (Reuters)
http://www.nttdocomo.com/features/foma904igallery/d904i.html
...software developed by the Munich group, AudioRadar, provides a map of songs by their sound and similarities. Using algorithms developed by other acoustical researchers over the years, it scans a music collection, measuring song qualities: tempo, chordal shifts, volume, harmony, and so on. Then it weights the songs by four key criteria: fast or slow, melodic or rhythmic, turbulent or calm, and rough or clean. (Turbulence measures the abruptness of shifts; "rough" indicates the number of shifts.) Based on these metrics, the application creates a map in which a chosen song appears at the center of the screen, with similar songs clustered in a circle around it -- sort of like points of light on a radar screen. Then users can gauge, for instance, the "calmness" or "cleanness" of another music choice by its relative position on the map. Distances are scaled; for instance, a song at the circle's outer edge would be twice as calm as one in the center. And the cluster rearranges itself after each new song. Thus, users can surf their collections without needing to remember every song they own. They can build mood-based playlists or let the program select the next most similar song.This and similar services in development described in Technology Review
Looks like this was posted on most of the tech gadget blogs but missed it. Could be useful for mobile entertainment apps.
The Zypad™ WL 1000 is a wrist-wearable wireless computer flexibly designed to give the user instant access to computing capabilities while carrying out non-computer tasks in the field. Featuring hands-free operation, robust wireless capabilities, and built-in GPS tracking, this versatile wearable computer serves as an ideal tool for Emergency Search and Rescue, Healthcare, Homeland Security, Maintenance, Law Enforcement, Logistics, Transportation, and Defense applications.
Parvus Corporation
Where 2.0 is in progress up in San Jose:
Where2.0 brings together the people, projects, and issues leading the charge into the location based technological frontier. Join us to debate and discuss what's viable now, and what's lurking just below the radar. There's no better place to meet the people behind the mash-ups and platforms, and the folks looking ahead to the future of geospace.
Check out some of the amazing demos and presentations blogged on the conference blog and on Wired yesterday and today.
"The Shroud" - a new mobile game with GPS features that will be shown at E3:
GPS: The Next Big Thing for Mobile?BIZ: From a business/marketing standpoint, GPS games could potentially lead to some unique promotional activities. For example, perhaps visiting certain real-world locations could earn points for purchases with that marketing partner or could unlock in-game extras sort of like in-game ads meets real-world. Have you thought about anything like this?
RS: We certainly have thought of such scenarios. In fact The Shroud already has static GPS hotspots centered around real world monuments and landmarks throughout each market we plan to operate in. For example anyone playing The Shroud who goes to Fisherman's wharf in San Francisco will be sent off on a GPS fishing challenge. (optional of course). Should a company want to sponsor The Shroud nationally or locally and, for example, have the players use all Burger Kings as GPS challenge hotspots then we most certainly could accommodate that request if we felt it was the right fit.
An ad campagin happened earlier this fall in Japan with similarities to the series of ConQwest Big Games done in the US recently (image above):
In Japan, Northewest Airlines is running a billboard campaign which contains QR codes, small image tags on the billboards which contain an embedded URL. When a camera phone user takes a picture of the board, they are directed to a website that features a game where airline coupons can be won. A company called Semacode makes the technology behind the QR codes. Many phone manufacturers are adopting the technology which may make billboards finally serve a purpose other that simple brand awareness or physical directionals.
Via: MIT Adlab
More info here: Adrants - Technology Enables Billboards to Direct Camera Phone Users to Website
And here
And Previous IMD entries about QR code here and here.
TECHNOLOGY ALERT from The Wall Street Journal.
Dec. 8, 2005
Electronic Arts agreed to acquire Jamdat Mobile, a maker of cellphone games, in a deal worth about $680 million.
From DigitalMediaWire newsletter:
Oslo - The first trial of interactive mobile TV programming was launched this week in Norway, a collaboration between broadcaster NRK and wireless firm LM Ericsson. The six week trial of the IM-TV service will enable viewers of the Norwegian music video show "Svisj" to interact in real time by voting for upcoming videos, and messaging the show's hosts and other viewers while still watching the program. The cost to interact is about half that of standard text messages. "Our solution makes it possible for viewers to interact with a show that they are watching on their mobile device in a whole new way, creating a much richer TV experience with the help of the mobile channel," said Ericsson Mobility World vice president Kurt Sillen.
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/051202/0102895.html
http://tinyurl.com/9ck57 (Associated Press)
http://www.nrk.no/img/541868.jpg
Keitai KunKun: "It is epoch-making mobile accessories to inform of arrival of the mail of a cellular phone in "odor". Hangs it on a strap of a cellular phone, and faint odor opens at every telephone and arrival of the mail of an email for five seconds."
Via: MIT Advertising Lab: future of advertising and advertising technology
SiliconBeat: Your college education via iTunes
Speaking of Stanford, the university has announced an agreement with Apple to produce free podcasts of lectures, student music, play-by-play of its football games and more. There's already a ton of content in the iTunes store, including lectures from the Technology Ventures Program. (Note: You apparently can't access the Stanford content directly from the iTunes store. You have go through the Stanford iTunes site first.) Educators in many places have embraced podcasting to make their lectures, etc. more easily accessible. But Stanford's inititaive seems the most ambitious. It's also seems to be a smart move by Apple, especially given Yahoo's attempt to cultivate an audience for its music service among Stanford students.(Thanks to colleague Jessie Seyfer for the pointer.)
A new service from Amp'd that seems to have a unique interface and strong emphasis on content. Announced this summer and about to be released next month, expect to see a lot of efforts like this aimed at the mobile youth market. Amp'd has also signed an exclusive with WIlliam Morris agency for talent and content aquisition.
Founded by the same guys who started Boost, Nextel's youth-oriented pay-as-you-go service, Amp'd is a new carrier aimed at teens and twentysomethings. Its phones will have dynamic, Flash-style user interfaces, lots of content from familiar TV shows and musical entertainers, as well as the ability to connect to your PC to download content you already own.... Amp'd appears to be making wide-ranging deals with TV networks and music labels, and will even run its own exclusive broadcasts of events using its own satellite truck.
News from PC Magazine: Amp'd Announces First Handsets and via Gizmodo
