Mobile in Denver

2005-08-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

We've moved here. Please update your links.

2005-08-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

So where are the american cab companies in this technology mix?

SMS will tell you where to find nearest cabbie: "In Reading, entrepreneur Mike Durham has created a service allowing customers to track the nearest black cab by sending a text message, reports the Evening Post. Using a mix of satellite tracking and mobile technology, BeepTaxi links taxi drivers with..."

(Via textually.org.)

SMS will tell you where to find nearest cabbie

2005-08-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

I would have loved to use something like this on Monday and Tuesday when we were having wonderful dinners at Glenwood Canyon.

System for Tagging Messages, Post-Inferential Semantics: "

STAMPS is a little program that allows you to see a map of the place where you are, visualised on the screen of your mobile. There, you can write a kind of SMS and attach it to the map so that other friends can see your message appearing on their map.

You can write: 'this is my favorite pizzeria!', as a piece of advice to your buddies. The messages left in the system say something about the city where you live: what are the sport locations, the place to eat, the meeting spots. After a while, all this information could help users navigate the city. You can ask the system, for instance: 'where is a pizzeria near by?', and the system will search for other people's messages which refer to the term pizzeria to give you an advice.

Full featured prototype is due by the end of this month.

[via Fabien]

(Via Smart Mobs.)

System for Tagging Messages, Post-Inferential Semantics

2005-08-11T06:23:00.000-07:00

Having done some traveling to places we've not been previously, this sounds like a wonderful idea.

RFID for sightseeing: "RFID tags will be embedded in the environment and sightseers will use mobile phones and PDAs with integrated RFID readers"

(Via picturephoning.com.)

RFID for sightseeing

2005-08-11T05:55:00.000-07:00

80% of European cellphone users have been hit with SMS spam: "src="http://img.engadget.com/common/images/8658980565609755.JPG?0.45868191342045483" align="right" border="0"
height="234" hspace="4" vspace="16" width="200" />

If you never gotten a piece of SMS
spam you should consider yourself lucky: a new survey conducted by Intrado, Switzerland’s University of St. Gallen,
and the International Telecommunicaton Union found that over 80% of all European cellphone users reported receiving at
least one SMS spam last year (in the US it’s estimated to be below 10%). SMS spam is already a huge problem in places
like South Korea and to make matters worse, spam is way
more annoying to receive on your cellphone that it is on your PC. Even if you’re not paying per message you receive,
it’s not like most users have the option of installing SMS spam filtering software on their phones to automatically
catch and delete any unwanted messages.

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© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.

Ads by Google

(Via engadget.com.)

80% of European cellphone users have been hit with SMS spam

2005-08-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

6thSense: "6thSense allows you to find people through your cell phone who share your common interests. But not just any people, these are people who are right near you, often times close enough to walk right over and strike up..."

(Via textually.org.)

6thSense

2005-08-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

One Text Message Tells Everyone You're 'OK': "textOK.com launching on Monday, is a solution that will allow British mobile users to let all their contacts know they are safe by sending 'I'm OK' text message to short code 6099."

(Via textually.org.)

One Text Message Tells Everyone You're 'OK'

2005-08-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

Colroado Bans Young Drivers' Cell Phones: "Beginning Monday, Colorado is banning young drivers from talking on cellular phones while they're behind the wheel."

(Via textually.org.)

Colroado Bans Young Drivers' Cell Phones

2005-08-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

Firms eye system to control home appliances via mobile phones: "Agroup of four companies said Friday they have kicked off tests to establish a system that will enable users to remotely control gas and electrical equipment at their homes via mobile phones."

(Via textually.org.)

Firms eye system to control home appliances via mobile phones

2005-08-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

Obvious Cellphone Innovation: "

I have already mentioned that LCD streetlights and stoplights make sense and I've heard from a few people close to the technology who have explained various aspects of why this technology isn't moving faster.

Here comes another one. Sony Ericsson has some rather cool and rather obvious ideas for things cellphones should be able to do:

Sony Ericsson’s latest idea is to sell phones which automatically change the way they behave, depending on the time, date and place, reports New Scientist.

'For example, the wallpaper display on the screen shows pumpkins when the phone’s calendar sees the date is Halloween, and Christmas puddings on December 25th. Network roaming, or GPS, can tell a phone what country it is in, so the ring-tone might change to a reggae tune as the plane touches down in Jamaica, for example.

A restaurant could use short-range Bluetooth signals to deliver the specials menu direct to the phone's screen, and a cinema or church could use Bluetooth to switch it to silent mode. Stockbrokers could enable an option to display the latest share prices every 10 minutes and golfers could use continually updated weather forecasts for wallpaper.

Priority coding lets some automated controls override user settings.'

Read the location-aware cellphone patent here.

I certainly want an intelligent cellphone that knows where 'we' are and how best to let me know when it needs my attention. Is it just me or does this seem like this is a no brainer. The problem is just how carriers will squeeze revenue out of these features. Will they understand that better behaved cellphones are good for their bottom line or will they see these as added 'features' for which they have to charge a premium. Time will tell.

[Textually: A Location Aware Cellphone]

Technorati Tags: Sony Ericsson, cell phone, cellphone

(Via Thinking.)

Obvious Cellphone Innovation

2005-08-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

"Town Pocket": "

'NTT DoCoMo together with a mobile marketing company TechFarm and a voluntary organization URAHARA.ORG will soon introduce RFID-based 'physical bookmarking' services at the well-known Harajuku area in Tokyo',RFID in Japan reports.'A system called 'Town Pocket' will be deployed at 153 shops including 109 apparel stores,14 cafes and restaurants,10 hair salons,13 accessory shops, and 7 shoes/sports shops.All these shops will install an RFID reader device (photo) to which customers show their wallet phones in order to 'bookmark' stores'.The article says that in November,'stores will be able to distribute SMS newsletters and digital discount coupons to the customers who bookmarked them. The system may be eventually integrated with digital shopping services'.

RFID 'Bookmarking' to be introduced in Harajuku

(Via Smart Mobs.)

"Town Pocket"

2005-08-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

Here come location-aware phones: "

Sony Ericsson is all set to introduce location-aware phones. I has written last year that by end of 2005, location aware services could start to get traction. Might be off by a few months, but looks like it is finally starting to happen.

(Via GigaOm: Om Malik's Broadband Blog.)

Here come location-aware phones

2005-08-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

How People Use LBS: "

Location enabled mobile phones are still in their infancy in both Europe and the US - although there's already a significant, if small, market for handheld specialist GPS devices, made by companies such as Garmin and Trimble. Indeed, while the PDA sector is in decline as I wrote yesterday, the one area that is showing growth is GPS enabled PDA's.

According to Trimble, the 10 -12 million Americans are using their handheld GPS devices for:

19% hiking, backpacking

12% hunting

14% boating/fishing

12% off road ATV

11% Geocaching

As a long range forecast, as GPS becomes integrated into phones, I can see Geocaching being used pretty successfully in a marketing context - a kind of 'treasure hunt' theme.

While this survey is interesting though, I'm not sure it tells us how people will use GPS, once it's packaged in their phones. It's one thing to buy a device to support a hobby (like fishing) and it's another when you suddenly find that your mobile does this groovy thing new thing that you didn't know about.

But it is another powerful example of the real world meeting the digital one and meeting at the mobile phone.

(Via Russell Buckley's MobHappy.)

How People Use LBS

2005-08-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

Bookmark shops with Town Pocket RFID: "src="http://img.engadget.com/common/images/4226770577945323.JPG?0.23299755535079425" align="right" border="1"
height="200" hspace="4" vspace="16" width="114" />

We are getting so, so sick of having to remember anything these days. So thank god for Japan’s new Town Pocket
system, which is currently being deployed at 153 local shops in Harajuku, where you’ll be able to whip out your
RFID-enabled cellphone (or
QR-code reader, depending on what you’ve got),
and bookmark various stores. Of course the bummer here is the bidirectional communication, since when you bookmark them
with that wallet-phone, apparently they can
bookmark (and market to) you. Look man, just because we liked your restaurant doesn’t mean we want to get SMSs with the
dinner specials of the week, ok?

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© 2005 Weblogs, Inc.

Ads by Google

(Via engadget.com.)

Bookmark shops with Town Pocket RFID

2005-08-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Media_mobile weblogging: "

... Charlene Li, an Asian-American woman who expertises in technology and blog business, suggested two moblogging website in her story, Rabble and Winksite. The two blogging website believes that the integration between blog and mobile will make the similar success as one between mobile and camera ...

Amy_in a crazy Hong kong

(Via [Technorati] Winksite.)

Media_mobile weblogging

2005-08-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

On the Cutting Edge of Wireless: "

02 Aug 2005 from eMarketer | Read the full story»

Pondering the future of wireless? Look to the Asia-Pacific region, home to some of the most advanced networks in the world."

(Via TP Wire Service.)

On the Cutting Edge of Wireless

2005-08-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

We're in that "large quantities" group.

Hello! WAP Service Launches: "Now you can get your vacuous celebrity fluff on the move! Large quantities of people proclaim 'Who cares!'"

(Via Digital-Lifestyles.)

Hello! WAP Service Launches

2005-08-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

Realtors Discover Google: "The real-estate advertising picture for newspapers looks increasingly grim (as I noted in an item here last week). Well, here's more bad news for traditional publishers, courtesy of Michael Harrell of Colorado Future, which has created a Web search engine for Colorado homes that utilizes Google Maps and Google Earth.

Colorado Future is one of the first businesses in the real-estate industry to tap into Google's satellite mapping tools, which anyone with a little tech knowledge can do. You can search for a home by viewing a satellite image (with street names overlaid) of the area you're (...)

Entry continued..."

(Via Poynter E-Media Tidbits.)

Realtors Discover Google

2005-08-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

This looks interesting, if you have the phone, and apparently a bag full of extra phone batteries.

Podcasting to Mobile Phones!: "Podcasting to Mobile Phones. No iPod, MP3 player, or iTunes mobile required"

(Via textually.org.)

Podcasting to Mobile Phones!

2005-07-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

TV Ad Text Response: "

The Peugot TV campaign for the new 1007 car offers SMS as the only contact channel, according to Mike Grenville for 160characters.org.

'Under the umbrella creative by Euro RSCG, Peugeot's TV campaign for the launch of the 1007 has the only call to action at the end of the advert is to text the word 'easy' to 81007.

By texting the branded shortcode, 81007, respondents can access a mobile portal for the car, where more information and entertainment can be accessed. Customers can book a test drive, order a brochure, see animated mobisodes of key 1007 features, download screensavers and ringtones, and preview the 1007 ad two weeks before it was launched on TV.

Peugeot 1007 News

(Via unmediated.)

TV Ad Text Response

2005-07-31T07:55:00.000-07:00

Why cell phones are the most important consumer device ever: " No sane person at the time ever thought these things would become the most significant electronic consumer device in history. But that's exactly what is happening.

Bigger than television. Bigger than the PC. Bigger than the telephone."

(Via unmediated.)

Why cell phones are the most important consumer device ever

2005-07-31T07:54:00.000-07:00

Wear your phone around your arm: "The Fixaphone, a cell phone holder you wear around your arm or leg, while running, biking, horse back riding, rollerblading..."

(Via textually.org.)

Wear your phone around your arm

2005-07-30T08:45:00.000-07:00

Treo 650 Spontaneous Reboot When Sending SMS Messages: "

Here’s a tip that’s completely useless for anyone who a) doesn’t have a Treo and b) hasn’t had their Treo spontaneously reboot when sometimes sending SMS text messages. As I couldn’t find this solution elsewhere, I thought I’d post it here for now.

Go to the home page of the Treo and in the ‘App’ menu select Delete…

Scroll down the list until you find Messages Database. (You’re now going to delete all your past SMS messages, but it’s a small price to pay.)

Delete it.

Your Treo should work fine now.

(Via loose wire.)

Treo 650 Spontaneous Reboot When Sending SMS Messages

2005-07-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

Cell Phone Tower Search: "

Towers are registered with the FCC. We’ve taken the information and compiled it into a searchable database, and displayed it with Google Maps to give you a graphical interface to see towers in your area. Another web mashup that uses Google Maps……

(Via Lockergnome Bytes.)

Cell Phone Tower Search

2005-07-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

Motorola Adds Yahoo! Web Services To Mobiles: "Yahoo! to bolt on Yahoo Internet services to their Linux-based mobile devices."

(Via Digital-Lifestyles.)

Motorola Adds Yahoo! Web Services To Mobiles