Mobile Technology
TomTom unveils new car navigation products
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May 5, 2008 Portable navigation solutions provider TomTom has announced their latest car navigation products – the TomTom ONE and TomTom XL which supersede the current TomTom ONE 3RD EDITION and TomTom ONE XL ranges. The new TomTom ONE comes with a 3.5 inch touch screen LCD, while the TomTom XL boasts a 4.3 inch widescreen LCD, for those who prefer a larger display. The new devices also come with a revised audio system and a completely redesigned body, including a folding mount. This new windshield mount, known as the EasyPort mount, can be left on the device and folded flat after use. The complete unit, including the mount, is then small enough to fit into a shirt pocket, bag or pocket when the driver leaves the vehicle. Read More
Mobion Fuel Cell GPS
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We’ve been writing about the coming of micro fuel cell technology to replace current lithium ion and similar rechargeable battery systems in hand-held electronic devices for a long time now, with prototype devices from Toshiba and MTI Micro being the most prevalent. While it’s been a long time in coming to market, fuel cell technology will almost certainly eventually prevail, so the showing of an embedded fuel cell prototype handheld GPS device at the 10th Annual International Small Fuel Cells Conference on the weekend is significant. Based on direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technology, MTI Micro’s Mobion power packs promise an increase in run time (time until a recharge is needed) of between two to ten times over the status quo of existing battery technologies. Read More
Tag Heuer's US$6200 Meridiist mobile phone handset
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April 23, 2008 If your Swiss watch has been complaining that it doesn't want to be seen in public with your mobile phone any more, you could do worse than check out Tag Heuer's first foray into the handset market. The Meridiist will feature high-grade steel casings, unscratchable dual crystal displays and nearly a month of standby time. Naturally it looks very classy too, but at up to US$6200, without any mention of 3G connectivity, it could be more a piece of palm jewelery than a serious telephone. Read More
The Scroll: left-of-center hand-held electronics design
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April 18, 2008 The last decade has seen a meteoric explosion in the shape, size and functionality of hand-held electronic devices with all sorts of innovations from sliding keyboards to touch screen interfaces thrown at the feet of the consumer. Proof that we haven't yet seen it all, The Scroll is a blue-sky design concept that takes a format used by medieval town criers, turns it sideways and shoe-horns it into the 21st century by incorporating a mobile phone, hand-held computer, camcorder and sliding LCD screen. Read More
AuthenTec launches new protective packaging for mobile fingerprint sensors
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April 16, 2008 AuthenTec has announced a thin, durable, waterproof, and surface-mountable covering for its TruePrint biometric fingerprint sensors. Known as TouchStone, the thin casing triples the protective coating over the sensitive technology, shielding it from accidental scratching by coins, keys, pens and anything else you may find in your pocket. Read More
CSR demonstrates ultra low power Bluetooth
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April 15, 2008 CSR has given the first public demonstration of its Ultra Low Power (ULP) Bluetooth silicon at the Continua Health Alliance medical conference in Luxembourg. The demonstrations showed that CSR’s ULP Bluetooth silicon consumes 10 times less power than standard Bluetooth when connectable. Read More
Zeemote wireless controller for mobile phones
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April 9, 2008 The US$38 billion video gaming market thrives due to innovative input devices and one of the most interesting new additions is the Zeemote JS1 - a wireless controller that enables what the developers claim is near-console game play on mobile phones. Created by the team that developed the first force feedback joystick for PC gaming, the Zeemote controller fell into the hands of Dave Weinstein at CTIA and Dave reports the new phone peripheral is responsive, ergonomic and functional and just might help us past trying to game comfortably on a phone using controls designed for some other purpose. Read More
Shoot-to-Translate: killer mobile phone app for travelers
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April 7, 2008 Nokia unveiled a plethora of mobile phone functionality concepts last October at The Way We Live Next briefing in Finland and tucked away behind the high profile apps was a simple shoot-to-translate function. Inveterate traveler Dave Weinstein dropped in at CTIA last week and reports that he focussed straight away on the cameraphone translator that can supposedly translate Chinese to English from a photo taken on the phone. “You can imagine how useful it would be for me, but it was just a technology demo. They wouldn't let me load the app on my phone or tell me any real info about it”, says Dave, who spends most of his time in Beijing these days.
Momenta neck-worn PC - another Black Box Life Recorder
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April 7, 2008 It seems inevitable that we’ll eventually all record our live digitally, and the Momenta neck-worn PC is the first viable design we’ve seen to facilitate such functionality. It’s similar in functionality to Microsoft’s ongoing Sensecam project we reported on a few years ago, as it is designed to capture the best and most exciting moments of your life. If you’ve ever thought, "I wish I had that on tape", when everybody is laughing themselves to tears, Momenta has already captured the previous five minutes in its rolling buffer and continues to record until you tell it to stop. Triggered by increased heart rate, it captures those hilarious or exciting moments that are usually lost forever. Two others we really like are the AlphaGrip HC (an ergonomic handheld) and a palette for digital artists.
GO-Trust Inc. embeds smart card chips in SD memory modules
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April 7, 2008 Security solutions provider GO-Trust Inc. has launched new technology that enables manufacturers and developers of smart cards and smart card based security solutions to offer their applications on any mobile device that accepts a SD standard, mini or micro memory card, without any modification of the mobile device. The company has developed IC’s, firmware and drivers that enable smart card manufacturers to embed their technology in SD memory chips and operate seamlessly on a wide range of mobile devices. This opens up users of mobile phones, PDAs, laptops, tablet PCs, mobile TVs, portable ultrasound units, digital cameras, digital camcorders, MP3/MP4 Players, digital picture frames, GPS, graphing calculators and the Wii Game System as potential users for chip based security solutions. Read More
Dual-mode Satellite-Terrestrial HSPA PDA
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April 7, 2008 Elektrobit (EB) showed a dual-mode satellite-terrestrial HSPA handset at CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas last week and it caused quite a bit of interest. It’s the first fully IP-based Quad-band GSM-satellite phone, has a touch screen and a full QWERTY keyboard, integrated Bluetooth, WiFi, USB and GPS connectivity and is based on the Windows 6.1 mobile operating system. In the United States users will be able to seamlessly and securely connect via both the satellite and terrestrial components of the TerreStar network, which is the sole carrier at this stage. Read More
MOBIVOX’s hands-free texting service
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April 3, 2008 Another notable announcement from CTIA Wireless 2008 in Las Vegas is MOBIVOX’s "Send Message", a mobile phone service that automatically converts voice to e-mail and short messages (SMS). Read More
New Voicemail to Text service launched
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April 2, 2008 The developers of Dragon Naturally Speaking speech recognition technology have announced Nuance Voicemail to Text, a voicemail transcription service that delivers high-quality readable messages to mobile devices at CTIA Wireless 2008. Offered through carriers, the service uses Nuance's speech recognition and transcription workflow solutions to convert voicemails left on any voicemail box into text. Transcribed messages are sent to users as SMS or email messages. Read More
Samsung’s MyShot and Spex phones - the first MetroPCS AWS handsets to hit the market
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April 1, 2008 Samsung has announced the availability of the Samsung MyShot (SCH-r430) and Samsung Spex (SCH-r210) through MetroPCS - a wireless broadband personal communication service provider of no long-term contract, flat rate, unlimited usage basis phone plans in selected major metropolitan areas in the US. The MyShot and Spex are MetroPCS’s first phones to operate on the 1.7/2.1GHz CDMA Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum, which promises current and future service providers the opportunity to provide wireless broadband services to millions of Americans, resulting in increased productivity, efficiency, mobility and security through larger bandwidth allocation. Read More
Stock Trading Mobile Phone and Bluetooth Remote Wristwatch
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Sharp’s 920SH mobile phone with its swiveling 3.2-inch VGA screen launched in October in Japan and is eagerly awaited everywhere else. Adding further to the anticipation are two new innovations launched this week. The first is the Kabu Keitai 920SH YK, a specialized black version that enables real-time portfolio checking and online trading. The other is a Citizen iVIRT-M watch that pairs to the 920SH via Bluetooth, so incoming calls, mail, and news are available without fishing out the phone. You can take, reject or divert calls from the watch, use it as a remote camera shutter, and with 1000 address book entries, the contact details of your caller will almost always be posted on the screen. Read More
SlideIt and ThumbKey models offer accelerated typing on PDAs and smartphones
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Dasur’s line of keyboards for touch screen PDAs and smartphones yields potential typing speeds of up to 50 words per minute – matching the average speed of a professional typist. The SlideIt keyboard for stylus users and the ThumbKey model for hand typing both support all versions of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile. Read More
CSR's MusiCore1 combines audio processor and Bluetooth on a single chip
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CSR has announced MusiCore1, the first fully featured single-chip for mobile phones that includes both a stereo audio processor and Bluetooth capabilities – saving 75% of the cost of an audio processor, and 36mm squared of space. MusiCore1 allows 100 hours of music playback, and can decode MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA and SBC files.
Solar charging PMP charges other portable devices
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March 29, 2008 InventorSpot have reviewed eMotion’s new portable media player which is charged by solar panels built into the back of the device. The EM-SOL1GIG not only charges itself from the Sun, but with the use of a charger adapter the EM-SOL1GIG can be used to charge other portable devices such as mobile phones, MP3/MP4 players, laptops, digital cameras and other portable Lithium battery devices. The device supports a maximum SD card size of 2GB and files can be transferred on and off using the built-in SD card reader. The EM-SOL1GIG also comes with a long list of media capabilities including the ability to play music and video, display photos and books and play games – albeit on a 320x240 screen. Read More
Gresso injects steel into luxury mobile phone collection
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March 27, 2008 High-end mobile phone manufacturer Gresso has added to its Avantgarde Collection with the release of the Steel series - two new luxury handsets that integrate aircraft steel into the slim-line design. Read More
modu: World’s lightest phone underpins new multimedia platform
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March 26, 2008 The diminutive modu has taken the title of "World's lightest mobile phone" with the 40.1 g (1.41 oz) handset's claim made official by the Guinness World Records. Although it's a great talking point, the record is secondary to the innovation offered by the multi-tasking phone that will launch in Q4 this year. As the name suggests, modu is designed as a modular device that will be complemented by a range of "ecosystem partners" - interchangeable add-on enclosures that transform the appearance and user interface of the phone, as well as dedicated consumer electronics devices such as MP4 players, digital photo frames, car stereos and cameras that directly integrate the modu. In other words, modu is a mobile phone that also acts bit like a SIM card with a brain to form the basic building block in a potentially wide ranging personal communications and entertainment system. Read More
Cellular Signal Amplifier
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March 24, 2008 At this year’s CES we mentioned MoGo Wireless Inc’s intelligent amplifiers for cellular phones. Well now they’re here, branded as Cellranger, and starting what the company proclaims is “a new product segment superior to the current array of amplifiers offered in today's market”. The US$149 product is claimed to significantly increase signal strength, enable usage in areas where it previously wasn’t possible and a reduced number of dropped calls. Laptop users with broadband cellular air cards also experience increased data rates and reliability. Read More
Bluetooth headset with larynx microphone
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March 20, 2008 Larynx microphones are ideal for transmitting voice electronically because your voice is directly transmitted from the larynx, with noise suppression of up to 10 dB - meaning they reduce ambient noise to close to zero. They’re used by special ops teams all over the world already, and now they’re available for a mobile phone so you can make calls in a noisy factory, or while jogging, skiing, cycling, and even riding a motorcycle or driving an open top car. Read More
Sony Ericsson's W890i Walkman Phone
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Sony Ericsson’s W890i Walkman phone provides users with 2GB of storage capacity - or 1800 songs - high speed wireless broadband and a 3.2 megapixel camera. Read More
LucidTouch – the see-through mobile device
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March 7, 2008 Touch is a compelling input modality for interactive devices, but fingers get in the way on the small screen of a mobile device. Microsoft held its annual Techfest earlier this week, showing a range of new technologies certain to play a role in the future of mankind. One that jumped out at us was the LucidTouch, a mobile device that addresses this limitation by allowing the user to control the application by touching the back of the see-through device. The key to making the LucidTouch usable is pseudo-transparency: by overlaying an image of the user’s hands onto the screen, Microsoft has created the illusion of the mobile device itself being semitransparent, allowing users to accurately acquire targets while not obscuring the screen with their fingers and hand. Read More
Sony Ericsson T303 slider phone
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March 5, 2008 Sony Ericsson has unveiled its new T303 handset. Pitched at a "style-conscious audience", the compact (83 x 47 x 14.7 mm) slider phone design features a chrome finished metal housing and 1.8 inch mirrored screen as well as covering the stock-standard functionality bases with Bluetooth™, FM radio and media player, Internet and built-in camera (though the latter is a little light on megapixels - 1.3 - by today's standards). Read More
Intel's new Atom processor
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March 3, 2008 Recognizing that personal computing is increasingly going mobile and that the computer industry is rapidly developing new classes of products to connect the next billion people to the Internet, Intel has announced the Intel Atom processor - a new family of low-power processors designed specifically for mobile Internet devices (MIDs) and a new class of simple and affordable Internet-centric computers arriving later this year. The company also announced the Intel Centrino Atom processor technology for MID platforms, consisting of multiple chips that enable the best Internet experience in a pocketable device. Read More
The Nokia Morph Concept Phone
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Nanotechnology looks set yield some seemingly magical functionality in the near future, and a recent concept product from Nokia puts most of the technologies that will be viable for handhelds within the next decade into one fascinating instrument. The Morph does just that, being flexible so that it can change shape from candy bar phone to bracelet. It’s also transparent, has self-cleaning surfaces, can sense and observe and even harvest energy from the local environment. The result of a partnership between Nokia and the University of Cambridge, the Morph went on display this week alongside the remarkable "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Read More
Fastap keyboard certified for China
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February 27, 2008 Following news of a Fastap Hindi language keyboard for mobiles, Digit Wireless has announced that its input system has been certified under the Chinese text-entry standard by China’s State Language Commission.
Onyx launches Liscio mobile phone
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February 26, 2008 These days the mobile phone is as much a fashion accessory as it is a communications device and UK-based manufacturer Onyx is focusing on the former with its first plunge into the mobile phone space - the Liscio. Weighing in at 60 grams, the highly-contoured and compact ( 90 x 35 x 17.8mm) bundle features built-in MP3 and FM radio functionality, Bluetooth v1.2, a 1.10 inch, 96 x 96 pixel LED color screen and 128MB on-board memory backed by a Micro SD card up to 1GB. Read More
Sonim XP1 mobile phone - one hard nut to crack
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February 20, 2008 It's quite a claim, but in the quest to prove that the XP1 is the world's toughest phone US based mobile telecom Sonim Technologies has seen its rugged handset run over by a car, burnt, shot at, encased in concrete, used as a soccerball and even attached to fireworks. Read More
Fastap Hindi language keyboard for mobiles
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Digit Wireless, creator of Fastap keyboard technology, has now pioneered a Hindi Language Platform for mobile devices to meet the needs of a growing Indian technology consumer market. Research conducted in 2007 showed that India is the fastest growing global mobile market enjoying a growth rate of 316% from 2005–2010, with almost 240 million new connections. As such, it makes sense that companies such as Digit Wireless would want to cash in on this booming economy. Read More
Sandisk ups the capacity of iNAND embedded flash drive to 16GB
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February 15, 2008 Today's mobile handsets and portable handheld media players have become multimedia centers, packed with features such as digital cameras, games and music and video players. As the features for such devices increase, so too does the need for greater storage capacity. To address this SanDisk has announced the 16GB iNAND embedded Flash drive (EFD). The 16GB iNAND doubles the capacity of Sandisk’s 8GB iNAND and, thanks to recent advances in multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash technology, retains the standard JEDEC, (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council), 12x16mm package. Adhering to the JEDEC package and ball-out requirements, common throughout the industry, provides virtually “plug and play” integration and allows the drives to be designed into mobile handsets quickly. Additionally, iNAND devices utilize the industry-leading and field-proven SD interface and are designed to support mobile TV, multimedia downloading and other storage-hungry applications on portable systems such as mobile handsets, digital audio/MP3 players, gaming applications, GPS applications, personal media players and PDAs. Read More
Kingston's DataTraveler Micro Reader and USB Drive
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February 13, 2008 Kingston Technology has announced the DataTraveler Micro Reader, a USB Flash drive with a storage capacity of up to 4GB and an expansion slot for microSD, microSDHC and Memory Stick Micro cards. Read More
Sony Ericsson announce new HSPA ExpressCards
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February 12, 2008 Sony Ericsson has launched their first HSPA 7.2/2.0 devices with the ExpressCard/34 form factor, the EC400 and EC400g. Both mobile broadband ExpressCards fit a laptop’s ExpressCard slot to give instant wireless Internet access. The EC400 and EC400g incorporate HSPA technology, allowing upload data at rates of up to 2.0 Mb/s and download speeds of up to 7.2 Mb/s. Additionally, the EC400g is equipped with an inbuilt GPS receiver, which automatically shows the user’s current location on Google Maps or similar service or can feed into any other location-based service. Read More
Ionhub's six port multi charger
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February 12, 2008 One of the biggest problems for travelers who love their gadgets is carrying around all the chargers to keep their mobile devices powered up. Even many a home desktop is covered with a tangle of cords leading back to an overtaxed power point or power board. Recognizing this IonHub has released the Ionhub multi charger, a charger that can simultaneously charge multiple devices including mobile phones, iPods, iPhones, Sony PSPs, Nintendo DS Lite, Canon and Sony camcorders, PDAs, GPS, digital cameras, Zunes, Sansas, Zens and Blackberries, to name a few. The patent pending Ionhub is a palm sized, multiple output port, multiple output voltage, universal multi charger hub that is capable of simultaneously charging up to six portable electronic devices from a single wall outlet, car or airplane outlet. Similar to the recently reviewed IDAPT, the Ionhub connects to the charging devices using interchangeable and self-locking charger tips called IonTips, which are sold separately. Read More
