Ideabing - Ideas for the world, FREE! Blogs on Ideation, Innovation, Technology and such. » Mobile telephony http://www.idea.ideabing.com Ideas for the world, FREE! Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:46:51 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= Why Microsoft will eventually kill Nokia http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2011/02/10/why-microsoft-will-eventually-kill-nokia/ http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2011/02/10/why-microsoft-will-eventually-kill-nokia/#comments Thu, 10 Feb 2011 09:49:06 +0000 Akshaya Murthy http://www.idea.ideabing.com/?p=5970 nms This couldn’t have gotten worse – Nokia working with Microsoft? Really? On a mobile platform? REALLY? Let’s go back a few years and look at a déjà vu situation. Remember the famous Microsoft – Palm deal when Palm moved away from its legendary Palm OS in favor of the Windows Mobile platform? What ensued after that, we all know. Palm lost a differentiating factor that was very critical in a world where every other company was manufacturing phones with Windows Mobile OS. By the time Palm realized that they were merely another handset hardware manufacturer it was too late. Palm was then bought out by HP. Now let’s look at Nokia’s potential OS deal with MS. Say Nokia moves away from its Symbian platform for the high end handset market and lights them up with Windows Phone OS. Nokia would instantly start competing with the likes of HTC, LG and Samsung for market share – just on the handset side of things. Unless Nokia really pumps up its hardware design units to manufacture great looking, great working handsets with touch screens that don’t need styluses, they have already lost the battle. Say they make great looking handsets with awesome processing power. Then what? Then Nokia may stand a chance to make some money selling handsets all the while increasing Windows Phone’s market share. Even if Nokia maintained the Symbian OS for the lower end of the market it will never be able to enter the high end market again with the Symbian OS – in any form. The next level of degradation will happen when market forces will compel Nokia to adopt Android as well, just to survive in the high end phone market. Let’s not forget that Chinese brands are eroding Nokia’s market share significantly in developing markets like India and Brazil. This situation leaves Nokia with a handset division which makes phones that no one wants. The next 3-4 years will be crucial for Nokia’s turn around, if it can i.e. else see it being bought out by some knight in shining armor – MS maybe for all you know. Moral of the story? Windows mobile platforms have had the distinction of destroying innovation in Palm and now might do just what is required to destroy Nokia’s internal innovation machine. Don’t be too surprised if you see large scale movement of Nokia execs into Google, Apple and MS in the coming days. Let us just hope that Nokia doesn’t bite the Windows Mobile bullet.]]> nms

This couldn’t have gotten worse – Nokia working with Microsoft? Really? On a mobile platform? REALLY? Let’s go back a few years and look at a déjà vu situation. Remember the famous Microsoft – Palm deal when Palm moved away from its legendary Palm OS in favor of the Windows Mobile platform? What ensued after that, we all know. Palm lost a differentiating factor that was very critical in a world where every other company was manufacturing phones with Windows Mobile OS. By the time Palm realized that they were merely another handset hardware manufacturer it was too late. Palm was then bought out by HP.

Now let’s look at Nokia’s potential OS deal with MS. Say Nokia moves away from its Symbian platform for the high end handset market and lights them up with Windows Phone OS. Nokia would instantly start competing with the likes of HTC, LG and Samsung for market share – just on the handset side of things. Unless Nokia really pumps up its hardware design units to manufacture great looking, great working handsets with touch screens that don’t need styluses, they have already lost the battle. Say they make great looking handsets with awesome processing power. Then what? Then Nokia may stand a chance to make some money selling handsets all the while increasing Windows Phone’s market share. Even if Nokia maintained the Symbian OS for the lower end of the market it will never be able to enter the high end market again with the Symbian OS – in any form.

The next level of degradation will happen when market forces will compel Nokia to adopt Android as well, just to survive in the high end phone market. Let’s not forget that Chinese brands are eroding Nokia’s market share significantly in developing markets like India and Brazil. This situation leaves Nokia with a handset division which makes phones that no one wants. The next 3-4 years will be crucial for Nokia’s turn around, if it can i.e. else see it being bought out by some knight in shining armor – MS maybe for all you know.

Moral of the story? Windows mobile platforms have had the distinction of destroying innovation in Palm and now might do just what is required to destroy Nokia’s internal innovation machine. Don’t be too surprised if you see large scale movement of Nokia execs into Google, Apple and MS in the coming days. Let us just hope that Nokia doesn’t bite the Windows Mobile bullet.

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]]> http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2011/02/10/why-microsoft-will-eventually-kill-nokia/feed/ 4 Mind-reading phones? http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/09/23/mind-reading-phones/ http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/09/23/mind-reading-phones/#comments Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:00:33 +0000 Allison Reilly http://www.idea.ideabing.com/?p=5484 They could come sooner than you think. Intel Corp.'s research chief, Justin Rattner, told Mother Nature Network that technology has advanced to the point that "context-aware computing," is becoming more of a reality with the rise of mobile devices. This technology could lead to phones that act as psychics in your hand. Rather than simply collect secrets about you, the devices could be doing things with that information, such as predicting what you might do next and offering suggestions. An example is a prototype application Intel worked on with Fodor's Travel. The app learns what types of foods you like to eat and what types of attractions you like to visit, based on searches you type into the phone or locations identified using GPS. The software can also make similar recommendations when you visit a new city. "Things don't get really interesting until you fuse that hard sensor data with soft sensor data," Rattner said. "It gives devices almost this sixth sense of anticipating what a user will need in the future, whether that's the next few moments or at dinner later in the day." Data from "hard sensors" is information such as  location, motion, voice patterns, and temperature. Combining those findings with data from "soft sensors", such as calendar appointments and Web browsing history, are really what make these devices able to sense our needs. For example, your phone could detect that you've just left work and seem to be on your way home — a location it might know from your address book. It could then automatically recommend the best route around traffic. These sorts of apps aren’t in smart phones quite yet, though companies such as Google, Netflix and Pandora are already trying to anticipate what their customers need and want.]]> They could come sooner than you think. Intel Corp.’s research chief, Justin Rattner, told Mother Nature Network that technology has advanced to the point that “context-aware computing,” is becoming more of a reality with the rise of mobile devices. This technology could lead to phones that act as psychics in your hand. Rather than simply collect secrets about you, the devices could be doing things with that information, such as predicting what you might do next and offering suggestions.
An example is a prototype application Intel worked on with Fodor’s Travel. The app learns what types of foods you like to eat and what types of attractions you like to visit, based on searches you type into the phone or locations identified using GPS. The software can also make similar recommendations when you visit a new city.
“Things don’t get really interesting until you fuse that hard sensor data with soft sensor data,” Rattner said. “It gives devices almost this sixth sense of anticipating what a user will need in the future, whether that’s the next few moments or at dinner later in the day.”
Data from “hard sensors” is information such as  location, motion, voice patterns, and temperature. Combining those findings with data from “soft sensors”, such as calendar appointments and Web browsing history, are really what make these devices able to sense our needs. For example, your phone could detect that you’ve just left work and seem to be on your way home — a location it might know from your address book. It could then automatically recommend the best route around traffic.
These sorts of apps aren’t in smart phones quite yet, though companies such as Google, Netflix and Pandora are already trying to anticipate what their customers need and want.

[via MNN]

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]]> http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/09/23/mind-reading-phones/feed/ 0 It’s Not Just an App, It’s an Entire Phone! http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/09/21/it%e2%80%99s-not-just-an-app-it%e2%80%99s-an-entire-phone/ http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/09/21/it%e2%80%99s-not-just-an-app-it%e2%80%99s-an-entire-phone/#comments Tue, 21 Sep 2010 13:00:36 +0000 Allison Reilly http://www.idea.ideabing.com/?p=5464 Facebook is building a mobile phone to compete with Google’s impending Nexus One and the current iPhone and Android brands. Specifically, Facebook wants to integrate deeply into the contacts list and other core functions of the phone. It can only do that if it controls the operating system. It’s unknown what this phone will look like, how much it will cost, and what sort of capabilities the phone will have. Or even if Facebook is building a phone, as the social media giant has denied the report from TechCrunch. "Facebook is not building a phone," Facebook spokesperson Jaime Schopflin told CNET. "Our view is that almost all experiences would be better if they were social, so integrating deeply into existing platforms and operating systems is a good way to enable this. The bottom line is that whenever we work on a deep integration, people want to call it a 'Facebook Phone' because that's such an attractive soundbite, but building phones is just not what we do." But a brand/gadget merger could become a marketing scheme of the future, for Facebook or any other company, similar to Purina’s creation of an online game or the dueling Canon/Nikkon coffee mugs. ]]> facebook_logoFacebook is building a mobile phone to compete with Google’s impending Nexus One and the current iPhone and Android brands. Specifically, Facebook wants to integrate deeply into the contacts list and other core functions of the phone. It can only do that if it controls the operating system.
It’s unknown what this phone will look like, how much it will cost, and what sort of capabilities the phone will have. Or even if Facebook is building a phone, as the social media giant has denied the report from TechCrunch.
“Facebook is not building a phone,” Facebook spokesperson Jaime Schopflin told CNET. “Our view is that almost all experiences would be better if they were social, so integrating deeply into existing platforms and operating systems is a good way to enable this. The bottom line is that whenever we work on a deep integration, people want to call it a ‘Facebook Phone’ because that’s such an attractive soundbite, but building phones is just not what we do.”

But a brand/gadget merger could become a marketing scheme of the future, for Facebook or any other company, similar to Purina’s creation of an online game or the dueling Canon/Nikkon coffee mugs.

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]]> http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/09/21/it%e2%80%99s-not-just-an-app-it%e2%80%99s-an-entire-phone/feed/ 0 Brilliant Idea: A Cellphone Dryer http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/08/10/brilliant-idea-a-cellphone-dryer/ http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/08/10/brilliant-idea-a-cellphone-dryer/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 13:00:38 +0000 Akshaya Murthy http://www.idea.ideabing.com/?p=4308 jmc_dryerbox

Ever drenched your cell phone with water? Then head to Japan and shove your phone into the “Cell Phone Dryer Box”. A 30 minute cycle in this box should get your phone working again. The company doesn’t want to show off how they do it but it costs bout $12 to revive your waterlogged phone.

The dryers are setup at a few Yodobashi Camera stores in Tokyo, Japan. A brilliant idea for a common problem.

[via OhGizmo]

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]]> http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/08/10/brilliant-idea-a-cellphone-dryer/feed/ 0 When In A Ford, Listen To Tweets Handsfree http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/07/30/when-in-a-ford-listen-to-tweets-handsfree/ http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/07/30/when-in-a-ford-listen-to-tweets-handsfree/#comments Fri, 30 Jul 2010 23:18:44 +0000 Akshaya Murthy http://www.idea.ideabing.com/?p=4092 augmented reality, some tweeting and some self controlling cars. But for now let's stick to what we have.]]> SYNCLogo

Ford introduced the “Applink” interface for the Sync multimedia system some time back. Applink allows users to run apps on their iPhones or Blackberries through voice control connected to the car’s Sync system. The piece of software can read out text messages to users and now it can also read out tweets to them. All this, hands free.

The system does not allow you to tweet back to make sure you don’t think too hard while driving. This is to make sure you are not distracted from your primary job at the wheel – DRIVE. But experts say that this may only lead to the driver reaching out to the phone to tweet back. Now come on, if the system can take voice commands it can also tweet, right?

“Making SYNC even more intuitive and easier to use will encourage more drivers to take advantage of its hands-free capabilities, helping them keep their focus on driving,” said Mark Fields, the Executive Vice President of Ford Motor Company.

The future’s going to be quite interesting given that there’s going to be some augmented reality, some tweeting and some self controlling cars. But for now let’s stick to what we have.

[via PSFK]

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]]> http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/07/30/when-in-a-ford-listen-to-tweets-handsfree/feed/ 0 Ideabing Daily Roundup: National Threat Edition http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/07/26/ideabing-daily-roundup-national-threat-edition/ http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/07/26/ideabing-daily-roundup-national-threat-edition/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:13:25 +0000 Akshaya Murthy http://www.idea.ideabing.com/?p=4022 us_national_threat_advisory_system

Blackberry A National Threat To UAE, Apparently.

Infographic: Conserving Water The Good Way

Infographic: A History Of Apps

]]> http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/07/26/ideabing-daily-roundup-national-threat-edition/feed/ 0 First Mobile Video Relay Application for Deaf http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/07/20/first-mobile-video-relay-application-for-deaf/ http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/07/20/first-mobile-video-relay-application-for-deaf/#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:17:11 +0000 Akshaya Murthy http://www.idea.ideabing.com/?p=3915 IWRelay launched the first mobile video relay application Friday, allowing Deaf and hard of hearing iPhone users to have on-the-go conversations with friends and family members who hear.

The iPhone application, called IWRelay VRS, connects Deaf mobile phone users with video relay interpreters. Using the new iPhone 4 FaceTime feature, a Deaf caller communicates by sign language in real time video. The interpreter then translates the sign language for the hearing caller. In turn, the hearing caller’s words are translated into sign language for the Deaf caller.

gI_0katrina.png

“This groundbreaking application will revolutionize communication and accessibility in the Deaf community,” says IWRelay President and CEO Jeff Born. “When the iPhone came out, we could see the potential the device had to accommodate Deaf people in ways yet imagined. We threw everything we had at the development of our VRS App. We are fortunate to have really talented engineers working with us on this.”

Deaf product testers have responded with overwhelmingly positive feedback.

“The iPhone4 opens up a whole view of the world,” says Deaf user, Donnie Dove. “Using the iPhone 4, I can call my wife any time from nearly any place. And with the IWRelay app, I can call anyone who hears that has a phone.”

The iPhone application is available through the Apple App Store at no cost. Deaf and hard of hearing iPhone users may access video relay interpreters through the application for free as a part of the FCC’s Interstate Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund.

More information on the IWRelay video relay application is available at: www.iwrelay.com.

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]]> http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/07/20/first-mobile-video-relay-application-for-deaf/feed/ 0 Mesh Network For Cellphones Eliminates Need for Towers http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/07/16/mesh-network-for-cellphones-eliminates-need-for-towers/ http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/07/16/mesh-network-for-cellphones-eliminates-need-for-towers/#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:55:11 +0000 Akshaya Murthy http://www.idea.ideabing.com/?p=3867 NetworkTopology-Mesh

We thought that this would be the future of telephony but did not know it was already happening in the land down under. 3 Australian researchers have started the Several Project that aims to end the need for cellular towers for cellphones to work. The cellphone instead depend on each other as the cellphones themselves act as cellular towers thus creating a mesh network.

Each cell phone in the mesh network is WiFi enabled and can make and receive calls within the mesh. This eliminates the need for expensive cellular towers. This concept could be of great use in remote regions where creating a cellular network may not be economically viable. This network is comparable to a bit torrent where every person downloading a file is also uploading bits of the file to another down loader. Sounds good? We think so.

[via PSFK]

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]]> http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/07/16/mesh-network-for-cellphones-eliminates-need-for-towers/feed/ 0 Want To Check Your Email In Your Car? Buy A BMW http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/06/26/want-to-check-your-email-in-your-car-buy-a-bmw/ http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/06/26/want-to-check-your-email-in-your-car-buy-a-bmw/#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2010 08:07:50 +0000 Akshaya Murthy http://www.idea.ideabing.com/?p=3501 first_bmw_logoNow this is what we call messed up or productive, depending on how you see it. If you are the globe trotting CEO who wants to stay in touch with people via email even when you are driving your car, then this is productive. If you have just purchased the car to drive around like this guy did, then this is messed up. BMW is integrating email reading functions into their cars’ connect drive display unit. This means that if you have a Blackberry phone (no iPhone, sorry), you can now read emails off the phone directly on the car’s display unit. Now you decide if this is productive or messed up. Mr. Arnold, if you are listening could you please consider passing a law that bans drivers from reading their emails while in their BMW’s in Cal? Shots of the email interface after the break.

email_less

email_full

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]]> http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/06/26/want-to-check-your-email-in-your-car-buy-a-bmw/feed/ 0 Aava Mobile Talks Tablets, More Goodies This Year http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/06/23/aava-mobile-talks-tablets-more-goodies-this-year/ http://www.idea.ideabing.com/2010/06/23/aava-mobile-talks-tablets-more-goodies-this-year/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:23:41 +0000 Akshaya Murthy http://www.idea.ideabing.com/?p=3452

Aava mobile, the open mobile platform startup is getting Intel into the high end smartphone scene currently ruled by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platform. We talked to Piotr Frasunkiewicz, the main man behind the sales and marketing at Aava. He talks to us about the Aava platform, Android fragmentation, Meego, Intel vs. Qualcomm, the Palm-HP marriage and of course, the magical tablet PC.

Ideabing: Tell us about Aava Mobile, how did it start?

Piotr Frasunkiewicz: Aava Mobile was founded in 2009 by a team of engineering wizards with a strong background in mobile phone development who wanted to build an open-source mobile device platform for the OEM/ODM market.

Ideabing: What do you mean by an “Open Mobile Device”?

Piotr Frasunkiewicz: Open Device is a concept we introduced during MWC 2010. In the case of the hardware design, it’s easy to customize for our customers, and with the software, it’s easy to customize in terms of the OS running on the device in addition to the fact that it’s open for different peripherals, which enables various usage scenarios.

Ideabing: Why Android? What other options did you consider before freezing on Android?

Piotr Frasunkiewicz: Aava supports Android and MeeGo. We do not have a strong preference in regard to the software. What software and what software customization will be used in our hardware when products get on the market is the decision of our customers.d. Why did you choose to use an Intel hardware platform over other hardware platforms?

Ideabing: The Qualcomm Snapdragon platform is slowly becoming the standard, why move away from it?

Piotr Frasunkiewicz: We see the clear benefits of the x86 architecture thanks to the revolutionary improvements with power management in the Intel Atom Z6xx family. Now x86 architecture can finally be used in mobile devices like smartphones. Intel can share more info and benchmark data about Atom in comparison to other chipsets, but we can say we are happy about our decision because this gives us unique market positioning and makes our products competitive

Ideabing: We have already seen significant fragmentation of the Android platform. Do you think Aava will contribute further to this fragmentation? Especially since operators will be able to customize the UI?

Piotr Frasunkiewicz: We believe that a common baseline is a key success factor, so we focus our efforts on being fully compatible with Google’s Android baseline. UI customization does not necessarily lead to fragmentation, and MeeGo and Android provide a lot of flexibility to customize the look and feel of the UI without changing the core of the OS and causing market fragmentation.

Ideabing: How scalable is the Aava platform? How many form factors are you looking at? What is the biggest form factor Aava is looking at for now?

Piotr Frasunkiewicz: Aava’s core experience relates to small form factor products, so our core offering will be smartphones, but nothing prevents us from building bigger products like tablets that are based on the same technology. Growing the size of the device to a 10” tablet is much easier then shrinking it to the smartphone size.

Ideabing: When will we see the first Aava devices shipping to consumers? When will US consumers get to buy these devices?

Piotr Frasunkiewicz: It depends on our customers. Our technology will be ready for shipping this year.

Ideabing: What is the price range being targeted?

Piotr Frasunkiewicz: You need to ask OEMs building devices based on our technology because we cannot comment on market pricing. Our technology isn’t more expensive than the technology in other products on the market.

Ideabing: Your thoughts on the Smartphone market today?

Piotr Frasunkiewicz: We believe that the smartphone market will become more and more similar to the PC market. Open operating systems (not necessarily open source operating systems) and hardware commoditization will lead to faster growth of the market and much shorter product development cycles. We are happy to be a part of this.

Ideabing: Is HP’s acquisition of Palm going to change anything in the mobile industry? Your comments?

Piotr Frasunkiewicz: We are very interested to see the first products based on Palm’s technology coming from HP.

Ideabing: Finally, where do Aava mobile platforms stack up against the iPad and/or iPhone 4 platforms in terms of performance, value and technology?

Piotr Frasunkiewicz: We think that our technology gives more flexibility combined with higher performance than any other smartphone device available on the market. I hope you will be able experience this for yourself in the near future.


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