April 25, 2006
Lasered Phones
I scooped this off of Jeff Staple's blog. Extreme customization of phones using the laser machine at Nike. Looks pretty hot.
Read more about it on Jeff's blog.
Posted by richard ting at April 25, 2006, 12:14 AM
April 20, 2006
Mobile Interaction Design Book
"Mobile Interaction Design", is a new book by Matt Jones (University of Wales, UK) and Gary Marsden (University of Cape Town, South Africa), which covers important issues relating to this ever-changing technology, including, developing interfaces and devices with a great deal of sensitivity to human needs, desires, and capabilities.
This book is written to inspire and challenge designers’ preconceived notions of this marketplace and to convey lessons learned, and principles involved, in the development and deployment of interactive systems to the mobile environment.
The book presents key interaction design ideas and successes in an accessible, relevant way and provides ideals and techniques which will enable designers to create the next generation of effective mobile applications. It critiques current mobile interaction design (bloopers) to help designers avoid pitfalls and discusses the new applications and gadgets requiring knowledgeable and inspired thinking about usability and design.
Posted by richard ting at April 20, 2006, 10:56 AM
April 17, 2006
Skype Running on Nokia 6680 S60 Handset
Skype is working with Hutchinson to put Skype on phones on the 3 networks around the world. However, Skype were not willing to answer questions on specific handsets saying only that they were actively working on development for the Symbian platform. However at the 'Do New' booth on the Nokia stand there was a demo of Skype running on two 6680s over a 3G network.
The S60 Skype application was a complete implementation supporting Skype text chat, Skype voice calls (both to PCs and to other S60 handsets), and Skype Out dialing. Running the application over 3G results in latency of up to about a second. It is the equivalent to calling your granny on their other side of the world via a satellite phone. It does work, but it is annoying and I can not see most people being willing to put up with it. It was indicated that better performance would be achieved over a WiFi connectivity link. The call quality was similar to that achieved in a normal call.
The application has been developed for S60 2nd Edition (S60 2.6 to be precise), but Skype are working on a 3rd Edition product which would make sense given the WiFi available in the N80, and Eseries handsets.
Posted by richard ting at April 17, 2006, 06:35 PM
April 05, 2006
Infolust Special on Trendwatching
There's a great infolust special on Trendwatching that showcases some of the emergent QR / Upcode / Semacode application permeating our everyday lives.
Check it out on Trendwatching.
Posted by richard ting at April 05, 2006, 06:35 PM
Adobe signs first Flash deal on mobile phones
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Adobe Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:ADBE - news) unveiled a deal on Wednesday with Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ - news), the second largest U.S. wireless provider, to build Flash animation software into Verizon mobile phones.
Adobe, which did not disclose financial details or potential launch dates, said the agreement will make Verizon the first wireless operator in the United States to offer mobile phones with built-in Flash technology.
Flash is software used to design animated graphics, slick Web sites, video games, movies and advertisements on the Web.
The new service will allow customers to more quickly view graphic images on their screens. For Adobe, it pushes the company beyond computers and into the potentially lucrative mobile phone market, Adobe Vice President Gary Kovacs said.
"This is the first U.S.-based Flash service for mobile phones," he said. "It will be much easier to get at data."
