Kodak sees picture of future in high-quality camera phones

Camera phone snapshots are, by and large, like fast food - convenient, yet not usually all that good. But their popularity is exploding, with more Americans today having camera phones than digital cameras.

Now Eastman Kodak Co., one of the world's largest makers of digital cameras, is banking on camera phones appearing on the market by next year that shoot high-quality, 5-megapixel digital photos. Those photos would be due to a new line of inexpensive image sensors Kodak is starting to market. The push into the CMOS image sensor business comes as Kodak is in the midst of a 10-year research-and-development collaboration with cell phone giant Motorola Inc. Kodak Chief Executive Officer Antonio M. Perez said earlier this year that within the next six months, the two companies will roll out the first products to have a Kodak contribution.

Camera phones are increasingly ubiquitous. The number in the United States leaped from 48 million in November 2005 to 132 million in November 2007, according to the research firm M:Metrics.

Meanwhile, the number of digital cameras in the country hit 106 million in 2007, according to the Photo Marketing Association.
Both Kodak and some industry experts see camera phones as complementary to digital cameras rather than as a product line that will cannibalize digital camera sales.

"The camera phone is almost getting more people interested in photography," says Carrie Sylvester, a senior research analyst for InfoTrends, an imaging industry market research firm. "They're using those for spontaneous, fun shots."
"I don't think anyone would take a cell phone to a daughter's graduation or other special event," said Kodak President Philip Faraci.

Kodak displayed a prototype of its tiny CMOS sensor last month in a meeting with major investors in New York City and at a major trade show, the GSMA Mobile World Conference, in Barcelona, Spain.

The sensor chip is an industry standard quarter-inch size. But while standard camera phone sensors top out at about 3 million pixels in that footprint, Kodak is promising sensors with 5 million pixels packed in - and thus 5-megapixel images.Kodak also promises better results when pictures are taken in low light

Kodak plans to start shipping samples to prospective customers this spring, with expectations of selling large volumes later in the year. Production of the sensors will be outsourced to Taiwan, McNiffe says.
Kodak's sensor business remains a small part of the Rochester-based photo and imaging company overall, Perez says. "It's going to take time for us to build significant revenue, no doubt," he says.

The CMOS sensor business is dominated by a few giants, including Sony, Samsung and Micron Technology.

Heart Shaped Mobile Phone Concept

Check out this cool concept by Song-kyu Nam. The phone can switch from a regular candybar with rounded edges to a full heart shape. It also incorporates some gaming style. It is designed for kids.

1 billion mobile phones sold globally in 2007

With more than 1 billion phones sold globally for the first time, 2007 was a banner year for mobile phone sales, reports Conputerworld.

"Worldwide sales of mobile phones ended up surpassing 1.15 billion units in 2007, a 16% increase from 2006 sales of 990.9 million, according to figures from Gartner Inc.

Emerging markets, especially China and India, are now the driver for growth, with many people in those countries now buying their first phone.
Nokia continues to dominate worldwide. It sold 435 million mobile phones last year, and gained a market share of more than 40% for the first time during the fourth quarter, according to Gartner.

It is followed by Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG. Everyone except for Motorola, which lost its second place to Samsung during the fourth quarter, increased its market share."

Taliban Threaten Mobile Phone Companies

Taliban militants threatened Monday to blow up telecom towers across Afghanistan if mobile phone companies do not switch off their signals for 10 hours starting at dusk.

"Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujaheed said the U.S. and other foreign troops in the country are using mobile phone signals to track down the insurgents and launch attacks against them.

The Taliban have "decided to give a three-day deadline to all mobile phone companies to stop their signals from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. in order to stop the enemies from getting intelligence through mobile phones and to stop Taliban and civilian casualties," Mujaheed told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location.
"If those companies do not stop their signal within three days, the Taliban will target their towers and their offices," he said.

There are four mobile phone operators in Afghanistan, but employees at the companies would not immediately comment."

[source : AP]

The Edge Concept Phone by Chris Owens

Spotted on Ubergizmo, The Edge concept phone by Chris Owens.
The sliding keyboard made out of glowing glass is hidden right under the full touch screen display, summoned only when you need to type something.

[source : textually]

Sony Ericsson clamshell leaked?

You can see a very interesting and stylish clamshell and there's a one very interesting detail. If I see right, there's a Sony Ericsson watermark which says "confidential" Although I'm not totally sure about it.

There are no info about the specs but this phone might have a GPS. Take a look at the bottom left. There's a text "Always know your location"

[source : justamp]

Google; AT&T shocked by iPhone usage

Apple Insider reports that Google on Wednesday said it has seen 50 times more search requests coming from Apple iPhones than any other mobile handset -- a revelation so astonishing that the company originally suspected it had made an error culling its own data.

According to the Financial Times Vic Gundotra, head of Google’s mobile operations, said that if other handset manufacturers follow in Apple’s footsteps and make Web access easier on their handsets the number of mobile searches could outpace fixed internet search “within the next several years.”

[source : ZDNet blogs]

Mobile On User Experience

A very interesting post from LunchoverIP reporting on Nokia anthropologist Younghee Jung's conference this morning at Geneva's LIFT 08 event.

"As part of Nokia's research, they ran a community design competition called "Nokia Open Studio" in three neighborhoods in Mumbai (Dharavi), Rio (Jacarezinho) and Accra (Buduburam).

They asked participants to design the cell phone they would like. Not surprising, most of the suggestions reflected local concerns and conditions

-- The woman who won in Mumbai wanted a device that she could just point to the sky to get the weather forecast (the community is heavily influenced by weather pattern)

-- In Rio, the winner suggested a phone that measures air pollution and ozone concentrations

-- In Accra, a waterproof phone capable of hosting 4 SIM cards, one per operator (using multiple SIM cards is common in Africa, to profit from specific rates).

Another original suggestion:
-- a built-in loudspeaker to make announcements at fairs and religious fairs

And more...

[source : textually]

Rewritable Holograms Could Appear in Mobile Phones

Imagine having a mobile phone wallpaper which is not a flat image, but a full 3D-Hologram, which can then be updated by the user just as easily as they currently buy replacement wallpapers. That is the promise which could come from a breakthrough by University of Arizona optical scientists.

They have developed a method of "rewriting" holograms, and while the technique is far too slow for live moving images, it would enable static images (such as wallpapers) to be changed on a whim.

The holographic displays – which are viewed without special eyewear – are the first updatable three-dimensional displays with memory ever to be developed, and while the scientists talk in depth about military applications (understandable as the military funded the work), it is the consumer market which will doubtless leap at this new development.

[source : Cellular News]

Mobile design competition

Royal College of Art students were set the challenge of designing a mobile phone to "outperform, outsmart, and outmanoeuvre everything on the market".

One of three winners in the competition, sponsored by 3, was Vase. The phone starts "as an empty vessel", with features installed gradually as the owner decides what they want.

Vase's designers say no instruction manual is needed, with users learning to operate the phone as it is built up gradually with functions "perfectly suited" to their needs.

Another winner - the Teiko, designed for children - includes games, parental controls, and GPS technology to enable parents to monitor their children's movements.

Teiko allows children to access information in places like museums and zoos. The shock-proof and waterproof phone also features a retractable earpiece that children cannot lose.

Owners of the Free Key assign the functions of the 40 keys beneath a flexible LCD screen, making the winning design "unique to each user... intuitive to use and hard to replace".

[source : BBC]

Text Msg Code for "I'm a Japanese School Girl Selling Sex"

Last week, cops broke up a schoolgirl prostitution ring in Saitama and Tokyo, arresting at least five junior high and high school girls who were selling sex online via their cell phones. One was a sixth grader. About 80% of the customers were pedophiles. Tokyomango reports.

"The amazing thing is that everything, including detailed ads soliciting customers, was written in code.

Take this piece of seemingly benign code, for example:

IkebLURV1700Yukichi2JC1

Ikeb = Ikebukuro. The neighborhood that the girl is in.
LURV = "I will have sex with you."
1700 = Time: 5PM
Yukichi2 = Yukichi Fukuzawa, the guy whose face is on the 10,000 yen note x 2 = I cost 20,000 yen
JC = Joshi Chugakusei (Junior high school girl. JS would be elementary school girl, JK would be high school girl)
1 = Grade 1. In Japan, 1st year of junior high = 7th grade.
Parents are being warned to look out for code like this on their kids' cell phones. It's a sure sign that they're involved in the sex trade, too. "

Parents are being warned to look out for code like this on their kids' cell phones. It's a sure sign that they're involved in the sex trade, too. "

[source : textually]

Cell phone can read documents for blind

The next generation of computerized aids for the blind and visually impaired will be mobile, according to Associated Press, describing a smart phone that snaps a picture of a $10 bill and a few seconds later, the phone says, "Twenty dollars."

"The Nokia cell phone is loaded with software that turns text on photographed documents into speech .It also allows users to read anything that is photographed, whether it's a restaurant menu, a phone book or a fax.
While the technology is not new, the NFB and the software's developer say the cell phone is the first to incorporate the text-to-speech ability.

The inventor plans to begin marketing the cell phone in February through K-NFB Reading Technology. The software will cost $1,595 and the cell phone is expected to cost about $500, Kurzweil said.

SMS from legend inspires Sharapova

MARIA SHARAPOVA powered her way to a first Australian Open title with an impressive straight sets victory over Ana Ivanovic - and revealed a text from legend Billie Jean King had inspired her to glory. Sharapova ground down fourth seed Ivanovic in the ‘battle of the babes’, taking just one hour, 31 minutes to win 7-5, 6-3 and complete her mission to make amends for her thrashing at the hands of Serena Williams in last year’s final.

A text from the great of the women’s game read: “champions take chances and pressure’s a privilege”. And Sharapova said: “I had those great words in my mind during the match.” [via 7Days]

I want to add in this post the official pic of Sharapova for Sony Ericsson. And truly I love this one, Cute and Hot!!!

[source : sefanatics]

Mobile phones and young brains

Australian scientists are investigating if children are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of radiation from mobile phones.

"A study of 110 adults at the Australian Centre for Radiofrequency Bioeffects Research, partly funded by the Federal Government, confirmed mobile phones cause a change in brain function by altering brainwaves known as alpha waves.

The centre, at Melbourne's Swinburne University of Technology, is now investigating the effect on 40 children aged 12 to 13, and 20 people aged 55 to 75 years."

[source : The Sydney Morning Herald]

The CulArt concept phone

The CulArt (pronounce Cool Art) concept phone designed Sby eungchan by Designer Seungchan Spotted on Yanko Design.

Internally you have your typical smartphone design; touchscreen, camera, slim but the physical design differs greatly. First off you’ll notice the wood paneling, you know… to invoke the idea of trees. That’s the nature bit of the design.
The included bluetooth headset/remote uses a series of knobs to control the phone’s most basic functions. Clearly retro and clearly pre-80’s. Flip the phone around and you’ll find a rocky textured surface which prevents slippage and reminds you of how much you suck at rock climbing.

[source : textually]

Nokia to offer workers from German plant new jobs in Romania

Nokia will be offering its workers currently based at its German plant in Bochum -- which the company plans to close down -- the opportunity to work in Romania, where the new production site would be relocated, instead, according to Rheinische Post newspaper, citing company sources.

[via : AFXNews]

Mobile World Congress 2008 Confirmed Speakers

For this year’s Mobile World Congress in Spain, the list of confirmed speakers :

Arun Sarin, CEO, Vodafone
Wang Jianzhou, Chairman and CEO, China Mobile
John Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco
Masao Nakamura, President and CEO, NTT DoCoMo
Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, President and CEO, Nokia

Cesar Alierta, Chairman and CEO, Telefonica
Paul Jacobs, CEO, Qualcomm
Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO, Ericsson
Masayoshi Son, CEO, Softbank
Iqbal Quadir, founder of GrameenPhone
Phuthuma Nhleko, Group President and CEO, MTN
Shin-Bae Kim, CEO, SKT
Ralph de la Vega, CEO, AT&T Mobile
Michael Joseph, CEO, Safaricom
Peter Mercier, Head of Mobile, Digital Media Division, BBC
Stanley Fertig, Senior VP, HBO International

The conference programme will be supported by an exhibition showcasing approximately 1,200 companies and hundreds of new products and services.

[source : intomobile]

Nokia grabs 40% of global handset market

Apple's iPhone may have been the most talked-about handset during the final quarter of 2007, but its sales were dwarfed by the majors in a period that saw Nokia grab more than 40 per cent of the global market, the first time it's done so.

According to market watcher Strategy Analytics, Apple shifted 2.3m iPhones worldwide during Q4 2007. That's just ten per cent of the 23.7m handsets fifth-placed LG sold in the period. Sony Ericsson managed 30.8m units, Motorola 40.9m and Samsung 46.4m phones. Nokia sold a staggering 133.5m mobiles.

That left the Finnish phone giant with a 40.2 per cent market share, the highest in its history. Samsung took 14 per cent, Motorola 12.3 per cent, Sony Ericsson 9.3 per cent and LG 7.1 per cent.

[source : reghardware]

For Easy Dialing - Men's Digital Tactility Gloves

Spotted on Product- Reviews.Net, Men's Digital Tactility Gloves from Hammer Schlemmer.

"These gloves are not only extremely warm and comfortable, but they make it possible to use cell phones, PDAs or MP3 players without having to take your gloves off - thanks to the specially engineered gel pads which are situated in the tips of the index finders and thumbs.

These pads transfer the tactile sensation of PDA keys and phone buttons directly to the fingers inside the glove, resulting in accurate dialling."

[source : textually]

Wireless auction opens with total $2.4 billion bid

Top bidders put up a total of more than $2.4 billion on Thursday in the opening round of the Federal Communications Commission's auction of coveted U.S. government-owned airwaves. CNN reports.

Companies qualified to bid include major carriers AT&T and Verizon Wireless, as well as possible new competitors like Internet company Google, EchoStar Communications, and Cablevision Systems. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group.

"The electronic auction is expected to continue for weeks or even months and will end when no more bids are submitted. The FCC plans to hold multiple rounds of back-and-forth bidding each day on each of five blocks of spectrum available for sale.

A second round on Thursday is scheduled to go from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. PST.
Results from each round are made publicly available on the FCC's Web site about 10 minutes afterward."