Archive for September, 2006 Page 2 of 6

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Apple launches Pixar short film downloads on UK iTunes

Published by Stuart Dredge on September 22, 2006 in Biz & Tech. 2 Comments

forthebirds.jpgLong faces all round a couple of weeks ago when Apple announced that it would be selling films on its iTunes store for people to download and watch on their iPods. Why? Because the service is only working in the US until next year, leaving us UK film buffs bereft.

However, I was just using iTunes this morning to download a few of the new iPod games, and I noticed a new link on the iTunes Store for ‘Pixar Short Films’. And lo, there are seven of them available to buy, for £1.89 each. The films are: For The Birds, Boundin’, Knick Knack, Luxo Jr., One Man Band, Tin Toy and Red’s Dream. It’s not Toy Story, but it’s a start!

If you have the latest version of iTunes, click here to go to the Pixar Short Films section of the Store.



Texting teens get kicked out of cinemas

Published by Stuart Dredge on September 21, 2006 in Other stuff. 0 Comments

projectionist.jpgI don’t mind texting – it’s silent after all – it’s the talking and playing Tetris that annoys me when I’m trying to watch a film. But no matter how often I tell my wife to stop, she keeps on doing it etc etc.

Enough antiquated gags. A cinema in Arlington, Texas is having teenagers escorted out by police for texting during movies, even when their phone’s on silent mode. “All we’re promoting is a distraction-free environment,” says the cinema’s general manager Nate Reid.

There are plenty of film buffs out there saying ‘HELL, YEAH!’ while reading this, but the cynic in me can’t help wondering whether the cinema has also banned the even-more-noisy and socially-irritating tubs of popcorn. Oh, hang on, they make lots of money from that…

(Via Textually)



60 free films for your mobile phone

Published by Stuart Dredge on September 21, 2006 in Other stuff. 0 Comments

25-Colourless.jpgNo, sadly not King Kong or anything with Scarlett Johansson in. But almost as good. The Portable Film Festival does what it says on the tin – it’s a fest of 60 short films designed to be watched on mobile devices, from directors in Australia, New Zealand, UK, US right through to Papua New Guinea.

They include clips, documentaries, animations and ‘experimental’ films (I suspect this may mean ‘a bit rude’, although it could just be arty out-of-focus stuff that I don’t understand). Sign up at the site for your chance to download ‘em all. The organisers say it also supports iPods and PSPs too.

(via MocoNews)



French girls get moblogging with MiniFizz

Published by Stuart Dredge on September 19, 2006 in Games and How to. 0 Comments

minifizz.jpgA mobile blogging community designed specifically for girls has dreadful potential for tweeness: all pink colours and ponies. Thankfully, that’s not the case with MiniFizz, which m-trends seems very impressed with, saying it’s “varied, multiple, complex and not stereotypical.”

It involves designing an avatar character, style it with clothes and accessories, and then start your own blog or posting on mobile forums. There’s even five virtual hosts – SofiaFizz, JulieFizz, LisaFizz, LilouFizz and ChristieFizz – keeping the community in check.

Not being a 14-24 year-old woman, I can’t say I’ll be joining the community if it ever comes to the UK. But it’s a good example of how a focused and funky community can carve out a niche for itself, rather than trying to appeal to everyone.



Sony Ericsson launches buzzing new mobile music service

Published by Stuart Dredge on September 19, 2006 in Music. 0 Comments

m-buzz1.gifSony Ericsson has launched a new service, M-BUZZ, which will promote new bands across mobile and the Web. You’ll be able to download full tracks, videos, biographies, other content and see details of upcoming gigs – all from your phone or computer.

Initially, the bands will all be from one music publisher, Sony/ ATV Music Publishing, although hopefully this will be broadened out later to publishers that aren’t owned by Sony.

“M-BUZZ is all about breaking new artists,” says Sony Ericsson’s Martin Blomkvist. “It’s about giving tomorrow’s stars, the artists that have not yet been picked up by major record companies, the exposure they deserve and the possibility for them to reach a wider audience.”

The first Sony Ericsson mobiles to come with M-BUZZ preloaded will be the W850 and W950 Walkman phones, which are due out later this year. The website goes live on October 2nd with artists including Kish Mauve, Embassy, Dirty Perfect, FKLV, Iggy, The Head Set, Bobby Kray, Anjulie, Lights and Monte*Rosa.

I’ve heard of none of these, but this is the point. Mobile is a great device for sampling music, even if you then go on to actually buy it from your PC.



New technology allows deaf people to get PA alerts on their mobiles

Published by Stuart Dredge on September 19, 2006 in Other stuff. 0 Comments

train-board.jpgThe system’s called LAMA (Location Aware Messaging for Accessibility), and it’s been developed by research students at IBM. It’s designed to be used in public spaces like airports, train stations and hospitals.

When deaf people enter these spaces, their phone will recognise the LAMA system, and deliver public service announcements – delays, boarding calls or emergencies – to their phone in whatever format they’ve asked for: text or picture message, or a vibrating alert.

However, before the service can actually be commercially launched, the researchers say more buildings will have to be fitted with “intelligent infrastructure”, and smartphones would have to become more popular. Although if this technology was in place, it’d be a big incentive for people to upgrade their handsets.

(via Textually)



Nokia N-Series charger problems

Published by Stuart Dredge on September 18, 2006 in Other stuff. 60 Comments

Sorry to go off on a personal tangent. But hey, it’s a blog, I’m allowed. Is there some kind of a problem with Nokia’s new Nseries chargers? Well, the one that comes with the N70 at any rate, which has a smaller nozzle than all previous Nokia chargers.

Mine broke about four months ago, so I got a replacement, and now that’s broken too. In exactly the same way – it won’t charge the phone, and the little nozzle feels a bit loose, like it may have snapped inside. Surely that can’t be the case twice… Has anyone else encountered this problem?



Email but don’t snap: why IT bosses can take BlackBerry’s new camera out of action

Published by Stuart Dredge on September 18, 2006 in Other stuff. 0 Comments

blackberrypearl.jpgHurrah, your work’s just given you a new BlackBerry Pearl handset, the first to come with a built-in camera. You’re now free to wander round the office taking photos of all your company’s secrets (i.e. Henry in Accounts’ tea-making routine) and selling them to the competition. But wait.

It seems that companies can disable the Pearl’s camera if they want to, either on a company-wide basis, or just for selected employees. I was going to go into an ‘what is this fascism?!’ rant, but it does probably make sense for businesses’ with sensitive information on the premises. Although you have to ask why they’d be giving you a camera-equipped BlackBerry in the first place.

(via Reiter’s Camera Phone Report)



ROK launches ‘free’ mobile TV service

Published by Stuart Dredge on September 18, 2006 in Handsets and Music. 1 Comment

rok-tv.jpgAlways beware anyone promising you free stuff – there can often be catches. And such is the case with ROK’s new mobile TV service, although I should stress they’re honest about the hidden costs.

You watch ROK TV by downloading an application to your phone. The announcement says there are four channels available, covering extreme sports, vintage comedy, classic cartoons and old movies. However, if you check ROK’s channel list, it’s got many more channels, including CNN, Cartoon Network, National Geographic and ITN.

ROK also wants to launch a user-generated channel, ‘YOU-MADE-IT’, which’ll be a mix of viewers’ own cameraphone clips. And yes, it’s free, in that you don’t pay a subscription fee to watch the channels. But the TV is streamed using your phone’s GPRS or 3G connection, so if you pay mobile data charges, you could end up footing a sizeable bill, depending on your tariff.



McDonalds encourages mobile users to scan their snacks

Published by Chris James on September 16, 2006 in Other stuff. 0 Comments

McDonalds burger with QR code JapanCan’t be bothered to read the small print to see just how bad your favourite snacks are for you? Well in the near future you could be using your mobile to scan food for nutritional information. In fact, pop into a McDonalds in Japan and you can do it right now.

As revealed by Calorie Cab Calorie Counter News the fast food giant are printing QR codes (a miniature bar code style system often used with camera phones) onto the packaging of their food allowing customers to rapidly find out just how much fat, sugar and salt and how many calories are contained within as well as any allergy information.

Naturally the potential of such a system is huge - put these codes on supermarket products, snacks and restaurant meals and you could rapidly check details and compare to other brands as you were shopping. If you scanned everything you ate you could even use it to keep an accurate track on your daily consumption and set yourself dieting targets.

In the meantime though we’ll just have to stick to reading labels or in the case of McDonalds checking out their nutritional information site.



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