Why are LCD screens invariably rectangular or square? Well, they don’t have to be any more, thanks to a bunch of boffins at LG. They’ve unveiled two new LCDs - a six-inch elliptical display, and a 1.4-inch circular one.The one that’s of interest to Pocket Picks readers is the latter, since it could be used in mobile phones (of which LG makes, ooh, a few). The image above shows another application, for watches - which could be made to have faces that change design at the flick of a switch.How could it be used in phones? Well, it could allow LG to break away from the standard candybar and clamshell form factors, and make even stranger-shaped handsets. Although good luck with convincing the legions of mobile video and games firms, and website designers to reformat their content to make full use of circular screens…
Author Archive for Stuart Dredge
A new survey claims that 18% of workers have been told off for bad manners for inappropriate use of their BlackBerry or mobile phone. For example, answering emails at the dinner table, talking too loudly on the phone in public, or chatting to someone while sitting on the loo. Ew. The survey was commissioned by Yahoo HotJobs, whose managing editor Tom Musbach says poor mobile etiquette is almost as big a problem as dodgy table manners: ”These devices have become like leeches. People get into the habit of answering emails or calls instantaneously, but it may be a good idea to curb that and only answer when absolutely necessary. We’re seeing more and more major lapses in decorum.” Maybe someone should set up a mobile finishing school to nip this kind of behaviour in the bud!
Qualcomm has announced that it’s acquired 40MHz of L-Band radio spectrum in the UK, paying £8.3 million to communications regulator Ofcom for the privilege. Why should you care? Well, the company says it’ll be able to “bring a variety of innovative wireless technologies to the UK market” with its partners. The press release is carefully worded with no mention of what these technologies might be, but the natural assumption is that the company’s MediaFLO mobile TV platform may now be launched here. After all, Qualcomm ran a technical trial of MediaFLO with BSkyB in the UK last year (that’d be one possible partner). I contacted Qualcomm’s PR for clarification on whether it’s now set for a commercial launch, and here’s the response: “While L-Band is capable of supporting MediaFLO, Qualcomm is planning to test a number of services in conjunction with its partners. No definitive decision has been made on the use at this time.” So there you have it. I’m off to Qualcomm’s BREW 2008 conference in a couple of weeks, so will aim to find out more then about the company’s plans for us Brits.
Several fashion brands have got into the mobile space in recent years, including Prada and Armani (albeit with partner manufacturers LG and Samsung). Now it seems Christian Dior could be jumping on the fashion phone bandwagon too. At least, that’s what Engadget Mobile says, based on a leaked spyshot.It appears to show a clamshell handset festooned with Swarovski crystals, with its own remote control. That’s right, a remote control for a mobile phone. Heaven knows what it’d be used for. Unless it’s actually some kind of detachable MP3 player? The mind boggles.Anyway, the blog suggests an announcement could be imminent this Friday, before the phone goes on sale by the end of the month. Presumably a handset manufacturer is involved. Watch this space…
Tech firm 3M has suggested that Samsung will be the first consumer electronics manufacturer to use 3M’s mini-projector technology, which is capable of projecting an image onto a wall or floor from a mobile device or laptop. It’s unclear which of those device types Samsung will be building the device into, or whether it’ll be an accessory. Imagine a Samsung smartphone with a built-in projector and Windows Mobile, for presenting your PowerPoint presentations on the go. It’d certainly be a boon for corporate road warriors. There are consumer uses too, though. With so much buzz around mobile video and TV, people might be attracted by the idea of their phone being a mini-cinema projector alongside its other features. Not to mention the potential for on-the-wall gaming… (via TwinCities)
Industry analyst Juniper Research reckons Mobile Web 2.0 will generate $22.4 billion of revenues in 2013, up from $5.5 billion this year. What’s Mobile Web 2.0 when it’s at home, though? You might think the term covers social networking and user-generated content stuff, which it does, but Juniper has thrown mobile search and mobile instant messaging into the mix too. Apparently, us mobile users are going to be ‘prosumers’ by 2013, creating content as well as consuming it. Juniper reckons that just the social networking and UGC side of things will be worth $11.2 billion in 2013, with growth as fast (if not faster) in developing countries as in the West. ”Combining the power of the social network map - namely: ‘who I know, how I know and where I know’ - with that of mobility, presents the greatest opportunity for revenue generation of any of the applications as defined within Juniper’s Mobile Web 2.0 framework,” says the report’s author Ian Chard. In other words, some of the many mobile social networking companies touting their wares now are going to be rich. Although many aren’t. Place your bets now…
Good news, people of Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Reading. The six cities are due to get Vodafone’s high-speed mobile broadband network by this Autumn, as the operator continues to roll out HSDPA across the UK. They join London and the major British airports, which were the first to get it last year. Vodafone is also making a step up in the way it sells mobile broadband contracts to customers, offering more easily understandable information at the point of purchase - for example, explaining how many emails and web pages your tariff allows you to download, and how long it’ll take you to download files, films and music over the network. Films? They’re encouraging people to download films over a mobile broadband connection? There better be generous data limits on those tariffs!
If you’re a heavy user of the Google Reader RSS site on your computer, you’ll probably know there’s an iPhone version already available. However, Google has just revamped it to make it easier to use, bringing the look and feel into line with its existing (and excellent) Gmail iPhone site.The star feature to highlight stories for later reading has been made more prominent (i.e. easier to jab with your thumb), and the new site also supports the new ‘Notes’ feature for Google Reader. It’s also much, much faster to use according to VentureBeat.Want to have a go? You’ll need to follow this link to go directly to the site. As ever with these things, it’s in beta…
Hurrah for phones named after washing powder brands. It’s surely only a matter of time before we see the Samsung Daz Ultra and LG Ariel, but until then we’ll have to make do with the BlackBerry Bold. It’s a new business-focused BlackBerry aimed at ‘power users’ (i.e. the sort of people who’d be unhappy if they weren’t answering emails from their boss at 3am). So, you get HSDPA for fast data speeds, GPS with built-in geotagging for photos, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and an impressive 480×320-pixel display. The Bold is expected to go on sale this Summer, although maker Research In Motion hasn’t given any details of pricing yet. Rest assured, with a fat business tariff, it should be fairly affordable.
A new mobile application called Nimbuzz has just launched, and it’s ambitious to say the least. It aims to provide free VoIP calls, conference calls, instant messaging, chat and group chat, and photo and file sharing features, all from one application. Oh, and it works with Skype, MSN, Google Talk, Yahoo, AIM, Jabber and ICQ instant messaging services, and 23 social networks (including Facebook and MySpace). In other words, it aims to aggregate all your IM clients and social networks in one place on your phone, consolidating your friends into a single list. It works on more than 500 handsets, while the VoIP features work on over 90 handsets (these are Nokia Symbian Series 60 devices, although Windows Mobile phones will support it in June). Other handsets can still make VoIP-style calls, but over the mobile network. Nimbuzz has actually been available in beta for a while, and has already signed up more than 500,000 users, of whom a quarter are active every month. The company says it’s generating more than a million logins a week, with users from 176 countries having signed up. Nimbuzz is also promising some deals with operators and social networks this summer to help its growth.
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