Mobile
In-flight Mobile Phone Use Begins in Europe
On April 2, Air France began offering voice calls on one of its jets on a trial basis, and BMI of Britain and TAP of Portugal plan to do the same.
Although U.S. airlines have shunned the service, Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost airline, is so confident mobile phoning will prove popular that it plans to start offering it in June without even bothering with a trial.
With the Air France trial, passengers only learn about the possibility of using their phone once they are on the plane. An announcement refers them to an instruction card in the seat pocket.
They are told to switch off their phones during take-off and landing - and a special icon has been added next to the seatbelt sign to indicate when phones can be turned on.
[…]
The technology being tested by Air France links passenger phones to an onboard network connected to the ground via satellite. OnAir, the supplier, said transmission levels are low enough to avoid affecting the safety of aircraft equipment.
OnAir is an Airbus joint venture based in Geneva and one of two companies that are offering the technology, along with AeroMobile, a British joint venture with the Norwegian telephone company Telenor.
The system being tested by Air France uses an onboard base station in the plane - called a pico cell - which communicates with passengers’ own handsets. Though low power, the pico cell, located in a compartment normally used for hand luggage, creates a network encompassing the cabin of the plane.
The base station routes phone traffic to and from the plane to a satellite which beams down to mobile networks on the ground. Meanwhile the control unit on the plane ensures that mobiles do not connect to any base stations on the ground - as is technically possible when a plane is flying below 10,000 feet.
Source: International Herald Tribune
VoIP Now Available for iPhone
Get ready for free VoIP calls on your iPhone. An Israeli company called Fring announced today that it started publicly testing an application for the iPhone called Fring which allows users to make and receive calls using voice over IP technology. In case there’s any sort of misconception here, Fring bypasses any cellphone carrier and relies solely on an Internet connection to make a call.
But here’s the surprise. Fring allows users to make VoIP calls over 3G or EDGE connections, which is a huge deal. With Fring, all customers need would be a data subscription with their carrier (in case of the U.S., AT&T) and begin making those free calls. According to Fring, the application will dynamically adjust audio quality depending on the type of connection it detects.
Source: Tom’s Guide
Mobile Phone Controlled Jukeboxes
This innovative idea makes it easier to hear your favorite songs and share them with the people around you.
Touch Tunes and LocaModa are linking up 30,000 Jukeboxes that can be controlled via mobile phone, meaning you don’t have to drunkenly stumble through hoards of people at a bar just to get some decent tunes. The juke boxes are all linked to media servers, that have the ability to export data into social networks such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.
In addition to extending the on-location experience to social networks, the partnership between TouchTunes and LocaModa will allow patrons to use their mobile phones to interact with flat panel screens on TouchTunes jukeboxes. Applications will feature fun, engaging content such as information about the music playing on the jukebox, user generated content and even patron photos via their social network profiles. All interactions can also be displayed as data feeds on social networks. Online users will be able to view and participate in the activity at their favorite locations, for example: they can see who has “fanned” the location, who is actually there, what music is currently playing, and they can even “gift” songs to friends at that location.
Source: Yahoo via The Web Outside via Newlaunches via Gizmodo
The Cell Phone: My Personal Tour Guide
Have you ever visited a place or viewed a landmark, only to be left with unanswered questions about its history or purpose? Science Daily has published an article about an innovative combination of three of today’s modern technologies: satellite navigation localization services, advanced object recognition and relevant internet retrieved information; that may leave you with the satisfaction of being the know-it-all of the tourist world.
When coupled with your Cell Phone, this technology has the power to be your next personal tour guide.
How does it work? If you see something interesting while out walking for instance, you take a photograph with your mobile phone, select the item of interest with the cursor and in real time preprocessed information on the object selected is sent to your mobile phone.
“It could be a building, a mountain, a tree, plant or a special event such as a local festival,” explain Pechtl. “The amount of information you receive depends on you, if you want to know more you just click the ‘more button’ and you trigger a more detailed search responding to your profile of interest. Applications include tourism, education, remote healthcare, security, science, etc.”
Mobile Ads Become More Acceptable in the Marketplace
Erica DeWolf of DeWolf eMarketing & Design put together an interesting report about statistics surrounding mobile ads. In it, she writes:
According to a March 2008 Nielsen Company study, Nielsen’s Mobile Advertising Report, 58 million mobile phone users have been exposed to advertising on their phones in the past 30 days. That’s 23% of all United States mobile subscribers. Over half, or 28 million of these subscribers have responded to the mobile ad they were exposed to.
[…]
Mobile Ad Acceptance
- 51% of those who received mobile ads responded.
- 26% responded by sending an SMS text-message
- 9% responded by using “click-to-call”
- 32% of mobile phone users would be open to mobile advertising if it would lower their monthly cell phone bill.
- 14% say they care currently open to mobile advertising so long as the ads are relevant to their interests.
- 23% say they expect to see more mobile ads in the future.
- Only 10% of mobile phone users said mobile ads are acceptable, although an increasing number of individuals seem to be understanding the value proposition that will soon be associated with mobile advertising.
Some of the stats are a little surprising, but the overall message is that mobile advertising is becoming more and more acceptable in the marketplace, as long as the ads relevant or provide a tangible benefit to the recipient.
Mobile Phone Use on Flights Approved by EU
The European Union on Monday opened the way for air travelers to use mobile phones to talk, text or send e-mails on planes throughout Europe’s airspace.Midair service may be available as soon as this year on some airlines for passengers using European GSM technology. The United States and many other countries ban mobile devices in the air because of concern they could disrupt a plane’s instruments.
Under the plan approved Monday, cell phone users could make and receive calls through an onboard base station. They will be allowed to turn their phones on after the plane reaches 10,000 feet, when other electronic devices such as portable music players and laptops are permitted.
The EU regulation sets a common standard by which passengers can use mobile phones during flights and airlines will only need to get one license that will apply across the entire 27-nation bloc.
The equipment airlines install must be approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency to ensure the onboard cellular network will not conflict with other in-flight systems.
Selmayr, the EU spokesman, said the phone service will not be available during takeoff, landing or during turbulence. He said the captain and crew of the plane can determine when the system is shut down. Networks would also prevent linkages to ground-based cell stations, providing added security for the flight.
“It doesn’t mean you can leave your mobile phones switched on now during the flight, we have to make that absolutely clear,” Selmayr said. “First wait what your airline tells you when you board the plane. Until further notice the usual reminders to switch off your mobile phone on the aircraft will remain in place.”
Most services that are being rolled out this year are being provided by OnAir, a unit of planemaker Airbus.
Cell Phone Buyers Show Interest in Green Providers
With the increased interest in environmentally friendly products, cell phone consumers are questioning mobiles’ green credentials.
[…] manufacturers, forced by legislation in other parts of the world and consumer demand, are now racing to create the first genuinely “green” mobile phone.
Consumers are interested in something more than just a sticker on a box – they want a company that’s doing the right things,” says Nokia Australia corporate communications manager Louise Ingram. […]
As consumers become more environmentally conscious, Cell Phone companies will need to step up their green efforts and show that they can deliver.
Two Years of No-Charge Battery Power
A lot can happen in two years.
If you own this mobile cell phone, you can scratch battery charging off the two year list. Rated to hold a charge for 666 days on standby and 3-5 days while talking, this Chinese phone is making good strides in the way of battery power.
Will Safer at Switched.com has more details.
Rumors of the Dream
Google announced its Android smartphone operating system a while back and now there are rumors that Taiwanese handset maker HTC has an Android phone in the works.
Some expected features of the “Dream” are that the handset will be over 5 inches long and 3 inches wide, with a keypad underneath the screen that either slides out or swivels out. The aim of the keypad is for easy e-mail, note-taking, and writing Web addresses. Internet navigational controls are expected to be situated below the screen on the handset.
A full complement of cutting-edge features like GPS geo-location, sleek design, and music/movie playback are also expected to be part of the package. The phone is expected for release in late 2008.
Gaganjot Singh gives more details in his article about the First Android Phone Ever.
The Mobile Phone - Marketing Genius?
I came across an interesting article about how the mobile phone will become the next major marketing platform.
In it, Jeremy Lockhorn writes:
There are nearly 250 million mobile phone subscribers in the U.S., making the mobile phone arguably the most widely available interactive television platform. And we’re only just starting to scratch the surface on how to leverage. This is just one example of the undervalued opportunity presented by the mobile phone as a marketing platform.
Think about it: “American Idol” for years has driven a remarkable volume of fan voting via text message. And earlier this year, news surfaced that ESPN had more visits to the NFL section of its mobile site than it did to the same area of its PC Web site in a single day. Meanwhile, Bravo continues to push greater and greater functionality through the phone surrounding reality programming such as “Project Runway” and “Top Chef”. And so on and on.
Quite frankly, this may very well be the next disruptive technology to get into the hands of consumers around the world.
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