Soccer is a huge driver of mobile video. Soccer fans want to keep in touch with their favorite team and be able to watch the game wherever they are. Sports in general are driving this business. One of the benefits of mobile video is that the device is much more closely connected to your life.
University researches in Sweden saw an opportunity here and have made vibration alerts for soccer games being watched on a mobile device. The vibration alerts are tied to the game and if someone kicks the ball, your phone will vibrate. The vibrations change depending on how close the ball is to the net, so you know when to tune in.
In their method, a cell phone is synchronized with the ball in the real field, most likely through manual input. As the researchers note, the ball is the focus of most of the attention, which can be seen by TV cameras constantly following the ball. Every time the ball is kicked, the phone vibrates. Depending on where the ball is located on the field (which is divided into five segments), the phone vibrates at a specific frequency and duration.
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Since Rogers Communications started offering the iPhone with incredible results, Canadians have had a mobile browsing awakening. Now by popular demand, Skyfire is going outside the US, and are announcing their availability in Canada.
Skyfire, the most advanced browser on the market today is finally available in Canada–the first country outside the US to get Skyfire.
With Skyfire, Canadians can experience the exact same PC web on their phones–Ajax, full Flash, Silverlight, etc, everything works with no separate plug-ins.
The BlackBerry Bold, HTC Touch Pro and the Samsung Epix are all smartphones that take elements from both the consumer space and the enterprise market. All three phones have 3G, GPS, WiFi, microSD slots and video capture. The HTC Touch Pro and the BlackBerry Bold are about identical in price and the Samsung Epix is around $100 less on the initial purchase with contract. I’ve taken the time to put together a comparison post for these 3 phones.
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Click through to read a comparison of the HTC Touch Pro, BlackBerry Bold and the Epix
Pages: 1 2 3
I had a friend who used to love these glasses for his RAZR. He’s wear them everywhere. Inside, outside, in the bathroom, at school and at the gym. Those shades could only connect to the phone. These glasses on the other hand, can do much more. With Myvu Crystal personal media viewer, you can watch DVDs from your iPhone in your glasses. It also has noise canceling ear buds for great sound. At $24.99, it seems a decent investment for a long bus ride.
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Check out this killer app for the Android T-Mobile G1. Shazam! listens to music on the radio or wherever, analyzes it, and then tells you what song you’re listening to. The app was tested with a fairly popular band, Cake, and I’m curious how it would do with other genres of music and increasingly rare tracks. I guess it depends what database it’s pulling from. In any case, if you’ve got the G1, check this out.
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The N85 sits somewhere between the N79 and the N96. The N96 is obviously the current flagship phone for Nokia right now, but if you want something with great media capabilities but don’t want to drop the money for the higher N Series phones, the N85 is just right for you. The N85 even has a couple features that the N96 could learn from.
Here are some quick specs and facts:
OLED screen which gives better color and contrast as well as reduces power consumption
FM transmitter
The latest v9.3 Symbian operating system is fast and capable.
MicroSD card slot ready for a card up to 8GB in size
Assisted GPS for faster location times and geo-tagging of your pictures.
3G and supports 3.6Mbps HSDPA, but it also has EDGE and GPRS to back it up.
A 3.5mm jack
Carl Zeiss lensed camera rated at 5 megapixels.
Autofocus and LED flash
30 fps video
Expect the N85 to launch in the UK tomorrow, Friday, October 31st.
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The iPhone has a variety of sensors including a light sensor, proximity sensor and the obvious orientation sensor. These sensors help with the daily use of the iPhone, but are all these sensors being used by gaming companies? I’ve taken the time to write a couple of ideas for games that I think would be really fun, and would use the proximity sensor.
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Click through to read my ideas for apps and gaming that use the proximity sensor
Have you ever been using your iPhone and had to cup your hand around the bottom of it in order to redirect the sound? Well that’s exactly what the Griffin Aircurve is doing. The mold takes the sound and redirects in through a pathway that increases the volume and focuses the direction. It also acts as a stand.
This accessory is perfect for someone looking to make their iPhone an alarm clock. Before this accessory, the alarm wasn’t loud enough and the phone required a stand. Both problems solved.
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Click through for more pics and details about the Griffin Aircurve for the iPhone
Korean concept phones are shaking up the Internet these days. Take a look at the concept phone above for example. This phone is an interesting design that’s described by the designers as being built “to offer as much visual and emotional comfort as possible” and to emit a vague light when re-charged.”
The phones were commissioned by Pantech, South Korea’s third largest handset manufacturer, and represent what they hope to be the design of the next big phone. Designed by the Pantech Design Community, which is comprised of 20 college students, the phones could, at the very least, serve as inspiration for other handset manufacturers.
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Click through to see more great Korean concept phone