Mobilious

“Motorola has shown off its latest Android based smartphone – the CDMA enabled Droid X, which offers a 1GHz processor; 4.3-inch screen; 8-megapixel camera; 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities and will be Flash Player 10.1 ready. The handset is being released initially on the Verizon Wireless network in the USA.

“Nine months ago, we made a commitment to our customers to bring the openness of Android to the Verizon Wireless network,” said John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “Since then, we have introduced the top-selling Android phone in the marketplace today – the DROID by Motorola. DROID X takes that commitment to another level with exclusive content, faster processing speeds, and, of course, the reliability of our network.”

DROID X customers will also receive Android 2.2 and Adobe Flash Player 10.1 with an over-the-air update in the latter half of the summer.

Pricing and Availability

The smartphone will be available from Verizon Wireless beginning July 15th for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.

Customers can add the optional 3G Mobile Hotspot service to their DROID X for $20 per month. The 3G Mobile Hotspot allows customers to turn the phone into a wireless modem for up to five compatible Wi-Fi devices.”

Source: www.cellular-news.com

A great example of how mobile can help brands getting their messages across!

A very simple idea and a great execution: an iPhone application by Durex!

“After a couple of leaks at the weekend, Nokia and Yahoo have confirmed they are to work closer together in mobile web services. As part of the alliance Nokia will be the exclusive provider of Yahoo’s maps and navigation services, integrating Ovi Maps across Yahoo properties, branded as “powered by Ovi.” In addition, Yahoo will become the exclusive provider of Nokia’s Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat services branded as “Ovi Mail / Ovi Chat powered by Yahoo!”

Nokia and Yahoo also plan to make it easy for people to use their Ovi user IDs across select Yahoo services in the near future.

“Delivering great user experiences — both online and on your mobile – is what this alliance is all about,” said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO, Nokia. “We’re enabling millions of Yahoo! customers in key markets including North America to discover the unique capabilities that Ovi Maps brings. Similarly, Yahoo!’s online expertise will bring exciting mail and messaging enhancements to millions of Ovi Mail customers across almost every country around the world, many of whom will have their first Internet experience on their mobile.”

“What a combination,” said Carol Bartz, CEO, Yahoo!. “We’re excited to expand the reach of our best-in-class Mail and Messenger services, bringing personalized experiences to more people across the mobile web, particularly in emerging markets where we are seeding the next generation of Yahoo! users. At the same time, we believe Nokia’s strength and continued investment in maps and navigation will greatly enhance our existing products, enabling us to focus on areas that are core to our business.”

Select, co-branded service offerings are expected to become available from the second half of 2010, with global availability expected in 2011.”

Source: http://www.cellular-news.com

“(Reuters) – Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Tuesday his company is prepared to fight the U.S. government “very hard” if regulators block the search leader’s acquisition of mobile advertising firm AdMob.

Schmidt said AdMob had been left at a “significant disadvantage” in competing with rivals like Apple Inc due to the hiatus as regulators have closely reviewed the $750 million acquisition, which was announced in November. He said he expects a decision in a few weeks.

In an interview with Reuters Insider, Schmidt was asked what Google would do in the event of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suing to block the deal.

“We’re likely to fight very hard,” he said. “It’s a very strategic acquisition for Google.”.

Google, which generates the majority of its profits from search advertising to Internet users on personal computers, sees its future on wireless phones and software. The company has its own mobile operating system called Android for a range of phones and this year also unveiled its own phone called the Nexus One.

The move to the mobile phone has put Google in more direct competition with Apple, whose successful iPhone has also been supported by a move into advertising with the acquisition of Quattro Wireless in January.

Apple recently changed the terms of service for iPhone application developers to restrict them to using Apple’s tool to build their programs and from sharing certain iPhone data with third parties.

Adobe Systems, the maker of Flash software, is one of the companies whose software can’t be used by these developers. Apple’s recent moves have attracted interest from the FTC, according to reports.

Schmidt said Apple’s changes in terms of services “discriminatory against other partners.”

Schmidt said he hoped the AdMob acquisition could be completed to allow it to compete with rivals like Apple.

“It would be better if the AdMob acquisition can be approved to see if Google can get a more competitive market on the iPhone platform.”

Schmidt, who was previously an Apple director, stepped down from Apple’s board last August when it became clear the two companies would be competing more directly in the wireless space.

He insisted that he and Apple CEO Steve Jobs remain good friends and that the two companies will remain both rivals and collaborators in different business areas.

“The relationship will continue to be complicated,” he said.”

“(Reuters) – In the second stage of a two-part rollout, Apple Inc on Friday began selling the pricier, high-speed wireless version of the iPad in the United States, following the successful launch of the short-range Wi-Fi tablet earlier this month.

Although the event certainly lacked the buildup and excitement of the April 3 debut — with the heartiest waiting in line overnight — some Apple retail stores in big cities still saw decent-sized crowds ahead of the 5 p.m. launch.

At a store in downtown San Francisco, roughly 75 people stood in line 90 minutes before the 3G iPad went on sale.

Several people said they had waited for the more expensive version of Apple’s tablet because they saw it as a potential replacement for their laptops, at least in certain situations.

“I’m going to take it everywhere with me, I already take my laptop everywhere, and it’ll definitely replace my laptop in a lot of cases,” said Long Nguyen, 22, who works in IT repair and was first in line.

The 3G model — which is also Wi-Fi compatible — starts at $629 and tops out at $829. The Wi-Fi-only iPad starts at $499.

The 9.7-inch touchscreen iPad is essentially a cross between a laptop and a smartphone. It is intended as a media consumption device, good for video, games, electronic books and magazines and Web browsing.

But some said they were hoping to also use it for work, mainly because of the device’s thin-and-light profile.

“I travel a lot for work, and I have a lot of projects that are out in the field, so I think it will be useful for some of that,” said Gary Riley, 36, an environmental engineer.

“I’m on the road all the time, and I think it will give me a nice choice, especially when I travel,” said Bob Geib, a consultant. “It will complement my laptop.”

AT&T is providing the wireless data plans for the iPad, charging $29.99 a month for unlimited access.

AT&T is also the exclusive U.S. carrier for Apple’s iPhone, and has been subject to plenty of criticism over the quality of its network. It remains to be seen whether iPad users will encounter any problems with their service.

Apple sold 300,000 iPads on launch day April 3 and a half-million units the first week. Although the device won’t reach international markets until late May, some analysts expect Apple to sell roughly 5 million or so this year.

The iPad rollout has been accompanied by a crush of media hype, but it has not been without its hiccups. The company delayed the international launch for a month for what it said was stronger-than-expected demand.

Analyst say the company has also had difficulty ramping production of a new product.

Shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple closed down 2.8 percent at $261.09 on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway; Editing by Bernard Orr)”

Source: Reuters

Steve Jobs has used an open letter to defend Apple’s decision not to allow Flash on many of the firm’s products.

Neither the iPod, iPhone nor iPad can run the software despite the widespread use of Flash technology on websites for video and animations.

He said Flash was made for an era of “PCs and mice” and performed poorly when translated to run on touchscreen smartphones and handheld devices.

The head of Adobe called the highlighted problems “a smokescreen”.

‘Restrictive practices’

The letter comes soon after Flash creator Adobe announced it would stop making tools that allow developers to quickly translate Flash code to run on Apple gadgets.

These allowed developers to make applications once and then distribute them for use on various phones and operating systems, including Apple’s iPhone.

Adobe’s announcement followed a change to the terms and conditions of the licence that software developers must sign when writing code to run on Apple products.

That change banned developers from using automatic translation tools, effectively forcing them to develop two applications – one for Apple products and one for everything else.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that “when you resort to licensing language” to restrict development, it has “nothing to do with technology.”

He said it was now “cumbersome” for developers who were forced to have “two workflows”.

Crashing Macs

In his lengthy open letter titled Thoughts on Flash, Mr Jobs said the reason Apple did not want people to use Adobe’s automatic translation tools was because experience had shown it results in “sub-standard apps”.

He described Flash as a closed system and said that it was bad for the smartphone era because it did not support multi-touch systems and helped drain battery power unnecessarily.

He also pointed out that there were now alternatives to flash technology, particularly for web video.

The Apple boss added that Flash fell short on security and was “the number one reason Macs crash”.

But Mr Narayen said that if Flash crashed Apple products it was something “to do with the Apple operating system.”

He said he found it “amusing” that Mr Jobs thought that Flash was a closed platform.

“We have different views of the world,” Mr. Narayan told the Wall Street Journal. “Our view of the world is multi-platform.

The letter provoked an avalanche of comments online, with many saying Apple’s restrictions on what can be done with its software go far beyond those on Flash.

Source: BBC News

Apple has already sold 450,000 iPads. So what are people downloading as apps? An interesting article by Jenna Wortham from The New York Times:

“Although it remains to be seen whether or not mainstream consumers will latch onto the iPad with the same ferocity as they did the iPhone, it’s clear that there’s no lack of appetite for apps. On Monday, Apple revealed that iPad owners were voraciously consuming applications. More than one million were downloaded before the weekend was over.

So what’s capturing the eyes and fingertips of those owners?

A quick spin through the charts of the best-selling applications available in iTunes illuminates the most popular selections.

Currently, the top three paid iPad applications belong to a suite of applications intended to give the iPad more heft as a machine for productivity. They are adaptations of Apple’s iWork tools and include Pages, a word processing application, Keynote, which allows users to create visually rich presentations, and Numbers, a spreadsheet application. Each sells for $9.99.

But perhaps the most interesting application on the top 10 list is one called Star Walk, a $2.99 astronomy application that morphs the iPad into a star chart. Pointing the tablet at the sky activates an internal digital compass, instantly locating stars, planets and other celestial bodies. Tapping on an object reveals more information about it.

GoodReader, which costs 99 cents and is hovering in the fourth most downloaded slot, is a documents reader for the iPad that can handle a range of formats, including PDF files and high-resolution images. SketchBookPro, $8.99, a sophisticated drawing application that lets users craft paintings with their hands, is also on the list.

Games, of course, have been a big draw. Real Racing HD ($9.99), a driving game that transforms the iPad into a steering wheel, and Flight Control ($4.99), an air traffic simulator that includes a level in 3-D, are both on the top 10 list. Scrabble ($9.99) turns the iPad’s glossy screen into a vivid playing board where multiple players can use their iPhones as their letter trays and “flick” tiles down to the main board for game play.

Like the iPhone, the iPad is a chameleon, ready to be transformed by the software running on it. Readers, what iPad applications have you downloaded? Feel free to share the hits, the misses and ones you can’t live without in the comments below.”

Source

“TOP 10 IPAD DISAPPOINTMENTS:

1. The keyboard
The iPad’s lack of a tactile keyboard was always going to be an issue, but typing on the iPad is not as easy as you might hope. To be used for email and short messages only.

2. No camera
An odd oversight, this is one that has many fans stumped. The iPad could have been great for video calling.

3. No Flash support
So many good websites use Adobe Flash that Apple’s ongoing stoush with the technology is becoming a big issue. This gadget screens websites in full size, but some still won’t show due to this omission.

4. Weighty
Heavier than the biggest Kindle, the iPad could be hard to hold with one hand for an extended period.

5. No memory card slot
The iPad is so good with photos, but they must be side-loaded from a computer as this tablet computer has no space for memory cards adding an adapter.

6. No GPS chip in Wi-Fi model
It can still guess your location from your WiFi connection, but the lack of a GPS chip is disappointing.

7. No HD video output
You can connect the iPad to a television but videos won’t play in high-definition. The best it can muster is a resolution of 576p.

8. No multi-tasking
You can only do one thing at a time on the iPad, just as with the iPhone. Sadly, this is one thing that netbooks have over the device.

9. No iBooks in Australia
They’re coming, according to a job ad, but the iPad won’t live up until its full potential until they arrive.

10. Delayed accessories
The keyboard and memory card adapter will make up for some important omissions, but are not yet available.

TOP 10 IPAD MAGIC MOMENTS:

1. Great screen
It’s large, it’s bright and it’s colourful. There’s lots to like about the iPad’s screen that has LED-backlighting for brightness, and IPS (in-plane switching) for good viewing on an angle. It’s not E Ink, like the Kindle, but it looks flashy.

2. Speedy
Apple’s 1GHz processor keeps the iPad screening at a great pace. Though this processor is slower than those in most netbooks, it’s clearly competent.

3. iPad apps
Plenty of developers joined the “second gold rush” by creating iPad apps, and users should be grateful. Games, in particular, benefit a lot from the bigger screen.

4. Photo shows
The iPad does look like a digital photo frame but, arguably, it does a better job with slideshows. The iPhoto-like app included on the iPad lets you group photos and makes them easy to show off.

5. iWork
Apple’s document, spreadsheet and presentation apps have been reworked for the iPad launch and they’re available as $US10 downloads. Not bad.

6. Long battery life
Admittedly, the Amazon Kindle’s battery lasts longer, but how many portable DVD players offer 10 hours of video playback? The iPad has real staying power.

7. Screen lock
Ever tried to use an app while laying down? Automatic screen orientation can be a real pain. To address this, Apple has replaced the mute switch with a screen lock switch.

8. Accessories
The iPad has even more accessories than the iPod, it seems. You will be able to add a physical keyboard, USB or memory card port, or a case that acts as a stand… just as soon as they’re available.

9. Rugged body
The iPad is sturdy and was designed to withstand everyday knocks. That’s not to say you should drop it or use it as a coaster, but it shouldn’t fall apart by itself.

10. The price
While the Aussie price is still unknown, $US499 is a great ballpark for such an entertaining gadget.”

Source: News.com.au

Something I have been wondering for a long time… If you are the same, here is a great article from Julian Lee on the matter:

“The iPad is coming, and hardly anyone knows what to do with it…

From media companies to telcos, the device remains a mystery, writes Julian Lee.

Many in media circles are hailing it as a potential saviour of the industry, a way to let them charge for content until now given away free.

Yet five weeks before its launch in Australia few have even laid eyes on the Apple iPad.

The California company is drip-feeding information about a device that, among other things, will let users view films, surf the web and read ebooks and digitised versions of newspapers and magazines.

Not a single iPad is believed to be on these shores, and few senior executives in the media companies banking on its success admit to having seen it.

Telecommunications companies – which will provide iPad users with the means with which to surf the web or send emails – have yet to finalise their packages. Again few have seen it.

The subject of what ads will look like in the digitised versions of newspapers and magazines and how much they will charge for them has yet to be raised with advertising and media agencies.

Some in the industry are questioning whether the iPad will live up to the hype, given that in the next year seven devices from HP, Dell and a host of cheaper Asian brands will be on the market.

One leading developer said none of the main Australian media companies was likely to meet the late April deadline.

Keith Ahern of Mogeneration said: ”Most of the media companies are already working on iPad apps for some or all of their titles, which surprised me given that we were coming out of a recession.”

But he added: ”I don’t believe any large Australian publishers of print or news media will make the deadline. I think smaller publishers like Medwords and games companies like Firemint will. I have worked with [large media companies] and it’s hard to make things happen quickly.”

Like other developers Ahern’s company has been relying on an iPad simulator to build applications for clients.

Carter’s Encyclopaedia of Health and Medicine published by Medwords will be available. The iBookstore will not be available in Australia at launch because of rights issues.

Larger media companies like Fairfax Media, publisher of the Herald, are keeping the market guessing.

Lloyd Whish-Wilson, chief executive and publisher of Fairfax Media’s Sydney publishing division, said: ”We are very enthusiastic about tablet devices for newspaper and magazines. There’s a lot of planning going into it, and we’ll be ready by the time the market takes off.

”There is potential to extend our journalism in ways that I think readers, and I have no doubt advertisers, will find very exciting.”

Ed Smith, the chief executive content and commercial of News Digital Media, said that, much as he was excited about the possibilities, the iPad was only one of a number of devices to be launched this year. He said the category was likely to grow only once the publishers, telcos and manufacturers ”package them up”.

“Having said that, we do have to be realistic about how quickly the iPad will become mainstream, not least because demand is likely to outstrip supply for some time.

“There’s also little doubt these tablets will be in great demand by advertisers – partly because they will want to reach the engaged, quality, audiences they will attract, but also because they have so much creative potential.”

In the meantime, many publishers are expected to fall back on existing iPhone apps, which will work on the iPad.

As the deadline looms the debate in media companies continues to rage around whether to charge a monthly fee or a one-off fee. The Herald has sold ”many thousands” of its Good Food Guide app for a one-off fee of $11.99. Many more of its Domain app have been downloaded free.

The Wall Street Journal, which with The New York Times has been granted continuous access to the iPad to develop specific apps, is reportedly set to charge $US17.99 ($20) a month to subscribe to the iPad version of its paper.

Mr Smith of News Digital Media said ”when the time is right we will benefit enormously from what our colleagues at The WSJ have learnt”.

Carl Hammerschmidt, director at ACP Magazines’ digital division, said the iPad was one of a number of platforms the company was exploring.

“Our challenge is to ensure we are on the right platforms with the right products and, when it comes to digital magazines, that what we are offering is the leading product in the market … we also have to ensure the business models stack up.”

He would not discuss how close he was to launch, though some media buyers are saying that ACP will offer near-replicas of the printed editions on the iPad. ACP’s chief rival, the Seven Network-owned Pacific Magazines, declined to comment.

Overseas magazines such as Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Glamour are all reported to be ready to go in mid-June. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times are expected to be the only newspapers ready at launch.

Advertisers such as Coca-Cola, FedEx, Gillette, Volkswagen and Ford are understood to have bought ads on iPad editions or embedded in applications.

Media buying agencies say the topic of advertising rates and types of units has not been discussed in Australia. Toby Jenner, chief executive of the media agency MediaCom, said: ”It’s just not on our radar; in fact I don’t think it’s on the industry’s radar.”

The managing director digital of Mitchell Communications Group, John Murray, said he would get his first presentation of the iPad ”within the week”, but would not say from whom. He was not rushing to push clients into a device that has yet to carve out an audience.

Iain McDonald, founder of the digital advertising agency Amnesia Razorfish, was sceptical of the iPad’s impact, saying that because it was “sandwiched” between an e-reader like Amazon’s Kindle and cheaper laptops, he doubted it would be the game-changing device that the iPhone has become.

But it is the fact that the iPad will not play videos formatted in the industry-standard Flash format – used by most advertisers – that worries him most.

“Absolutely it does,” he said. “We are in the business of creating experiences [online] and if Apple is removing one of them and that affects how video is played then that is not going to help my clients.”

He also doubts whether it will go mass, despite predictions that between 100,000 and 200,000 units, retailing at an entry level price of $650, will be sold by Christmas. “We need to develop eyeballs, not niche audiences,” he said.

While the media and advertising industries have an excuse to hang back, the same cannot be said for the telcos that will be providing one of a number of options that iPad users will turn to for connectivity to the web. On their state of readiness the top three mobile phone operators had little to say.

Optus declined to comment and a Telstra spokesman confirmed the company had yet to see a device.

”We are still talking with Apple and are waiting to hear back from them, as is everyone else.”

A spokesman for Vodafone said: “Unfortunately we can’t make any statements on the iPad and in fact we cannot even confirm whether or not we will be able to sell the iPad in Australia.” He confirmed the company had not seen a device.”

“Now that rumors of an Apple tablet have manifested themselves in the iPad, speculation about the next iteration of the iPhone can begin in earnest. In a research note published today, Morgan Stanley (MS) analyst Katy Huberty offers a few thoughts on what a successor to the iPhone 3GS might look like.

“We expect Apple to launch new iPhones in June that offer both a lower total cost of ownership and new functionality, potentially including gesture-based technology,” she wrote in a note to clients today. “As we’ve highlighted in the past, the cost of device + service plan is currently the biggest barrier to incremental demand in both mature markets like the US and emerging markets like China.”

Now, when Apple (AAPL) introduced the 3GS in 2009, it dropped the price of the iPhone 3G to $99, so it seems reasonable to expect the company to follow a similar pattern when it introduces a new iPhone. Might the price of the new device itself also be lower than expected? Perhaps. Certainly the fact that Apple was able to bring the iPad to market at $499 suggests it’s possible.

More intriguing than these ruminations on price, however, is Huberty’s mention of new “gesture-based technology.” The analyst doesn’t offer any details on what this might be, but presumably she’s referring to advances disclosed in some recent Apple patent filings.

Among the possibilities here: A touch-sensitive bezel that would turn the outer edges of the device into intelligent “sense lines” that give users quick and easy access to their favorite applications, and some camera-based swipe controls that offer one-handed control over a variety of iPhone functions.”…

Source

Click for the link for a description of the latter from Patently Apple

If you haven’t already watched a demo video on Google’s Nexus One; which also compares it with Apple’s iPhone; here is a very useful Gadget Video Review! Enjoy!

Click to learn more about the gentleman in the video

Click to visit his website

With the latest update on Facebook for iPhone Application; now you can see new incoming facebook messages as a notification on your screen!

And there is more; you can also sync your facebook contacts with your contacts on your iphone! So all you have to do is go to your App Store on your iPhone; download the update & enjoy!

News Pick ::: “Facebook for iPhone just received an update that contains one of the most sought after missing features, push notifications. It has been a long time coming as most of us hoped for this feature when Facebook 3.0 was released. The only other difference noted in 3.1 is very Android-like, the ability to sync your friends with your address book.”

Source

First heard it from my dear friend www.burak.com

“Large flat-screen TVs were all the rage at the Consumer Electronics Show, but companies like Microvision Inc are putting their bets on image viewing of a much smaller scale: projections from devices as tiny as cellphones.

Microvision showed off a stand-alone projector that looked like a big bar of soap and projected crisp video images using laser technology. Its big hope is to embed the technology in a range of consumer electronics including cameras and phones.

“My feeling is that ultimately the phone is the largest opportunity,” Microvision’s director of communications Matt Nichols said, adding that his company was talking to dozens of potential customers including phone makers.

Nichols sees the first prototypes of gadgets with embedded Microvision pico projectors later this year, and expects the first commercial products some time next year.

After that, he expects the market to explode — in the same way that cameras have quickly become a must-have component in cellphones…”

Source

Website

Hi Mobilious Executives,

Today, whole Mobile World is talking about one thing and one thing only; GOOGLE’s SmartPhone!

Today GOOGLE officially entered the smartphone market wars with the launch of its new smartphone, the NEXUS ONE! With this new gadget; they are aiming to challenge the supremacy of Apple’s iPhone. And going one step further; they will be offering consumers a new way to purchase their mobiles with a webstore to sell it directly to consumers.

Before going to tech specs; here are the Official Link for you to demo it yourself:

NEXUS One; Web Meets Phone!

Size and weight
Height
119mm
Width
59.8mm
Depth
11.5mm
Weight
130 grams w/battery
100g w/o battery

Display
3.7-inch (diagonal) widescreen WVGA AMOLED touchscreen
800 x 480 pixels
100,000:1 typical contrast ratio
1ms typical response rate

Camera & Flash
5 megapixels
Autofocus from 6cm to infinity
2X digital zoom
LED flash
User can include location of photos from phone’s AGPS receiver
Video captured at 720×480 pixels at 20 frames per second or higher, depending on lighting conditions

Cellular & Wireless
UMTS Band 1/4/8 (2100/AWS/900)
HSDPA 7.2Mbps
HSUPA 2Mbps
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
A2DP stereo Bluetooth

Power and battery
Removable 1400 mAH battery
Charges at 480mA from USB, at 980mA from supplied charger
Talk time
Up to 10 hours on 2G
Up to 7 hours on 3G
Standby time
Up to 290 hours on 2G Up to 250 hours on 3G
Internet use
Up to 5 hours on 3G
Up to 6.5 hours on Wi-Fi
Video playback
Up to 7 hours
Audio playback
Up to 20 hours

Processor
Qualcomm QSD 8250 1 GHz

Operating system
Android Mobile Technology Platform 2.1 (Eclair)

Capacity
512MB Flash
512MB RAM
4GB Micro SD Card (Expandable to 32 GB)

Location
Assisted global positioning system (AGPS) receiver
Cell tower and Wi-Fi positioning
Digital compass
Accelerometer

“The Apple tablet is threatening to approach Yeti status, but here’s an indication that it will turn out to be real: The company has told some of its key developers to prepare versions of their iPhone apps that will work on a device with a larger screen, in time for an event next month.

Add this to the news that Apple has reportedly booked the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco “for several days in late January,” according to the Financial Times, and it’s pretty easy to connect the dots: It’s a very good bet we’re getting a look at this thing within the next 30 days or so.

A mobile industry source tells me developers have been told that while the mystery device will be shown off at the event, it won’t be ready to ship (Dan Frommer at Alley Insider relays the same news).

Announcing a product before launch used to be unusual for Apple (AAPL), but it’s a pattern the company has practiced more recently, notably with the first iPhone. And if Apple is indeed coming out with a new product that will require developers to rethink their approach, it makes a lot of sense.

I’ve asked Apple for comment, but I’m not holding my breath.

My source says Apple’s instructions to developers indicate that the tablet–or at least the thing the company is showing off next month–will be based on the iPhone OS and rely on the same iTunes Store that has moved two billion apps in a couple of years.

If so, it will mean that some people who have been guessing at what Apple is planning may need to go back to the drawing board.

Magazine publisher Condé Nast, for instance, has been working on a digitized version of Wired magazine that would run on Adobe (ADBE) software. But the iPhone’s OS doesn’t work with Adobe’s Flash platform, and if that holds true here, Condé Nast (and Adobe) is going to have to think of something else. Same goes for many Web video distributors who rely on Flash.

But first things first. Let’s take a look at this thing, whatever it is, and see what it actually can and cannot do before we get too far ahead of ourselves….”

This news was picked from AllThingsD.com

“Twitter creator Jack Dorsey Wednesday gave the first public demonstration of his hotly-anticipated latest venture — a device to allow credit card payments by cell phone — and revealed it would be given away for free.

Details of “Square” — a card reader which plugs into the headphone socket of most mobile devices — have been circulating on the Internet since it was announced earlier this month, but little has been known about how it works or who it was aimed at.

However, Dorsey — whose microblogging Web site has proved hugely popular but not hugely profitable since launching in March 2006 — gave no explanation on how he would make money from his new creation, beyond revealing there would be a per-transaction charity donation.

Square, a tiny cube about an inch in length, contains a magnetic strip reader that allows users to swipe and read credit cards, then deduct payment on or offline through a downloaded application that communicates with card issuers in the same way as retailer devices.

Customers then use their finger on the phone’s touch-recognition screen to sign their name to the transaction.

Dorsey, Twitter’s co-founder and chairman, says the device, scheduled for launch on iPhones and iPods in March 2010, was inspired partly by the “immediacy, approachability and transparency” of Twitter and by the global economic crisis which has exposed a need for a radical rethink of the financial sector.”

Source

“Cornell University led by electrical and computer engineering professor Sheila Hemani, has developed prototype devices and is testing them with about 25 American Sign Language (ASL) speakers in the Seattle area.

From the press release:
“We completely take cell phones for granted,” said Sheila Hemami… “Deaf people can text, but if texting were so fabulous, cell phones would never develop. There is a reason that we like to use our cell phones. People prefer to talk.” The technology, Hemami continued, is about much more than convenience. It allows deaf people “untethered communication in their native language” – exactly the same connectivity available to hearing people, she said.

The challenge was to make the phone’s video process enough frames per second for test subjects to have conversations in real-time, despite low bandwidth, while not draining the phone’s battery.

Now the researchers are working to make the phones “as user friendly as possible,” while reducing the cost of integrating mobile ASL software into the devices.”

Source

Imagine the Possibilities!

“The human eye is a perceptual powerhouse. It can see millions of colors, adjust easily to shifting light conditions, and transmit information to the brain at a rate exceeding that of a high-speed Internet connection.

But why stop there?

In the Terminator movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character sees the world with data superimposed on his visual field—virtual captions that enhance the cyborg’s scan of a scene. In stories by the science fiction author Vernor Vinge, characters rely on electronic contact lenses, rather than smartphones or brain implants, for seamless access to information that appears right before their eyes.

These visions (if I may) might seem far-fetched, but a contact lens with simple built-in electronics is already within reach; in fact, my students and I are already producing such devices in small numbers in my laboratory at the University of Washington, in Seattle [see sidebar, "A Twinkle in the Eye"]. These lenses don’t give us the vision of an eagle or the benefit of running subtitles on our surroundings yet. But we have built a lens with one LED, which we’ve powered wirelessly with RF. What we’ve done so far barely hints at what will soon be possible with this technology.”

Click to read more

And here is an interview with the guy behind the scenes:

Only recently, we had a blog post on where the print media is heading

And here, we discover one of recent executions

“Last month, we learned that Esquire was once again going experimental, this time with its December issue featuring augmented reality. The issue is now available, and readers that have it can head to Esquire’s website to check out the special augmented reality features.

In addition to featuring an AR cover, where Robert Downey Jr. introduces you to the issue (and throws in a pitch for his upcoming movie Sherlock Holmes), there are several pieces of bonus content that can be accessed and controlled on Esquire’s website by downloading an app and pointing the AR marker at your webcam…”