Telecoms Korea reports that the South Korean government has banned sales of the 2003 Pantech&Curitel 600S cell phone because it wants to retain the option to bug calls. When two callers each use the phone, and select its unique "security mode," the call can't be tapped.
It had to happen. Now you can buy a mini foldable pocketsize tripod for your camera phone. The "Cellpod" comes in black and clear-blue, costs $24.95 and is available from Joy Innovations.
"Well-placed industry sources" confirmed for a San Jose Mercury News reporter that Netflix's rumored video downloads service will be launched very soon. Netflix itself is being coy, saying that limited testing only will happen this year. The rumors started when bloggers posted their observation of a reference to a "Netflix Player" on the Netflix web site. It has also been rumored that Netflix will work with TiVo on the service.
A new Google "Advanced" front-end built, apparently, by a search enthusiast rather than Google itself, lets you choose your search service from a drop down menu containing 16 Google sites, from old standbys like "Web," "Images" and "Groups" to more exotic fare such as "Answers" "Ride Finder" and "Scholar."
A new web service now in beta called FeedShake lets you combine, sort and filter RSS feeds. It's so free that you don't even need a subscription or an e-mail address. Check out FeedShake and let me know how you like it!
Late night talk show hosts Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno poked fun at the Grand Theft Auto "CoffeeGate" scandal, according to a post at PunchJump.
Conan: "Parents across the country are furious because the video game Grand Theft Auto contains sex scenes. The parents say, 'We bought our kids Grand Theft Auto so they could be exposed to violent car jackings, not sex'."
Leno: "Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has called for an investigation of the video game Grand Theft Auto after finding hidden sex in the game. I don't know, is Hillary the best one to go looking for hidden sex? If Hillary was any good at finding it, her husband wouldn't have been impeached." (props)
A Miami lawyer, pointing out that "cheat codes" and third-party "skins" get you more nudity in the game "The Sims 2" than in the controversial Grand Theft Auto -- even with the "Hot Coffee" mod -- is waging a public relations campaign to get the game banned.
I told you May 25 that game maker Eidos Interactive planned to put Lara Croft on a diet for the next release, reducing her breasts one cup size, giving her less "back," and making her clothes less revealing. Well, judging by these screenshots released today by the company, the "diet" won't be as bad as it sounded.
Nuclear Power Plant Data Stolen With Virus, Posted Online
Information about the safety inspections of four Japanese nuclear power plants were stolen via a virus-infected PC used by an employee of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, and posted on the Internet. I'm sure Kim Jung Il is sifting through them as we speak.
Microsoft has been granted a patent by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for: "Methods and devices for creating and transferring custom emoticons allow a user to adopt an arbitrary image as an emoticon, which can then be represented by a character sequence in real-time communication." In other words, Microsoft now owns the idea of emoticons.
'Flintstones' Meets 'Jetsons' In Sundial Wristwatch
Designer Gina Reimann has come up with a concept watch that's actually a sundial. A compass lets you actually use the watch to get the right time. At night, a light simulates sunlight, casting a shadow that tells you the right (approximate) time. If that's not accurate enough for you, well, there's a faint digital time readout as well.
Engadget is reporting that HP has shipped its HP iPaq rz1710 Navigator GPS, which comes with a car cradle for viewing directions in landscape mode. I hope the GPS in the unit is good enough for HP to find the United States, so they can start selling the units here...
A pattern-recognition computer successfully predicted a crime in Yonkers, New York. The computer told officers that there would be a robbery between 8pm and midnight on South Broadway on a specific night, and during that time a robbery happened (two dudes jacked a woman's cell phone at gunpoint). As such systems become more sophisticated, police will be able to arrest criminals before they commit the crimes. They'll still run. Everybody runs.
Georgia Tech Research Institute is creating a computer vision system that can identify "foreign objects," such as small bits of plastic, in food on the assembly line. The system will be field tested this summer. Researcher John Stewart (apparently the Daily Show host dabbles in computer vision research) says already the system has been able to spot particle as small as 1.5 millimeters at nearly 100 percent accuracy.
Police in Brazil have nabbed a gang of drug dealers who had set up a "members only" Orkut group to buy and sell marijuana and ecstasy. Orkut is a social network like "Friendster" developed in-house on the Googleplex and, for some reason -- I guess now we know the reason -- very popular with Brazilians.
Carnegie Mellon University's entry in the annual Japanese RoboCup robot soccer tournament is a team of Sony Aibo robot dogs with secret new software, developed with funding from the Pentagon. These cute and cuddly robot dogs of war are part of a Defense Advanced Projects Agency, or DARPA, project to develop swarming robots for the battlefields of the future.
As part of its radical layoffs program, HP is sending 10 percent of its Labs staff packing -- and even killing projects headed by research legend Alan Kay. (Kay, who was instrumental in inventing many elements of the PC while at Xerox PARC, will be leaving the HP now that he has nothing to do.) HP is also strangling health-related research, its Consumer Applications and Systems Lab and the Emerging Technologies Laboratory. The company will continue to sell Apple iPods with those amazing stickers, however.
An arty project designed to use peer-to-peer networks, camera phones and the web to empower Spanish communities underrepresented online, including prostitutes, gypsies and -- gasp! -- even taxi drivers is now online. It's a glimpse, via snapshots, videos and audio files, into worlds the rest of us never see. (props to textually.org)
The Indian government is installing cell phone jammers in some prisons due to reports that criminals were staying in touch with their old gangs outside the joint.
Hong Kong based Artificial Life, Inc. has released version 2 its V-Girl "virtual girlfriend," a kind of Tamagotchi for lonely bachelors who lives on your 3G cell phone. Version 2 features six characters and new features such as locked and secret scenes, interactive puzzles, calendar-based events and interactive role playing. She still won't put out, though.
Governor Proposes Sexual Predator GPS Monitoring For Life
Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell is proposing that the really, really bad sexual predators in her state get GPS gadgets attached permanently to their bodies (at a cost to taxpayers of up to $15 per day). (I wonder if she knows that GPS doesn't work indoors and it's a trivial task to make people think you're indoors by blocking the device's satellite reception?)
Rockstar games, maker of "Grand Theft Auto," is expecting to lose $50 million in sales because of the "CoffeeGate" scandal (see below if you're new to the planet). Speculation is rampant that the game's ratings change is part of a larger crackdown on game content. And rumors are circulating that major U.S. retailers will pull the game from shelves by the end of the day.
The Mainichi Daily News is reporting that Microsoft's upcoming Xbox 360 will feature an age-restriction feature. Parents can tell the machine which of the four ratings -- age 12 and up, age 15 and up, and age 18 and up, and all ages -- to honor, and the system will block content accordingly.
The Japanese Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank has added a slot-machine game to its ATM machines. Winners can pocket cash prizes of between 90 cents and nine dollars.
A man in India is bent on smashing the Guiness World Record for number of SMS text messages sent via his cell phone. To achieve this goal, he averages 1,000 messages per hour, 18 hours per day.
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has changed its rating for the game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" from "Mature 17+" (M) to "Adults Only 18+" (AO) because of the controversial hot coffee modification, which distracts players from killing cops and jacking cars long enough to have sex.
Garmin today released the ultimate GPS: It's a portable gadget that overlays real-time weather information gathered via XM radio. It's also plays XM radio. Over your car stereo. At the same time it's giving you voice directions. I want one.
Breakthrough: Researchers Create 'Bullet-Time' In Multiplayer Games
Researchers at the University of Finland have figured out how employ "local perception filters" to provide individual experiences of "bullet-time" -- a Matrix-like effect of action slowing down -- while the action for other players does not slow down.
Wal-Mart plans to open stores in Texas and Colorado that are environmentally friendly. The stores will feature electricity-generating photovoltaic cells in the skylights. Water for bathrooms will be heated by heat generated by refrigeration units. And the landscaping will be watered by rainwater and also by the condensation from air conditioners.
Group Calls For K-12 'Cyber Security and Ethics' Program
The Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), the only public policy and advocacy group dedicated to cyber security, released a report called: "Teaching Children Cyber Security and Ethics." The report calls for the creation of a national-level program for teaching children K-12 cyber security, ethics and safety. In other words, teach kids how to hack and where all the porn is.
An astrology service in India recently sent an SMS message to subscribers saying that, because of the "transit of Mars," world affairs would "suffer" -- and to call 696 (at nine rupees per minute) to get the details. Once subscribers called, they were told that huge wars, natural disasters, fires and other calamities were likely over the following ten days, causing panic.
An Indian insurance company called Tata AIG General Insurance Company today launched a file-your-claim-via-SMS service. Customers type "Claim" and send it to 8888. The company then calls back to hammer out the details.
The U.S. Army demonstrated a new hybrid "Jeep" at the Society of Automotive Engineers Expo, according to a report in Motor Trend:
"A variety of composite bodies can be fastened to its rolling chassis with just six bolts. A two-cylinder opposed two-stroke engine capable of running on a variety of fuels provides motive or auxiliary power. It fits in a briefcase, makes seven horsepower, and generates less than 55 dBA of noise -- perfect for stakeout duty. The engine uses two pistons per cylinder, an inner pair drives the central crankshaft directly while the outer pair connects to the same crank by long rods. The pistons are phased to expose exhaust ports 30 degrees ahead of the intake ports, so 90 percent of the burned charge is pushed out by the supercharged air-fuel mixture."
The Washington Post will report tomorrow that cell phone records -- who you called, how long you talked, etc. -- are the hottest thing going among online traders of personal information. The article says that locatecell.com will sell your personal cell records to anyone with $110, for example.
TrainingPASS.com is now offering hypnotherapy recordings -- which the company claims can help you lose weight, quit smoking and (one hopes) cut back on compulsive blogging -- in MP3 format.
New Heli-Cam First With Hi-Def, Gyro and Infra-Red
Cineflex, LLC plans to show off its Cineflex V14 Magnum LE system at the Airborne Law Enforcement Association Annual Conference and Exhibition in Reno tomorrow. It's the first gyro-stabilized aerial camera system to combine a full resolution high definition camera with the most advanced infrared sensor. People on the ground can watch the video in real time using an encrypted, microwave downlink system that points at the camera using an automated, GPS-guided antenna. It's the ultimate camera for law enforcement pilots, border patrol agents and wealthy down-blouse photography fetishists.
The University of Hawaii is almost ready to launch its Semi-Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Intervention, or SAUVIM, into the Pacific. The battery powered deep-diving robot is about the same size as sport utility vehicle, but gets better gas mileage. Computers and special software enable it to "make decisions" and use its scary, 5-foot long arm. If the robot goes berserk and starts killing endangered whales, a wireless "cut-off" switch can disable it (Hmmm. I've seen this in a movie somewhere -- the robot always outwits the humans on the cut-off switch.) The purpose of the robot project is to make it possible for geeks live in Hawaii and play with robots.
A microchip implanted in the skin of an extremely rare turtle saved the creature from a painful death in a Chinese soup pot. The turtle was tagged by wildlife conservationists two years ago, but was discovered recently in a food crate bound for china by conservationists armed with RFID readers.
Cambridge University eggheads Tom Drummond, Gerhard Reitmayr and Ethan Eade have invented an augmented reality map that projects data and pictures onto a tabletop map using an overhead projector and image-recognition software. The system can "read" maps, then grab scads of location-relevant info -- including like camera feeds. Here comes the video.
India's tech boom is making geeks richer -- and also more stressed out. So, increasingly, they're turning to meditation, which is making the meditation people richer. It's the circle of life.
Birds around the world are starting to immitate cell phone ringtones. The Maricopa Audubon Society reported the phenomenon earlier this month. Now a German orthinologist is reporting it. First person to post an actual recording of a bird singing a standard ringtone -- which of course will be a very cool ringtone -- wins! (props to ringtonia.com)
I've reported many times on "Muslim cell phones" -- mobiles with Qur'anic ringtones, compasses that point to Mecca, etc. Now, it turns out, the ringtones are verboten! Egypt's top Islamic law authority, Ali Gomaa, says that they "trivialize" the Koran -- even when installed on a Treo 650!
Shock! ESRB Investigating Possible Inappropriate Content In 'Grand Theft Auto'
The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) is investigating the "Hot Coffee" modification in the popular game Grand Theft Auto, which unlocks sex games inside the crime-and-murder game. They're claiming the mod is a rumor, despite the fact that a 3-second Google search gets you the download. Hopefully they'll put a stop to the inappropriate sex content so kids can focus on the activity Grand Theft Auto was designed for: murdering prostitutes, jacking cars at gunpoint and blowing away innocent bystanders.
Wal-Mart Is Not -- Repeat, NOT -- Replacing Workers With Robots
Wal-Mart is NOT looking into replacing employees with robots, and doesn't want to talk about how it's not replacing employees with robots. The idea of replacing employees with robots is not even being considered "in any way, shape or form," according to a PR flak for the company, who seemed to not want to talk about Wal-Mart not replacing employees with robots (perhaps because she fears she is one of the employees they're going to replace with robots).
Students Jason Lawrence, Turner Howard and Susan Knueven at Georgia Tech have created a robot called Crazy J, which plays the guitar. HerecometheMP3files! (props to Slashdot)
The cheating spouse "spy phone" has reached the adultery capital of the world: France. I first told you about this phenomenon in September, 2001, and again in December, 2004. Here's how it works. Aftermarket cell phone companies alter the electronics of a cell phone to enable you to activate (without ringing the phone) the microphone in the phone, so you can listen in remotely. A company in France is now offering a modified Nokia 3310. (props to I4U)
MP3 Player Zaps 'Alpha Waves' That Tweak Your Brain
IT Media Japan have spotted a new MP3 player that generates "alpha waves," for the purpose of stimulating brain activity and relaxation. Oh, and it also plays music -- at the same time. (props to Akihabara News and I4U)
A software application called WebCrow can do crossword puzzles better than most humans, and do them in just about any language. But it cheats by Googling clues.
A camera with a solar-powered satellite uplink upoads pictures from a Northern California forest every 20 seconds in an effort to spot Bigfoot. So far, nothing.
NYC Olympic Ad Appears In Story Announcing London's Selection
When "contextual advertising" goes awry: My friend Steve Rubel noticed this morning that an ad pitching New York City as host for the 2012 Olympics appeared in a Yahoo story announcing London's selection.
Disney is plans to roll out next year a nationwide cell phone network. The goofy plan will use Sprint as the network, but Disney will take your money, as well as try to sell you content and provide customer support.
Siemens Unveils Wooden Cell Phone - Some Have Teeth Marks
The Personal Tech Pipeline is reporting that a new cell phone from Siemens is made in part from the wood of a wild tree. The company promises that each handset will be unique, and may even feature teeth marks from wild animals (to the best of my knowledge, this claim is a first in the history of mobile phone marketing). The front of the phone rotates around to enable a full-size keyboard.
Lufthansa and Siemens have begun testing boarding passes with digital finger-prints, which they say will improve speed and security. The euphemism they're using for the concept is "Trusted Traveller" (Yeah, trusting people usually involves getting their fingerprints).
The UK's O2 released a cell phone that downloads music wirelessly, which they have called the XM, a name they will change once XM Radio sues them for trademark infringement.
Martha Stewart Learned On Internet How to Remove Electronic Anklet
Martha Stewart told a Vanity Fair reporter that she learned on the Internet how to remove the electronic monitoring anklet she is forced to wear as part of her house-arrest sentence, much to the horror of her publicist. She also revealed -- folks, I'm not making any of this up! -- that her prison nickname was "M. Diddy" and that she has a "crush" on Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." The article hits the stands July 12.
The appropriately named (or, inappropriately named) Orgasmatones web site is offering hundreds of ringtones, each featuring a recording of a British woman faking an orgasm and shouting out one of the 500 most popular male names in the UK. (Here's a lovely example.) The company plans to roll out ringtones with girl's names next week, and, later, ringtones featuring regional accents. (props to ringtonia.com)
NASA Spacecraft Crash-Into-Comet Broadcast Live On Web
Nobody does reality TV like NASA. The agency's Deep Impact mission, which involved crashing an 820-pound probe into a comet at 10:52pm Sunday night Pacific Time, 0552 GMT, was taped by more than ten cameras. The video was broadcast live over the Internet.
The famous "HP Garage, the tiny Palo Alto shack that Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard used to design and build the first HP products, was dismantled in the spring and is being reconstructed starting yesterday.
Doctors in Michigan State University's Department of Surgery and Eggheads in the College of Engineering are working together to build a robot arm that can do remote-controlled breast exams. A doctor using the device slips his hand into a special glove, then conducts the exam remotely. He feels whatever the robot arm is touching. (props to Medgadget)
A bathtub called Smart Hydro, from Brazil's Innovative House, can be remote controlled via your cell phone or Pocket PC PDA. Settings can be pre-programmed in advance like a VCR or controlled in real-time from wherever you happen to be. You can control water tempurature, water level, light brightness and even the amount of "bath essence" added. A computerized voice tells you when the bath is ready. (props to The Cool Hunter)
Idiot Sells Forehead To GoldenPalace.com As Tattoo Ad Space
A women named Kari Smith sold her forehead for use as advertising space to the online gambling site, GoldenPalace.com. The company paid her $10,000 to have the company's URL written as a tattoo.
Korea's Manufacturing & Mechatronics Lab has unveiled a kendo training robot called MUSA. When you whack it with your kendo bamboo practice sword, it defends itself, but measures the impact, so you know how you're doing.
California Getting Seven-Day Road Traffic Forecast
The web site of TV news program KXTV News 10 in Sacramento will get not only the usual compliment of weather and traffic reporting, but, for the first time anywhere, seven-day traffic forecasts. The forecast is assembled by a system called Beat-the-Traffic, which takes current traffic information and bakes in historical trends on a route-by-route basis -- and also takes into consideration weather forecasts and scheduled activities like major sporting events. Sure, the traffic in the Bay Area and L.A. will still suck, but at least you'll know just how badly well in advance.
Maybe Sex Doesn't Sell - Paris Hilton Burger Porn Ad Fails
The Carl's Jr. burger chain's foray into softcore porn to sell slabs-of-dead-cow-flesh-on-a-bun failed miserably, generating huge interest in Paris Hilton's soapy thighs but little interest in Carl's Jr. junk food.
