September 2006 Archives

It’s official: Microsoft’s Zune and Apple’s iPod will be doing battle this holiday season for the hearts and minds of shoppers. Microsoft announced today that its new Zune music player will ship November 14, and be priced at $249.99, comparable to the 30GB iPod.

Here’s a quick ‘n dirty comparison of the two products:

Less clear than such a comparison is whether Microsoft can make a sizeable dent in Apple’s market share. Will Zune’s features, notably the wireless sharing, be enough to disrupt the empire Apple has built when it comes to portable media players?

Granted, the wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing is pretty cool, but some commentators have pointed out shortcomings of the feature. Most notable is Microsoft’s proprietary Digital Rights Management (DRM) system that, according to Kirk Biglione on Medialoper, means “recipients of shared songs will only be able to listen to them three times or for three days, whichever comes first.”

This three-days-till expiration feature is made possible, Biglione says, by “wrapping shared music in a proprietary layer of DRM, regardless of what format the original content may be in.”

Gee, that sounds kind of annoying. Sharing content between devices wirelessly is a cool idea, but it has limited coolness if that content dies after three uses or three days. Biglione is not alone in commenting on this failing of the sharing; it also is referenced in Wikipedia’s entry about Zune.

Want more on Zune? Check out Rich Tehrani’s post this morning (in which he says that Apple has plenty to be scared about) or simply search for “Zune” on Technorati.

On a quest to discover the latest new and cool wireless technologies coming down the pike, yesterday I made a quick scan of exhibitors at the upcoming Wired NEXTFEST. Most didn’t seem related to wireless/mobility per se, but one product that did catch my eye is a new laser-based user interface application developed by three Japanese engineers.


Titled “Smart Laser Scanner for Human-Computer Interface,” the new technology is designed to address the challenge of inputting information into electronic devices as those devices become smaller and smaller. The approach taken by the Japanese developers is to use a “a simple active tracking system using a laser diode (visible or invisible light), steering mirrors, and a single non-imaging photodetector, which is capable of acquiring three dimensional coordinates in real time without the need of any image processing at all.”

Wow, pretty technical stuff!

The engineers who developed this technology further describe it as “a smart rangefinder scanner that instead of continuously scanning over the full field of view, restricts its scanning area, on the basis of a real-time analysis of the backscattered signal, to a very narrow window precisely the size of the target.”

The demo pages for this new technology are pretty technical, but the images are cool. (Guess it’s truer than ever that, sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words.) Essentially it appears that laser technology is used to allow input into electronic devices using hand/finger movements.

According to the developers, this laser-based input has several key advantages:

+ Few constraints on the user and environment (doesn’t require special projectors or other devices)
+ Real-time, full 3D acquisition (no stereoscopic camera needed to track three-dimensional data)
+ System-on-a-chip integration (using MOEMS technology, it’s possible to integrate the entire system onto a single chip for mobile devices)

What will they think of next?

A few days ago I covered a new report out from ABI Research relating to predictions for the dual-mode handset market. (In case you’re not familiar, dual-mode handsets are phones capable of picking up signal from either a cellular network or a WiFi/VoIP network depending on which is available.) In the report, ABI mentioned an up-and-coming technology called femtocell, which I have to admit I hadn’t encountered before.

ABI describes femtocells as “small cellular base stations designed for use in residential or corporate environments.” The research firm said that femtocells have great potential for carriers interested in rolling out fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) services because the technology involved can result in more efficient networks, reduced customer churn, and improved in-building wireless coverage.

I was intrigued to find out more, but before I had to chance to do so TMCnet editor Bob Liu beat me to the punch in his September 26 article about T-Mobile’s plans to soon roll out dual-mode services.

This week in San Diego (the same city where, incidentally, TMC’s Internet Telephony EXPO will be held a fortnight from now), technology companies are gathered to show off their latest innovations at the DEMOfall 2006 show. Perusing through the list of products on display, a few caught my eye that relate to the wireless/mobility arena.

First up is Dash Navigation, Inc.’s simply named Dash product/service, which delivers real-time information to people while they’re driving in their cars. To me, the coolest thing about Dash is that it “creates a network of drivers who help each other avoid traffic and share information about their destinations.” I’ve read about SMS services in Europe that alert drivers about traffic jams, and this appears to be along the same lines. Seems like a very useful feature. Now if only we could figure out how to reduce the amount of traffic without continually widening our roads every few years...

Speaking of in-car technology, Mvox Technologies is displaying its Duo, “a hands-free car kit, Bluetooth headset, mobile conference phone and VoIP headset—all in one small wearable device.” Duo uses small array microphone technology to deliver “hands-free, loud and clear conversations anywhere without sacrificing road safety.” That is, is if really is possible for people to give full attention to phone conversations and driving at the same time.

Speaking of speaking, Pinger, Inc. is displaying its Pinger voice messaging system for cell phones. The product enables users to “send voice messages to someone instantly, with no ringing, no greetings and no lengthy prompts.” I guess you could think of it as tying together the features of e-mail, voice and instant messaging.

If your ultimate nightmare is being stranded somewhere without any access to digital entertainment, then Headplay, Inc.’s Personal Cinema System (PCS) may be just the ticket. PCS is “a portable, visual headset and media center that delivers an immersive, high-resolution, cinematic viewing experience for gaming, movie watching and Internet use.” PCS can be connected directly to game consoles, DVD players, iPods, personal computers, and cell phones, and is compatible with both Compact Flash and USB storage media.

Several months ago, I wrote an article about how different features, including contactless payment, are being incorporated into cell phones. So Jton Systems’ product, MobiWallet, caught my eye. This is “a complete hardware and software system that allows carriers to offer in-phone, contactless instant payments.” Phones equipped with MobiWallett can be used to instantly pay for such things as transit fares and e-tickets.

On a completely different front, Moixa Energy Holdings’ USBCELL is designed to help people cut down on their energy consumption. It’s “a low-power, renewable-energy alternative through new reusable battery technology.” USBCELL has potential for all energy-using devices, including MP3 players and cell phones.

Finally, here’s something from yet another wireless-related area, this time the food segment of retail. W5 Networks designed an electronic shelf label (ESL) system specifically for supermarkets, which the company says “manually change hundreds of thousands of paper shelf labels each week,” costing “millions of dollars in labor each year.” W5’s ESL system “is capable of updating and displaying prices and promotions chain-wide within minutes through a unique, long-range, low-power wireless network.”

Spotted any cool, new wireless/mobility products out there? Let me know.

I was chatting recently with Art Rosenberg, author of the Unified View column, and he mentioned—as he often has before—that the adoption of new technology could be aided if only those developing said technology could come up with a single term to describe it. Art’s point was that end-users (whether they be enterprises or individuals) tend to get confused when people use several different terms to describe the same technology.

For example: Is it "unified communications" or "unified messaging"? Is it "Voice Over IP," VoIP (abbreviation that takes on its own life), or "Internet telephony"? When two or more terms refer to the same thing, it can make it harder to figure out just exactly what is being talked about, anyway.

It may even be possible that geeky- or boring-sounding names for technological device or topics may chase away people who aren’t technology lovers but just want products or services that make their lives easier. (Geeky: VoIP. Boring: Net Neutrality.)

I agree with Art about the name thing, but I do think it may be a somewhat minor point.  In my opinion, it’s not so much what’s in a name, but what’s in the actual thing being named.

Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) technology is a good example. In case you’re not familiar, this is what some in the telecommunications industry think is the next big thing: technology that allows a single handset to seamlessly roam between cellular and VoIP/WiFi networks.

For a self-proclaimed geek like me, FMC is just the coolest thing. Imagine it: harnessing the power of the Internet to access cheap minutes while at home, and then picking up a signal from a cellular tower when I leave my house. I mean, isn’t it just amazing that these two kinds of technologies can be tied together in this way?

For the average consumer, though, my fascination with FMC is probably a mystery. Most people just want a phone that works. They’ve gotten used to having a landline at home and a cellphone for elsewhere. Maybe they are interested in saving money or cutting down on the number of electronic devices that clutter up their house, but they really couldn’t care less about the technology that might deliver such functionality.

Actually, I’m a consumer too. I love tech, but I’m busy. I don’t always need to know exactly how every cool device works, but I do want/need to know what that device can do for me.

The latest issue of Wired arrived in my mailbox on Saturday. Typically I flip through the entire magazine to locate the articles I want to read first. One item that stopped me in my tracks for a few minutes was a piece (“Less Pain, More Gain,” October 2006) about different ways National Football League teams use technology to help players perform at their best.

Among the items covered in the article are jaw-saving helmets, anti-concussion mouthguards, “air conditioner” shoulder pads, and a thermometer-in-a-pill manufactured by HQ, Inc. (under its CorTemp brand). This final item, according to Wired, has been adopted by some NFL teams because often football players are not aware when they start to overheat.

A blog post on BoingBoing by David Pescovitz from January of this year explains that the thermometer, which is about the size of a multivitamin, is swallowed by players a couple of hours before game-time—giving it time to reach the small intestine. From there, it provides “continuous readings of a player's body temperature, which can be picked up by a sensor placed against the small of the player's back.”

The Wired article notes that this data can be transmitted to trainers on the sidelines, allowing them to monitor the well-being of players.

Pescovitz said in his post that, thanks to one of these thermometers, Philadelphia Eagles player Tra Thomas was saved from the detrimental effects of heatstroke during summer training camp. Although he hadn’t shown any signs of heat stress, the thermometer showed that Thomas’ core body temperature was 40.9 degrees Celsius (about 105 degrees Fahrenheit).

Heatstroke can be a very dangerous for football players, and other athletes, Pescovitz noted—in 2003, Korey Stringer of the Minnesota Vikings died from the effects of overheating.

Want to learn more about the CorTemp thermometer-in-a-pill? Check out this 2005 article from Associated Press.

There’s been speculation for a long time now that Apple may at some point produce its own cell phone (e.g. eWeek in 2003, Edgadget in 2004). That chatter resumed recently leading up to Apple’s latest big announcements, some of it apparently coming directly from company headquarters.

Earlier this month, mp3newswire.net predicted that the odds of Apple introducing an iPod phone or iPhone are 2:1.

“A pure iPod phone would probably do well, though some of the phone companies don't like the fact that it will circumvent their own mobile music services,” mp3newswire said.

Apple’s latest news turned out to be updates to iTunes, and enhancements to all three of its iPod lines (regular, shuffle, nano). But that hasn’t stopped the speculation about a possible phone from continuing. Now commentators and analysts are saying such a product may be launched in 2007.

I’m not sure what to think, but even the chance of an iPhone next year makes me wonder how long I should hold out on getting an iPod, something I’ve been drooling over for a while (especially after my husband got a nano roughly a year ago). An iPhone would be awfully sweet, but I can’t wait forever.

What do you think?

Yesterday in this blog, I suggested that RFID tags might have been useful in containing the recent spinach-borne outbreak of E. coli. Apparently I’m not the only who had this idea. On Wednesday, an entry on the RFID Law Blog (published by McKenna Long & Aldridge, LLP Attorneys at Law) covered the same topic.

In the blog entry, the law firm suggested that the E. coli outbreak represents an opportunity for the RFID industry to proactively advocate for use of the technology, “instead of always being on the defensive.”

The entry also noted that “RFID tags on produce would make it much easier for public health officials to identify the specific source of the E. coli infestation.”

Using RFID tags in this way, the blog says, would be beneficial to consumers, retailers, and farmers. Make sense to me. What do you think?

I was at the pharmacy recently picking up a prescription, and noticed a sign taped to the counter asking customers to please refrain from using their cell phones while paying for their medicines. The sign got me thinking about cell phone etiquette—or, too often it seems, the lack thereof.

One of my personal pet peeves is when a person either starts or continues a cell phone conversation while going through the check-out at a store. Not only does this potentially slow things down for other people in line (since research has shown that multitasking when talking on the phone is not very efficient), but it also must be awfully frustrating for the cashier who may have to verbally convey information to a distracted or inattentive customer.

So, I was pleased to see that my pharmacy was confronting people with the fact that it expects customers to pay full attention to the task of making their purchases. But, the more I thought about it, I found myself growing sad that it had come to this—a store having to say, in effect, “We insist that you be polite.” Whatever happened to good, old-fashioned manners?

If you Google the term “cell phone etiquette,” you’ll get thousands upon thousands of results (I performed the search just this morning and got 4,510,000 hits.) Clearly, I’m not the only person who thinks that people tend to behave in very impolite ways too often when using their cell phones.

Yet, all of the many guides to Dos and Don’ts when talking on a cell phone won’t do much good if people aren’t willing to do the polite thing. As Joanna Krotz writes in a Microsoft Small Business Center article, “Technology and its myriad benefits are not the issue. People are.”

In my opinion, cell phone etiquette really boils down to common sense. If I think of a phone conversation as being equivalent to an in-person conversation, the appropriate manners appear self-evident. If I’m talking to someone and another person walks into the room, he or she will wait until a pause in the conversation to interject. In most cases, I won’t feel obligated to stop talking mid-stream to address the newcomer.

Yet, when the phone rings, I—like so many others—feel this strange, urgent need to drop everything and answer it. “Oh, oh, oh, the phone is ringing. I must pick up!” Sometimes this is true when my phone rings at home, but it’s virtually always true when the cell goes off. What is it about a portable communications device that demands so much attention?

Like many of your out there, I live a busy, often hectic life. Often multitasking is the only way to get everything done. But whenever I see a person talking on the cell phone while going through a check out, it reminds me to slow down temporarily and focus solely on the present moment.

Perhaps I’ll regret asking the question, but here goes: what’s your favorite pet peeve about people’s behavior with their cell phones?

A lot of wireless news crosses my desk every day, and after a while much of starts to seem the same. One item caught my attention this morning, however: a report about Intel setting up a wireless, high-speed Internet network in the remote Amazon island town of Parintins .

While this network is being promoted as something that will improve the lives of the town’s residents, I can’t help but wonder what unexpected consequences will occur when modern technology is brought into a culture that’s primitive by Western standards.

Probably, the results will be positive—better healthcare, more education, etc. But it is true that, in some cases (e.g. the now infamous Harvard study that proved girls on the Fiji Islands developed anorexia after television became available), technology can have unexpected negative affects as well.

For this reason, I’m pleased to see that the Amazon network isn’t just being plunked down, but is part of an initiative by Intel to improve the lives of people around the world by helping them gain access to modern technology. The company worked with Brazilian government, business and education officials to install a WiMAX network for use in healthcare centers, public schools, a community center, and Amazon University .

It seems to me that this type of initiative should ease Amazonians into the modern world, rather than leaving them to grapple with a sudden influx of technology. What do you think?

 I saw one again just the other day: a person who appeared to be talking to himself. This was an ordinary-appearing guy, his head partially hidden by the umbrella he was carrying to ward off a light drizzle, proceeding along a sidewalk in a residential neighborhood. There was no-one with him, nor could I locate another person anywhere in the immediate vicinity.

Yet, from my vantage point inside my car, I could clearly see this man’s lips moving. He definitely was carrying on a conversation. 

Of course, he wasn’t crazy, he was merely talking on a cell phone using wireless headset, making it nearly invisible. Whether this stealth was intentional or not, I cannot say.

Ten years ago, if I encountered someone talking to him- or herself, I might have been inclined to speed up (if driving) or cross to the other side of the street (if walking). But today, I (along with others) just chalk it up to modern technology and move on with hardly a second thought.

I wonder if you’ve made similar observations about ways people use technology that makes them look “crazy”? Let me know.

Mae Kowalke is an Associate Editor at TMCnet, Technology Marketing Corporation’s online news site that covers a broad range of technology and marketing-related industries including WiFi, VoIP, CRM, call center, IP communications, biometrics, alternative power, and information technology.

Mae is also a self-proclaimed geek—at least when it comes to cool, fun, and useful gadgets that offer endless hours of both frustration and productivity. In this blog, she comments on anything and everything that has to do with wireless technology and working/playing with technology that enables mobility.

Just a few of the topics that fall within this broad spectrum are 802.11 and other wireless standards, BlackBerries, cell phones, fixed-mobile convergence, the IEEE, PDAs, and municipal WiFi.

Mae holds a B.A. in Communications from Thomas Edison State College in Trenton, N.J., and previously worked for Cleveland Magazine in Ohio and The Burlington Free Press in Vermont (among other publications).

For a list of articles Mae has written for TMCnet, click here.