Recently in misc Category

Radar Networks is on a role. The company announced Monday completion of Round B financing series, during which it brought in $13 million from several venture capital firms. This brings total venture capital funding for the company to $18 million, including Round B and Round A (which closed in April, 2006).
 
What’s drawing venture capital firms to invest in Radar? The company offers an online service called Twine, which the company describes as a “Web 3.0” application, part of the “Semantic Web.”
 
Twine lets users organize, share and discover information that correlates to their interests, and connect with networks of like-minded people.
Continue Reading...

Macworld Keynote Recap So Far

January 15, 2008 1:53 PM | 0 Comments
As I write this, Steve Jobs has been keynoting for nearly two hours and it appears most of the surprises are out of the bag at this point. I’m sure everyone out there is busy refreshing real-time blogs from Macworld, Engadget and the like. So here’s a very short and sweet recap of what Apple announced today so far:
 
1. Almost 20 percent of the Apple OS installed base has upgraded to Leopard.
Continue Reading...
Sometimes, accessories for “the thing” generate more revenue than “the thing” itself. Perhaps not with revenue (I don’t have the numbers handy) but certainly with ubiquity, we’ve seen this trend in the explosion during the past few years of iPod accessories. Apple isn’t the only company to realize that, once people have their iPod, the way to keep the money flowing (aside from introducing new iPods every year or two) is through accessories: cases, faceplates, gadgets for connectivity in the car, etc.
 
In the mobile phone market, at least, current projections indicate that accessories are poised to soon drive more revenue than the sale of phones themselves.
Continue Reading...
After the shootings at Virginia Tech earlier this spring, students, parents, faculty and staff at schools across the country have been paying renewed attention to the need for improved emergency alert systems. One company that’s taking an in-depth look at the problem is VIYYA Technologies, which in April announced the launch of its Emergency Alert Information Portal, an application designed to distribute information in a timely manner, both on a routine basis and during times of crisis.
 
I was made aware late last week of VIYYA’s efforts in this arena, and figured it would be a good to idea to mention it in my blog. I admit, I do appreciate the company’s apparent thoughtfulness about the subject; in a press release on May 16, VIYYA stressed that, although it did get the application up quickly, the solution is not designed to be a one-size-fits all, knee-jerk reaction to the need for better emergency alert systems.
 
The company said that its developers met with officials at a variety of education institutions to determine which emergency alert methods work, and which don’t, in different types of settings.
Continue Reading...
Here’s an update on the VirginiaTech shootings: an AP report published just after 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time said that it took the university two hours to compose and send out an e-mail to students warning them about the first shooting.
 
According to the article, that’s also the span of time between the first shooting and the second one; by the time students got the e-mail (at 9:26 a.m.), the gunman had moved to a second building and begun his rampage again. The article also quoted a student saying that there were no public address system warnings as he walked to class at 9:00 a.m.
Continue Reading...
Many companies looking to make a buck (or a few million bucks) on the Web in recent years have gone into the mobile content business—selling things like ringtones and wallpaper for cell phones. This is a potentially very lucrative market, and one that also has potential for musicians and other artists looking for a way to distribute their creations while making some money. However, setting up a functional online store that’s compelling enough for visitors to return again and again can be a challenge.
 
This week I received a phone call from a representative at Phone Sherpa, a Seattle-based company (founded in 2005) that describes itself as “the world's leading ringtone maker and ringtone store service.” The rep wanted me to know about a new Phone Sherpa’s new Mobile Store solution, which provides tools to market and promote music and art as ringtones or wallpaper for mobile phones.
Continue Reading...

Chinese Government Embraces RFID

March 13, 2007 1:03 PM | 1 Comment
Asia generally, and China in particular, tends to get a lot of play in wireless/mobile technology news, because often the latest, coolest products originate from there. Usually, in this context, China is discussed regarding cell phones. But there are other wireless technologies out there for which the Chinese market is of interest.
 
Take radio frequency ID (RFID), for example. In a recent report, RNCOS (an India-based research and consultancy firm) examined the outlook for RFID in China, including government policies.
Continue Reading...
The phrase, “build it and they will come” has been used to justify the creation of everything from shopping malls to communications services. Yet, if a new report from consultancy Arthur D. Little is correct, many telecom companies are unwilling or unable to go out on a perhaps not-so-thin limb when it comes to mobile information-sharing services that fall under the “Web 2.0” umbrella.
 
Arthur D. Little analyst Martyn Roetter said in the report that Web 2.0 services—which enable the creation and distribution of content instantaneously and globally in a way not previously imagined—are a key driver of today’s Internet growth, yet telcos are not jumping on board.
 
“In order to harness and monetize Web 2.0 the Telcos will have to rapidly address the needs of this community,” Roetter said in the report.
 
Roetter included this example of why telcos should be capitalizing on Web 2.0: “Younger Europeans are already showing their readiness to interact on the move, with 38 percent of them accessing e-mail from mobile devices, while Google launched Gmail for mobile in November last year.
Continue Reading...
It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, at least for manufacturers of portable navigation devices. Skating on razor-thin margins for devices priced as low as $200, these manufacturers face some tough challenges.
 
So what’s a navigation device manufacturer to do? One word: differentiate, differentiate, differentiate. Okay, that’s three words, but you get the point.
 
In particular, a new report from ABI Research says, these manufacturers are seeking to differentiate their higher-end, pricier products.
 
“In the near future, high-end navigation products will need increased capabilities from the hardware, better connectivity, more varied data, and more powerful functions,” ABI predicts.

Here’s another word for you: nontraditional.
Continue Reading...
Here’s something for all you mobile shutterbugs out there: Exclaim, a provider of wireless and Web applications, recently launched version 6.0 of its Pictavision photo- sharing software for mobile phones.
 
With Pictavision, users can transform any mobile phone that’s enabled with BREW, Java or SYMBIAN into a tool for sharing and finding video and photos through a variety of media Web sites including KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery, dotPhoto, Flickr, Adobe Photoshop Showcase, and SmugMug.
 
Pictavision’s interface is designed to make this sharing quick and easy. Among its features are:
  • Text and voice tagging
  • Background upload of photos and videos
  • Multi-lingual support (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese)
  • Integrated MMS
“Pictavision lets you take a photo, add a voice caption, send it as a greeting, and save it online in just four clicks, making it the easiest way to take, save and share photos and videos from a camera phone,” the product’s Web site says.
 
Pictavision is provided on a subscription basis, with plans starting at $3.99.
Continue Reading...
1 2 Next

Recent Comments

  • sex shop: he MS fanboys need to step back and realise that read more
  • Georg: Fantastic or Foolhardy - or both at the same time? read more
  • Mirko: As you already mentioned: some methods are more practical than read more
  • Anniversary gift: Based on your article, it seems that the only significant read more
  • oil portraits: I also noticed the same trend here in our place. read more
  • G. Aasen: Interesting indeed. Let's hope they are more successful in Japan read more
  • Bahamut: If earthlink is going into difficulty, it will certainly affect read more
  • Free Flash Clock: Earthlink restructuring will definitely affect the wifi market. But wifi read more
  • Polin Armsley: niceSecond, the amount Li is suing Apple for seems rather read more
  • www.r10.net küresel seo yarismasi: obviously still no iPhone nano around, but plenty of iPods. read more

Around TMCnet Blogs

Latest Whitepapers

TMCnet Videos