breadcrumbs

The Near Future from Vodafone

The European mobile phone company Vodafone has created an amazing future products site. Not only does it demonstrate nearly here technologies, but the Flash experience itself is terrific. Well worth a visit. I'm a sucker for electronic paper and bendable displays, so I was sucked right into the scenarios.

The Undersea World of Tuna Fish Sandwiches

If Jacques Cousteau had invented the lunch bag instead of the aqualung this is what it would have looked like. From the company that brought us
wine hipwaders comes a neoprene lunch tote that doubles as a placemat and is as hip as an iPod skin. Plus, if your kid just wants to crash at lunch, I bet it makes a dandy pillow.

Photo Blogging the RNC

It's great to see sites like moport.org and nornc where RNC protesters can share cellphone pics of the convention protests. This convention will be seen as a watershed for this kind of wireless protest. Exciting to watch it happen live. Much better than the Olympics closing ceremonies.

Listening in on RNC Protester Texting

I've joined a couple of Republican National Convention (RNC) text message groups available over at txtmob. The groups have been set up by protesters at the RNC in New York to keep track of police and security activity and report on changing protest plans. All the reports are sent via text messaging to protestors' cellphones. As I mentioned in Lobbing Text at a Mob, txtmob makes it easy for groups, like the RNC protesters (and voyeurs like me) to sign up for groups that automatically receive text messages meant for that group. The big news last night was an apparent incident with police at the Penn State subway station during which there were some injuries due to a broken plate glass. It's not clear if the reports are true, but it is fascinating to listen in as this new tool is field tested.

Hair Brained Cellphone Fun

DM Europe is reporting the vital uses girls in the UK are putting their cellphones to. Acccording to the piece:

20 per cent of mobile users send snaps of themselves in new outfits to friends to see if they like them. Another 18 per cent take pictures of shoes or clothes on display for the same reason. Five per cent take pictures of snappy dressers that they see on the high street to copy their style. Interestingly, 15 per cent frequently pull out their camera-phones to photograph the sides and backs of their hair, while ten per cent use their camera-phones as a mirror to check their make-up. Four per cent even resort to getting the phone out in the middle of a restaurant after dinner - to check their teeth. More than 20 per cent use their phone to capture details of a new property, and 15 per cent send pictures of new furnishings to partners to get their opinions.

Willlam Gibson was right, the street finds its own use for technology.

Canadians Slow on the Wired Uptake

A study called Report Card on Canadian Media offers some fascinating insights into Canadian's online new viewing habits. For example, according to the study, which did a phone survey of about 3000 representative Canadians:

55% of Canadians never go to the Internet for news

Another 12% rarely go to the Internet for a total of 67% of Canadians who rarely or never use the Internet for news

Of the 33% who do use the Internet for news — many use the websites of mainstream media

Canadians show a strong preference for 'brand name' Internet news providers as do Americans, and next we'll tell you which ones

Groups who are most likely to use the Internet for news everyday are Canadians under 35 with a university education and incomes over $75,000

Francophones are considerably less likely to use the Internet for news—more than 75% never go online for news

American use of the Internet for news is on an upward trend. The percentage who use the Internet for news three or more days a week is up from 23% in 2000 to 29% in 2004

So, while Canadians are among the most wired people on earth, we still haven't gotten the online news bug. That could make you think newspapers, radio and television have nothing to worry about. But, this is a case where it's important to look at the trend, not the snapshot. While we may be a tad slow on the uptake, it's pretty clear where the pattern leads, as young people age, the percentage that go online for news first will increase. Any traditional media outlet that ignores that, and rests on its laurels is missing the point.

My Table, My Keyboard

The virtual keyboard has finally hit the market in the UK. I've been watching this device for a couple of years now (at first it was just a taunting rumour on a Palm message board), and it's great to see it's actually real. The lipstick sized gizmo (it can also be built into cellphones and PDAs) projects a keyboard on a flat surface. Sensors detect finger positions as your fingers break the beam and send the correct character to your portable communications tool. This invention could unleash the real potential of cellphones as note taking and email composition will become much easier while the cellphone form factor doesn't have to increase.

Square Pegging the Future

I've been asked to do a short talk to first year journalism students at Mohawk College about the future of journalism. The students are arriving at the craft at a fascinating time. Big Media is trying to square peg emerging media into a traditional media culture with all the finesse of a shot putter doing microsurgery. Meanwhile, many of these students find texting as easy as breathing. Will they be able to teach their future employers a thing or two. I hope I can encourage them to do just that.

Post in Motion

I'm posting this entry on my Powerbook from a GO bus heading into Toronto. I'm connected to the Web via a wireless Bluetooth link to my Fido cellphone which is hitting the Fido GPRS network. It's working just fine, which is astonishing since the signal is being handed off to cell node after cell node. I grabbed the picture (it's of the Ford plant in Oakville) via my cell, transferred it to the computer via Bluetooth and uploaded it. Good dog, Fido, good dog.

Olympic Ad Headlines I'd Like to See

Little Blue Cow Tests Positive for BSE
Camera Car Driver Dies After Hitting Olive Oil Slick
Man Checks Games Text Message, Gets Javelin Through Chest
Coffee Waitress Scalds Customer, Stuffs Note Down Throat
Tim Mug Jeff Actually Meets Someone From Another Country
Couple Watches Olympics on Ordinary TV, Diver Suffers Concussion
Pantyhose Woman Kills Self, Board
"Toffee" Admits His Real Name is Schlomo
Joe Sent Home From Athens for Serving Big Mac That Tests Positive for Little Blue Cow