Miniature mobile that can fit in your tooth (Back to News Reports)

Soon you could be swapping your mobile phone for a molar phone. Royal College of Art students in London have developed a phone that fits inside a tooth. The concept device picks up signals with a radio receiver and uses a tiny vibrating plate to convey them as sound along the jawbone to a person's ear. The designers said the mini-molar phone could be implanted in a tooth during routine dental surgery.

The prototype phone is the work of graduates James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau and forms part of the Royal College of Art's annual summer exhibition. Known as The Show, this exhibition shows off the best ideas of the current crop of RCA designers and students.

Currently, the tooth phone is only a mock-up and lacks the communications chip to actually turn it into a functioning device.

Mr Auger said the technology to turn it into a working device already existed and it would be a simple matter to build the relevant chips into the gadget.

The designers speculate that, if the tooth phone becomes a working device, it could be used by stock traders to receive up-to-the-moment information about share prices or to help football managers communicate quickly with players during key matches.

However, the existing design is only supposed to help stimulate debate about future wearable computing devices and to help explore the social and cultural ramifications of in-body technology.

The tooth phone is on show at the Science Museum in London from the 21 June to November.

Development of the device was funded by the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts as part of a collaboration between the Science Museum and the Royal College of Art.

SOURCE BBC News Back to News Reports

Nokia shipping the 7650 imaging phone (Back to News Reports)

Nokia today announced deliveries of its first imaging phone in Finland. Incorporating a digital camera, Multimedia Messaging (MMS) capability and a full-color display, the Nokia 7650 phone opens up a new era in personal mobile communications.

“Mobile messaging is a unique success story: at the moment, one billion text messages are sent every day creating a continuous revenue stream for operators throughout the world. This success story is to be continued by Multimedia Messaging Service, which will further augment the messaging experience of mobile users,” said Juha Putkiranta, Senior Vice President, Imaging Business Unit, Nokia Mobile Phones. “Nokia is a firm believer in MMS, and already next year, more than half of all new phone models we will launch will be MMS-capable.”

MMS works much the same way as SMS messages, but allows users to combine audio-, graphic-, text- and imaging content in one message. Multimedia messages can then be sent to other MMS capable phones or to a recipient’s email. To date, Nokia has announced six MMS-capable phones: the Nokia 7650 and Nokia 3510 for GSM 900/1800 operating frequencies, the Nokia 7210 and Nokia 6610 for GSM 900/1800/1900, the Nokia 6590 and Nokia 3590 for GSM 850/1900.

“Taking pictures is a tremendously social event. We believe the Nokia 7650 will bring a lot of joy to a variety of mobile phone users, making it possible to convey feelings and important moments in a simple manner,” said Mats Wolontis, General Manager, Nokia Mobile Phones, Finland. “Together with operators and distributors, we also see the Nokia 7650 becoming a powerful platform for business users in our country, providing them with all the vital functionalities they need, from email to fast data connections and information synchronization.”

The imaging functionalities of the Nokia 7650 include an integrated digital camera with a VGA resolution, image taking and sending, a photo album for storing pictures, and a large 176x208 pixel color display. The advanced graphical user interface and joystick with 5-way navigation add ease and speed to the use of this new device.

The Nokia 7650 also delivers a full range of functions for professional needs in the EGSM900/1800 environment. These include GPRS and HSCSD connections, WAP, wireless Bluetooth and infrared connectivity, email and MIDP JavaÔ support. The handsfree speaker and voice dialing capability increase convenience on the move. The Symbian Operating System (OS) allows the phone to be customized by individual users and corporations.

SOURCE Nokia Press Release Back to News Reports

Wooden solution to mobile chatter (Back to News Reports)

A team of Japanese engineers have come up with a way of blocking mobile phone signals using wood panels containing magnetic material.

The panels would be useful in cinemas, theatres, or anywhere where ringing mobile phones cause exasperation.

They work by sandwiching a layer of nickel-zinc ferrite between thin slices of wood, New Scientist magazine reports.

The magnetic ferrite absorbs much of the energy of the radio signal, cutting the phone dead in most cases.

Hideo Oka and his colleagues at Iwata University in Morioka, Japan, tested the composite panels by placing them over antennas used to transmit radio signals at frequencies typical for GSM mobiles, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi computer networks. He chose wood as a natural material which could be used for furnishing. Tests showed a four-millimetre sandwich of wood and ferrite stopped 97% of the power of a test microwave signal.

Mr Oka hopes the shielding panels will eventually be sold in hardware stores. They could be used to build doors, walls and rooms in which it would be impossible to carry out a mobile phone conversation. They might also be useful to shield wireless computer networks from each other.

Mr Oka wants to make the panels cheaply and cut their cost even further by using recycled materials, he told New Scientist.

SOURCE BBC News Back to News Reports

Book a Taxi through your cell phone (Back to News Reports)

Singapore 24 June 2002 - Gone are the days when a cab commuter needs to spell out his location to the operator for a cab. From today, any commuter will be able to have his location detected automatically via his SingTel’s mobile phone and a Comfort cab will be on the way to a pick-up point nearby his spot. Known as the *SEND-A-TAXI service, this intelligent location-tracking booking service is Comfort's latest alternative automated booking modes to meet the high demand of taxi bookings.

The *SEND-A-TAXI service is an easy three-step booking process for any SingTel Mobile subscriber. The commuter first dials *654 via the mobile phone. A list of taxi stands or landmarks near to the user's location will then be transmitted to him via the Short Messaging Service (SMS). The user selects the pick-up point from the list and confirms his booking by pressing ‘1’.

Upon the user's confirmation, his location data will be transmitted to the Comfort CabLink despatch system via SingTel Mobile's network. CabLink then deploys a taxi to the location selected. The taxi number and the estimated time of arrival will be transmitted via SMS to the user's mobile phone. SingTel Mobile charges 20 cents per *SEND-A-TAXI request, and another 30 cents for a confirmed booking. The taxi booking fee is $3.20. Any mobile phone can be used to book a Comfort taxi through the *SEND service as long as the commuter is a SingTel Mobile subscriber.

"It's great both big players like Comfort and SingTel have come up with an instantaneous booking service for a frequent cab user like me. I'm just impressed how the system could so quickly detect my whereabouts simply be dialling *654. I just need to confirm a cab at a location that is convenient for me. All these within a few minutes! And it is so easy to get through the line during peak hours or on rainy days. In the past, I used to hog my mobile phone either spelling out where I am or waiting on the line for my taxi number. This service definitely cuts down my hand phone bills," said Mr Benjamin Lim Joo Chiao, a SingTel subscriber who tried the service for the past week during the service trial.

Currently, Comfort has various automated modes like Auto Call, Taxi Order Terminal, PC Dial, WAP/ CELL and Fast Call as alternatives to operator-assisted calls to cater to the huge volume in taxi bookings. Automated bookings have become increasingly popular, with the number of automated taxi bookings increasing by 30% compared to three years ago. Close to 70,000 bookings are made through the automated means every month.

SOURCE SingTel Press Release Back to News Reports

mmO2 takes lead on pricing for 3G services in Europe (Back to News Reports)

mmO2 has struck another first in the development of higher speed mobile data services in Europe with publication today of trial prices for its third generation (3G) service on the Isle of Man.

Today's announcement follows the successful launch of Europe's first live, working 3G network at the end of last year by Manx Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of mmO2. The company has successfully tested 3G handsets and devices, a range of applications, content and connectivity with customers, and now - with introduction of an initial pricing structure - seeks to gain invaluable feedback on elasticity of demand against price. The results will be shared in detail throughout all mmO2's in-country operations.

Four tariffs have been developed aimed at corporations, small and medium-sized companies, consumers and heavy users of the Internet. Charges, which are subject to change as the trial progresses, are based on a monthly subscription and free data allowance. If this allowance is exceeded, customers are informed and an additional charge will be levied.

Typically, a residential customer wishing to surf the Web, download music, play games, send and retrieve multimedia emails from a 3G handset or device will be charged around £1.40 per day, or £44 per month. Business customers can expect to pay just over £80 per month and small and medium companies between £60 and £70. Those customers who only access Manx Telecom's 3G WAP Portal, called Prontonet, are likely to spend around £9 per month.

SOURCE mmO2 Press Release Back to News Reports

UK population not interested in 3G (Back to News Reports)

Almost half of all UK mobile phone users are unlikely to use their handsets for anything other than basic voice calls, according to a survey in the Financial Times.

The news came as mobile operators are meeting in Asia, trying to rouse demand for new mobile services under the next generation of mobile phones, 3G. It also comes as Japan's Sony and Sweden's Ericsson unveil a new set of phones with picture-messaging features.

Mobile operators paid billions for the privilege of building 3G networks that offer faster internet services, video clips and colour photos.

But faith in the future profitability of the telecoms market has since been seriously undermined over fears that consumers will not be prepared to pay for the latest services.

Those fears are deepened by the survey published today which suggests that four in ten people in the UK have no interest in the features that 3G can offer.

SOURCE Financial Times Back to News Reports