Mobile Inc » Mobile Innovation

Google Goggles Solves Sudoku Puzzles Via Your Phones Camera

Murat — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:59:35 +0000

It was only a few weeks ago when the tech world was going crazy over Word Lens, the iPhone app which instantly translates words into other languages…whilst you are looking at them through your phones camera.

If that wasn’t a huge step forward for mobile devices, Google has just updated its Goggles image recognition software so it can now solve Sudoku puzzles.

It could already recognise landmarks, cans of coke etc and provide you information back via Google search but this is a new level of genius. Yes it does suck the fun out of Sudoku but this is purely a flex of Google’s muscle, at the same time showing how fast mobile phones are developing .

I honestly think it will be 3/4 years until this stuff is built into your Android camera without the need for the separate app (especially with ad-funded handsets on the horizon).

Check out the video below:

Apple Patents Heartbeat Sensors That Unlock The iPhone

Murat — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:33:52 +0000

Woah how about this then, PSFK reveals that Apple have filed a patent which uses special heartbeat sensors for the iPhone.

It states that the technology could measure the unique signal of the users heartbeat to unlock the handset. The pulse would be measured via the touchscreen, detecting the patterns and matching it to a pre-recored hearbeat in the phone’s memory.

This functionality could be available to developers to create pretty amazing applications off the back of it, such as financial institutions using it for authentication.

Nice.

Phone Halo | The Brilliant Wireless Key Chain

Murat — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:57:02 +0000

There are few things certain in life – death, taxes… and me locking myself out once a month. Finally it seems like technology is about to save me hundreds of pounds in carpenter fees because I seem to prefer drop kicking my front door to travelling across London to get the spare key from my mum.

Phone Halo is an smartphone app and fob which inegrates a speaker, GPS and bluetooth radio to help locate your keys or whatever else you choose to attach it too. When communication with the fob is activated, it will sound an alarm when the phone and the fob exceed a defined proximity from each other.

If the fob goes out of Bluetooth range from the phone, the user can start using the app to track it via Google Maps. Oh and it can also post to Twitter to let others know that your keys are moving speedily on a bus/train somewhere and you’ll be breaking your back window later that evening.

Phone Halo works on Blackberry and Android. Click here to buy ($60).

[Via Mobile Behaviour]

3D Goes Mobile | Sharp To Launch Advanced Handset Displays This Year

Murat — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 14:44:36 +0000

It’s hard not to notice how 3D tech has gone mainstream since the blockbuster Avatar raked in over a billion dollars, seems like every other movie trailer is for something filmed in 3D and super duper TVs are popping up all over the place which can recreate that experience in your front room.

Now Sharp are placing bets that consumers will also want that experience in their pockets, announcing that they will be making advanced 3D displays for phones this year that don’t require special viewing glasses.

Reuters also reports that Nintendo have announced that they plan to make a 3D version of the DS handheld device.

I can’t wait to see how this gets utilised for user interfaces and applications, although I’m still trying to get my head around how 3D works without glasses. The diagram below almost helped:

Have to mention this – when searching for how these 3D screens worked, I came across this 2 frame GIF which creates the same sort of effect. Crazy.

[Via IntoMobile]

New Service Allows Consumers To Withdraw Money From ATMs And Charge It To Their Phone Bill

Murat — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:53:30 +0000

There I was thinking that Paypal Bump was one of the most innovative mobile payment solutions I’d seen in a while, then I find out it has been completely dwarfed by…SMS.

A company called Sicap has developed the technology which allows consumers to withdraw money out of an ATM using SMS and have the balance added to their monthly phone bill.

Whenever you need cash, you text in the amount you want and receive a one-time code that is input into the ATM. Once it’s verified you get your cash there and then. You don’t even need a bank account! The money is then billed to your statement.

Another brilliant feature is that you can forward codes to friends or family that are stuck somewhere without cash.

The only downside is that you need specially designed ATMs, which means new hardware purchases and installation, rather than a software upgrade which would be cheaper.

However, there is a massive opportunity for banks to offer this service and charge it to your normal bank account. I hardly ever forget my phone but always seem to leave my debit card behind. If I could make a simple call or text for some money then it’s something worth changing banks to have.

Banks wouldn’t need to install new hardware either, just simply update their current ATM software. Makes you wonder why you can’t do this already.

There’s a big opportunity here.

[Via Mobile Marketing Watch]

The Future Of Mobile – Timeline From The Year 1906 To 2020

Murat — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:36:54 +0000

Interesting viewing if you want to see what some of the technology and issues of mobile will be in the future.

I’m not sure about the prediction of mobile payments ‘becoming a mass phenomenon’ by 2015, that seems a bit soon for widespread adoption. It would mean the big players (Apple, RIM, Nokia, SE) releasing NFC phones by around 2012/2013 so the technology has time to marinate with consumers and allow all stores to set up infrastructure and POS by 2015. Just don’t see that happening.

Check out the MOCOM2020 site for more info.

The LG Watchphone Soon To Be Available On Orange

Murat — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:44:50 +0000

Over the next 18 months Orange will be launching a range of ‘future phones’ which showcase new innovation in technology. The first up is the LG touch screen watch phone.

It features 3G, video calling, a touchscreen and the ability to compose text messages by only viewing one word at a time on the tiny screen.

The limited edition phone will go on sale from 9:00am on the 27th August in the Orange Shop, Bond Street Station, London at the hefty price tag of £500.

Check out the video below for a preview.

One You May Have Missed – The LG Breathalyzer Phone

Murat — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:55:55 +0000

In 2005 LG Launched the LP-4100 Sobriety phone (Korea only), the main selling point being that it had a in-built breathalyzer.

All owners needed to do was blow on the sensor for the reading to appear on the display. If you are over the limit the display shows a car hitting some cones.

But here is where it really gets cool. The LP4100 also allows you to set up the phone so on certain nights and after a certain time it will restrict you from calling certain people in your phone book. Yes that’s right, it has a ex girlfriend/boyfriend druken call preventor.

This is a bit old but I remembered it when I was posting about the Shaver Phone. This phone would be even better if it gave you the numbers of the nearest taxi company and directions to a kebab shop.

Soocial – Never Create A "I've Lost My Phone" Facebook Group Ever Again

Murat — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:51:15 +0000

You know the drill, you wake up Sunday morning in a daze, scratch your head and fumble around for your mobile to check the time, you search your jeans, your jacket and then eventually realise – it’s gone.

The next steps go something like this – Call network, pick new phone, start Facebook group, send and digg out emails/business cards and end up with maybe 10-30% less contacts than before.

I think most people can agree that the contacts are possibly the most valuable thing on the phone. I remember the story of one of my friends being robbed for his phone and asked to at least keep the Sim card with all the contacts on, the thieves took pity obviously knowing the pain of a lost phonebook and handed back the Sim before running off with the handset.

Soocial is here to ease the pain. It works by allowing you to store all your contacts to the service using over the air synchronisation i.e – no cables. The data then goes onto the site allowing you to search, edit, delete and add contacts all for free.

It supports over 400 phones with no additional software, just simple sync settings either automatically installed via SMS or input manually. You can sync Gmail,Mac, Outlook and in the future, Blackberry.

A couple of weeks ago I wiped my phone my accident, all I had to do was input the Soocial sync settings and everything was back on my phone again within seconds.

What’s more interesting is that Soocial have built an API to allow others to create cool applications using contact synchronisation. An example is My Name Is E, which hopes to achieve the holy grail of replacing paper business cards using mobile phones.

I think something like this should be spread virally across Facebook. The amount of group requests I get a month for from friends requesting numbers after losing their phone is insane. Definitely a campaign in there somewhere.

Soocial is about to launch a new version with exciting new features, check it out.