Guesswork

Predictions

A while back a couple who are friends of my wife moved into a house a couple of blocks away from us. They’re upstanding salt-of-the-earth type folks, with a dog and a toddler and a safe sensible car to keep the whole family package safe in inclement weather. Anyone would be happy to […]

I should have known it was too good to be true. Last week, Engadget and a few dozen other blogs reported that a Colorado man had had his thumbs surgically altered to make himself a better iPhone user. According to the story, he’d had the tips of his thumbbones cut off and then had […]

A couple days ago I read about a study which found that young people don’t like email much, preferring to use text messaging or social sites like Facebook to communicate with their peers. Email, only yesterday the stuff of Jetsonian fantasy, is now perceived as an antiquated technology suitable only for corresponding with elderly […]

The iPhone is finally on the street, and even though it didn’t turn up riding on a cloud with an honour guard of trumpet-blowing cherubs, it still got more hype than any chunk of plastic and silicon, however sleek and sexy, should reasonably expect. Still, even if it’s not a category killer like the iPod […]

Apple today reported the sale of their 100 millionth iPod, which, while not putting them in McDonald’s hamburger territory, is still pretty impressive for a device that’s only been around for 5 1/2 years.
In that time, they’ve been able to conquer 75% or more of the digital music marketplace in the face of competition […]

“Say, have you lost weight?”. That’s what your colleagues at head office will be saying when you use this bad boy instead of flying in for the big meeting. A company called HeadThere has for some reason created the “Giraffe Video Conferencing Robot”, a mobile 5 foot 8 inch videoconferencing […]

Gadget of the week - finally, a smoke alarm that hooks up to a cell phone so that when it smells smoke it can make a tearful farewell call to its owners. Unfortunately, right now it’s sold only in Japan (where people are used to getting dinner date disrupting calls from their appliances) so even […]

I wonder if it’s occurring to anyone in the mobile programming field right about now that the combination of 2.5 inch video screens and an aging population might not be a match made in Heaven. I came across two articles today which said basically the same thing - mobile video, at least in North […]

Everyone knows by now that Steve Jobs rolled out the long awaited Apple iPhone at CES yesterday, and after watching his intro I have to say it really is pretty damn cool. Simple but brilliant scrolling, all the menus touch driven, video in widescreen, phone features that make it easier to use than […]

Last week there was a column in Wired online about a company called BowChica Mobile which offers porn-related ringtones in the UK and who were planning to introduce their product into the American market. The tones are pretty tame; mostly just porn-style music and a couple with very slightly risqué dialogue (“Who said […]

Remember when you spent $400 on a mobile phone and were all pissed off a year later because it looked like a technological dinosaur and didn’t have any of the features you wanted? Well, now you can drop a cool US$310,000 for the same experience. What you get for your money […]

Convergence is finally here, and physical location has officially become irrelevant. Home is no longer where the heart is, but wherever your and your portable communications gear are plugged in. Whether this is the greatest thing since cinnamon toast or a confusing nuisance depends on your point of view and is beside the point anyway. […]

APreports that the United States is looking to strike a devastating economic blow against nuclear armed North Korea by inposing sanctions prohibiting the export of iPods, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Rolex watches, and other high end items that no one there can afford.
The move is aimed at tiny attention-starved dictator Kim Jong-il, who apparently loves his bling. […]

There’s more detail coming out about Apple’s “better late than never” foray into the overcrowded mobile phone market. According to vnunet.com, Apple will be releasing two models in early 2007, and expects to ship 4.2 million phones in the first quarter. Sources indicate that one of the models will be the iPhone Shuffle, a match-book […]

Quite literally bringing a new dimension to the term “home theatre”, Robert Redford has announced plans to make independent short films available to a global audience via mobile phone. Redford’s Sundance Institute is working with the GSM Association, a trade organization that represents over 700 service providers around the world, to release 5 short films […]

Apple may be about to debase the pristine simplicity of the iPod. Based on a patent filed with the US Patent Office earlier this year, it looks as though an “iPhone” mobile phone handset will be launched in the near future. According to Dow Jones Newswires, a patent for a “multi-functional handheld device” […]

The iPod today celebrates its’ fifth year of making the world a little deafer, and how many other consumer electronics products have ever scored world-wide press coverage just for having a birthday? If you said none, you’re an astute observer of modern media. Even the Sony Walkman, the granddaddy of portable personal music, doesn’t rate […]

From The Hindu -
Chinese phone maker Yulong is eyeing the Indian mobile phone market and will hold talks with leading service providers, including…Tatas, to gain a foothold in the burgeoning market.
Come on, that’s funny and you know it.

With the American population already embarrassingly obese, McDonalds is exploring new ways to keep young people chowing down on burgers and fries . Reuters reports that
McDonald’s has begun testing an in-store digital media service called m-Venue, offering music and video content from Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and others.
The service, announced September 25, […]