Thought Garage

Based on the dimensions that read 2.72”x1.69”x.8”, with a weight of only 71.9 grams, Pantech C3 is the World's smallest Camera Flip Phone,  comes up with more customization and rich multimedia features.   Pantech C3 Phone (Cingular) Pantech Wireless Inc. - the U.S.-based subsidiary of Pantech Group, Korea’s leading mobile phone manufacturer today announced the introduction of the Pantech C3, an enhanced version of the world’s smallest camera Flip Phone. Building on the success of the C300, the company has given the popular phone a stylish upgrade. Customers can now articulate their personal style by quickly customizing their world’s smallest camera flip phones with a variety of changeable color faceplates. Upon purchase, the C3 comes equipped with both Secret Blue and Silver frontages. Other colors and styles will be made available following the launch. This versatile handset is the perfect accessory for trendsetters that want their cell phone to more readily adju

Saw some startling figures of where you will end up if you go for a job with your education.  If you work throughout your life as per stats, this is where you end up. “The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing  includes a chart that lists expected lifetime earnings per education level. The chart lists various education level and what people at those education levels can expect to earn throughout their lives (according to the U.S. Census Bureau.) The results: Some high school, no diploma - $1,000,000 High school diploma or equivalent - $1,200,000 Some college, no degree - $1,500,000 Associate degree - $1,600,000 Bachelor’s degree - $2,100,000 Master’s degree - $2,500,000 Doctoral degree - $3,400,000 Professional degree - $4,400,000 Source: Career Intensity Blog - David V. Lorenzo Looks all true and encouraging and little tempated to think about getting an advanced degree. Suddenly I realized, seriously, isn't some thing else misssing? Another category? College drop ou

There are about 2.5 Billion REAL people have access to a cell phone world wide. And now 1.5 million virtual people can get a cell phone too. Second Life gets a virtual cell phone for its residents, totally free, thanks to YouNeverCall. YouNeverCall, the popular online cell phone store, (see: http://www.younevercall.com ) has ventured into a new dimension of cell phones - the virtual one. The resident-owned Second Life population can now get a virtual - and functional - cell phone, for free. "At YouNeverCall, we have decided to venture beyond our traditional customer base," states Sam Michelson, CEO of YouNeverCall, "and Second Life offers us more than a 1.5 million potential new customers. The virtual cell phones we are offering on Second Life are more than just a fun accessory. The cell phones let Second Life residents send and receive text messages, as well as hold the virtual phone to their ear. They ring like real cell phones and, best of all, require no special d

Every other week there will be a document review meeting, with document size ranging from 20 pages to 140 pages. Every reviewer prints the whole document and after 30-45 minutes in review, we all usually throw away the document. More over, when author revises the document, above process just repeats.  Many of us don't like to review the document online, as we all tend to prefer paper since we can mark, draw, underline, make a quick note etc. on paper, which is quite not possible online or not so intuitive. In the process we throw reams of printed paper to the trash and dry up toners pretty quick. Well, not for long. Xerox is developing erasable paper, that can be recycled and reused in a matter of 16 hours without throwing away. Quite ideal for the above scenario of reviews. Also if you print out confidential documents, you don't have to struggle with paper shredders to make information invisible. Information on erasable paper automatically disappear. Very interesting. The r

At its annual Capital Market Days event in Amsterdam, Nokia unveiled 4 new Mobile phones to the market. Read the Nokia News Release (PDF) here . Nokia 6300 - Clean styling, compact size The Nokia 6300 is a mid-range model that represents an evolution of the modern monoblock design.  Less than 13.1mm thin, the slim Nokia 6300 has a stainless steel frame that adds both design interest and strength. In addition to its organic curves and appealing design, the Nokia 6300 offers a robust range of easy-to-use features. The estimated retail price of the Nokia 6300 is 250 euros before subsidies or taxes. Nokia 6290 Smartphone - advanced technology made simple The Nokia 6290 smartphone combines the collective power of S60 3rd Edition and 3G in an easy-to-use, attractively designed package.  It supports a number of practical new features, multiple alarms and handy Quick Cover access keys which enable instant access to a wide range of the device's useful features, including an interactive w

As part of  New Scientist 's 50 th anniversary celebrations, it asked over 70 of the world's most brilliant scientists for their predictions for the next 50 years. Here are the topics of the predictions for future. Life : Ageing , alien life , consciousness , ecology , embryology , environment , evolution , genetics , health , humans , language , neuroscience , oceans , psychology , sex and social science . Space and technology : Artificial intelligence , communications , computing , cosmology , space and technology . Physical sciences : Chemistry , energy , materials , maths and physics . Source: Brilliant Minds on the Next 50 Years: Instant Expert - science-forecasts - 16 November 2006 - New Scientist Here is a prediction on Search Engines by Peter Norvig of Google, talking about the realization of semantic web: In 50 years the scene will be transformed. Instead of typing a few words into a search engine, people will discuss their needs with a digital intermediary

 ZDNet IT Facts has some interesting stats from Instat about the use of cell phones. More than 15% of people carry two wireless phones, In-Stat says. 80% of the people that have a camera phone say they regularly carry their digital camera, 75% of SmartPhone users also carry a PDA, and more than 50% of users of multimedia phones also carry their MP3 player. Only 43% of the respondents to an In-Stat survey stated that higher productivity would be obtained with a SmartPhone. Source: » More than 15% of people carry two wireless phones | IT Facts | ZDNet.com [tags]cellular-life-style, mobile-applications, mobile-handsets, smartphones, instat, zdnet[/tags]

Recently I wrote a post trying to contemplate whether SMS Spam is real. Ferris Research indicated that "In 2005, about 500 million unwanted text messages reached subscribers. In 2006, that figure is expected to be 800 million." but analysts at Ferris Research considered it as nothing comparing with the volume of SMS messages sent. Read a report released by China Internet Society, explaining the worrysome scenario of SMS spamming in China. 8 spam messages a week is a lot. Chinese mobile phone users are being flooded with spam text messages, with 6.25 per cent of them receiving spam more than 40 times a week, according to a survey by the China Internet Society. The survey, released on Tuesday, shows that 35 per cent of all 4,721 users randomly questioned across the country receive five to 10 spam messages a week, while 15 per cent get 10 to 20. On average, each user receives at least eight spam messages a week, questionnaires show. Common junk messages include advertiseme

Usability does not mean pouring in too many options. But providing the minimalistic set to achieve full functionality.  While many say, you must have explicit options to do different things, I agree with Joel, that all we need is one button to put the computer to rest. Everything else is implicit and can be done by Windows without confusing users. Less is More, just like 37signals say. Every time you want to leave your computer, you have to choose between nine, count them, nine options: two icons and seven menu items. The two icons, I think, are shortcuts to menu items. I'm guessing the lock icon does the same thing as the lock menu item, but I'm not sure which menu item the on/off icon corresponds to. On many laptops, there are also four FN+Key combinations to power off, hibernate, sleep, etc. That brings us up to 13 choices, and, oh, yeah, there's an on-off button, 14, and you can close the lid, 15. A total of fifteen different ways to shut down a laptop that you're

Under The Radar  reports about a Mobile Payment application that will let users buy just any thing using their mobiles. Unlike other solutions, no valuable information stored on the mobile. So nothing to worry if your mobile is lost or stolen. PayWi is a nifty little application that lets you make all kinds of purchases and financial transactions from your mobile phone. Not just to buy mobile services and applications, but any kind of retail or online purchase. And it’s not just limited to purchases. Users can make other financial transactions, like allocating funds, all through their phone. The transactions are secure and link users directly to credit and bank accounts, allowing real-time monitoring of transactions. Since no personal information regarding the transfer lives on the phone, a lost cell phone isn’t an instant calamity. The list of benefits to the user is a long one. Users can make retail purchases without ever showing a credit or debit card. They can monitor and sh

Read recently about growth in online Ad Revenues here . However, the following conclusion from the post about decline in older media budgets doesn't make sense to me. Some of the growth is a reallocation of increased spending, but some of it is pure decline in older media, with broadcast, television, radio, and newspaper struggling in recent years. That is a trend that looks set to accelerate over the next twelve months, which will be financially painful indeed for such industries. It is pretty clear that online Ad revenues are growing. But are they really making any dent in the traditional ads? I don't think so. From the graphs below, I do not see any decline in Traditional ad revenues. I sure see an increase in overall Ad spending. Online Ads are still about 2% of total Ad Revenues. And while it may continue to grow, what we might see is an overall increase in ad spending rather than a decline in traditional media revenues. Because, the sales gained per each $ spent on o

Associated Press reports new security Features introduced in P903i Cell phone available from NTT DoCoMo in Japan. The security is quite essential to this phone model, since this also can act as credit card or a prepaid cash card. Along with supporting 4 character password, the new phone also features the following. The cell phone automatically locks up when you move away a certain distance from the phone. Supports Facial Recognition, by which it does not allow anybody else but you to access your cell phone. And If you loose the mobile, you can track it  using GPS. Read more about how it works here . [tags]mobile-handsets, mobile-security, NTTDoCoMo, Japan[/tags]

Well, before reading how to, why should one erase data on a cell phone? Quick answer, when you are giving away your cell phone to some one dear or donating to a charity mission or throwing away completely. If you remove all contacts and messages and any other data on your cell phone using regular interface using which you added them in the first place, that data is not completely removed from the cellphone. Trust Digital, a McLean, Va. security firm explains, "The file system on your cell phone or PDA is just like the one on your PC's hard drive. If you delete a file, you're not really overwriting the data. All it's doing is changing the index of the file system, or the file's pointers."  A few months back, Trust Digital reported that most used cell phones and PDAs contain personal information that their former owners neglected to adequately delete,  Trust Digital examined a small sample of used phones and personal data assistants purchased from sellers

Every electronic device small or big comes up with another accessory, a charger. And, Unfortunately every charger is different and you cannot use one for the other. Is the scene at your home different than what is shown in this picture? (image from BBC News Report ) Most likely, at home, you would have atleast 5 chargers always plugged in, waiting to be connected to respective devices every night. When you are travelling, this poses a problem of serious inconvenience too. Not to mention the clumsy wires all around. Only a few aiports have  charging kiosks. So, wherever you go, you must carry them all along. Not so convenient. But Is there a viable alternative in the market?  Well, a Yes and a No. Precisely, not YET.    For a detailed discussion Read the complete article at The Cellular Life Style . Technorati tags: MIT , SplashPower , NASA , Wireless Energy Transfer , Cellularlifestyle , Mobile Devices

Every electronic device small or big comes up with another accessory, a charger. And, Unfortunately every charger is different and you cannot use one for the other. Is the scene at your home different than what is shown in this picture? (image from BBC News Report ) Most likely, at home, you would have atleast 5 chargers always plugged in, waiting to be connected to respective devices every night. When you are travelling, this poses a problem of serious inconvenience too. Not to mention the clumsy wires all around. Only a few aiports have  charging kiosks. So, wherever you go, you must carry them all along. Not so convenient. But Is there a viable alternative in the market?  Well, a Yes and a No. Precisely, not YET.    If we can wirelessly transmit power to these devices, we can get rid of the hassle of chargers. Learned that There was lot of research going on to transmit power wirelessly. Not to powerup your cellphones and other devices, but to power up areas which can not be wired

 Specially themed Mobile Phones  for Kids from FireFly will be available mid-november. Firefly Mobile, the designer, developer and manufacturer of Fireflyâ„¢, the industry’s first Mobile Phone for Mobile Kidsâ„¢, proudly announces a licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, to unveil a new line of kid’s mobile phones featuring imagery of such world-renowned characters as Tweety and DC Comics’ Superman and Supergirl. SuperMan Phone Tweety Supergirl Visit http://www.fireflymobile.com/ for more. [tags]firefly, mobile-handsets, mobile-life-style, mobile-operators, mobile-markets[/tags]

Orb Networks recently released their free MyCasting service, that allow you to watch videos from Youtube, Google, Daily Motion etc on your Mobile or PDA or any device that has a browser and media player.  Orb MyCasting makes it possible for people to organize, enjoy and share their videos, music, photos, TV, documents and other digital media when (time) and where (place) they want it, using the devices – be it a mobile phone, PDA or laptop – that they already own. Source: RELEASE: Orb Networks takes YouTube, other sites, mobile with Orb MyCasting - FierceWireless I was quite thrilled to know about the service. The service optimizes the content for your mobile for better experience and data transfer. But the architecture of the whole service is quite baffling. I didn't quite understand why? For the service to work, you must have an 'Always On' PC at home. It must be always ON and connected to internet. Infact, your PC will act as your broadcasting station, in other

How frequently do you use Camera on your cell phone? Except on planned trips and vacations, I use my cellphone to take pictures. Here is a stat on how frequently a picture is taken using mobile phone.   Taking Pictures With Your Camera Phone Source: MMA Global - Taking Pictures With Your Camera Phone [tags]mobile-applications, camera, mobile-life-style[/tags]

How frequently do you use Camera on your cell phone? Except on planned trips and vacations, I use my cellphone to take pictures. Here is a stat on how frequently a picture is taken using mobile phone.   Taking Pictures With Your Camera Phone Source: MMA Global - Taking Pictures With Your Camera Phone

If you have ever voted on American Idol or any such show, you must have already used Short Codes. Wiki explains : Short codes , also known short numbers or Common Short Codes (CSC) are special telephone numbers, significantly shorter than full telephone numbers, which can be used to address SMS and MMS messages from mobile telephones . They are designed to be shorter to read out and easier to remember than a normal length telephone number . While similar to telephone numbers, they are, at the technological level, unique to each operator, although providers generally have agreements to avoid overlaps. Short codes are widely used for value-added services such as television voting , ordering ringtones , charity donations and mobile services (such as Google's SMS search service and 82ASK ). Messages sent to short code numbers are generally billed at a higher rate than a standard SMS. StarStar is infact still a shorter version of SMS Short codes. Instead of opening up a SMS edi

Quite a bit of coincidence that in 2006 Global Mobile subscribers will reach 2.6B. The impressive growth is steadily backed up by Mobile reach out in countries like China and India. And it is expected that by 2010, Global mobile subscribers will reach 4B.  Another reason that could explain the frenzy in Mobile marketing and mobile applications. The number of mobile phone subscribers worldwide will rise to 2.6 billion this year and 4 billion by 2010, thanks to the development of ultra-low-cost handsets, market researcher iSuppli said. New subscribers in developing nations such as India and China are behind the rapid increase in mobile phone users, the researcher said, while the mobile industry has rallied to the cause with ultra-low-cost handsets. Source: Mobile subscribers to reach 2.6b this year—report [tags]mobile-applications, mobile-markets, cellular-life-style, report[/tags]

On December 31st, Nokia will welcome the New Year in unique style – by connecting millions of music lovers from around the world as they count down the final minutes of 2006. Nokia New Year’s Eve, a global music event stretching across four continents, will feature a number of international artists including The Black Eyed Peas and Scissor Sisters to entertain audiences at New Year’s celebrations from Hong Kong to Rio de Janeiro. Those unable to attend in person can experience the party via television or the internet. To orchestrate this unique global celebration, Nokia has enlisted the services of Harvey Goldsmith CBE, the producer of Live Aid and Live8. Nokia New Year’s Eve will travel from east to west, starting in Hong Kong’s Ocean Terminal, followed by Mumbai’s Andheri Stadium, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro and rounding off the night in New York. Visit http://www.nokianewyearseve.com  for more details or view the press release here

On December 31st, Nokia will welcome the New Year in unique style – by connecting millions of music lovers from around the world as they count down the final minutes of 2006. Nokia New Year’s Eve, a global music event stretching across four continents, will feature a number of international artists including The Black Eyed Peas and Scissor Sisters to entertain audiences at New Year’s celebrations from Hong Kong to Rio de Janeiro. Those unable to attend in person can experience the party via television or the internet. To orchestrate this unique global celebration, Nokia has enlisted the services of Harvey Goldsmith CBE, the producer of Live Aid and Live8. Nokia New Year’s Eve will travel from east to west, starting in Hong Kong’s Ocean Terminal, followed by Mumbai’s Andheri Stadium, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro and rounding off the night in New York. Visit http://www.nokianewyearseve.com  for more details or view the press release here .

User Generated Content is the key message of Web2.0 communication and collaboration applications that are spearheading the next wave of IT revolution.  Blogs, Social networking, social bookmarking, photo sharing and video sharing applications are driving the traffic on internet these days. And this is where most of the users are spending their times. So, it is quite natural to expect  similar trends in Mobile world.  Recently YouTube announced that a mobile version of YouTube can be expected early next year to target the 2.5B cell phone users around the world. Latest on the bandwagon, is MoboFlix from Melodeo (also pioneered the mobile podcasting), will enable users to upload and share their videos.  But this time, you can also earn a few bucks when users like your video and download to their mobiles to watch it. The revenue that comes from Advertisements and from carrier for increasing the data usage on their networks will be shared with the content creators.  A new trend that is in

It is quite common that many of us subscribe to text messages to receive alerts from marketers. But most of them are purely based on subscription. Not many of us receive SMS text messages without explicitly requesting them, like we receive emails. This is what I thought so far, until I read this article on CNET News. The article warns that there is already considerable spamming using SMS and it will continue to grow.  The figures mentioned in the article are however mind blowing. Not sure how they come up with those figures, but if they are real, there is a bigger issue cooking up that could unsettle the dreams of SMS marketers. Between 2005 and 2006, the volume of text message spam that reaches subscribers is expected to grow by 60 percent, according to market research firm Ferris Research. Even though text-based spam is on the rise, the number of spam messages that actually get through to subscribers is relatively small, said Richi Jennings, an analyst at Ferris Research. In 2005

'Cellular Life Styles Apart' is a collection of stories that introduces you to new and innovative ways a Cell Phone is being used. A list of real world Cellular life styles across the world. Mobile Banking : ClairMail allows you to transact business through SMS or Email on your cell phone. ( Source: VentureBeat ) "Clairmail lets customers do their banking via SMS, including transferring funds, verifying account and transaction information. A customer messages the bank from their phone, and the bank confirms the customers identity by texting back to the phone and opening up a channel for a transaction." Free (Ad)Mobile : Google thinking of Free Mobiles supported by Advertising. "Schmidt said Saturday that as mobile phones become more like handheld computers and consumers spend as much as eight to 10 hours a day talking, texting and using the Web on these devices, advertising becomes a viable form of subsidy" ( source: CNN Money ). Earlier AOL attepted to b

I was searching on Amazon to buy OS X Tiger, and I was quite intrigued to see "Used" software up for sale.  Can somebody sell his/her used software? I am wondering whether a normal customer has the rights to resell a software product after using it just like any other product. EULA of Windows XP says, you can not sell the software alone, but okay if you sell your computer with software in it.   1.2 SOFTWARE as a Component of the COMPUTER - Transfer. This license may not be shared, transferred to or used concurrently on different computers. The SOFTWARE is licensed with the COMPUTER as a single integrated product and may only be used with the COMPUTER. If the SOFTWARE is not accompanied by HARDWARE, you may not use the SOFTWARE. You may permanently transfer all of your rights under this EULA only as part of a permanent sale or transfer of the COMPUTER, provided you retain no copies of the SOFTWARE . If the SOFTWARE is an upgrade, any transfer must also include all prior

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released a list of Enemies Of The Internet, consists of countries that RSF believes are suppressing freedom of expression on the internet. Belarus Burma China Cuba Egypt Iran North Korea Saudi Arabia Syria Tunisia Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Vietnam Source: BBC NEWS | Technology | 'Enemies of the internet' named

Kathy Sierra wrote a wonderful analysis about the missing piece in the current college education in US, particularly about maths/science/engineering college education. Without any question, this is also true about education system in India and all over the world. Infact, I believe the Education system is much worse in India, if we compare the attributes on the following picture. Link: Why does engineering/math/science education in the US suck? . The following image from the original post summarizes her views. And what do we do to try and improve things? We just do MORE of what's wrong. We redouble our efforts. We drill and test students even harder in facts and rote memorization. We work and test them even harder on using the tools for communication (e.g. code) rather than the tools for thought (e.g. intuition, visualization, etc.) Our educational institutions--at every level--need drastic changes or we're all screwed. The generation of students we're turning out tod

Cingular announced that its customers can now transfer music from thier PCs to Mobile phones for free. And Sprint announced that it will provide a direct link on its browser to access Gmail on mobile phones. Cingular will allow people to download music to compatible phones for free, although consumers will pay a monthly charge in the range of $15 for the ability to download songs from those services to a portable music player. "Right now, we're focused on getting people to view mobile music as something that's interesting and exciting. You've got to build a base. Once you do that, there are all sorts of ways to drive revenue from it ," says Jim Ryan, vice-president of consumer data services at Cingular. ( Source ) Immedialy whole media buzz began, assuming that some thing great has happened. For a moment, I thought the Walled Gardens are being opened up. But I immediatly realized that The Walled Gardens are still fastened securely. Cingular only allows music bo

Business2.0 strated 16 new blogs, as it believes blogs makes better journalists. Read on. Business 2.0 is jumping hard on the blogging bandwagon with 16 new blogs. Why the big leap? Business 2.0's Eric Schonfeld said "primarily because we think blogging will make us better journalists.  Blogging about a subject on a daily basis is a great way to become an expert on that subject and stay in front of the news in that particular niche." Source: MarkEvans , Introducing Business2.0 Beta Technorati tags: business2.0 , blog

'Cellular Life Styles Apart' is a collection of stories that introduces you to new and innovative ways a Cell Phone is being used. A list of real world Cellular life styles across the world. Maine Gubernatorial Race Goes Mobile : Green Independent candidate for Governor Pat LaMarche  has launched a major mobile campaign a week before the election. Students and citizens of Maine were asked to text the word "Pat" and a topic (example: Pat Health Care) to the shotcode 30644. Later that day Pat spoke at the University of Maine in Orono where her speech based on the top three topics that students and Maine citizens sent to her via text message. [ Source: Personal Democracy Forum ] Cell Phone Voting in a Debate : You must have heard about American Idol voting on cell phones. And many other contests around the world use a similar voting method. But not in political debates so far. Pat Lamarche (Green Independent Gubernatorial Candidate in Maine) has again create a histor

By the end of 2008, nearly one half of airlines worldwide will allow calls from mobile phones while in flight, according to the most recent annual survey conducted by Airline IT Trends . The figures in the annual Airline IT Trends survey show an appetite for a range of in-flight passenger communications, with 59 per cent of airlines also planning to offer internet and email access by the end of 2008. Source: Fierce Wireless , silicon.com

..Myers Motors is pitching it as a $25,000 moving billboard for small businesses.  Read more at the Source: The Electric Car As Billboard Technorati tags: business2.0 , electric car

"Sprint Nextel Corp., the third-largest U.S. wireless services provider, will start offering a mobile version of Google Inc.'s e-mail service to encourage subscribers to use features besides calling." - When I read this news item , for a minute I did not understand what I just read. What does it mean? Sprint offers Gmail? Any Sprint customer with access to internet could read Gmail on their mobile. Isn't it? Then what is this special offer?  Gmail for mobile devices will be available to Sprint's data customers at no additional charge, Reston, Virginia-based Sprint said in a statement today. Users can download the e-mail application or access the service through a wireless Web site. The news is that "Sprint will offer a link to Gmail from its mobile home page". Thats all about it. Or they mean that they will not be blocking you from accessing from Gmail website. Read the press release by Sprint here. Technorati tags: gmail , sprint , usa , mobile-app

What is the key difference between Yahoo and Google? Well, one difference is that Yahoo wants to offer Content primarily and offer search as a tool to findout the content. Google wants to offer Search as a primary tool to find that content. While Yahoo builds content sites and offer them to readers, Google is only building toolsets to create such content by individual users. Which is more powerful? Creating content or building a toolset to let users create the content and help them find it? I guess, the later. So Google will be clear winner even in terms of content. Technorati tags: yahoo , google

Telecom companies are flocking to India to expand their existing operations or opening up new offices around India. Nokia Announces another R&D Facility in Bangalore,India Nokia, the world leader in mobile communications today announced that it has expanded its Research and Development (R&D) facility in Bangalore with the inauguration of a 210,000 square foot development centre at the Prestige Tech Park in the IT corridor. The Bangalore R&D centre, the largest Nokia site of its type in India, focuses on development work for software platforms, chipsets and high-end Nokia mobile devices. Source:  MoneyControl While Nokia says the new center will be developing software platforms and high-end Nokia mobile devices, I believe, the new center will be exclusively used to develop and support Bharti(Airtel),  which gave a $400 Million contract to Nokia to manage and expand its network. Bharti Airtel today announced the signing of a $400-million contract with Nokia for managing