5 New Tricks for Your Cellphone

When it comes to new cellphones, there haven't been any blockbusters announced in recent weeks. Instead, a wave of new and interesting things to do with your current handset has taken center stage. Most involve voice, which seems obvious on a cellphone. But in this case, it's voice recognition—freeing your hands for other things, like the steering wheel. Here are five favorites among new services for wireless handsets:

Yahoo! one search : The portal is making a major push to capture the mobile search market with a new upgrade that includes voice-activated queries. Just tell your phone what you want to find, and the reply comes back from the Web. In theory. In practice, it works sometimes and doesn't other times. That shouldn't be surprising, as it combines voice-recognition software, which can be squirrelly, and the imperfection of Web searches. So far, it's available only for recent BlackBerry handsets, but Yahoo promises to add other models soon.

ChaCha: Another voice-recognition search service. But this one is available to any handset that can receive text messages. Just dial 1-800-2CHACHA (1-800-224-2242), speak your information request, and the answer comes back in a text message in five or 10 minutes. A few tests yielded results that were mixed but more consistent than oneSearch. That may be because of a "human guide" at ChaCha's end who reads the request, maybe sorting out some of the mistakes in computerized voice recognition. The service is free. The company hopes to make money from ads or deals with carriers.

Nokia N-Gage: The Finnish handset maker now will sell games directly to its handsets, including Tiger Woods PGA Tour and a solitaire 12-pack. In a nifty twist, users can download the games to a PC and move them via Bluetooth or USB to their phones, bypassing carrier data charges. The service so far works only with N95 and N81 phones, but Nokia promises it soon for other handsets. Games cost between $9 and $16.•

AT&T Navigator : The communications giant is finally getting into the directions business with a service that will guide you, turn by turn, to your destination. Unlike others from Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless, AT&T's adds voice recognition, which allows you to press a button and speak the address, restaurant, or other destination. The service then comes back to announce the directions over its speaker and puts them on the phone's screen as well. Works on about a half dozen of AT&T's handsets and costs $10 a month or $3 a day•

Jott for BlackBerry: The Jott service is handy for anyone who wants to dictate a reminder or E-mail. But that has required calling the Jott service at 1-866-JOTT-123 (1-866-568-8123). Owners of newer BlackBerry devices can now download a piece of software from Jott that allows them to dictate a reply to an E-mail by speaking directly into their handset. Jott converts the message to text that's ready to send. It's free while in beta testing but will come with an undisclosed charge afterward. Jott also isn't saying if it will expand the service to other handsets.

Source : http://www.usnews.com/

Mobiles rack up 20 years of use

Mobile phones in the UK are celebrating their 20th anniversary this weekend.Britain's first mobile phone call was made across the Vodafone network on 1 January 1985 by veteran comedian Ernie Wise.In the 20 years since that day, mobile phones have become an integral part of modern life and now almost 90% of Britons own a handset.

Mobiles have become so popular that many people use their handset as their only phone and rarely use a landline.Slow growthThe first ever call over a portable phone was made in 1973 in New York but it took 10 years for the first commercial mobile service to be launched.The UK was not far behind the rest of the world in setting up networks in 1985 that let people make calls while they walked.
The first call was made from St Katherine's dock to Vodafone's head office in Newbury which at the time was over a curry house.For the first nine days of 1985 Vodafone was the only firm with a mobile network in the UK. Then on 10 January Cellnet (now O2) launched its service.Mike Caudwell, spokesman for Vodafone, said that when phones were launched they were the size of a briefcase, cost about £2,000 and had a battery life of little more than 20 minutes.

In 1986 phones were big, bulky and black

Despite that they were hugely popular in the mid-80s," he said. "They became a yuppy must-have and a status symbol among young wealthy business folk.This was also despite the fact that the phones used analogue radio signals to communicate which made them very easy to eavesdrop on.He said it took Vodafone almost nine years to rack up its first million customers but only 18 months to get the second million.
"It's very easy to forget that in 1983 when we put the bid document in we were forecasting that the total market would be two million people," he said. "Cellnet was forecasting half that."Now Vodafone has 14m customers in the UK alone.
Cellnet and Vodafone were the only mobile phone operators in the UK until 1993 when One2One (now T-Mobile) was launched. Orange had its UK launch in 1994.Both newcomers operated digital mobile networks and now all operators use this technology. The analogue spectrum for the old phones has been retired.Called Global System for Mobiles (GSM) this is now the most widely used phone technology on the planet and is used to help more than 1.2 billion people make calls.Mr Caudwell said the advent of digital technology also helped to introduce all those things, such as text messaging and roaming that have made mobiles so popular.
Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk

BBC To Launch Free iPlayer Download Service

In a move which has been rumoured for sometime the BBC have today released details of their TV download service, iPlayer, which will be launched next week. While initially only 400 hours of program content will be available per week, this figure is set to rise depending on the popularity.At launch the TV data will only be viewable via your PC (or TV screen if the two are linked together) although there are plans to bring out a revised service in the medium term, which would be downloadable direct to your TV.

Program content will be available up to 7 days after the show has been aired, and downloaded data will be automatically deleted after 30 days. The iPlayer service also includes a high tech anti-piracy system, although how long this will remain “hack proof” remains to be seen, as well as the latest encoder systems to block recording to DVDs.
The BBC are expecting up to 500,000 users in the first six months, and in excess of 1,000,000 after the first year. The service itself if very easy to use with the iPlayer only requiring a simple free internet download to activate the service.
Source : http://www.conita.com/

More Mobile Devices Can Access Web

Several companies announced moves at the World Mobile Conference on Monday to increase and enhance Internet access from mobile phones.Nokia, maker of 40 percent of handsets sold around the world, announced two new services and two new handsets designed to optimize mobile computing.Sony Ericsson announced one handset. And Texas Instruments Inc. said it will demonstrate a prototype cell phone based on Google Inc.'s Android operating system with a TI processor inside.Microsoft Corp. also said it plans to buy Silicon Valley software maker Danger Inc., based in Palo Alto, Calif., which is best known for its Sidekick cell phone and for efficient software that allows cell phone users to browse the Web, access e-mail and exchange instant messages, carrying with it the cachet of youth and usability attractive to Microsoft as it penetrates the mobile market.
Controlling 40 percent of the handset market, Nokia is seeking to marry services with its devices. Its new Share on Ovi will allow users to manage, share and store their personal media, including photos; documents in 100 formats and Nokia Maps 2.0 _ a service Nokia called the first pedestrian-oriented navigation system.
"As the Internet is freed from the limitations of the desktop, we are taking mobility into a completely new realm of possibility," said CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. "We are redefining the Internet itself as it increasingly becomes a medium of immediate and personal experiences."Nokia Maps 2.0 will be available in a test version this month and incorporated into Series 40 devices this year, he said.Struggling with a paper-sized map will be a thing of the past," Kallasvuo said.Nokia also announced new handsets aimed at the market converging home and mobile Internet use, including the N78, which improves on the N73's connectivity and adds an FM transmitter that allows users to play music from the device over a car radio or home hi-fi system. The phone, which also enables geotagging, or labeling photos with geographic coordinates, will cost about $500.
The new N96 handset includes more memory, more applications and more video than its predecessor, the N95, with a bigger 2.9-inch display, 16 gigabytes of storage that can expand to 32 with an SD card and a high-speed USB that will allow the transfer of a full-length movie in two minutes. The device will ship in the third quarter for about $725.Sony Ericsson's Xperia X1, its Web phone aimed at premium and business users, will launch in the second half of 2008 and will be sold worldwide, including in the United States. No price was given
Source : http://www.umbrellanews.com

Sony Ericsson W960i An Excellent Mobile Phone Product

Probably Sony Ericsson is the only phone in the breed of mobile phone where one literally can enjoy the music on finger tips. Now stop juggling your mind over!! As I would tell you how you can make this magic possible. Friend, Sony Ericsson W960i is equipped with one touch display that is operated through a stick but if you are not comfortable or not used of this stick then you also can operate it via finger tips therefore, isn't it a device that one can control by finger tips. Moreover, this Sony Ericsson W960i is furnished with format eAAC+ that makes you able to up load or store up songs up to 8,000. And to manage or tabularize these songs you are given an option of walkman touch that makes you able to tabularize them in a way you like. Having sorted it according your convince now you can enjoy this album art on your outsized display mobile phone non other than Sony Ericsson W960i.
Sony Ericsson W960i is an ideal choice for the traders or businessman since it is equipped with so many features those are more prone to businessmen. First of all Sony Ericsson W960i offers a businessmen software kit which all alone shows that it is specifically manufactured for the traders and those who are always in need to keep touch with their work. Sony Ericsson W960i , the walkman phone with Bluetooth favors businessmen as with help of Bluetooth one can divert data quickly. The music player in walkman mode enables the user for an entertainment when one walks down the street or any lane thinking of past memories or future plans. The walk man facility even enables the user of Sony Ericsson W960i to continue the business work as you can continue your dealing even if you are walking down on the road.
There are so many other functions that a user can use such as one can connect it with PC or computer and thus synchronize and get pleasure from podcasts available in the phone. And next best thing about this Sony Ericsson W960i is that you don't need purchase software for the mobile since all required softwares and a stereo kit is provided as the complementary kit.
Source : http://ezinearticles.com/

Nokia sees opportunity in Ovi-Vodafone deal

Nokia's strategic shift into mobile internet services received a boost on Wednesday when the Finnish mobile phone maker announced Vodafone would become a customer of its new Ovi portal.The deal underlines the dynamism of the mobile industry, coming days after Google announced its mobile strategy and just before Apple's iPhone launches in Europe.The agreement with Vodafone shows how much clout the world's largest handset maker can exert over operators. The Vodafone agreement follows a similar deal with Telefónica last month.
Nokia faced scepticism in August when it launched the Ovi brand, with many industry observers concerned that the service - which offers music, games and maps - would be in conflict with operators who hope to make money from similar services. However, it is now seeing some of the largest telecoms operators supporting the project.
Nokia's deals with Vodafone and Telefónica show that the Finnish group will be a considerable force for Google to contend with as it moves into the mobile market. Nokia's Series-60 operating system is a well-established competitor to the mobile operating system Google is planning to bring to the market and Nokia offers competing online services such as maps, which operators appear willing to adopt - even at some cost to themselves.Vodafone, for example, has invested heavily in building up its own music store since launching its Vodafone Live! portal in 2002, but has now agreed to allow its customers easy access to Nokia's music service as well.In exchange, Vodafone's services will be deeply integrated into Nokia's high-end phones, and Nokia will make a number of exclusive phones for Vodafone next year.
Nokia has about 38 per cent of the global market for handsets and the chance to have its services featured prominently on a Nokia mobile phone is an opportunity even the largest operators cannot ignore.In supporting Ovi, Vodafone is effectively admitting that its efforts to create user loyalty through branded services have failed.In supporting Ovi, Vodafone has stopped fighting against the inevitable and is allowing the Nokia brand to become uppermost in the user's mind," said Richard Windsor, analyst at Nomura.However, by offering its services through Ovi, Vodafone is likely to see better take-up than going it alone."Frank Rovekamp, global head of marketing at Vodafone, said that though the music services would overlap, this was part of a broader alliance with Nokia that he was keen to develop. Vodafone will share revenues with Nokia on services such as maps and games.Mobile operators are under pressure to improve their web-based services as devices such as Apple's iPhone enter the market.


Source:http://search.ft.com/

Mobile phones tumour risk to young children

Professor Sir William Stewart, chairman of the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), said that evidence of potentially harmful effects had become more persuasive over the past five years.The news prompted calls for phones to carry health warnings and panic in parts of the industry. One British manufacturer immediately suspended a model aimed at four to eight-year-olds.The number of mobiles in Britain has doubled to 50 million since the first government-sponsored report in 2000. The number ofchildren aged between five and nine using mobiles has increased fivefold in the same period.
In his report, Mobile Phones and Health, Sir William said that four studies have caused concern. One ten-year study in Sweden suggests that heavy mobile users are more prone to non-malignant tumours in the ear and brain while a Dutch study had suggested changes in cognitive function. A German study has hinted at an increase in cancer around base stations, while a project supported by the EU had shown evidence of cell damage from fields typical of those of mobile phones.All of these studies have yet to be replicated and are of varying quality but we can’t dismiss them out of hand,” Sir William said. If there was a health risk — which remained unproven — it would have a greater effect on the young than on older people, he addedFor children aged between 8 and 14, parents had to make their own judgments about the risks and benefits. “I can’t believe that for three to eight year-olds they can be readily justified,” he said.David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, called last night for a ban on mobiles in schools.
Mobile phone companies reacted furiously, saying that the report fanned public concern without presenting new research. The youth market is highly lucrative because teenagers are more likely to use video downloads and other services.The World Health Organisation is preparing to publish an international report, drawing on hundreds of studies conducted over a decade, which many hope will give a definitive judgment on mobile phone safety.
The board’s report says that while there is a lack of hard information of damage to health, the approach should be precautionary. Sir William said: “Just because there are 50 million of them out there doesn’t mean they are absolutely safe.”One school in the North East has begun using mobile scanners to prevent pupils using mobiles in class. “Outside college hours it is up to parents, but in our care if mobiles are found on children, they are confiscated and returned to the parents,” David Riden, vice principal of Tollbar Business and Enterprise College in New Waltham, said.One group that appears to target young users is Richard Branson’s Virgin Mobile, which derives much of its revenue from the 16s-35s market. It denies targeting under 16s but has cornered a large slice of the youth market with cheap voice and text messages.
Source : http://www.timesonline.co.uk