What if we could see cellphone signals?

We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded by radio emissions: FM/AM radio, TV broadcasts, WiFi networks, and - of course - the mobile cellphone networks. Certainly the thought of what it would be like to be able to see these frequencies has already crossed your mind, and now we have a graphical representation of what it could look like.


I can't really say these images are scientifically accurate. Radio signals often behave in strange ways and wouldn't act as "light beams" as they're shown here - if not for the fact that radio waves can go through solid objects but are also reflected by others... and it would cause a much more complex "mess" of signals that I doubt we could really "grasp" visually. But even if we considered it to be just an artistic rendering, it sill looks nice and might prompt the age old debate about the long term effects of the continuous exposure to these "unnatural" emissions.

So you don't start to panic, keep in mind that cell towers, as well as WiFi, are relatively low power networks. If you want to worry, you'd probably want to worry about the much more powerful radio and tv broadcasts, which would surely swamp out these emissions completely in terms of power should they be on the same frequencies. In fact, that's something that would truly be worth watching/comparing: the relative power of different RF signals, like Bluetooth, WiFi, cellphones, Radio and TV, radar from boats and planes, etc. etc. I'm sure it would be enlightening...

Cellphone is 40 years Old

Today we take for granted being able to pull a cellphone out of the pocket and making a call to anyone else in the world, but there was a time when that seemed like science fiction. In fact our trusted cell phone is "only" 40 years old, although I doubt many youngsters would still be able to even pick up that "brick" they called cellphone back then.

The first phone call using a cell phone was made by Marty Cooper, working at Motorola, that decided to ring a friend working at the competing Bell Labs, asking him "I'm ringing you just to see if my call sounds good at your end."


If you think current smartphones are heavy and have lousy battery life, you'll like to know that back then, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x (the first commercially available mobile phone) weighed 2.5 pounds and it lasted for about one hour of talk time. And let's not forget about price: at $3,995 it would be enough for you to buy nearly every single high-end smartphone today, and still enough to spare for next year's models.

SpareOne - A Cell Phone Lasting 15 years

I can't really say what's more impressive: if the fact that this SpareOne can last for 15 years on standby; or the fact that it's able to do so relying on just a single AA battery!.

As you'd expect, this isn't a cellphone that will compete with the latest batch of high-end smartphones like the Galaxy S3 or the HTC One X. In fact, this cellphone doesn't even have a screen! Yep, we're back to the old ages where you had to know which shortcut called which contact, or memorizing phone number.

However, if you need a way to be able to be in touch with the world even if you spend weeks or months away from a power supply... this might be just what you need.

And even if 15 years isn't enough for you... just imagine what you can do with pocket full of extra AA bateries! ;)

Funambol - Backup and Recovery of your Phone Contacts

Lots of people use the holiday season as an excuse to upgrade or replace their cell phones. Maybe you're just tired of your old one; maybe you've just dropped it in a swimming pool while refreshing yourself..

Can you imagine that, losing all your cell phone contacts?

For many, they already have their contact synced with their computers, and will quickly transfer those contacts back into a new phone. But there are those who think that's too complicated.

So, I present you the easy to use Funambol which is ready to use on a considerable amount of devices
(including -but not limited to- the iPhone.) This service allows you to easily keep a synchronized contact list backup online; which you'll be able to recover should anything go wrong.

Unlike some other backup programs/services, it even stores your contact photos; and you can manage it all through your my.funambol.com account.

Funambol does lots more, as you'll be able to see in the following video (though I use it only for the contact backup thing.):

Cellphone Evolution

A short but interesting video showcasing the evolution cellphones since their first appearance.

You'll certainly recognize some instant "classics" from the past century...

Samsung Jet

If you're tired of reading about the iPhone, how about a break from it with this Samsung Jet?

With a gorgeous looking 3.1" OLED screen that blows the competition out of the water, a speedy 800Mhz CPU, a 5Mp camera, integrated browser and Divx video support, this certainly looks good. Unfortunately, it runs its proprietary TouchWiz 2.0 OS - why can't we have it with Android instead? It would be a lot more appealing that way.

Even so, Samsung says it already has over 2 million pre-orders for this model that will cost around £350 in the UK.

Android, iPhone... now what?

Now that Android is out (and it even has Copy-paste although no standard headphone socket) how will this affect buyers when the time comes to choose their next smartphone?

Usually, people buying this kind of devices know exactly what they're buying - but there are also those who just want to "show off" and buy whatever the seller pushes them.

Because, let's face it - how many people out there now what an Android" is?
Most likely people would give that "is this guy nuts?" look.

In that sense the iPhone has a broader public "status" with more people knowing what it is - or at least having heard about it as the "touchy" phone you swipe your fingers over.

Maybe advertising it as "Google Phone" will be better - at least it will be instantly recognized for anyone using the internet.


On the other hand, is quite funny to see how volatile the "internet" opinion is:



While some constantly whine about Apple's "censorship" policy that keeps Apps out of their App Store as they see fit, others complain about the "openness" of Android's Market, where everything made by anyone will be available.


So, let's get it straight: what the heck do you want?


Regarding these device's user interface...



Although I have never been a Mac user, I always heard about Apple's attention to detail.

Thing like the subtle "fade-in/fade-out" transitions on the iPods, and even the completely unnecessary transition effect when you turn the airplane mode on/off on your iPhone, with the small plane zooming by and fading out.
As I said, that's completely unnecessary... but nice.
(Though there are lots of other more important "nice" things we should have and don't - like that "copy-paste" thing!)


For now, the Android user experience is nothing like iPhone's. It look like a bunch of programs quicly put together, each with its unique look, fonts, colors, etc.
I'm sure that - as things mature - it will certainly evolve into a much nicer looking and enjoyable experience, but that will take time and patience, until an "Android" look and feel is created.

I sincerely hope Google to be successful in this endeavor.
And I also hope Android might be the tipping point when it comes to DRM-free content.
You can buy DRM-free tunes from Amazon on Android, unlike iTunes Fairplay DRM.
And thankfully consumers are starting to take this DRM issue more seriously than ever (see all the complaints regarding EA's latest epic game: Spore) and even countries like Norway which are demanding iTunes to give up it's DRM so its music can be played in any MP3 player and not just iPhones.


And last but not least, for these devices to be successful there's something we can't forget about: mobile broadband internet access. Without suitable plans, affordable and a decent amount of data, none of these devices will ever take off.
For instance - here in Portugal, most iPhone plans still have a 250MB monthly limit - which is a bit short if you're always out of the office and relying on 3G internet access.
We also need integrated solutions so we don't have to pay several internet access bills: one for the smartphone, one for your laptop, one for your wired connection at home, etc.

Now that Google is starting to have it's own satellites, maybe it won't be that long until we can have free worldwide wireless broadband internet access...
:)

Cellphones and WiFi - the new Plague?

Every week, we come up with studies raising caution about how bad cellphones and wireless computer networks might be for our health.

Right or wrong, one thing is certain: some people are already accusing these equipments to be the new cigarettes - and that like it happened before, that a lot of people are keeping the truth from public knowledge and discrediting these studies..

I sincerely don't know what's the case here. I don't know if those electromagnetic and radiofrequency radiations are bad for our health. I mean - I'm pretty sure it isn't "good" for us; but the question is: are they really bad enough to cause harm? That's the billion dollar question.

But let's consider that, for a moment; it has been proven that cell phones and WiFi networks are indeed harmful for your health in the long term - just like smoking.


I don't know how government and industry agencies would deal with it. If past performance is an indication, they would keep denying it for decades, and then slowly admiting that *maybe* it was indeed harmful. And then they'd introduce warnings on cell phones and WiFi devices with stickers like: "Warning - this WiFi router may be harmful to your health" "Danger - this Cell phone can Kill you" and so on...

But what I'd really like to know us: what would you do about it?
If you knew, for certain, that your cellphone - the one next to your right now - would considerably increase your chance to get cancer, and all those Wifi networks and hotspots surrounding you had the same effect... what would you do about it?

Would you still keep using your cell phone as usual, even next to your own kids - just like many smokers keep doing?
Or would you ditch your cell phones and turn odd your Wifi routers and look for "radiation free" zones wherever you went?

Today, this is an hypotethical question, but who knows... maybe we'll really have to decide what do to do about it sooner thanwe think.

HTC Android

And the HTC Android cell phone is already showing its stuff... I'm sure lots of engineers are working overtime to get it out on the stores as soon as possible - though everyone says it will still take a while.

Because, no matter how I might consider getting a 3G iPhone, I would sincerly prefer a more "open" platform such as Android's, where I wouldn't be stuck with iTunes and similar Apple software.



Now, just explain to me why everytime they want to show up a new gadget, they show it running classic "prehistoric" games? At least it wasn't Doom...

It kind of reminds me of those that buy a new "high-tech" gadget and then use it exclusively to run emulators to play the "old games" they had in their previous gadgets... :)

But of course that's not all it can do...

You can check how easy its interface is:


... how it handles Google Maps just like a desktop computer...


And of course, the best for last:
Check how you can have a virtual window into the world, thanks to Street View and this device integrated accelerometer.


via [Android Community]

Why Predictive Text on Cell Phones is like it is

Have you ever tried SMSing "shit" to someone using predictive text input?

This video explains why you can't:



by comedic duo Armstrong and Mille.