Last week, Nokia filed to patent technology that will charge your new or refurbished cell phone from the motion of the phone in your hand, pocket, etc. The technology is similar to that of watches that are charged from kinetic energy harvested from the movement of the wrist.
From what I’ve read, the heavier internals of the phone (the battery, transmitter, etc.) will sit on a pair of rails, allowing it to slide up and down as the user moves. That energy is then collected and sent into the battery.
Kinetically charged phones should be great for people constantly on the go. Might not be worth it if you’ve got a desk job though.
More crazy technology that will most likely change the new and refurbished cell phone industry. It’s called Skinput and what it does is allow you to turn your body, specifically your arm, into a touch screen allowing you to control your phone or your iPod by tapping your skin.
Apparently, tapping different parts of your arm creates different frequencies of sound/vibrations that radiate through your body, which can be detected by this technology. Something called a pico projector, which is a micro sized projector, can sync with Skinput and project a virtual screen onto the surface of your arm.
So what’s the point, right? Well, the scenario that seems to make most sense is someone jogging with their iPod strapped to their arm. With this system, you could control the iPod by simply tapping different parts of your arm. Check out the video to get a better idea of what it’s all about.
This seems like an interesting idea that will probably catch on. Vodaphone is now making jewelry and key chains from the innards of recycled cell phones.
I’m not sure that using a motherboard as a key chain is actually recycling though. Yeah, you’re keeping it out of a landfill but for how long? You’re going to eventually throw it away right?
Apparently, these things are going to sell for six bucks. Meh… the owl looks cool, but I think I’d rather have a Big Mac.
This is wild. A new company called ecoATM has developed an ATM machine that pays you cash to recycle your old cell phones. In addition to buying refurbished cell phones, recycling your phone is a great way to cut down on the need for conflict components and reduce the world’s waste. These ATMs make it really easy to do your part – and they pay you!
This is how it works: You walk up to the ATM and plug your phone in via a cord attached to the machine. The machine then scans your device to determine how much it is worth and then makes you an offer. If you accept, you deposit your phone and the machine spits out your cash. The average payment from machines in San Diego is $20 per phone.
ecoATM is based out of Sand Diego but has been sending test machines to Midwest, San Diego, Boston, Dallas and Seattle. Apparently, people have been lining up to recycle their old phones. ecoATM has also secured investors, so it shouldn’t be long until you see these machines in your city.
Yet another ridiculous application from Google for your new or refurbished cell phone. Google released a new app called Google Shopper today for Android devices. The app allows you to quickly and easily locate product information by using your phone’s camera. Simply take a picture of product or of its barcode, and you will be provided with information about the product, about how much it should cost, and about where you can buy it. The app also recognizes cover art for books, CDs, DVDs, and Video Games.
The shopper app also allows you to search by voice if, say, there is no barcode on a product. You can also star products in order to save the information to be viewed at a later date. Because starred information is saved, you can view it whenever you like, even if you have no service on your phone. To download the app, just search for “shopper” from your Android device.
As usual, Google has provided a nice little video demonstration. Enjoy.
In December, I did a post about what Google Goggles can do for your new or refurbished cell phone. I just read a post from Google today that was pretty impressive. Google is working to integrate their translator program into Google Goggles so that you can take pictures from your phone of things written in a foreign language, and, within a fraction of a second, Google Goggles translates the text for you.
In the video below, you can actually see it working with a menu written in German. According to Google, German is the only language that Goggles can translate as of now, but they plan on making it compatible with 52 languages in the near future.
Google’s online translator does work incredibly well (with, I believe, 52 languages), but Google Goggle with the translator will save you the time of having to enter the foreign text, and, being an avid traveler, I can tell you that the few seconds it takes to enter the foreign text into your phone usually costs you the entire conversation.
This is crazy. At this year’s MWC (Mobile World Congress), a company called NTT Docomo reveiled a headset that you can control with your eye movement. When you are listening to music on your new or refurbished cell phone, you can use this technology to control volume and to skip tracks.
Want to turn the volume up? Just roll your eyes all the way up. It’s just the opposite to turn it down. To skip tracks, look as far as you can to the left or to the right. Apparently, the left and right side of your eyes emit positive and negative electrons, and this headset can register them. Check out the video below for a demonstration.
At first, this seems to be a little overkill, but it really would be convenient to be able to control your music without having to use your hands.
Well, kind of. It is true that Skype Mobile is now available for new and refurbished cell phones but until March, you need to have an iPhone or a Nokia Symbian phone. For the iPhone you just download the app, but I’m not sure how it works for Symbians. Maybe someone can comment with more info. If you have the iPhone app, you can now make free Skype to Skype calls from any WIFI zone.
What’s most exciting for Blackberry enthusiasts is that in March, Skype mobile will be integrated with Blackberry via Verizon Wireless. One-upping the iPhone, Skype for Blackberrys on Verizon will be fully integrated, meaning you can make free Skype to Skype calls anytime, anywhere – not just from WIFI. I know I keep saying this but if Skype remains free, I don’t see how Skype mobile won’t totally change the cellular industry as we know it. It can’t be long until Skype mobile is available for all devices.
To promote the release of Skype Mobile, Skype has launched an interesting (and kind of strange) promotional campaign. Basically, they have five artists from around the world on stand by, waiting for you to call them and via Skype and tell them something. They then take your message and transform it into art. There’s a little video about it at http://outside.skype.com/.
Last week, Nokia filed to patent technology that will charge your new or refurbished cell phone from the motion of the phone in your hand, pocket, etc. The technology is similar to that of watches that are charged from kinetic energy harvested from the movement of the wrist.
