Design & Innovation

…What my phone is cooking

I know this isn’t a relatively new idea, as I have heard about it before, but leave it to the Germans to patent it.  ConVisual has developed a cellular phone with the technology to send scents.  I think it’s pretty cool.  If dinner is ready at home I could get a text with the smell of the meal, enticing me to get home quick!  It would also be cool to wake up to the aroma of coffee coming from the alarm on my phone, I see no reason why they couldn’t do that.  And if someone is worried their buddy will send a nasty smell, those of which I do not need to mention, it is ok because users have the ability to deny smell messages.  Unfortunately we will have to wait until 2010 to play with this new device. See more here

A while ago, Dean Shareski wrote an intersting post about using cellphones as learning tools with an accompanying video, describing an experiment with mobile phones to see “Can this powerful device help students learn?” The answer for now is a qualified yes, I would say.
Web link for the post:

http://ideasandthoughts.org/2008/02/05/exploring-cellphones-as-learning-tools/
Here is a more recent article from eSchoolNews that discusses how institutions of higher education are responding to the iPhone’s popularity. While it is great that different institutions are beginning to cater more to mobile users, I think there is a real danger in what some institutions like Abilene Christian University are doing by focusing on one particular device. It’s the connectivity that counts, not the device that’s used for it, and who knows, we may laugh at the site of an iPhone in 3 to 5 years… As I’ve said before, the focus should be on providing content.

The much-talked about auction ended Tuesday raising about $19.6 billion for the government. Wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon Wireless won the bulk of the spectrum. The few new licenses that the “Dish  Network” has purchased were in the 6MHz sliver of spectrum called the E-Block. Because these licenses cover such a narrow band of spectrum, it would be nearly impossible for  the Dish Network to build a broadband wireless service to allow them to transmit two-way communication. This means that building a cellular phone or wireless broadband service using this spectrum is nearly impossible. But the spectrum could be used to send communications one-way, making it ideal for services such as broadcast TV.

Oddly enough, Qualcomm Inc. already owns spectrum that is adjacent to the spectrum that the Dish Network bought. Qualcomm uses its spectrum to deliver its MediaFlo TV mobile broadcast TV service. Also, Qualcomm had been bidding in the auction and was attempting to get the E-Block licenses along with Dish Network. The fact that it wasn’t able to get those licenses is a negative for the mobile technology company.

“It makes more sense for one provider to operate both pieces of spectrum,” Steve Clement, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities told Reuters.

The Dish Network hasn’t yet made public what it plans to do with the newly aquired spectrum. Some analysts have speculated that it could cost the company between $3 billion and $5 billion to build a mobile TV network. The company said in a financial filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in February that it might “make investments in or partner with others to expand our business into mobile and portable video, data and voice services.”

Papa Johns Pizza and WalMart. What do they have in common? In a recent story from InformationWeek, www.informationweek.com , called ” Track This” by Marianne McGee this link was made. Both companies have just reached 8 million plus deals with Nokia to develop more Location based GPS internet services. Papa John has taken the step to the next level and opened www.trackmypizza.com which customers can use to track their pizza from door to door. The company is using mobile phone and GPS locators which refresh every 15 seconds in order to post location data to both the website and the managers. Managers feel that everyone is better off. The stores can keep better tabs on their employees as well as gas usage and directional data, and the customers can get interactive insted of calling to ask where there pizza is. TrackMypizza one of many in a line of similair type websites like TrackMyBus which allow for online tracking. WalMart has been using systems like this type for many years, starting a long time ago with stations from WeatherBug.com, ran by www.weather.com aka the weather channel, to help benifit both WalMart shipping channels and help add more points of reference for the weather channel. The deal with Nokia will lead to even more possiblities.

- Andrew

As stated in an article from WIRED.COM, AT&T revealed plans on Wednesday to continue 3G (Third Gen. Mobile Device Network) build out in an additional 80 U.S. cities and 350 new markets. That expansion will continue throughout the year and is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. It should also make that 3-G iPhone everyone is expecting this summer potentially more attractive to some consumers.

iPhone users have complianed that current 3-G chipsets are “power hogs.” Today’s 3-G devices have battery lives that span only 2 to 3 hours, compared to the iPhone’s average 8 hours. (Note that with the 1.1.3 update,some iPhone users stated that they have noticed significant decreases in battery life after Apple supposedly made changes to the phone mangement systems. Apple knows that they must have a battery life with a min. of 5 hours in order to keep up with competition.Devices like Nokia’s N95 are hoovering close the the 6 hour battery mark while browsing on a 3-G network Squeezing in a 3-G chipset from the likes of Qualcomm into the iPhone while keeping the device as thin (or thinner) is likely no small feat. Nevertheless, a more robust 3-G network is good for the iPhone and many other devices .

Full Article at:::::

http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/02/att-beefs-up-3.html

- ANDREW

 In an article from InformationWeek this past week, information was listed about recent changes to US mobile phone configuration. Recently, Cell phone bands were above the 800 MHZ range, though in the past few months, the Federal Government has been holding auctions for companies to secure the 700 MHZ range for use in wirelss applications. Bidding passed the 4.64 billion dollar mark lazt week. Although the bidding is a secrect, in recent years Verizon and other large name carriers have held postion. The availablity of the 700 MHz band opens the possiblity for many improvements in speed and accessebility. Previously, the FCC would deceide what appilcation ran on which freqency, but with this auction the telecom carriers would have the choice to themselves.

Technical Data from::::

Informationweek.com / “Wireless Gets More Open” / Original Article BY: David Gardner

- ANDREW