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Driving, cell phones a dangerous combo
Posted on June 6th, 2009 No commentsAn estimated 2,600 people die in accidents each year because of drivers using cell phones. Non-fatal accidents involving cell phones aren’t tracked. The state Department of Transportation database form to catalogue crashes doesn’t have a check box for “cell phone.” DOT hasn’t updated its database since 1994 because it would cost money the department doesn’t have.
Connecticut was one of the first to ban hand-held cell phones. The fine is $100. Tickets issued jumped from 17,755 in 2006 to 38,336 in 2007. Ticket revenue climbed, too, from $763,674 in 2006, to $1,950,645 in 2007, and $2,489,215 in 2008. With revenue like that, it’s hard to understand why DOT is too poor to update the database. If all accidents caused by drivers using cell phones were tallied, we’d see just how dangerous the practice is.
The major problem is police don’t seem very interested in arresting offenders, dozens of whom drive by me every day. If this law were enforced, the state wouldn’t have a deficit. If the fine were doubled, the state would have a surplus — and we would all be safer on the road.
Sealong Duan
The CellphonexBox Team -
Google Android Gets A Boost Beyond Cell Phones
Posted on June 2nd, 2009 16 commentsIn a move aimed at accelerating the use of the Android platform beyond mobile phones, MIPS Technologies said it’s making the Android platform available on its MIPS architecture.
Announced Monday, MIPS said it will make its source code publically available within 60 days for the new applications. MIPS, which provides processor architectures and cores for home entertainment communications, networking, and portable multimedia markets, envisions its software being used for DTVs, set-top boxes, digital picture frames, and mobile Internet devices.
In a move aimed at accelerating the use of the Android platform beyond mobile phones, MIPS Technologies said it’s making the Android platform available on its MIPS architecture.
Announced Monday, MIPS said it will make its source code publically available within 60 days for the new applications. MIPS, which provides processor architectures and cores for home entertainment communications, networking, and portable multimedia markets, envisions its software being used for DTVs, set-top boxes, digital picture frames, and mobile Internet devices.
In its Monday announcement, MIPS pointed out that its software stack delivers a device-agnostic application development platform.
“With the MIPS ecosystem around Android,” the MIPS announcement stated, “OEMs will be able to quickly optimize Android for their specific platforms.”
MIPS said it has forged partnerships with Embedded Alley and Viosoft to help with porting, integration, and testing in the Android effort. Both partner companies are providers of Linux software solutions.
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Driving with cell phones
Posted on May 31st, 2009 1 commentThe idea of banning the use of hand-held telephones when driving is shortsighted
Continuing to push the effort at the state Legislature might also be more of a way to draw headlines than provide for motorist safety.
Despite a Louisiana Senate vote of 27-4 against a 2008 bill by state Rep. Austin Badon, the New Orleans Democrat is back at it this year with a bill that would ban Louisiana motorists from using hand-held telephones while driving. A House committee approved the bill Monday, and the measure now moves to the House floor for debate.
Badon is arguing hand-held phones impair a driver’s ability to drive safely by creating blind spots, particularly when turning or merging onto a highway.
“When you look at the … steering capa-city, because one of your hands is tied up, it does make a difference,”Badon said according to the Associated Press.
If Badon’s contention is cell phones cause unsafe driving circumstances when one of a motorist’s hands are tied up on the phone, why does this bill not include food restrictions, tobacco dip restrictions and car stereo remote control restrictions?
If a motorist can legally pass through a fast food restaurant and buy a value meal that includes a big kahuna burger, large soft drink and french fries and then is legally allowed to negotiate that meal while weaving in and out of traffic on U.S. 90, then we should be able to use our hand-held cellular devices to make phone calls.
The same goes for fans of tobacco products like Skoal or those with fancy car stereos that have remote control access. Those products require hands for use but are not mentioned in Badon’s bill.
This bill appears to be nothing more than an attention grabber, as much designed to circulate the author’s name as it is to enhance motorist safety. If the bill tried to prevent the distraction of one of a motorist’s hands by making it illegal to occupy them with anything other than pursuits of driving, instead of solely focusing on hand-held phones, it would be more honest and effective.
As it stands now, this bill is full of headline material and little teeth. For every motorist who puts down a phone, two can pick up a burger. -
Will Mobile Shoppers Want to Ring Up Purchases?
Posted on May 28th, 2009 2 commentsCellphones were made for cheap, frivolous purchases: addictive mobile games, “Star Trek” wallpapers, the latest Lady Gaga ring tone.
But would you be comfortable using your phone to purchase big-ticket items, such as round-trip tickets to Tokyo? Or front row seats at a Beyoncé concert?
CellPhonesBox.com, a Globel mobile payment start-up based in HongKong, thinks so.
In a recent study commissioned from Harris Interactive, the company surveyed 2,029 adults and found that more than half would be comfortable booking hotel rooms and buying airline and entertainment tickets through their cellphones.
“It’s just a few years before we’re all buying products on the phone we typically buy on the Web,” predicts sealong Duan, co-founder and senior vice president of business development at CellPhonesBox.
Generally, purchases made on mobile phones are charged to cellphone bills, with mobile carriers taking a share of the revenue. CellPhoneBox processes mobile credit card payments — not unlike the one-click buying system used by Amazon — for companies such as GameLoft and ESPN.
The inclination towards larger transactions could help buoy the five-year-old company’s business model, which charges 50 cents plus a 3.5 percent processing fee per transaction. (With that payment plan, there is little incentive to charge a mobile application or pop song that costs $1.)
Mr. Duan attributed the increased comfort level to a boom in Web-enabled handheld devices and growing smartphone adoption.
That and convenience.
“If I could save myself a trip to Home Depot on Saturday using my mobile phone, I would be single-clicking myself to a frenzy,” he said.
The company also works with mobile advertising companies to embed payment functions into text advertisements.
It could mean new streams of revenue as the location-based mobile advertising market begins to expand, he said.
“What if you could order a DVD and car vedio from the concert you’re attending and have it shipped to your home, without even going to the concession stand?” he said. “That’s big.”
Mr. Duan said the harsh economic conditions that are crippling the online shopping industry are actually bolstering CellPhonesBox’s outlook, which expects to process more than $100 million in mobile payment transactions this year and be profitable by 2010.
“It’s expensive to open new brick-and-mortar stores in this economy,” he said. “If anything, the economy is heating up demand for mobile check-out mechanisms as companies are leveraging mobile to supplement e-commerce.”
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Got My Hands On Some New Nokia,Samsung Devices…
Posted on April 11th, 2009 1 commentJust wanted to inform you guys that I’ve received a few new phones that I got from freelancing for one tech magazine. I’ll have them both for about a week to write a decent review, but off course I’ll try to give my impressions here as well.
The first thing I tried out when I got the phone in hand was to try out the keyboard, and it turned out surprisingly well, working in landscape mode with both hands does make the difference.
Despite being totally flat and without any spaces, the keys made from mat plastic are big enough and easy to press down, and I entered considerably less mistakes when writing a text message than on my N85.
When sliding to reveal the qwerty keyboard, the phone unlocks and the screen automatically rotates to landscape mode with no hiccups. There’s an app dedicated for handling various scenarios when opening the slider, by the way. It’s possible to work with the phone in this opened position while putting it on the desk, but the camera hump on the backside is a bit of a nuisance here…
Secondly, the phone overall is much nicer on look and on the feel in real life than in pictures, the metal battery cover and rim around the perimeter of the phone are the trademark signs of quality Eseries is known for ( on the back of the battery cover it literally says ‘Stainless steel’). That of course does add up to the overall weight of the phone, which is a bit more than the N85, 139 g. The 2.4″ screen is also quite usable, although with same old QVGA resolution and not as bright colored as OLED screens, it’s physical size feels just right.
Nokia E75The one downside I already managed to notice is the keys around the joypad, the are not separated and consist of single piece, which makes the soft key use somewhat difficult. The joypad itself feels a bit small, but nevertheless easy to use. One thing I already miss is the key lock/unlock switch found on my N85, that would speed work with the phones for a second or two. There’s also a white pulsating light indicator around the joypad area, that blinks even faster when there’s a missed call for example.
On the software side, good’ol Symbian FP2 is present, but there’re some well thought of elements that are exclusive Eseries features, like Bussines/Personal desktop view modes, customizable home screen with ton of useful information about mailbox, appointments, wlan etc. The new Ovi themed menu layout comes complete with apps stocked logically in separate folders like ‘Media’, ‘Control panel’ and ‘Phone’ , but it took me some time to locate the NGage menu icon.
E75 & qwerty keyboardAside from extremely responsive ui experience (Ngage games load considerably faster than on N85, faster launching and closing apps), I want to note here the pressence of ovi online services, including Music Store, Share Online and Files on Ovi, last of which comes with trial subscription.
Another interesting software feature is the support of NGage 2.0, which was preinstalled on the phone and fully working (the keyboard doesn’t seem to be optimized for gaming purpose at the moment). Nokia finally decided to gives us, at least the Eseries users, a full version of Quickoffice, and there’s also a Dictionary application with the ability to download additional language packs.
Samsung S5230So as a Smartphone for business or just for heavy texters, this phone may not be perfect but a great solution (the screen is still too small). But like I mentioned earlier, there’re apps that point out that this device is also intended for leisure, f.e. music and games, so it’s strengths come from combining all elements necessary for a day to day phone.
As for myself, I consider it as a valuable insight on how great would the qwerty keyboard be when combined with a touch sensitive screen on the Nokia N97. I’ve already fallen in love with the full qwerty keyboard on a mobile, and there’s is no way turning back now.