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Textually - SMS/Mobile Politics (10 unread)

May 23, 2012
2:58
How to water a farm with a phone
» ‎ Textually - SMS/Mobile Politics

Many farmers in India have to walk miles to turn on the pumps which irrigates their crops. Spencer Kelly reports on how farmers are using mobile phone technology to help ease their workload.
Watch BBC documentary video.
2:53
Wireless carriers seek to "offload" customers
» ‎ Textually - SMS/Mobile Politics

Major carriers are looking to steer customers' wireless traffic to cheaper and more localized networks, such as Wi-Fi hotspots.

Wireless companies say the new approach ("offloading" in industry parlance) will help meet customers' surging demand for more data bandwidth. Even as they build the next generation of faster wireless networks, called 4G LTE, carriers are discouraging heavy data users by eliminating unlimited data plans and enforcing monthly caps.

[via USA Today]
2:50
40% of those connecting to the web in China now do so solely via a mobile phone
» ‎ Textually - SMS/Mobile Politics

The BBC's John Sudworth meets the Chinese entrepreneurs targeting the world's biggest mobile phone market.
The mobile network growth in China has been remarkable, with some 80 million new subscribers coming online every year for the past decade.

But in some ways the real communications revolution has only just begun.

This year, China will overtake America as the world's biggest smartphone market.

And for many Chinese, the smartphone offers them their first personal route to access the internet - by some estimates 40% of those connecting to the web in China now do so solely via a mobile phone.

Read more on how mobile phone app makers in particular, have an extraordinary opportunity. Image credit.
May 22, 2012
12:58
Mobile Phones Offer Indian Women a Better Life
» ‎ Textually - SMS/Mobile Politics

In India, researchers are just beginning to study the effects that the explosive growth in the mobile phone market has had on womens lives. The New York Times reports.

For women like Ms. Gupta, recently married, access to a mobile phone can break the pattern of marital isolation. At the Barefoot College, a school in the northwestern state of Rajasthan that provides professional training for rural women, the mobile phone allows even illiterate entrepreneurs to compete in the marketplace.

In the state of Gujarat, the mobile phone is central to an innovative scheme that allows rural health care workers to compile information about pregnant women and then text message reminders for checkups and vaccinations.

... Access to a mobile phone can enhance womens welfare in other ways. In a recent report, Dayoung Lee, a student researcher at Stanford University in California, noted that mobile phones significantly decrease tolerance for wife beating and husbands control issues, and increase womens autonomy in mobility and economic independence. Access to outside support and the knowledge that others may intervene serve as a check on domestic violence.

Read full article. Image credit.
12:52
Future of mobile phones? Robot can climb out of your pocket and whisper in your ear
» ‎ Textually - SMS/Mobile Politics

This is wild. From mother nature network.

Chinese researchers have invented the world's first cloth-climbing robot, which can grasp onto creases and climb up your clothing, perch on your shoulder, and potentially whisper messages into your ear, according to IEEE Spectrum.

One possible application for the so-called Clothbot involves inspiring a new generation of mobile phones that are capable of autonomously crawling up to your ear whenever the phone rings.

It gives new meaning to the idea of owning a "mobile" phone. And as if having a phone crawl out of your pants isn't creepy enough, researchers also envision the device doubling as a Tamagotchi-like pet, which could roost on your shoulder or follow you around.

Read more.
12:08
'Smart calling' app lets you share pictures, video and location during phone call
» ‎ Textually - SMS/Mobile Politics

Bits reports on a company called Sidecar, based in San Francisco, that wants to re-imagine phone calls by turning them into something the company calls smart calling. The idea behind the Sidecar app, which is available on Tuesday for Android and iPhone, is that there is demand among users to share pictures, video and location data, all during the context of a phone call.

There a number of scenarios where this would be useful, the company says. If you call you wife from a department store to tell her about a nice-looking pair of shoes on sale, Sidecar lets you shoot video and pictures of the shoes and transmit it to her cellphone using a feature called see what I see, all without ending the phone call or having to start up another app.

If you call a plumber to beg him to help you to fix a pipe thats squirting water, Sidecar lets you use your phone so he can see the problem with his own eyes. In the middle of a phone call with a friend youre trying to meet for drinks, you can transmit your location so the other party can see where you are on a map.

Of course, a lot of this sharing can be done with other apps, but without Sidecar it takes about nine clicks on the phone to accomplish those tasks.

Read more.
2:35
Business world gets a new way to monitor employee SMS - by storing them in the cloud
» ‎ Textually - SMS/Mobile Politics

A startup called Uppidy has unveiled a service that backs up SMS services to the cloud, making it easier for individuals, parents, or even your employer to read your text messages.

So far, a few unnamed businesses are testing Uppidy on corporate phones, founder Joshua Konowe told Arstechnica. One customer is backing up and monitoring text messages from 500 phones, and another is doing so on 200.

Read full article in arstechnica.
2:25
SIM card to help parents protect children from bullying
» ‎ Textually - SMS/Mobile Politics

Parents will be able to control their child's mobile phone thanks to a SIM card remotely managed from a computer. The BBC reports.

The Bemilo system, to be run on the Vodafone network, offers a service for parents to prevent their children from going online, texting or calling during certain hours.

Unlike an app, a child will not be able to switch the service off.

The UK's Family and Parenting Institute said the SIM would help protect children from mobile phone bullying.

To have the service, parents would need to buy a "safety pack" with a SIM card inside, install it into the child's phone and use it on a pay-as-you-go basis, from £2.95 per month.

Read more.
2:10
Judge to Decide if Text Sender Liable for Crash
» ‎ Textually - SMS/Mobile Politics

A New Jersey judge is expected to rule this month on an interesting claim that a person can be held liable for sending a text to someone you know is driving, according to ABC News via Bernard Law Group.

In 2009, a 19-year-old man got into an accident while texting in his pickup truck. He replied to a text when his vehicle drifted across the center lane and struck a motorcycle.

Two people on the motorcycle suffered such serious injuries that they needed leg amputations. The couple sued the 19-year-old driver as well as the person who sent the text message.

According to ABCNews, Morris County Superior Court Judge David Rand is expected to make his ruling on May 25 about Colonnas potential liability in the accident.

Read more.
1:57
Electronic nose technology turns tomorrow's smart phones into devices that sniff out disease and terrorist bombs
» ‎ Textually - SMS/Mobile Politics

This video onByteSize Science mentions use of electronic nose technology to turn tomorrow's smart phones into devices that sniff out disease and terrorist bombs.

Related:

-- Saving the World With Cell Phones (2005)

-- Cell phone could warn of gas leaks (2003)

-- Phones that detect dirty bombs (2003)

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Textually - SMS/Mobile Politics (10 unread)