Rogers Unveils Hybrid Phone

Rogers Communications Inc. is rolling out new phones to Canadians that are aimed squarely at freeing them from the land lines. The new dual mode phones "function as a regular cellphone outside the home, but also connect to the Internet through Wi-Fi when in range of the customer's home router" according to the CBC. Rogers chief marketing officer John Boynton tells CBCNews.ca that "It's a way for them to have just one phone period," and "This is one phone, one phone number, one voice mail, one caller ID." According to Statistics Canada about 6.4% of Canadians have already ditched land lines in favour of cell phones, a figure that lags behind other developed nations. The launch of this new product will likely help drive that figure up, at least this is what Rogers is counting on.

Putting your house plants on a do not call list?

The CBC has a great story about four students at New York University's interactive telecommunications program, who have created a system of moisture sensors that are linked to a decision tree, excuse the pun, and pre-recorded phone messages. The system allows plants to let the students know via telephone when they require watering, and "There are set thresholds, unique to each plant, for minimum and maximum soil moisture." There are currently 5 messages possible, from I need water to You've over watered me. The students say they are working on a system for home users and one that will allow plants within a room to talk to each other. My mother always claimed that talking to plants was good for them, I just didn't think they'd ever talk back!

iPhone battery praise

In a move to either promote the upcoming iPhone release, just ten days away, or to quell any questions about the highly anticipated device's battery life, Apple has released a statement on it's web site that boasts the longevity of the iPhone's battery charge. Apple's device, according to the manufacturer, outlasts it's competitors by 2 times. A chart on the site compares the iPhone to the Nokia N95, Samsung Blackjack, Blackberry Curve 8300, and Palm Treo 750. Besides battery life they compare screen size, display surface and Wi-Fi support. Some reports have stated that Apple has already received a million inquiries for the device and apparently one desperate consumer has offered $10,000 on Craigslist for the device. The iPhone hits the street in the U.S. on June 29th, no release date available for Canada yet.

Leopards lured by ringtones

According to this CNN/Reuters story, forest guards in India are employing new methods to trap leopards who wander too close to villages. The resourceful guards are placing cell phones in cages and playing ringtones of cows mooing, goats bleating, and roosters crowing to lure the animals into their trap. So far 5 leopards have been caught and reintroduced to the wild, safely away from humans. The method is being heralded for its safety to the animals involved as the previous method involved live bait and covered pits that obviously put the bait at risk and the leopards in jeopardy from the fall. The question is, are the leopards fooled by the ringtone or are they just annoyed by the cellphone interrupting their meal?

Ads on your cell phone

Is nothing sacred? Looks like Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and AOL are lining up to serve us ads on our cell phones. With a number of start up purchases and some home grown applications the big guys are seeing big bucks in our small screens. Business 2.0 has the story here.

That thumb drive speaks volumes!

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider Vonage has introduced the V-phone, a bright orange 256 MB thumb drive complete with Vonage Talk Software pre-loaded, a detachable stereo earpiece/microphone, and your own Vonage phone number. The beauty of this little device is that there is no need to install the software on your PC, or restart your machine to use it. Just plug the device into any available USB port, assuming the PC being plugged into has a high speed connection, and start calling! Considering I paid $99 as an upgrade to my Dell PC a couple of years ago for my 64 MB USB drive, the $29.99 (ca) price tag seems reasonable. There is of course a requirement to subscribe to a Vonage service plan, which start at $19.99 (ca). You can compare that to your current phone service and make your own decision whether or not it's worth the expense, and of course there are other VoIP services such as Skype to consider but this little device does have it's merits. If nothing else, there are 250 MB's of free space to store your MP3's on...

Sounds like a great solution for road warriors and students wanting to stay in touch with home, at $20 a month for 500 minutes the return on investment should be decent..."Dad, my marks are good. Can you send money?"

De-vice

It appears as though school boards everywhere are facing new challenges in their efforts to thwart cheats, and have been developing policies to ban or at least control the use of electronic devices in the classroom. One would expect those who are inclined to take the easy way out to quickly grasp the concept of texting but the little cheats are apparently more creative than I would have given them credit for... apparently some have taken to recording notes on their mp3 players and hiding their ear buds in the sleeve of their hoodies, placing their hand near their ear to listen to recording at the appropriate time. Even more ingenious is the use of the mp3 files tags to hide notes in a songs data for display on the screen... now that's using your brain! If only they would put those brains to good use and do a little studying.

News Release - Eastern School District - April 19, 2007 (pdf)

CNN article