THE MOBILE HORNET … for those who get turned on by mobile devices

ROLL OUT YOUR SCREEN, PLEASE

UNWIRED VIEW reported:

“The design of the mobile phones is always a fight between two opposite objectives - portability and usability. The more small and portable the device becomes, the less usable the user interface can be.

You can make the phone screen only that small, until the information displayed on it becomes unreadable. The same goes for the input devices. Make the keyboard small enough, and the user will have a really hard time pressing the correct keys.

Well. Motorola has an interesting idea what to do about that. In a patent application “User Interface System” it describes a concept of mobile phone with rollable display and/or keyboard.

Of course, the idea of flexible/rollable screens and keyboards is nothing new. The are quite a few of these gadgets on the market or at least in late prototype stage. The problem with these devices is that flexible/rollable is by definition not rigid. And using the phone with a keypad or display flapping in the wind, is not such a good idea.

But Motorola has found the way around this little problem, by using a reservoir with electrorheological fluid beneath the foldable display or keypad. This fluid becomes a solid material when electric current is applied to it, and then reverts again to fluid state when the electric current disappears.

The phone with either rollable display or keypad will have all it’s working electronics in a solid part, with an enclosure for the flexible part located here as well. In inactive state the flexible part rests in an enclosure.

Whenever the call comes in, or you want to make one, press a button. Electric current is applied, the display rolls out and springs into a solid state, and you use the device as any other mobile phone. Press the button again, and display folds back-in.

To take it even further, both display and keypad can be made flexible. You just put all the necessary electronics into a solid container, with the enclosures for flexible display and keypad. This way you could make matchbox sized mobile mobile phone, which will be as easy to use as any other clamshell.

Looks like an interesting, if pretty far fetched idea, which probably won’t come to life anytime soon.”

BUILDING A BETTER PHONE FOR CONSUMERS

Today, there are 1.5 billion television sets in use around the world. 1 billion people are on the Internet. But nearly 3 billion people have a mobile phone, making it one of the world’s most successful consumer products. Building a better mobile phone would enrich the lives of countless people across the globe. The Open Handset Alliance™ is a group of mobile and technology leaders who share this vision for changing the mobile experience for consumers.

The first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices has arrived.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.; BONN, Germany; TAOYUAN, Taiwan; SAN DIEGO, Calif.; SCHAUMBERG, Ill.,
November 5, 2007 :
A broad alliance of leading technology and wireless companies today joined forces to announce the development of Android, the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. Google Inc., T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm, Motorola and others have collaborated on the development of Android through the Open Handset Alliance, a multinational alliance of technology and mobile industry leaders.

This alliance shares a common goal of fostering innovation on mobile devices and giving consumers a far better user experience than much of what is available on today’s mobile platforms. By providing developers a new level of openness that enables them to work more collaboratively, Android will accelerate the pace at which new and compelling mobile services are made available to consumers.

With nearly 3 billion users worldwide, the mobile phone has become the most personal and ubiquitous communications device. However, the lack of a collaborative effort has made it a challenge for developers, wireless operators and handset manufacturers to respond as quickly as possible to the ever-changing needs of savvy mobile consumers. Through Android, developers, wireless operators and handset manufacturers will be better positioned to bring to market innovative new products faster and at a much lower cost. The end result will be an unprecedented mobile platform that will enable wireless operators and manufacturers to give their customers better, more personal and more flexible mobile experiences.

Thirty-four companies have formed the Open Handset Alliance, which aims to develop technologies that will significantly lower the cost of developing and distributing mobile devices and services. The Android platform is the first step in this direction — a fully integrated mobile “software stack” that consists of an operating system, middleware, user-friendly interface and applications. Consumers should expect the first phones based on Android to be available in the second half of 2008.

The Android platform will be made available under one of the most progressive, developer-friendly open-source licenses, which gives mobile operators and device manufacturers significant freedom and flexibility to design products. Next week the Alliance will release an early access software development kit to provide developers with the tools necessary to create innovative and compelling applications for the platform.

Android holds the promise of unprecedented benefits for consumers, developers and manufacturers of mobile services and devices. Handset manufacturers and wireless operators will be free to customize Android in order to bring to market innovative new products faster and at a much lower cost. Developers will have complete access to handset capabilities and tools that will enable them to build more compelling and user-friendly services, bringing the Internet developer model to the mobile space. And consumers worldwide will have access to less expensive mobile devices that feature more compelling services, rich Internet applications and easier-to-use interfaces — ultimately creating a superior mobile experience.

 

Open Software, Open Device, Open Ecosystem

“This partnership will help unleash the potential of mobile technology for billions of users around the world. A fresh approach to fostering innovation in the mobile industry will help shape a new computing environment that will change the way people access and share information in the future,” said Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt. “Today’s announcement is more ambitious than any single ‘Google Phone’ that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks. Our vision is that the powerful platform we’re unveiling will power thousands of different phone models.”

“As a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance, T-Mobile is committed to innovation and fostering an open platform for wireless services to meet the rapidly evolving and emerging needs of wireless customers,” said René Obermann, Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Telekom, parent company of T-Mobile. “Google has been an established partner for T-Mobile’s groundbreaking approach to bring the mobile open Internet to the mass market. We see the Android platform as an exciting opportunity to launch robust wireless Internet and Web 2.0 services for T-Mobile customers in the US and Europe in 2008.”

“HTC’s trademark on the mobile industry has been its ability to drive cutting-edge innovation into a wide variety of mobile devices to create the perfect match for individuals,” said Peter Chou, Chief Executive Officer, HTC Corp. “Our participation in the Open Handset Alliance and integration of the Android platform in the second half of 2008 enables us to expand our device portfolio into a new category of connected mobile phones that will change the complexion of the mobile industry and re-create user expectations of the mobile phone experience.”

“The convergence of the wireless and Internet industries is creating new partnerships, evolving business models and driving innovation,” said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer of Qualcomm. “We are extremely pleased to be participating in the Open Handset Alliance, whose mission is to help build the leading open-source application platform for 3G networks. The proliferation of open-standards-based handsets will provide an exciting new opportunity to create compelling services and devices. As a result, we are committing research and development resources to enable the Android platform and to create the best always-connected consumer experience on our chipsets.”

“Motorola has long been an advocate of open software for mobile platforms. Today, we’re excited to continue this support by joining Google and others in the announcement of the Open Handset Alliance and Android platform. Motorola plans to leverage the Android platform to enable seamless, connected services and rich consumer experiences in future Motorola products,” said Ed Zander, Chairman and CEO of Motorola, Inc.

 

Open Handset Alliance Founding Members

Aplix (www.aplixcorp.com),

Ascender Corporation (www.ascendercorp.com),

Audience (www.audience.com),

Broadcom (www.broadcom.com),

ChinaMobile(www.chinamobile.com) ,

eBay (www.ebay.com),

Esmertec (www.esmertec.com),

Google (www.google.com),

HTC (www.htc.com),

Intel (www.intel.com),

KDDI (www.kddi.com),

Living Image (www.livingimage.jp),

LG (www.lge.com),

Marvell (www.marvell.com),

Motorola (www.motorola.com),

NMS Communications
(www.nmscommunications.com),

Noser (www.noser.com),

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (www.nttdocomo.com),

Nuance (www.nuance.com),

Nvidia (www.nvidia.com),

PacketVideo (www.packetvideo.com),

Qualcomm (www.qualcomm.com),

Samsung (www.samsung.com),

SiRF (www.sirf.com),

SkyPop (www.skypop.com),

SONiVOX (www.sonivoxrocks.com),

Sprint Nextel (www.sprint.com),

Synaptics (www.synaptics.com),

TAT - The Astonishing Tribe (www.tat.se),

Telecom Italia (www.telecomitalia.com),

Telefónica (www.telefonica.com),

Texas Instruments (www.ti.com),

T-Mobile (www.t-mobile.com),

Wind River (www.windriver.com)

WHAT IS A PENIS DOING INSIDE THE PHONE?

Looks like Motorola is getting naughty these days. Some of their recent phones are said to have a penis in the clock face. However the company denies that the image is, in fact, a penis !

Read the full text of their denial:

“The image that you see is actually the result of shading applied to the clock background graphic to give it more of a three-dimensional appearance, in line with the theme of the phone. The graphic is actually built as concentric circles stacked on top of each other, with a lighting filter applied to give it depth. Unfortunately, the result is something that has some readers questioning what they see, and Motorola apologizes for any perception of impropriety as it was certainly not our intent at all. The graphic is only in a few models of our phones with certain software builds installed. We’re already taking steps to ensure that the clock face graphic in question will not appear in any future products. If someone wants to remove the graphic from their view, they can either select Menu -> Settings / Personalize / Home Screen / Clock / Digital, or Options/Customize Home/Clock Style/Digital, depending on their phone model.”

With all the explanation, it still looks like a penis. What do you think?

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”

Today is the beginning of The Mobile Hornet. The Mobile Hornet will be the place where you will get the latest on mobile devices … be it a Pocket PC phone, a smartphone, a PDA, or a cellphone or ….