Samsung skips the touchscreen, patents gesture-based phone interface

April 18, 2008

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Samsung's been getting pretty creative with cell cameras lately -- the Instinct lets you pan around web pages by tracking movement with the camera, for example -- but the company's latest patent application, for a gesture-based phone interface, might be a little less practical. The idea is to use the phone's camera to track your hand movements, which, from the drawings, should have you looking insane on the subway in no time. Of course, we've all been guilty of waving at and even talking to our devices when they're acting up, so maybe a little feedback wouldn't be a bad thing -- there's one gesture we'd definitely like to see programmed in there.

[Via Textually.org]
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AT&T’s job cuts to be offset with hires in Mobility unit

April 18, 2008

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AT&T has announced plans to cut 1.5 percent of its workforce of 309,000. Sad times ahead for the company? Not quite. Apparently the 4600 jobs will be harvested from managerial spots in its flagging wired home phone business, so no worries, wireless types. Now here's where it gets interesting: word has it that AT&T also expects to hire back that same number of employees into the fold -- the wireless fold, that is -- keeping the total headcount nice and steady. We'd wager that we'll see more cuts like this in the coming months and years, so if you were pondering that job as a switchboard operator, time to retrain. So yeah, turns out it's business as usual for the number one carrier after all -- unless you happen to be in the 4600-strong group of obsoleted folks, that is.

[Via mocoNews]
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Posted by Syndicated Listing | Filed Under Cellphones | Comments Off 

AT&T’s job cuts to be offset with hires in Mobility unit

April 18, 2008

Filed under:

AT&T has announced plans to cut 1.5 percent of its workforce of 309,000. Sad times ahead for the company? Not quite. Apparently the 4600 jobs will be harvested from managerial spots in its flagging wired home phone business, so no worries, wireless types. Now here's where it gets interesting: word has it that AT&T also expects to hire back that same number of employees into the fold -- the wireless fold, that is -- keeping the total headcount nice and steady. We'd wager that we'll see more cuts like this in the coming months and years, so if you were pondering that job as a switchboard operator, time to retrain. So yeah, turns out it's business as usual for the number one carrier after all -- unless you happen to be in the 4600-strong group of obsoleted folks, that is.

[Via mocoNews]
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Air France in-flight calling tests begin: not so great

April 18, 2008

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That Air France in-flight calling trial is now well underway, and it looks like there's still some kinks left to iron out. The New York Times hitched a ride on a recent flight featuring tests of the system, and found that things weren't quite working up to snuff: voice quality was said to be like "talking to a small robot," only six passengers could get a signal at a time, Blackberry email didn't work, and calls placed from the ground to cell phones in the air went straight to voicemail. That's a pretty long list for a system that's been talked about for a couple years now -- let's hope OnAir manages to clear up some of these glitches before angry passengers revolt over not only having to listen to other people's conversations, but also their screaming over bad connections.
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Air France in-flight calling tests begin: not so great

April 18, 2008

Filed under:

That Air France in-flight calling trial is now well underway, and it looks like there's still some kinks left to iron out. The New York Times hitched a ride on a recent flight featuring tests of the system, and found that things weren't quite working up to snuff: voice quality was said to be like "talking to a small robot," only six passengers could get a signal at a time, Blackberry email didn't work, and calls placed from the ground to cell phones in the air went straight to voicemail. That's a pretty long list for a system that's been talked about for a couple years now -- let's hope OnAir manages to clear up some of these glitches before angry passengers revolt over not only having to listen to other people's conversations, but also their screaming over bad connections.
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How would you change GamePark’s GP2X F-200 handheld?

April 18, 2008

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Alright, so we know there aren't hordes of you out there currently possessing one of GamePark's GP2X F-200 handhelds, but we have absolutely no doubts that the owners that do exist are mighty vocal about their diminutive emulation powerhouse. When the unit was reviewed recently over at Ars Technica, critics found an awful lot to love, but it's not like the admittedly hefty, battery-eating, mildly unsightly unit was flawless or anything. Sure, we know the hardcore emulation geeks out there are likely turning their attention to the forthcoming Pandora, but that's not to say the F-200 can't handle a good talking-to from its loyal followers. Go on, put away that unconditional adoration for just a moment and tell the world how this thing actually could be improved upon -- we're sure there's something that grinds the gears.
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How would you change GamePark’s GP2X F-200 handheld?

April 18, 2008

Filed under: ,


Alright, so we know there aren't hordes of you out there currently possessing one of GamePark's GP2X F-200 handhelds, but we have absolutely no doubts that the owners that do exist are mighty vocal about their diminutive emulation powerhouse. When the unit was reviewed recently over at Ars Technica, critics found an awful lot to love, but it's not like the admittedly hefty, battery-eating, mildly unsightly unit was flawless or anything. Sure, we know the hardcore emulation geeks out there are likely turning their attention to the forthcoming Pandora, but that's not to say the F-200 can't handle a good talking-to from its loyal followers. Go on, put away that unconditional adoration for just a moment and tell the world how this thing actually could be improved upon -- we're sure there's something that grinds the gears.
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Samsung aiming for water-powered cellphones by 2010

April 18, 2008

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We've seen quite a few prototype fuel-cell powered mobile devices, but Samsung's upping the ante by predicting that we'll all be running our phones on water by 2010. The company says it's developed a method to generate hydrogen by exposing water to metal, but the details are a little shaky -- we're guessing it's similar to the system used in the HydroPak generator, but it's hard to tell. Still, we've got no reason to doubt Samsung's engineers, who say the system currently provides about 10 hours of use, or about five days of average cell usage, and will eventually allow users to simply top off and go. That's every traveler's dream -- let's get this to market, Sammy.
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Samsung aiming for water-powered cellphones by 2010

April 18, 2008

Filed under:


We've seen quite a few prototype fuel-cell powered mobile devices, but Samsung's upping the ante by predicting that we'll all be running our phones on water by 2010. The company says it's developed a method to generate hydrogen by exposing water to metal, but the details are a little shaky -- we're guessing it's similar to the system used in the HydroPak generator, but it's hard to tell. Still, we've got no reason to doubt Samsung's engineers, who say the system currently provides about 10 hours of use, or about five days of average cell usage, and will eventually allow users to simply top off and go. That's every traveler's dream -- let's get this to market, Sammy.
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BenQ’s Atom-based MID gets detailed

April 18, 2008

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BenQ has been showing off its first stab at an MID since the Intel Developer Forum last fall, but it hasn't exactly been all that forthcoming about the full specs of the device. That situation seems to have changed at the more recent IDF in Shanghai, however, although those details seem to just now be making their way across the Internet. As we knew before, the device will pack an Intel Atom processor (the base 800MHz model), which will apparently be backed up by 512MB of RAM, a 4GB SSD hard drive, and HSPDA support in addition to some integrated WiFi and Bluetooth. The device will also apparently pack a so-called "G-Senser" for "direct touch and free movement to surf on internet," along with voice activation, and optional GPS. Still no word on the all important pricing or release details, unfortunately, although we hope BenQ will save itself some embarrassment but getting the thing out the door before the next Intel Developer Forum.

[Via Slash Gear]
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