Nokia 5800 Picked up by Cincinnati Bell

Cincinnati Bell, the small regional telecom company, became the first U.S. carrier to sell the Nokia 5800 touchscreen smartphone. The phone had previously only been sold inside the United States at Nokia's flagship stores.

'The touch screen Nokia 5800 XpressMusic adds a new dimension to Cincinnati Bell's growing smartphone line up,' said Tim Bracken, director of consumer wireless for Cincinnati Bell. 'It truly is a modern entertainment device with advanced Web browsing, built-in GPS, picture messaging, and music capabilities that surpass expectations for a fresh everyday smartphone. Also, the Nokia 5800 is WiFi-enabled, which means customers can achieve some of the fastest data speeds available today.'

The phone will sell for $149 with a two-year service contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Nokia trumpeted the success of the phone worldwide, and announced in February that it had sold 1 million units in three weeks. However, the phone has not been picked up by any of the Tier 1 U.S. carriers.

Movaya Launches My Pet's Weekly Horoscope iPhone App

With Pet Zodiac and One Of America's Leading Pet Astrologers.

Every Week You'll Get A New Horoscope For Your Pet!

Oprah will do anything for her pets. President Barack Obama enjoys playing
with his puppy on the White House lawn. People find their perfect mate through
web site dating where they meet other people who love pets. Some people travel with pets. Others even drink beer with their pets. But now, there's something new you can do with your pet. We know you're worried about swine flue, terrorist attacks, pirates boarding ships, losing your home to mortgage foreclosure, the recession, no healthcare, losing your job, vampire video, who's on twitter and why the latest diet pill doesn't work, so get ready for some good news.

Pet-ertainment LLC and Movaya Wireless, Inc. are pleased to announce the first ever Horoscope app for your pet.

"My Pet's Weekly Horoscope" isn't like those that just show you cute pets, funny pets, the world's smartest dogs, crazy cats or adorable puppies. "My Pet's Weekly Horoscope" brings you closer to your dog or cat because you will now have insights into your pet's behavior. If you want to understand your dog or cat better, know what makes your pet tick and be able to change bad pet behavior, you want to get "My Pet's Weekly Horoscope" every week.

Can't wait to see your own horoscope? Now you can find out what the stars have in store for your furry best friend. Animalinks' pet astrologer Carol Jepson helps you and your pet get closer by forecasting how your pet may feel and act every week. Check out your dog's or cat's horoscope and your friend's pet's horoscope with our Pet Zodiac featuring twelve of the world's most loveable pets. Don't know your dog's or cat's birth month? Use our Key Word Match-Ups to find your pet's sign. Buy this app once and My Pet's Weekly Horoscope delivers a new 7-day fun forecast every Monday for your pet on your iPhone or iPod touch!

Get it now!

Lights out for incandescent lights?

The incandescent electric light was one of the paradigm-shifting inventions of the last 125 years, transforming the way people live, work and play. But the era of the incandescent light bulb may be drawing to a close.

Though more expensive up front, compact flourescent light bulbs are far more efficient -- and environmentally friendly -- than incandescent bulbs, using less electricity and lasting longer while providing the same amount of light. For that reason, local and state governments have been encouraging the adoption of compact flourescent bulbs, largely through subsidizing their cost. However, Australia is moving toward banning incandescent bulbs altogether by 2010. By enforcing minimum energy performance standards, selling incandescent bulbs would effectively be illegal. In the US, California is considering a similar measure that would outlaw sales of incandescent lights by 2012. The measure is significant because, as the nation's most populous state, California is a trendsetter in environmental and health legislation. Indeed, state governments in Connecticut and New Jersey (ironically, where Edison developed his light) are considering similar bans on incandescent lights.

The private sector is also jumping on the compact flourescent bandwagon. Retailers plan to increase shares of the bulbs substantially, and light bulb manufacturer Philips will stop manufacturing incandescent bulbs by 2016.

By switching to compact flourescent bulbs on a national level, Australia could cut its greenhouse gas emissions by four tons per year.

Source: International Herald Tribune

Marketers Have to Take Mobile Seriously Now

Interesting article on Mobile Advertising in BusinessWeek that is worth a read.

The article talks about Pandora - a nine-year-old, free online service that lets users design 'radio stations' based on their musical preferences. Pandora has become a very popular mobile app as well and advertisers like Best Buy, Dockers, Target, and Nike have started to buy ads on Pandora to experiment with what remains a cheap advertising medium.

'We've reached a tipping point,' says Domino's Pizza advertising executive Rob Weisberg. 'Marketers, especially consumer brands, have to take mobile seriously now. You have to be where your customer works, lives, and plays.'

Pandora mobile advertisers are seeing pretty solid response rates to their ads which bodes well for the medium.

Is Tesla Getting the Electric Car Right?

If the internal combustion engine is the technology environmentalists love to hate, the electric car is the technology everyone else hates to love. Electrics have long had the reputation for being underpowered, inefficient, and no more eco-friendly than any other type of car, as the electricity needed to run them normally comes from fossil fuels.

Enter Tesla Motors, a California-based startup that has developed the Tesla Roadster, a stylish, high-performance electric car that can reportedly go from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds and travel up to 250 miles between charges. The Roadster is still in the prototype stage, but just as important as the car itself is the way that Tesla proposes to fuel it. Tesla envisions a distributed network of charging stations that draw power from sustainable, environmentally friendly sources.

Source: Long Tail

Bruce Sterling on Earth-Friendly Pervasive Computing

Noting that the word 'computer' is disappearing from technologists' vocabularies, science fiction author and futurist Bruce Sterling believes that as the Internet subsumes computing, we are truly on the path toward a highly embedded wireless network in which nearly everything is a node:

In 2007 the computer gave up taking over the world. Instead the world took over the computer. The Internet became a wholly owned subset of Reality 2.0. When the actual world invades the virtual world, it scatters the computer into tiny physical pieces, some no bigger than dust. "Intelligent printing," another modern darling, is semiconductor ink sprayed on cardboard. There's never been a humbler, cheaper "computer."

Sterling envisions a world in which the chips that drive it are powered by tiny amounts of ambient energy -- nearly any form of heat or light will do. Such chips would have such low power requirements that they wouldn't need a dedicated power source, and would use up hardly any natural resources.

Source: Futurismic

Cell Phone Gaming Taking Off

According to a new consumer study conducted by research firm Information Solutions Group on behalf of casual games publisher PopCap Games, 57% of AT&T wireless subscribers play mobile games.

The advent of the iPhone and its App Store have made the download and usage of mobile games easier than ever, and the mobile gaming industry is expected to grow more than 10% per year to hit $6.3 billion in user spending by 2011, according to a report from Gartner.

52% of gamers cited 'distraction from daily life issues' as the top benefit derived from mobile gaming, followed by 'relaxation and stress relief' (40%) and 'improved mood' (12%)--in addition, 52% of gamers said they play mobile titles during work hours, and 14% selected 'during my work day, when I need a short break' as the time when they most often play games on their phone.

60% of all mobile gamers cited 'while waiting for an appointment' as a time when they play mobile games, with 'during the day on weekdays' selected by 34% of respondents and 'when traveling on vacation' and 'on the weekend' tying for third at 25% each.

The Information Solutions Group study reports that 59% of AT&T gamers play games on their phone at least once a month, and 40% said they play weekly or more often--41% said they played less than once per month. 91% of mobile gaming sessions last fewer than 30 minutes, and 62% extend fewer than 15 minutes. In all, 71% of mobile gamers play games on their phone for less than an hour per week, although 52% of those who play daily said they play for three or more hours per week.

Asked to name 'games you enjoy playing on your cell phone,' 20% of AT&T gamers cited Tetris, followed by Bejeweled at 18% and Solitaire at 17%. Puzzle games topped popular genres at 66%, followed by card/casino titles at 51%--board games earned 15% of the vote, with action/adventure trailing at 11%.

86% of mobile gamers also play video games on one or more other devices, with 76% of gamers playing on computers, 41% on consoles and 24% on handheld game devices.

17% of mobile gamers consider their mobile handset their primary gaming device.

The End of 'Cheap Food'?

From the end of World War II until now, most nations have enjoyed plentiful and relatively inexpensive food supplies. But now, according to the well-known futurist think tank Global Business Network, that era may be ending.

GBN cites the near doubling of corn prices on the world market in the past year as evidence that this trend has already begun. Factors that are driving up prices include increased demand by the growing world population, as well as the growth of Asian economies. The latter is significant because, as economies prosper, meat consumption increases... and with it, the need for livestock feed. Increasing consumption of bio-fuels will stress grain supplies even further. Throw global warming into the mix (crop yields can fall by up to 5% for every 0.9 degree F rise in temperature) , and the stage is set for possibly much higher food prices worldwide, shortages, and ultimately, mass starvation in the poorest countries.

Writes GBN's Gwynne Dyer, PhD, 'In the early stages of this process, higher food prices will help millions of farmers who have been scraping along on very poor returns for their effort because political power lies in the cities, but later it gets uglier. The price of food relative to average income is heading for levels that have not been seen since the early 19th century, and it will not come down again in our lifetimes.' [Emphasis added]

Source: Arlington Institute

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Capcom Mobile Launches KENKEN for iPhone

Capcom Mobile, a leading developer and publisher of mobile games, and NEXTOY today announced the launch of the hit puzzle game KENKEN on the Apple App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. KENKEN: Train Your Brain!, features stunning graphics, intuitive controls and 250 new puzzles to challenge puzzle masters and casual gamers alike.

KENKEN has become a certified phenomenon with more that 1.5 million puzzle books sold and regular puzzles appearing in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Detroit Free Press, Readers Digest and on NYTimes.com.

The brainchild of Japanese Math teacher Tetsuya Miyamoto and made famous by puzzle master Will Shortz, KENKEN requires simple arithmetic calculations and logic to decipher the ingenious puzzles. Translated as 'wisdom squared' in Japanese, KENKEN involves addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

With difficulty levels from beginner to advanced, KENKEN puzzles improve logical thinking, concentration and perseverance.

If you've never played KENKEN it is in the same category as Sudoku but with a different twist. You can try it out online here and see what you think, or you can watch a how to play video here.

KENKEN: Train Your Brain is available from iTunes for $4.99.

Cheaper iPhone Coming Soon?

Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference kicks off Monday and according to Financial Times, Apple plans to introduce a cheaper version of its popular iPhone as soon as Monday, in a move that could dramatically increase the company's share of the smart phone market.

Analysts said that the company is likely to introduce either a $149 phone or a $99 phone, down from the current low end of $199.

Citing a firm survey of consumers, Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty said that a $50 price cut could increase demand for the phone by 50% and a $100 cut by 100%.

Apple sells about 11% of the world's smart phones, trailing Nokia at 41% and Research in Motion (Blackberry) at 20%, according to Gartner figures from the first quarter.

Billing Revolution Says Mobile Shopping About to Explode

Americans are gradually warming up to the idea of buying things via their mobile phones, particularly young adults and men, found a new study conducted by Harris Interactive for the mobile credit card security firm Billing Revolution.

Harris surveyed 2,029 adults from April 29 to May 1; 1,883 of those surveyed were cell phone owners (93%). Close to half (45%) said they think that shopping via cell phones is "somewhat safe," though just over a quarter (26%) feel that mobile shopping is completely safe.

Regardless, fewer than half of those surveyed (46%) said they would be willing to shop using their cell phones even if safety was not an issue. But attitudes vary based on age and sex, according to Harris. As with many emerging technology-driven habits, younger adults appear more willing to embrace change; 59% of the 18-34 crowd feels that mobile shopping is somewhat safe, versus just 34% of adults over 55. Also, half of men find the concept of cell phone shopping somewhat safe versus 39% of women.

The relative youth, as well as the male-skewing nature of the potential mobile shopping audience seems to influence the sort of purchases respondents indicated they would be willing to make. Harris found that entertainment is likely to emerge as a key mobile commerce category, as willing mobile shoppers said they would be most interested in purchases such as movie tickets, music, mobile video and games.

Officials at Billing Revolution said the survey results indicated that mobile shopping is poised for growth in the near term, as more and more Americans purchase sophisticated smart phones like Apple's iPhone and spend more time accessing the Internet via these devices. "There's clearly a large U.S. population of consumers open to the idea of making purchases via their cell phones," said Andy Kleitsch, CEO Billing Revolution. "With consumers getting more comfortable navigating the Web from mobile phones, mobile commerce is poised for explosive growth, and consumers are very much leading the charge in this direction."

M-Commerce Usage Grows According to PriceGrabber

According to a new report from PriceGrabber.com, the increased popularity of Web-enabled phones in the United States has helped online shoppers become mobile Internet shoppers. One in 10 online consumers said they purchase online from their mobile device, 16% compare prices and another 16% research product details/specifications. Of the online consumers making purchases from their mobile phones, 58% have purchased digital content for their phone, 51% have purchased consumer electronics, 37% have purchased computers, 36% have purchased books, and 31% have purchased clothing.

Smartphone and iPhone owners are comfortable using the mobile Internet to make purchases. 56% of Apple iPhone owners and 28% of smartphone owners already are comparing prices online with their mobile phones. Additionally, 27% of iPhone owners and 35% of smartphone owners anticipate that they will be comparing prices within two years.

Click here to read the full report.

The report is based on a survey of 3,305 U.S. online consumers with mobile phones, which was conducted from March 10-31, 2009.