Subversive bathrom scales sends SMS with your weight June 30, 2008
Core77 writes up 3 subversive bathroom scales designed by Alice Wang, a recent graduate of RCA.On “White Lies”, the further back you stand, the lighter you become on the digital display. On the “Half-Truth” scale, your partner becomes responsible for deciding whether to lie or come clean, since the display is on the front face of the device, out of the subject’s view.
And relevent to this column, “Open Secret” reveals your weight every time you weigh yourself by sending a text message to a desired mobile phone.
Wang offers that “the receiver is then responsible to reveal the answer …
Email This PostDelta Adds Cell Phone Boarding Pass June 23, 2008
Delta Air Lines is now permitting travelers at New York’s LaGuardia International Airport to use their cell phones as a boarding pass, reports TreoCentral.
“Domestic passengers can download their boarding passes to their mobile phones from the company’s web site When they get to the airport, they skip the check-in lines and go directly to the airport screening area.”
Email This PostNelson Mandela Charities Launch International SMS Campaign June 19, 2008
To celebrate the 90th birthday of Nelson Mandela, his charitable organisations have come together to launch an international premium SMS service, allowing millions to text their own birthday message to the former South African president.
A mixture of shared and dedicated PSMS codes have been set up in over 20 countries around the world including the U.S., U.K., South Africa, Australia, Spain and Germany as well as many African nations making this one of the biggest premium SMS fundraising initiatives to be staged. Well wishers text their own message to their specific short code in country, receive a return thank you …
Email This PostSpain’s National Obsession with Mobiles, Texting June 18, 2008
An insightful and thorough article on the Spanish cell phone culture from PBS.”… To say that Spain is crazy for cell phones is an understatement. Approximately 44 million people live in Spain, but in January of this year the number of cell phones in the country reached 50 million. There are more phones than people here.
“While Americans might also be addicted to the cell, the Spanish relationship with the cell phone has evolved differently from ours for reasons that are clear and others that remain a mystery.”
… Because Spain seemed so much ahead of the U.S. in using mobile …
Email This PostMobile phones expose human habits June 13, 2008
The whereabouts of more than 100,000 mobile phone users have been tracked in an attempt to build a comprehensive picture of human movements. The BBC reports.”The study concludes that humans are creatures of habit, mostly visiting the same few spots time and time again.
Most people also move less than 10km on a regular basis, according to the study published in the journal Nature.
The results could be used to help prevent outbreaks of disease or forecast traffic, the scientists said.
…The new work tracked 100,000 individuals selected randomly from a sample of more than six million anonymous phone users.
Each time a …
Email This PostEradicating TB with … cell phone minutes? June 11, 2008
One of the biggest challenges in fighting tuberculosis is simply getting patients to take their medicine.
MIT students have come up with a possible solution: A new testing and reporting system that is easy for patients to use and offers economic incentives such as free cell phone minutes.
Tuberculosis kills an estimated two million people every year, and treating the disease requires a strict six-month regimen of antibiotics. If patients abandon the treatment early, the TB bacteria survive and can become resistant to first-line antibiotics.
“TB is a massive problem, and it’s exacerbated by the fact that people have a lot of trouble …
Email This PostEco conscious mobile gaming June 9, 2008
NEW DELHI, India - An interesting new initiative has been launched using mobile gaming as a mouthpiece in helping educate gamers on issues of climate change. Dubbed Connect-2-Climate, this innovative program is a collaborative project between games developer ZMQ Software Systems and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), with the release of games such as ‘DeCarbonator’ and ‘Mission Lighting’ across India, it hopes to engage players on a fundamental entertainment level with an eco educational agenda in tow.
ZMQ has a history of giving games a sense of global social responsibility, having previously launched games in India to educate …
Email This PostCarvel Goes Mobile With Summer Sweepstakes June 6, 2008
The nation’s favorite spokeswhale, Fudgie, is breaking into mobile marketing and asking consumers to text “FUDGIE” to 78247 to receive a coupon for one of the new blended coffees or Arctic Blenders and a chance to win one of five 42-inch TVs.
In addition, consumers can play a virtual matching game at carvel.com for a chance to win a technology package that includes a 42-inch, flat-screen TV, surround-sound system and HD DVD player, or $2,500; a laptop computer, or $1,000; or an 8GB MP3 player, or $250. Both contests end July 31.
Carvel brought Fudgie the Whale, formerly a popular Carvel cake, …
Mobile Marketing Association Publishes Global Mobile Advertising Guidelines June 4, 2008
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), (www.mmaglobal.com), which represents more than 600 companies across the mobile marketing ecosystem, today announced the release of its global Mobile Advertising Guidelines. The first set of global guidelines issued by the association, are designed to encourage the uptake of mobile advertising by brands worldwide whilst enhancing and protecting the customer’s experience, by creating a framework for brands and media companies to deliver mobile advertising in a positive and consistent way. The guidelines have received industry endorsements from associations such as IAB UK and Mexico, dotMobi Advisory Group (MAG), ADMA and others.
Over the past decade, consumer …
Email This PostTaxi fare payment via SMS in Abu Dhabi June 2, 2008
Abu Dhabi residents will soon have the option to pay for taxis by sending an SMS from their mobile phones under a new e-payment system, reported Gulf News. The system, called ‘Q-cash’, will be rolled out by the end of August or September this year. It is hoped that all taxis in the emirate will eventually offer it to their customers.
Via AME
