Paul Golding: Hot Products

Wed, 09 Feb 2005 11:55:34 GMT

@ If you're still reading this....

...you shouldn't be. Your browser should have been redirected to my new blog

http://wirelesswonders.blogspot.com/

Thu, 29 Jul 2004 21:29:00 GMT

@ Running on air...

As someone who does a bit of running to keep fit, I can testify to the psychological importance of measuring one's performance. Most of the time, I feel the need to time my runs. Of course, I am looking for improvement, or at least consistency.

I am also interested to know how far I have run. With a friend from Motorola, I brain-stormed possible measuring apparatus for precision distance measurement. Most of the time, we gravitated toward optical measurement solutions using cameras, akin to the way an optical mouse works.

I was intrigued to find out about a pair of training shoes, I think by Nike, that include a microprocessor. I instantly assumed this was for such measurements, but it turns out to be a real-time controller for pumping goo around the sole of the shoe to adjust damping. I did think this might prove useful, with some kind of bio-feedback, to help avoid injuries.

It seems that Philips/Nike have now addressed the measurement problem. As one might expect, the solution is also an entertainment device, centred on music - or audio, playback. MP3 of course, hence the name, MP3Run. Fantastically, the sensor that straps on the shoe, communicating via Bluetooth back to the main arm- or body-strapped unit, uses 2D accelerometers to do the sensing. As a user of an air-mouse, I have an enthusiasm for these groovy sensors, so I was enthused by their use in this application.

Just take a read of Philip's whitepaper about the device to appreciate the processing power of the solution:

When the player is used for the first time, the runner does not necessarily have to input information on aspects such as length of stride beforehand. The sensor on the shoe measures 1000 times per second acceleration/deceleration of each stride using a 2 dimensional acceleration sensor. This information is used by a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) to re-construct the actual gait and be finally able to give precise information about momentary speed and hence distance.

That’s what I called a usable system, at least on paper. No messing with stride measurements and the usual pedometer configurations – just strap, listen and run. Or, at least, I hope it isn’t listen, run and strap, after tripping on a kerb whilst fiddling with the controls. Let’s wait and see. I think I’m in the market for one of these goodies. Due out in August.

Now, how can we combine this unit with Spatial Messaging solutions? I'm thinking on that one......

Fri, 21 May 2004 10:16:27 GMT

:: Cantenna ::

I have recently been writing about the invention of the "Cantenna", or the Pringles Yagi, as I prefer to call it. Andrew Clapp is the original "discoverer" (his preferred accolade, rather than "inventor") and I was happy to hear from him that it is still going strong, linking up his flat to the nearest community WiFi point.

I was also impressed to find out that someone (Jason Brook) has gone and made a business out of it and taken the domain name Cantenna.com. Andrew mentions on his website that he doesn't know where the name came from. It emerged from several places at once. I recall "discovering" the name "Zingo" for a wireless portal project. The name later "emerged" as a trademark for a London taxi company's wireless hailing system. They trademarked it, whereas I didn't.

Apparently, the name of a business can make or break it, so reports David Kipen when reviewing the book "Word Craft" by Alex Frankel. You can even buy names on the Net, from the likes of Names Express - 12 names in 24 hours for just 70 USD.

Some people invent/discover things. Some people name things. Some people make money on things. Some people write about it. I've tried all of them.

Thu, 22 Apr 2004 16:53:21 GMT

:: Controlling a PC via Bluetooth Phone ::

Via the Ecademy network, I came across an employee of Baracoda and from there I ended up surveying their website. They have interesting products utilising Bluetooth and barcode readers, an inevitable area of convergence. Personally, I would like to see a barcode reader built into a "sleek device" (see IXI Mobile), like a watch. It would then be very accessible to the consumer for a variety of uses, some of which are discussed in my book.

What I also found on Baracoda's site was an interesting free download to turn my T68i into a remote control for my PC, which already had the requisite BT dongle. It was quite strange, and highly satisfying, to have remote mouse control via my phone. This is a demo I had been hoping to show on various training courses - and now I have it! It is a fantastic way of enabling presentations to be remotely controlled. I had previously gone out and bought a dedicated device for this purpose.

Tue, 06 Apr 2004 01:31:08 GMT

:: Fastap™ enters the arena ::

I had previously blogged about the innovative Fastap™ keyboard design from Digit Wireless, a company whose energy and idea captivated my imagination and made me believe again in out of the box potentialities. Indeed, the excitement caused me to include mention of the technology in my new book ("Next Generation Wireless Applications" from Wiley). That's why I was happy to receive notice from DW's President, Chris Hare, of a major launch of Fastap™ technology into the mainstream of North American wireless markets.

Digit Wireless, LG Electronics and TELUS Mobility announce production of the world's first Fastap™ enabled mobile phone
Unique phone keyboard set to revolutionize text messaging, data communications...[more]

Mon, 18 Aug 2003 22:46:59 GMT

:: Q12 - Another exciting keypad design ::

It seems my previous comment to open up a channel just to discuss keypads was justified. No sooner had I said it than these guys at Softava emailed me about this exciting new design called Q12 (right). It uses the same principle I have already reported here that Unitap and Fastap use, namely deliberately positioning keys (“hills”) close enough together that pressing what appears to be the gaps (“valleys”) between them causes several keys to be pressed at once. This combination is used to generate the desired character, so in effect each valley is like a virtual key. Fastap and Unitap both use enough keys to represent directly the letters and virtually the digits. However, the Q12 takes this to another level and uses cleverly shaped keys to represent the digits directly and the letters virtually via all the various valleys sculptured in the keys (see the schematics on their website). It sure seems clever and I would love to try it out for real.

Thu, 31 Jul 2003 12:47:02 GMT

:: Intriguing keypad design from Ventris ::

Things are getting hot in the race for new keypad designs. I am thinking of introducing a category on my blog just to handle it. It seems that there is a lot of activity going on in this area. Quite rightly, as widely adopted keypad designs could make someone very rich! There is no need to stick to conventions, especially bearing in mind that the QWERTY keypad is actually an exercise in deliberately poor design, aimed at slowing the typist down, not speeding them up.

Personally, I just can't seem to stop thinking about text-entry ideas. I avoided writing "keypad ideas", as that may be too limiting to start with. If we doubt that new layouts can be adopted by mobile users, then we may be wrong.

Take the 3650 from Nokia, with its circular pad layout. Whilst I personally don't like it and bemoaned the fact that it broke all usability conventions (in the Java gaming context at least), I was intrigued by its complete disruption of the standard layout and what impact that might have on texting. I raised this with one of the testing managers at O2 who assured me that his teenage daughter had "mastered" it within two days and could text as fast as ever. That's not scientific, but still revealing (what would Nielsen make of it?).

After Fastap, Unitap and FITALY, I was impressed to receive a note from Ventris, who have come up with a new design called HandyScript. At first glance (right), it looks like a prop out of a Star Trek film, something the Klingons would use - BUT I'M NOT MOCKING. This idea takes a little while to sink in, but I have downloaded the trial version and figured out the concept very quickly just by visual inspection. Of course, what I really need is a mobile version so that I can try it out in a context that interests me.

An interesting feature of HandyScript is that it is language independent, able to support multiple languages with the same layout and symbols. This is very intriguing and I would like to examine this more. However, I confess that I have not had much time to formally assess it yet, but I will post a follow-up later.

Sun, 22 Jun 2003 14:18:49 GMT

:: Very neat utility for XUL interfaces on mobile devices ::

Thinlet is a GUI toolkit, a single Java class, that parses the hierarchy and properties of the GUI, handles user interaction, and calls business logic. It separates the graphic presentation (described in an XML file) and the application methods (written as Java code).

The GUI description is XML User-interface Language, XUL (apparently prounced "zool", rhyming with "cool"). XULPlanet has a tutorial on XUL.

The really great part is that the Thinlet toolkit supports MIDP, so there is a chance to play around with some interesting mobile interface ideas, not that I've tried any yet, just played around with XUL via the fabulous Thinlet authoring tool Theodore. Playing around with the Theodore tool is a great way to learn, or at least appreciate, the power and potential benefits of XUL. You can give it whirl by trying the evaluation copy online (but note that you need to have Java Web Start installed to do this).

You can try out the Thinlet class via some interesting web demos on the Thinlet website, including one that uses the Amazon Web Services API.

Wed, 11 Jun 2003 19:09:51 GMT

:: Way cool product - FASTAP!!! ::

Today I met with one of the guys from DigitWireless. I previously blogged about their incredibly clever keyboard design, which they've trade marked as "Fastap".

Today I saw it, played with it, loved it! I not only played with the neat demo model, an anonymous phone mock-up with the Fastap keyboard, but touched and felt a production-ready unit under test by the operators (can't say who - sworn to secrecy).

Only when playing with the keys did I at last appreciate the genius of the design. Its simplicity was shaking; its inventor sure has ergonomic insight. The principle is that the letter keys are raised above the phone face, like "hills", and the digit keys are sunk in between, like "valleys". That bit I understood already. Each raised key has enough space around it to more or less (a little less) occupy the space of a key on a qwerty keyboard, believe it or not! The finger does not clumsily hit the numeric keys by mistake, as these are sunk, or so they seem, as, in fact, there's no need for a key there at all. I loved that magic bit! By placing the finger on the sunken "valley", over the desired digit key, the finger can't help but depressing some combination of the surrounding raised "hill" keys and the software picks up the combination and knows how to map it to the desired digit. Genius!

So what's my reaction? Is this another tech idea that has no real application? Absolutely not! This idea must surely come to fruition and I can feel that it has the potential to become commonplace. The reason is that we are not just talking about a better way to text. Actually, it is a better way to text, especially for those of us who cannot get to grips with predictive text (PT) input. I confess that I am a good user of PT, until I hit a word that's not in the dictionary, or I want to deliberately abbreviate. However, most people I know don't use PT, or find it somehow clumsy, although, to be fair, I think it is very phone dependent (T68i is one of the best implementations I’ve seen).

The reason that Fastap could be in demand is the gathering interest in Wireless Instant Messaging. Certainly, new initiatives, like Wireless Village (and the PAM forum entering Parlay) are generating momentum towards a big push for IM into the wireless space, but we seem to overlook the not-so-small problem of boringly slow typists – and that’s talking about QWERTY users! I would like to use IM on my phone, but it’s just too frustratingly cumbersome. Fastap could change that. If it does, then I think it will be a winner and could well assist IM take-off, along with email of course, which is the other mobile service still waiting to gather momentum, though it’s problems are not just character entry, but often poor usability, full stop.

I just emailed some of my contacts in the industry to look at Fastap. I think it should be a winner.

Fri, 06 Jun 2003 12:56:54 GMT

:: Load-and-carry Video ::

Archos have released a device that is like a portable MP3 player, but now includes the ability to carry videos. It will be interesting to see what the wireless strategy is for this device. May work well in a WiFi hotspot scenario, such as at a train station, possibly to download a TV program to watch on the train.

Wed, 28 May 2003 13:11:53 GMT

:: Great use of WiFi for augmented reality ::

Air-Grid Networks is the world’s first company to design and operate a truly commercial-grade broadband wireless network for delivery of interactive media services at major sports events.

Mon, 19 May 2003 22:21:30 GMT

:: Complete mobility ::

I have been very keen to get my own eyewear viewer for some time. This announcement got my attention. Augmented reality has lots of potential. I wonder if the Metro shopping guys in my previous posting are getting ready to kit their shoppers with these things?

MicroOptical demonstrates first eyewear viewer featuring Bluetooth^TM wireless technology [Download press statment from their site] [Note: picture shown is similar product - no picture available.]

Sun, 18 May 2003 11:39:27 GMT

:: More on Wireless Shopping ::

My previous post on indoor wireless location received a comment from Ian Wood off of the Ecademy networking site that I recently joined (as a member of the WiFi Special Interest Group - SIG).

Ian brought to my attention a project in Germany called "Future Store", in particular the use of RFID technology. I checked it out....

I looked at Wincor-Nixdorf and other sites; it seems there are many players involved in the Future Store concept. I couldn't find anything in particular about wireless location technology being used, but Ian was right that RFID tags are involved (supported by IBM). Each product has an RFID tag attached to it. This facilitates finding product information by the customer and also allows product self-"scanning". It is a more convenient than using a laser scanning device.

In addition to RFID on the products, the price tags on the shelves, provided by NCR, are wirelessly connected via Spreadspectrum in the 2.4GHz band, though I presume not WiFi. The tags can be dynamically updated and can be used to display offers as well as general pricing information. The Future Store concept certainly seems an exciting one and to me it has so many possibilites and show that a highly connected future is not that far off.

Sat, 17 May 2003 03:36:59 GMT

:: Indoor Wireless Positioning ::

I have twice worked on this issue. Originally for MetroWalker in Hong Kong, I included consideration of indoor positioning in a research report for location services. I was also asked by a UK company to investigate the use of indoor wireless in shopping malls for virtual shopping guides and shelf space etc.

A friend at Symbol had mentioned to me the success of their self-scan system for supermarket shopping. The scanning devices are connected using WiFi. An obvious extension of this service is to provide information on the scanning terminal via a built-in display. The information could be tailored according to which aisle the shopper is in. All that is needed is the ability to determine location.

I was glad to find out that one company, at least, called Ekahau, has come up with a location solution for indoor WiFi coverage. I am planning to investigate what other methods are possible. Please let me know if you have come across any.

Sat, 10 May 2003 16:29:54 GMT

:: Accessing Outlook via wireless (from O2)::

A subject of ongoing trial and error, wireless email is still taking its time to become useful. Having spent a lot of effort myself designing different systems for enterprise usage, this latest product from O2 is somewhat familiar in concept. It is based on the idea of leaving your desktop running so that a proxy system - in this case from Seven - can access your actual email account using Outlook as the programming interface so that the wireless interaction is with the actual Outlook data and not a copy of it. O2's licensed version is called xmail and it has been optimised for the XDA. However, it works with any browser (not that many have been tested though apparently) and is available to non-O2 customers (though there is a note that this may one day become O2-users only).

The service costs 9.99 (GBP) per month (excluding airtime), but there is a 10-day trial to see if you like it before paying. I downloaded the trial and it installed smoothly.

I accessed my Outlook information from Internet Explorer first of all and that seemed to work well. This in itself is a very handy feature - I now have webmail for my actual account (including all legacy data already sitting in my Outlook PIM database).

The big disappointment however was accessing the system via WAP from my T68i, which does not seem to be supported as I can't get past the log-in screen despite correctly entering my credentials. Having designed WAP email systems before, I have seen this problem many times and it is indicative of poor testing, but then this is a problem that plagues WAP designers - the shear number of devices to test against, which is a necessity even if the browser is licensed from a 3rd party and supposed to behave consistently across all phones (which they don't).

It did work via Eudora Web browser running on my Palm (with Bluetooth back to the T68i). The problem I am experiencing though is poor performance, seemingly because the SSL processing on the Palm is slow, at least in the Eudora implementation, so I am going to try another browser.

A nice feature is that a documents folder can be chosen to be accessible via the browser interface so that attachments can be added. This could be something like "My Documents" for example. However, as with all programs that interface with Outlook, folders and multiple accounts is always a problem, so neither are supported here. That means that I only get to see messages in my Inbox and is problematic for my VIP messages that are routed to folders. So what do I do? Should I turn off my folder routing in order to benefit from this product, or should I make do with the compromise? The only other alternative is to switch to a more sophisticated system like Blackberry, but I'm not interested in a proprietary device as I already have a Palm with Bluetooth cradle. If anything, I would move to something like a P800 if I was going to "trade up".

I shall see if it is worth spending the tenner a month to stick with this service. A 10-day trial is a bit limited and nothing like the standard 20-30 days used by most software vendors, but then operators are not that clued up on such things. Currently I check email from my T68i using IMAP, but I frequently leave Outlook running on my desktop anyway where it will suck down the mail every 5 minutes thus resulting in nothing being left on the server for me to view remotely. This is why I wanted to try out the xMail system. A similar product is available from Orange, who has also licensed the Seven solution. Products like this have already existed for sometime in the US market, such as from companies like Infowave.

Sat, 10 May 2003 15:03:06 GMT

:: Scanning for Motorola Phones ::

From Symbol, this add-on for Motorola iDEN phones (US only) allows bar codes to be scanned. Includes API for programming scanner applications in Java on the handset (MIDlets). Pretty soon, scanning modules will become standard in phones and many consumer applications will become available, like checking products and also things like shared payment of restaurant bills via a bar-code on the receipt.

Wed, 07 May 2003 21:20:53 GMT

:: Amazingly Bright Idea ::

Friend from Symbol sent me this story on a laser projector system small enough to embed in a mobile phone. Fantastic! Corporate types will start salivating over the prospect of flashy Powerpoint presentations on-the-move, but i think that the youth will find much more interesting uses.

Sat, 22 Mar 2003 11:24:32 GMT

:: Push The Right Buttons ::

I had not seen this before, but it was exciting to find out about a new keyboard design that enables text messages to be composed significantly faster than on existing devices with standard triple-tap keyboards. It took eight years and 16 patents for David Levy (Appler Power-Book ergonomics designer) to develop the Fastap. When you see the design, it's one of those solutions that looks so obvious after you see it. That's the kind of experience that has always got me excited about engineering. There are some interesting demos on the website looking at how Fastap compares with alternatives.

Fri, 21 Mar 2003 12:20:03 GMT

:: Bluetooth Laser Pointer and Mouse ::

This looks like a great product to buy. I actually bought my wireless mouse so that I could use it for advancing slides during my training courses for 3G. The new device from Logitech not only does that, but it enables greater range via Bluetooth and has a laser pointer built in. My next thought was to see if this could be done via a Bluetooth phone? I couldn't find any solutions on the market but I'm sure it is coming, especially with the Bluetooth API for J2ME. One can imagine a MIDlet on the phone that enables remote control of the PC including on-screen pop-up menus navigated via the phone joypad. May sound silly, but why carry another device when you have a phone already in the pocket? (OK, it won't have a laser pointer granted.)

Wed, 19 Mar 2003 17:42:42 GMT

:: Great 3G Phone ::

NTT DoCoMo to Introduce New FOMA Videophone Model.
Has two cameras (one facing in, the other out).
Enables video clips to be recorded and sent via email.
Can accept SD memory cards for a huge 7,600 clips -
if you can take that many and manage to navigate through them...

Source [UMTS Forum website]

Wed, 19 Mar 2003 13:44:30 GMT

:: Scribble Pad ::

Back in the late 90's, in our inventor's club outside of Motorola, myself, Dave and Barry worked on the idea of a scribble pad - a kind of mobile shared whiteboard. The idea really sprang from watching people doodle whilst on the phone, so it seemed natural that they might want to share doodles or use them to augment the conversation. Moving to today, we have the forthcoming Bluetooth pens that have all kinds of applications, including text entry. Dave was sufficiently excited, that he did a bit of personal research on who's doing what:

Basically there are two pen technologies out there, Anoto of Sweden and OTM of Israel.

Anoto is the basis of the Nokia, Ericsson and Logitech pens. It was there first, but requires special paper to write on. The Logitech pen was first, but had no Bluetooth. So -- to use this I have to carry pen, PDA, pad (possibly with a wipeable surface -- but that damages Anoto's business model). I have to dig out my pad to write a message to get it into my PDA -- HUH !? The Logitech IO was £200.

http://www.anoto.com/

The OTM approach is much more interesting. They use a bunch of lasers to get 3-D tracking on any surface by using doppler shift. So it works on paper, tablecloths, skin ! 3-D means it can tell when the pen is lifted from the surface. A bit later to market, but much more synergistic with BT/PDA/Mobiles. The Siemens ChatPen is based on the OTM, but apparently has to be tethered ??? Allegedly Motorola is developing an OTM-based solution -- way to go Mot !!

Pre-Order a Vpen:

http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=VPEN

OTM:

http://www.otmtech.com/

Guardian Review:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,689893,00.html

ZDNet article:

http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/communications/story/0,2000024993,20264397,00.htm

InfoSync article:

http://www.infosync.no/news/2002/n/2071.html

[Note: Dave not talking on behalf of Motorola]

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 18:47:55 GMT

:: Air-texting ::

Following on from my earlier scattering on Graffiti, Emily Turrettini from textually.org sent me this:

"Re your article on grafitti, have you heard of airtexting? I have a post on textually.org today. And years ago I read an article about a Calif company called Neoku.com which developed a platform called HaikuHaiku (http://fetter.org/haikuhaiku/). The article in Wap.com is no longer available, and the company is not very explicit online. But at the time, it was described as a form of mobile graffiti, using a cell phone as a paint spraycan, and waving it into the air to form a word, the text would appear onto the screen of a person passing by. "

Thanks Emily.

I am excited by these developments (air-texting). 3G needs imagination and once people start to generate more ideas I think the excitement and products will gain momentum...

Sun, 16 Mar 2003 23:54:38 GMT

:: Mobile office ? ::

Netsurfer from Snowcrash

Just add wheels, motor and GPRS card !

Fri, 14 Mar 2003 16:12:57 GMT

:: 3D facial imaging for augmented communications ::

When I started my PhD it was to research 3D VR-type solutions for mobile applications. At the time there was not much prior art so my supervisor advised a topic change. I looked into fuzzy logic techniques for interference reduction instead.

I am very excited to have come across Eyematic who have a working solution for "talking heads" - albeit at a high price tag. This was more or less the product I wanted to make and what prompted me to start a PhD (which I did not finish as I left Motorola who were sponsoring the research).

Thu, 13 Mar 2003 09:34:22 GMT

:: Start your own wireless mesh today ! ::

http://locustworld.com/index.php