Iridium Satellite LLC has finally unveiled a replacement for the (at least) 10 years old Motorola 9505A. The new 9555 satellite phone will be available as from November 08 and comes with some new features.

Phone 9555 at glance:

• Menu-driven interface
• Soft keys for flexible menu choices
• 27% lighter than previous model
• 30% smaller than previous model
• Internally retractable antenna for compact carrying
• Illuminated, weather-resistant keypad redesigned for ease-of-use
• A menu configurable in any of 21 languages
• Improved integration of messaging (short email and SMS)
• Additional address book fields
• Programmable international codes for automatic dialing
• Built-in help function
• Integrated speakerphone
• Mini-USB data port
• Standby time up to 30 hours
• Talk time up to 4 hours

Multimedia News release:

Tags: 9555, communication, global, iridium, satellite, satphone, telecommunication, terminal

I haven't review in details all news from the CES 2008 that closed its doors on Thursday but it seems the Global Energy problem contributes to have better ideas regarding the way we can power our IT stuff.

One company, Green Plug, has identified a significant contributor to the high cost of battery-powered consumer electronics products, wasted energy and unnecessary toxic waste. A typical home or office has a dozen or more power transformers that convert between 90V and 254V wall power to device-specific DC power. Every adapter is physically unique and therefore is thrown away every time a device is replaced.

Green Plug comes with a better idea.

Creating a standardize power supply which can be used by all Green Plug^TM compliant devices utilize uniform cables and connectors; so, you never have to worry about finding the right adapter for your laptop, DV camera, cell phone or power tool.

Let's hope they will be able to convinced enough partners to have a real impact on the market and we'll have soon all our electronic devices using a single and unique type of power supply.

Tags: 2008, adaptor, art, ATT, blog, cable, camera, ces, electricity, energy, find, fon, Gadgets, global, global power efficiency, green, ia, im, Impact, lan, laptop, nomadcom.net, phone, power, power adaptor, review, supply, web, wp, www

Whisher, a Spanish start-up, backed by Switzerland’s leading phone company, Swisscom, and the venture firm Benchmark Capital Europe is apparently very active for few month now. The principle of Whisher is that Wireless Access to the Internet should be free and accessible from everywhere which is basically the same concept than FON Movimiento, except that you don't need to purchase any specific hardware.

Whisher' users are requested to download an application through which they can share their wireless access (works also with WEP or WPA connections) with other Whisher members 

The newly released version 2.0 beta of the software offers more than just storing and encrypting connections' passwords such:

• Wireless connection manager
• WiFi sharing
• Chat with other users connected on the same wireless access point.
• Multi Instant Messenger support (Yahoo, MSN, AIM, ICQ, GoogleTalk, Twitter, Jabber)
• File Transfer (with users sharing the same wireless AP)
• LAN Support
• GeoLocation
• Other Networks connections (access via commercial access; hotspot, etc..). FON is supported too.
• Around You. Gives you informations about coming events, restaurants around the wireless connection you are currently using.

New services that should be available soon :

• Voice Support
• Global File Sharing 

Plateform supported : Windows XP, Linux, Mac O/S. Vista not available yet.

The software is still beta and some stability and registation problems have been reported. More information on their Blog

Tags: 2007, access, aim, api, art, blog, capital, ces, connection, connections, europe, event, fon, fon movimiento, free, global, google, HP, ia, icq, im, instant messenger, internet, lan, location, messenger, Mobile Communications, msn, network, nomadcom.net, password, phone, problems, release, sco, services, share, sharing, swiss, swisscom, switzerland, Telecommunications, twit, Twitter, user, vista, whisher, wifi, windows, wireless, wp, www, XP, yahoo

I haven't post a lots about photo equipments on this blog in the past but the new models of Olympus SW µ [mju] series bring something new, specially for nomads. They are now shockproof, waterproof and operate at low temperature, so more fear about humidity, sand, scratches and they are ready for some underwater pictures.

The SW µ series is composed of 5 different models, all fitted with the following specifications:

• 7.1 mega pixels resolution
• 3x optical zoom (5x digital)
• 2.5 inch LCD screen
• 38-114 mm 35mm equivalent zoom (6.7-20.1mm)
• Digital image stabilization
• etc..
• Colored case   

The 2 new models (790 and 795) are no more "water resistant" but "water proof" 

• 790 SW
  Water Proof 3m
  Shock proof 1.5m
  Operable at – 10° C
  Dust proof
  Face Recognition

• 795 SW
  Water Proof 10m
  Shock proof 1.5m
  Operable at – 10° C
  Dust proof
  TruePic image processor
  Digital zoom x15

 Price : ~300 USD

For me the 795 model is the perfect "point & shoot" camera to carry with to "not DSLR friendly" places.

Tags: 10°C, 2007, 24, asia, blog, camera, ces, CTU, digital, DSLR, face recognition, global, ia, ict, im, lan, low temperature, mju, models, nomadcom.net, olympus, photo, picture, point and shoot, post, resolution, screen, shockproof, space, SW 790, SW 795, underwater, water, waterproof, wp

Nokia has identified that in very rare cases, Nokia branded batteries BL-5C manufactured by Matsushita (Panasonic) between December 2005 and November 2006, could potentially experience over heating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge.

This advisory applies only to the 46 million batteries manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006 and not BL-5C produced by other contractors (300 millions unit produced)

According Nokia press statement, there have been approximately 100 incidents of over heating reported globally and to date no serious injuries or property damage have been reported (serious incidents already occurred in 2005). Nevertheless, Nokia and Matsushita offer to replace any BL-5C battery subject to this product advisory.

Mobile phone concerned are the following ones:

Nokia 1100, Nokia 1100c, Nokia 1101, Nokia 1108, Nokia 1110, Nokia 1112, Nokia 1255, Nokia 1315, Nokia 1600, Nokia 2112, Nokia 2118, Nokia 2255, Nokia 2272, Nokia 2275, Nokia 2300, Nokia 2300c, Nokia 2310, Nokia 2355, Nokia 2600, Nokia 2610, Nokia 2610b, Nokia 2626, Nokia 3100, Nokia 3105, Nokia 3120, Nokia 3125, Nokia 6030, Nokia 6085, Nokia 6086, Nokia 6108, Nokia 6175i, Nokia 6178i, Nokia 6230, Nokia 6230i, Nokia 6270, Nokia 6600, Nokia 6620, Nokia 6630, Nokia 6631, Nokia 6670, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681, Nokia 6682, Nokia 6820, Nokia 6822, Nokia 7610, Nokia N70, Nokia N71, Nokia N72, Nokia N91, Nokia E50, Nokia E60

but it also applies on batteries sold separately.  

Complete public advisory and battery identification number check are available on Nokia site.

Tags: 2007, arc, ATT, batteries, BL 5C, blog, CTU, explosion, global, ia, im, iso, lan, Matsushita, mobile, Mobile Communications, mobile phone, nokia, nomadcom.net, overheat, phone, phones, press, public, recall, space, wp, www, XP

Since few days now, iMinR is tracking what's going on this website.

This new service of “measurement of personalized audience” as its creator, Stéphane Guérin, indicates it on his Internet site. The iMinR statistics service makes possible to discover more about visitors of a site in general and, as from now on, this one in particular.

Among statistics provided on the free account version of iMinR we can find :

• Visitors (IP address)
• Visits (per hour, per day,)
• Pages viewed (url, title)Pages vues (url & titre)
• Geographical information (Country, Region, City)
• Web Origin (domain and url)
• Search Engine
• Query String
• Keywords
• Incoming and Outgoing points
• Global duration of the visit
• Time duration per page
• Click stream
• Frequent paths
• Client configuration(browser, operating system, resolution, language, etc..)

About the installation, well it's definitively too easy. You either have to add the provided line of code in your footer's page (also available for secured pages) or, if you are using WordPress, to install, activate and configure the iMinr plugin and that's it.

No update, no maintenance and training required. iMinR is adapted to sites using AJAX and the 100% javascript invisible (free account users are requested to add iMinR logo on their web site) marker works with any HTML pages (PHP, ASP, etc..).

Real time reports can be personalized according your needs and are accessible either on a web page;  using a javascript function or simply from the iMinR web site.

Today the beta 2 version has been released but so far the interface is exclusively available in French. I have not asked, but the English version should follow no ?

To know more about, check the demonstration page.

Tags: 2007, access, account, Ajax, analysis, arc, art, blog, ces, configuration, dress, engine, find, free, Fun, global, HP, im, iminR, install, internet, King, lan, language, nomadcom.net, pda, plugin, press, real time, release, resolution, sco, search, space, statistics, stats, traffic, train, update, user, web, web mining, website, wordpress, wp, www, XP

While HTC Europe concentrate all its marketing on HTC-Touch, in Asia, HTC under its Dopod brand name has released earlier last month the Dopod C730 also known as HTC Cavalier successor of Dopod 720w (HTC S620).

At first look there are not many differences between both models. the C730 is slightly thicker (0.7mm) but also lighter 120g (-10g) than its predecessor.

Price tag in Singapore : 790 SGD (513.- USD)

Main differences are the following :

• MicroSD slot is now accessible from outside. Easier to swap cards
• Operating System is Windows Mobile 6 which integrates more services (Office files edition, Live Search, MSN, etc..)
• Camera 2 mega pixels.
• Better battery capacity (1050 mAh)
• Samsung 400 MHz CPU, 64MB of RAM and 128MB of flash ROM
• Quad band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) + 3G and HSDPA connectivity

Some points are still missing or require improvements

• Touch-sensitive strip on the edge of the phone is still hard to tame (usually I just use it to adjust volume during calls).
• Only a 2 megapixel camera when Nokia proposes 5 mega ones.
• No LED flash and front-facing camera for 3G video calls.
• No standard audio jack but a multi-purpose mini-USB connector instead.

Full Specification available on Dopod Singapore site

Sources : CNet Asia, Dopod Singapore

Tags: 2007, access, api, arc, art, asia, ATT, blog, C720, C720w, C730, camera, capacity, card, Cavalier, ces, connectivity, dopod, europe, flash, gap, global, gsm, htc, ia, im, iphone, lan, LED, light, live, mobile, Mobile Communications, models, msn, nokia, nomadcom.net, phone, phones, release, review, S620, samsung, search, services, smartphone, space, sun, Telecommunications, touch, touchflo, usb, video, windows, windows mobile 6, wp, www

Well known for its analysis, the Gartner Group predicts, in its last week press release, that Instant Messaging systems will be the "de facto" tool for voice, video and text chat with 95% of workers in leading global organizations. It may even become the primary interface for real-time communications by 2013. The Gartner Group forecasts the IM market to grow from 267 mio/USD in 2005 to 688 mio/USD in 2010.

As part of the corporate IT infrastructure, they recommend use of corporate IM solutions such IBM "Lotus Sametime" or Microsoft's "Office Live Communication Server" as they can be protected by the corporate firewall. One key part of IM corporate setup will be the "Presence Technology" which allows people to establish the availability of others for real-time communications regardless of their location.  It also enables users to cut through desktop clutter, resulting in immediate responses.

As a result, Gartner predicts that by 2012, presence technology will be offered independently of IM and email products.  Mr David Mario Smith, research analyst at Gartner, urged vendors and enterprises alike to recognize this and develop a real-time architecture with presence as the key ingredient. “The IM client is becoming the launch pad for many types of communications channels and services,” he concluded.  “Presence will extend its influence beyond IM to become an essential source of innovation for enterprise applications of the future.” 

This release collides with a discussion I had last week with some colleagues about which IM tool we were using and which one is our preferred. Personally, a tool like Skype makes my day as I get to use it to transmit and receive messages from many networks and not exclusively from the Web. However, it is well known that Skype is a real nightmare for corporate ICT Security officer and this piece of software always tries its best to find a way to connect the net, bypassing any corporate security (firewall & NAT) using peer-to-peer technology.

Full Press release is available on Gartner site

Tags: 2007, analysis, arc, art, availability, blog, ces, communication, CTU, find, forecast, gartner group, global, ia, ibm, ict, ICT Security, im, instant messenger, Internet News, lan, launch, live, location, messenger, microsoft, MIT, mobile, Mobile Communications, msn, network, Nomad Tools, nomadcom.net, officer, presence, press, real time, release, sametime, search, security, services, skype, space, technology, user, video, web, wp, www

The British Department of Trade and Industry has made £4m available for four research projects aimed at reducing the IT risk created by human error.

The program, which is part of its Network Security Innovation Platform, reflects the fact that human error is by far the biggest risk to network security.

It cited the results of a survey it conducted, involving over 1,800 people, on the use of passwords. It found that:

• Just over 30% of users recorded their password or security information by either writing it down or storing it somewhere on their computer.
• About 65% never changed their password
• 20% of people used the same password for non-banking websites as well as their online bank

The projects will use behavioural science in a bid to tackle the human risk element in network security.

Four projects will receive funding under the programme.

• The first is about developing a risk assessment package focused on organisational and human factors.

• The second, named Trust Economics, is aimed at developing a predictive modelling framework that assesses security policies that regulate the interaction between humans and information systems.
• The third is aimed at developing a solution for the analysis of digital communications to identify threats introduced by humans.
• The fourth named CatalysIS, is a tool to improve risk culture and identify human vulnerabilities in network security.

Minister for science and innovation Malcolm Wicks said: "Unfortunately, the weakest link in network security is not usually with the technology, but with the staff and system users. A DTI survey found that a shocking number of people were careless with passwords, unwittingly exposing themselves and their company to fraud and theft.

"Network security is also a major growth area where the UK has a good opportunity to become a global leader if we develop new technology to give us a competitive edge."

This article was originally published at Kablenet 

Source: The Register 

 

Tags: 2007, aim, analysis, arc, art, blog, communication, computer, digital, Fun, global, human, ict, ICT Security, identify, im, industry, interaction, internet, Internet News, Internet World, IT risk, King, lan, network, nomadcom.net, online, password, pet, privacy, project, risk, science, search, security, space, study, survey, technology, the register, threat, uk, user, web, website, wp, www, XP

A global Flickr community event is coming.

What happens around the world in one day? In a word: life.

On Flickr, members are sharing the world that they see: snapping daily moments, recording history, telling stories, capturing beauty. To celebrate this global community, Flickr invites us to join 24 Hours of Flickr, a day-long global photo project. On May 5 2007, grab your camera and whatever else you need, and chronicle your day in pictures.

Join the 24 hours of Flickr group and post your best photo exclusively taken on the 5th of May 2007 to the group.

The event will be commemorated by a companion 24 hours of Flickr book, which will contain a selection of photographs chosen from the group. Additionally, the group's photos will be featured at Flickr events around the world this summer.

Sources: 24 hours of Flick, Thai Flickr Meet
 

Tags: 2007, 24, 24 hours of Flickr, 24flickr, 24H, 5.5.2007, 5th of May, blog, book, camera, ces, community, CTU, event, Flickr, global, History, ict, im, lan, nomadcom.net, photo, Photography, picture, post, project, sharing, space, story, world, wp, www