king talk

Nearest Tube is one of the first augmented reality apps created for the new Apple iPhone 3GS. 2D tube maps are so oldschool! This one tells you where the nearest tube station will be directly displayed in your environment by using the new video and compass function. When you load the app, holding it flat, all 13 lines of the London underground are displayed in coloured arrows.

By tilting the phone upwards, you will see the nearest stations: what direction they are in relation to your location, how many kilometres and miles away they are and what tube lines they are on. If you continue to tilt the phone upwards, you will see stations further away, as stacked icons. If you are owner of a new iPhone 3GS and you´re living in Chicago, Washington DC, Paris, Berlin, Madrid or Barcelona you can join beta testing by sending an email to contactus[at]acrossair[dot]com with your iPhone UDID Identifier code and your city location.

We think that the iPhone is the perfect mobile hardware for projects like this. Six years after the Handheld Augmented Reality project at TU Graz started their pioneer work with projects like the Invisible Train, a real multi-user Augmented Reality application for handheld devices, this technology enters the mass market.

After marketing guys have found out, it could be cool to map products as rotating 3D object on markers it´s time for the real apps. It´s time for applications which help us out during our everyday life. Where is the next hospital? Where can I find a cheap accomodation? Where are my friends now?…

Something about four weeks agou envis jumped on the bandwagon of rumours about a new iPhone that will be released in the next months. Tonight Apple announced at their WWDC´09 event some new products like the new OS »Snow Leopard« which will hit the market in autumn one month before Windows 7. It will available later this year as a $29 upgrade to current Mac users. Apple also announced that the next version of the iPhone OS software (version 3.0) would be available in less than two weeks. In addition, Apple unveiled refreshed versions of its notebooks, which are headed to store shelves starting today.

But the most interesting part was the release of the new iPhone 3G S (S stands for SPEED). Let´s compare the rumours to the real product:

- 32GB and 16GB to replace current capacities & $199 and $299 price-points to be maintained within a 2-year contract
Right. The 16GB model will be $199 with a new contract and the 32GB model will be $299 with a new contract. They will be available June 19th 2009.

- 3.2 Megapixel camera
Not exactly. But it will have 3.0 Megapixel.

- Video recording & editing capabilities
Right, new iPhone will have a camcorder mode. You can shoot VGA-quality video in 30 frames per second.

- Ability to send a picture & video via MMS
New iPhone is featuring SMS and MMS.

- Apple logo on the back to light up
- Rubber-tread backing
- Sleeker design
- Discontinuation of the metal band surrounding the edge of the device
Design didn´t change. In my opinion the chrome surrounding could disappear.

- OLED screen (AMOLED)
I think it´s not the time for OLED devices, but in within 9 years we will see them everywhere.

- 1.5X The battery life
Right. They improved battery life. Apple promises that the iPhone 3GS can hold up to 9 hours in WiFi, 10 hours on video playback, 30 hours on audio playback, 12 hours talk time on 2G networks and 5 hours talk time on 3G networks.

- Double the RAM and processing power
Right. Apple boasts that you can load web pages and launch apps twice as fast when compared to the previous model. It also promises improved 3D graphics for games.

- Built-in FM transmitter
Still no radio, but who needs it, if you can have Wifi access to last.fm & myspace.com ; )

- Built-in compass & turn by turn directions
Right. It automatically reorients the map to the direction you’re facing. It works in conjunction with Maps to give you street view as well.

- Revolutionary combination of the camera, GPS, compass and Google maps to identify photo and inform about photo locations.

- July 17th, 2009 release date
A little bit earlier. The end of June 2009 will be release date. Maybe the shortened it because of the Palm Pre which came out this month.

Some features were not discussed, but they´re hot. For example the return of voice control for cellular phones:

- Voice control interface,…
but not just for calls. Not only can you manage phone calls with your voice, you can use your voice to play music. You can ask the phone what song is playing, ask it to play a particular song from an artist or an album, and even to play songs that are similar to the currently playing track.

- Bluetooth tethering…
is allowed, which means you can use the iPhone 3GS as a wireless modem with your laptop.

- Voiceover,…
an accessibility setting on the new iPhone 3GS that acts as a gesture-based screen reader.

- Compatibility with Nike+ iPod,…
where it detects the Nike+ sensor in your shoe to track your runs.

Many of the improvements were exactly what were rumored to be unveiled today. The one big exception was that CEO Steve Jobs did not come back from medical leave early to make the announcement.

via C.NET News & CBC.CA & washingtonpost.com

Ondo is a conceptual mobile phone for the music enthusiast who seeks to interactively capture and edit sounds. This concept was developed by pilotfish.

Going beyond software-based solutions of other products, Ondo is specifically designed to effectively collect pure sounds and is specially constructed to create a tactile sound editing experience.

On a small scale, it allows the user to modify recorded sounds by physically twisting and bending the device.

On a grander scale, it creates opportunities for interactive musical creation among users at different geographical locations.

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