Between Brackets

Okay, many people may not agree, but this is an improvement: the police from the Roeselare-Izegem-Hooglede region uses BlackBerries for ticketing.

And, not only do they use it for ticketing, they also use it to check e-ID cards (in Belgium every citizen will have an electronic identification card as of end 2009).

It is great to finally see government initiatives to burn away the paperwork and replace it by digital alternatives that both free people from dull work and cuts down the human errors. So now the police officers can spend more time on the streets and less at their desks. A great application of mobile technology.

We recently had a marker-based augmented reality application developed for Android.

It is promising. There’s still a performance issue, but overall it is pretty cool. It should work on any Android phone (1.5 or higher)

See what it looks like:

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When the marker is not completely visible to the camera, the 3D figure disappears. And the marker recognition is still pretty processor intensive, which makes it a bit of a jerky experience at times, but it works and that’s what counts, right?

ChubbyBrain did some research in the US on what mobile OS application developers are targetting. It is interesting to see that developer are not yet persuaded there’s a clear winner in the mobile area. Although iPhone is clearly leading in every possible way, it seems developers are not yet certain they will be able to keep this lead.

Meanwhile, Google is still pointing out that mobile browsers are the future. According to them, once the mobile browser is feature-rich enough it will take over from installed apps. If you look at the current market frenzy, it seems this may still take a while.

CNet reports on some phones made from recycled materials and/or containing solar cells to recharge the batteries. They have obviously taken a North American perspective on this, because Safaricom of Kenya has just announced a mobile phone fully rechargeable via solar cells.

It’s evident that a phone like that will be more efficient in sunny Kenia than in Western Europe. Still it is interesting to see they use recycled materials to build the phone, which made me wonder: why aren’t more phone made from recycled materials ? Perhaps something in which the EU can stimulate the industry a bit, like they did with demanding uniform chargers a while back.

There’s been a quite period the last several weeks, but now things are moving again, and how:

• Nokia and Microsoft will work together on Smartphone development: I’m not sure that’s a good thing for either of them. Nokia looks more and more like IBM: They make decent stuff, but they’re not cool anymore. And Microsoft is spreading its attention again, instead of focussing on their core products. To be continued
• HTC sold its millionth magic: it’s good thing that Android is gaining some traction. Will it be enough to make the big breakthrough? Only time will tell of course.
• Dell is rumoured to launch a mobile phone soon
• And finally according to Gartner, the Smartphone market is booming, which contrasts with the slowing mobile phones sales

We might be at a turnpike here…

Mobile Marketeer reports about a smart idea that solves a familiar problem: Where the %@&# Did I Park??!! ?

They use a small Blackberry application and Bluetooth to record the position of your car when you park and allow you to be navigated back to your car by your mobile. They found a clever method to solve an annoying problem. For now, only for Blackberry. Let’s hope they bring this solution to other platforms as well.

No, I’m not talking about the sun, which in fact a big natural wireless and contactless energy producer (1,000 watts per square meter on earths surface)

I’m talking about the wireless, contactless solution from Showa Aircraft Industry Co Ltd (in dutch).

They claim a 50% energy efficiency (or 50% energy waste) of their solution, which sounds very low to me (even if that is better than a combustion engine). Still, they claim they will be able improve this ration.

Ideal to wirelessly charge all our gadgets. Just place your bag full of phones, cameras, laptops etc. in the vicinity of the charger during the night, and wake up to a bag full of charged gadgets