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MillimeterFields & Frames
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Dan Ochiva
Cell phones, not HDTVs, look like the next big thing. Already, new uses extend them beyond yesterday's phones. We use them as watches and alarm clocks, and to calculate the lunch tip; they help to pass the time with games, and serve as an address book. Of course, they offer radio, still and video camera capabilities, and allow you to surf the Web or send and receive email. ▸ In Japan, the new rage among cell phone owners is reading full-length novels. Sites such as Bunko Yomihodai (All You Can Read Paperbacks) offer more than 150 downloadable books. ▸ Apple and Motorola planned to launch Rokr, an iTunes-enabled Motorola cell. But at press time the rollout was on hold, supposedly from a soured business deal. However, expect telcos and wireless companies to jump in and offer their own music downloads in this potentially lucrative market. ▪ While PDAs continue to drop in sales, cell phones — such as Handspring's Treo — thrive by integrating full PDA chops. You can do business, too: When installed on a mobile, Aircharge's software works with an attached mag card reader to allow credit card transactions. ▸ As cell networks in the United States are upgraded, video over a mobile might just be the next growth market for content creators. While Korea and Japan are ahead, Verizon Wireless and Sprint now offer monthly plans that include CNN news, ESPN sports, and AccuWeather reports. Download speeds now rival those of DSL. V CAST, Verizon's wireless broadband network based on Qualcomm's 1xEV-DO technology, can consistently transmit video at 300Kbps. That's handy when watching original programming such as 24: Conspiracy, a mobile spin-off from Fox's hit series 24. ▸ At CeBIT, Samsung Electronics demo'd a cell phone that runs on Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system, plays MP3 files, and offers 3GB of storage space via a 1in. drive. Another Samsung phone at the convention features a 7 megapixel camera with a 3X optical zoom. ▪ Other new, if unusual, applications are coming to cells, too. Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications recently demonstrated a tiny robotic camera on wheels. Either a Sony Ericsson smart phone or any Symbian-based cell phone can control the robocam, which can take still photos or transmit VGA-quality video at 50fps. ▸ A tiny zoom lens, created by French company Varioptic, is also pegged for mobiles. But unlike current models, it's made using fluids. To zoom up to 2.5X, voltage changes the shape of two pouches of the liquids. The lens, which uses the electrowetting technique, can focus from 5mm to infinity. A larger liquid zoom lens, now in R&D, will show up in digital still cameras. ▸ Finally, if you want to show your latest cell video project to a crowd, try projecting it. Cambridge University's Photonics and Sensors Group recently demonstrated a holographic laser projector small enough to integrate into handheld devices like mobiles. By creating a diffracted image, the laser projector doesn't need a bulky lens; the image remains in focus at any range.
