Excellent Mobile Blogs

I had intended on publishing my experience migrating from TypePad to WordPress today, but the post got very long, and had to split into two posts. I didn’t want to leave you with a cliff-hanger over the weekend, so I thought I’d instead point you to a few of the blogs that I’ve been reading lately. I’ll be posting the migration articles next week.

There are a wide range of blogs out there covering the entire mobility spectrum, and there are plenty of mobile gadget or phone review blogs, and for the most part, I’m disinterested in them. I tend to enjoy ones that discuss the macro impacts of mobile technology, programming, and practical applications of mobile technology. Or ones that are written from a perspective similar to mine (that’s my obvious statement of the week).

So here are the ones that I’ve been enjoying of late, in no particular order:

• Open Gardens
• Wireless Wanders
• MobHappy
• biskero.org
• Darla Mack
• TomSoft
• Xellular Identity
• About Mobility
• The Pondering Primate
• Mobile Phone Development
• Daily Wireless

Hope you enjoy them. If you have any blogs on your hit list that you think I might like, please add a comment. I’m always on the look out for new reading material, and most everything I find is either based on recommendation or serendipitous searching.

Because it’s mildly related to mobile. . .

A model shows off waterproof protectors for cell phones at CeBIT. Photo credit: Reuters via Yahoo! Photos

Modu: Genuinely interesting and slick mobile phone / gadget

Modu is a tiny, credit card-sized, powerful mobile phone. Slip the modu into one of many very well-designed “jackets” to give it a new look and new functionality. These modular components remind me of the concept behind Buglabs, but whereas Buglabs had more geek appeal, with open source hardware and software, modu has much more chic appeal. These things look slick.

When is a phone not a phone? When it has “mates,” which morph the modu into various consumer electronic devices. All modu jackets are universally interchangeable, allowing you to swap modu jackets at any time, and according to the web site, with anyone. It also sounds as if some of these modu’s will be artist-branded and come pre-loaded with applications and music. I couldn’t find any price estimates to speak of, but product is supposed to ship at the end of 2008.

Photos can’t do the concept justice. Check out the Flash intro to see how these work.

Pumbby: get paid for watching ads on your mobile phone

This is a new delivery twist on an existing concept. Pumbby pays users EUR 0.44 for each ad they view, up to a maximum of 10 a day. When you create your account, you specify how many ads you’re willing to receive per day, and they arrive as text messages. Click the link to open your WAP browser and view what amounts to a full-screen banner ad.

At the current exchange rate, that’s roughly US$6.50 per day if you elect to receive all 10 messages, and I expect, if they have a large enough ad inventory to serve you 300 ads per month. That would certainly pay for that unlimited data bundle, and even justify that purchase of an iPhone.

Alas, Pumbby is only available on a limited number of networks, and apparently my phone can’t be pumbed. Pumbby is based in Brussels, which I had hoped would uncover some clues as to what the root “pumb” meant, as it seems to be used rather impartially as a noun, verb, and an adjective.

Hopefully Pumbby will soon hire a professional translator to clean up some of these gems:

• “For each visualized advertizing, you receive 44 €. You accept to receive advertizing and no advertizing messages on your mobile phone and, to thank you , you will receive money you can manage. “
• “to pumbb ? You would like to pumbb your mobile, very easy register you and discover how its walk! “

Somebody set us up the bomb, indeed!

Check out Pumbby

All I Want for Christmas: BUG, from Bug Labs

This is one of the more interesting products I’ve seen in a while, and although it doesn’t look
like it’s going to be shipping in 2007, this is high on my wish list for 2008.

Bug Labs has created open source hardware modules that can be snapped together like Legos to create a mobile device. You start out with the well-equipped BUGbase, with built-in Wifi, USB, and ethernet. BUGbase has four connectors used for snapping on the open source hardware modules. Each module or combination of modules you snap on enables additional device capabilities. Current and upcoming modules include:

• Camera / videocamera
• GPS
• touch screen
• motion sensor / accelerometer
• qwerty keyboard
• speaker and jacks

Then comes the software, also open source and community-developed with Bug’s own SDK. It looks like there are a handful of applications out there currently, with most being of the test variety, but it doesn’t take long for these kinds of plug-ins to gather momentum.

Sure, these things look like bricks, but you can’t beat the gadget appeal.

Check them out at http://www.buglabs.net/.

BenQ-Siemens Q-fi EF71

BenQ-Siemens will be launching the new Q-fi line of mobile devices in September of 2006 that integrates a music player. No favorites are played, as it supports MP3, WMA, and AAC, and it sports dedicated music keys, a 10-band graphic equalizer, and 3D surround sound. Rounding out the offering are a 2.2″ screen and a 2MP camera.

I wish BenQ were a bigger player in the US market because I love the sleek, sophisticated look of their phones. I gravitate towards phones with large, brilliant screens, but I’d make the move to a more portable phone if it happened to look like the EF71. Just don’t make me say “Q-fi.”

View details via the BenQ-Siemens portal

Two New Sony-Ericsson Walkman Phones

I’ve said before how big a fan I am of Sony-Ericsson mobile phones — my primary phone is an s710a — and it’s a shame how proprietary formats have crippled many of the recent Walkman efforts. Even so, these two new Walkman phone releases are slick. These are more examples of the convergence of a number of portable gadgets into one mobile device, and I’m very much looking forward to when the phone / camera / music player distinction becomes blurred to the point of obliteration.

Read more about the phones and their specs at Sony-Ericsson Developer World.

Obvious Dept: Youth Find Many Uses for Cell Phones

Link: Poll: Youth Find Many Uses for Cell Phones - Yahoo! News.

Another poll, with mostly obvious results, but I love one of the closing paragraphs:

But almost nine in 10 users of cell phones say they encounter others using those phones in an annoying way. Only 8 percent of cell users acknowledge their own use of cell phones is sometimes rude.

Bluetooth Dual MP3 / Mobile Headphones

It appears I’m on a bit of a gadget kick, but this one is both slick and practical. Plug these Bluetooth headphones into your MP3 player. When your mobile rings, you’ll hear a chirp in your headphones, and you’ll be able to switch over to your mobile.

Link: Tech Digest: i.Tech Clip M.

Theaters may ask to jam cell phones

While I don’t necessarily agree that jamming phones is the answer, this is an indication of just how poor our cell phone etiquette has become.

Link: Theaters may ask to jam cell phones - Yahoo! News.

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