There are mixed opinions about this approach, since is a prototype there are no long term results to look at in terms of reliability and sustainability. His modified Nokia phone is the first prototype of its kind and only time will tell us how good of an idea this will be.

In my opinion, this should not be part of the device in itself, but an external source of energy. Since Smartphones are energy sucking devices, other alternatives for power should be explored. Here some ideas:
- Solar energy
- Bio energy
- Kinetic energy

There is a massive proliferation of smartphones and app-phones flooding the market. With such speed that the general public is almost overwhelmed by it. There is so much you can do with a Smartphone nowadays, that is easy to forget you can still make phone calls with them. Recently I find more and more people who are going back to the basics and only want to use their phones to make phone calls. No GPS, no emails, no apps, no nothing… Simple.

I was talking to a girl (Oh my god was she beautiful) last night, who finds the Smartphones a waste of time. She did have some very interesting points to share:
- Smartphones consume a lot of battery power. With a regular phone you are good for at least two or three days on a full charge.
- You use it less. If you only use your phone for phone calls and SMS, you are more likely to use it only when is necessary and have more intimate conversations with people.
- You have less technology dependence. Having GPS systems, maps, store locators…etc makes you self sufficient, but at the same time it cuts you out from a human interaction. Something so basic like: “Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find an ATM around here?”
- Keeps it more personal. Forget about intrusive advertising, twittering, facebook… this is 1 to 1 interaction in most cases with a human being. The many to many approach flies out the window.
- You only care about the SIM card. If your phone gets lost or damaged, you only care about getting the SIM card back and plugging it into another similar device. Zero hassle and headaches. The cost of these phones are so cheap that you can have a new device every month.

I do have to admit without sounding like a neo luddite, that maybe technology (as usual) is going too fast. People still need some time to digest the concept that you can do pretty much anything with your phone. Technology should make us more human and less dependent. Then again… Different strokes for different folks.

One of the coolest application I’ve seen in a while.

More and more we see the emergence of Location Based Services for those using smartphones (or app-phones as I heard recently). Although there is not a definitive app the space is getting crowded.

Take for example Loopt, a company that offers a service to help you find your friends on the go. They are now introducing a new search service called Pulse. Not only it will provide suggestions according to where you are, but also based on your past history will generate a personalized and ever-changing list according to the time of day and also based on where you and your friends have been. This makes the suggestions and information even more relevant to the user. But that is not all. Pulse includes also a ranking to suggest places that are popular among other users. This opens a great deal of possibilities for the users and also for the retail and food industry who are planning to offer coupons to potential visitors. Everyone wins.

Last night I had a chat with my friend Alex Holden and he pointed out something that makes a lot of sense. How come popular sites like facebook for example are not picking up on the fact that people would like to know where their friends have been, or even if their friends are close by. Using a filtering system you can catalog people that you really know, people that you’ve met and people that you would like to meet.

Aka Aki is has a similar concept. So is Google Latitude. The problem is, that they are lagging behind in popularity. Even my 75 year old dad has a facebook account! Then again I wouldn’t be surprise if that feature will come sometime soon in a new update.

I installed an TV from Telekom on my iPhone a few weeks ago. So far the only one watching the stuff is my 8 year old son. As it turned out, there are a couple of channels (like Cartoon Network) not available by our current cable provider. Honestly I installed the app just to test it, but I realized how handy it becomes on the train when I am embarking on long trips.

TV as we know it is dying. My son find it entertaining but at the end of the day, he wants interaction just like he does with his Playstation. The passive user type is an endangered specie in the realm of modern technology. TV will evolve for sure, I cannot wait for the era of the real converged media.

The service for having “Mobile TV” from Telekom is another 5 Euros a month on your bill. If you ask me is worth the money. At the same time it makes me realize that iPhone users or as I heard the other day “App Phone” users are the only one with a flat rate that allows this type of app. If you think about it, most people who can actually afford app phones grew up watching TV.

On my way to work I’ve seen people watching morning TV shows. I find it interesting because Germany is a country that is not very keen on “TV watching” lifestyle. It makes me wonder how it will be in USA…

So what is the use of having an iPhone that is completely useless outside your country? Apple has a problem of always complicating the most simple things. Tying up the iPhone with a particular mobile operator was certainly a smart business move, but a lousy branding exercise. Will there ever be a day when we can use our phones everywhere? I really hope so.

So everything started this last summer. My bike was basically dead and I wanted to go biking with my son, so I opened an account with “Call a Bike” the renting bike service from the Deutsche Bahn (trains) here in Germany. Starting at 0,08 EUR/Min is not the cheapest service, but somehow convenient when you are bikeless. After registering online I was almost daily using the service. The whole process of renting the bike is a terrible pain in the neck. It should be easier, especially if you have an smartphone with you. I though this service needed an app to boost their business and make life easier for everyone.

A screen from my iPhone app
Click to enlarge

An app? yes. For starters finding a bike can be a challenge. Although they have many, people seem to use them a lot, so you have to find one that is free. The DB have on the Website a Google map that tells you where to find the bikes. One would think that if you are on the road it would be a mobile friendly website…think again. Frustrated by the service or rather the lack of it, I decided to create a concept for an app that could solve the problem and make the whole experience more pleasant.

I downloaded a Power Point presentation where the whole process and the customer journey is explained to the detail and used it as the basis for my concept. I was aiming for:

• Open a new account directly from your mobile phone
• Read a PDF with the more important info
• Do the whole unlocking process via mobile phone
• Have a bike locator
• Speed and minutes counter
• Street map and route recording for further sharing
• Guided tours around cities in Germany (these could be sold for extra)
• Also in two languages German and English (there are tourists that also use the service)

I rolled up my sleeves and went to work. All pieces where finish to put a presentation together. It was the end of the summer and I though it might be stupid to come up with such application now when people will rarely use this service in the next following months. So I decided to put it off to the following month: October. The app could be ready for next summer, I though.

Official Call a Bike app

Those of you with an iPhone and living in Germany probably know that an official app from Call a Bike was release recently into the app store just a few days/weeks ago. Developed by the company INOZ from Berlin, it became an instant success, featured in the top position of the app store. Tho, still in version 1.0, it features a bike locator and lets you via Click-to-call rent the bike. It won’t take long before they work out version 2 featuring what I mentioned above.

As soon as I saw the app my jaw fell to the floor. “Don’t leave for tomorrow what you can do today” , “The early bird gets the worm”… All these similar phrases came to my mind at once. With technology timing seems to be in most times the decisive factor. When is just the right time and when is not? Are you too early on the game or too late? I guess there is a lesson to be learn here but I don’t seem to grasp it. What I do know for sure is that as soon as I get a similar idea, I won’t hesitate to at least build a prototype as soon as possible. If the idea is crap it won’t survive anyway and if is good it will stand the test of time… No excuses, just business as usual: blood sweat and tears (well, maybe not the tears).

I think is been always the dream of any surfer to surf to their favorite tune. Well, now that is possible with the Amphibx Waterproof Armband from H2O audio. That’s right, you can just strap this baby to your arm or leg, and get in the water without any worries of damaging your mp3 player. This puppy features:

• Submersible up to 12ft/3.6m
• LatchTight Locking Closure – Provides 100% watertight seal
• Dual Flex Rings – Adjustable strap fits practically any arm size
• SealTight Connector – Compatible with standard 3.5mm headphone jacks
• ClearTouch Window – Full operation of touch and click wheel controls
• Designed to fit most iPods, MP3 players and phones

Get it together with the Surge Bass Amplified Waterproof Headphones and you’ll be enjoying an awesome experience. The whole shebang goes for about 150 euros (give or take) and is perhaps one of the coolest gadgets for the summer.