Techdigest reports about the latest Nokia N90:

After seeing rivals Sony and Ericsson and Sharp steal a march in the camera phone market the N90 is Nokia's attempt to grab the high-end back. Its headline facility has to be its integrated two mega pixel camera which features apparently Carl Zeiss optics – a first for a Nokia phone.

The handset itself is clamshell style with a rotating head like other Nokia and Sharp phones. Nokia has stacked the phone out with many photographic features so the N90 boasts a macro option, an autofocus, flash and a 20x digital zoom. The phone also grabs video too in MPEG4 and 3GP formats and has an 8x digital zoom. There’s a second camera too so the phone can be used for person to person video calling.

The 3G/Edge handset also features MP3 and AAC music players and has good quality speakers. It runs on Nokia's Series 60 platform and boasts a whole host of ‘prosumer’ facilities including email with attachments and a full HTML web browser. Battery life is up to 10 days in standby and 4.5hours talk time. It goes on sale in the summer.

This looks very enticing. I hope Nokia can finally offer a picture quality comparable to Sharp camera phones. I would be the first to buy it;).

Via Emily

To make QR Code Noriben
RFID Japan

Yuji Hayashi's project was to encode a message on Bento using Nori (toasted seaweed) and rice. He argues QR-encoded bentos will create a new communication channel between moms (who make bentos) and kids (who eat them) and describes a scenario in which a devorced mom says things like "I'll marry again" in a black and white pattern created using Nori and rice.

So, Mr. Hayashi and his mom struggled for three hours to create something like this. However, unfortunately, his mobile phone couldn't decode it. Lessons learned: Nori is deformed when it absorbs moisture from cooked rice. He thinks he should have used Kombu seaweed instead, which is more robust. He also suggests that someone should develop "Nori for the age of information technology. "

Via Emily

Simpay

Orange, Telefónica Móviles, T-Mobile and Vodafone together founded Simpay with the ambition to attract other major network operators, who would also introduce Simpay to their customers. Creating one brand for all mobile phone payment will make things simpler for people. In February 2005, two additional operators, Amena and Proximus, became Simpay members. A single brand avoids the confusion that would arise if all the networks promoted their own separate payment products to us.

See also:
A new carrier trade body hopes to promote a common m-payment system, but will it work? (The Feature about Simpay)
Overview Digital Mobile Content (PDF) (L.C.)

Mobile parking has started already in some pilot projects (Swisscom in Lucerne) and if my memory is correct, somebody with such a project was a finalist at the Switch Award. Now I read and saw on TV that mobile parking will soon start in 5 swiss cities. It looked a lot like the austrian solution*, but maybe I am wrong.

* Mobile Parking which already exists in Austria and Berlin.

See also:
Mobile Parking - ein innovativer Service für Bürger (6,7 MB)

From a mobile point of view however, I think this could be excellent news. Recent announcements about partnerships with companies like Nokia have strengthened their position over the (in my opinion) extremely mishandled rollout of Flash-Lite and the Adobe situation has the potential to take it all to the next step. Adobe have embraced mobile markup languages in GoLive to a level that Dreamweaver hasn't yet matched and they've taken huge leaps to promote the use of SVG on mobiles too. Tying this all in with Flash-Lite has got the hallmarks of a killer development environment leading to killer end-user apps I think.

Via Pete

Au-delà d’une riche réflexion sur la mobilité, le tourisme, les attentes des utilisateurs et la structuration de l’offre, l’étude plaide pour une coordination plus grande entre les acteurs du tourisme, des transports et des technologies, qui ne peuvent agir seuls.

Translation:
The study is a rich reflexion about mobility, tourism, user expectations and the structure of the offer. It encourages the actors of tourism, transports and technologies to work together as they cannot act alone.

Mobilité touristique et terminaux nomades : une étude exploratoire

Mobilités touristiques et terminaux nomades (fr)
Claude Bannwarth et Bruno Marzloff, March 2005 (PDF, 442 KB) - L.C.
Short Version (PDF, 117 KB) - L.C.

Via Jérôme

You can now test ENUM in Switzerland.

Since 14 April 2005, private individuals and companies have been able to register ENUM domain names in the Swiss ENUM trial. ENUM marks a further public-minded commitment by SWITCH in the Internet environment for the benefit of the population as a whole.

ENUM stands for E164 Number Mapping and is a new directory service based on the Domain Name System (DNS). Ever since it has been possible to telephone via the Internet, people have expressed the wish to be contactable via the same number for both the conventional telephone network and VoIP. ENUM will establish a link between these two switching techniques for the very first time – since it translates telephone numbers into Internet addresses and enters these in the DNS in the same way as a conventional domain name. A new directory service is thus being offered, where each subscriber can enter their numbers for the fixed network, mobile network and value-added services. Priorities can be set for the preferred mode of contact.

SWITCH is providing the basic infrastructure for ENUM services in Switzerland. The other contributors involved are ENUM registrars, telecommunication companies and also hardware and software producers. Anyone wishing to register an ENUM domain name as part of the ENUM trial should contact one of the official registrars, OSS AG or Firstcom Group.

More ENUM Information (de) from SWITCH

Pervasive and Locative Arts Network (PLAN)

A new international and interdisciplinary research network in pervasive media and locative media has been funded as part of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Culture & Creativity programme. The network will bring together practicing artists, technology developers and ethnographers with the aim of advancing interdisciplinary understanding and building consortia for future collaborative projects. It will be of relevance to people working in the arts, games, education, tourism, heritage, science and engineering.

See also:
Mapping Hacks
Headmap
RDF Geo vocabulary (Kanzaki)

Via Douglas Rushkoff's «Honey, I Geotagged the Kids» (The Feature)

Social Serendipity

[...] as mobile phone evolve to break computing free of the desktop and firmly roots itself in daily life, we have an opportunity to mediate, mine, and now even augment our current social reality. We are beginning to see advances in communication technology that will enable face-to-face connections between strangers and make a profound impact on our society.

[...] Today's social software is not very social. From standard CRM systems to Friendster.com, these services require users to be in front of a computer in order to make new acquaintances. Serendipity embeds these applications directly into everyday social settings: on the bus, around the water cooler, in a bar, at a conference.

See also:
Dating Game Goes Proximal...

Via delicious Hannes

Information on sightseeing in Tokyo is provided via cellular phone QR code

http://www.enjoytokyo.jp/english/

From
Yokoso! Japan Weeks Handbook
Convenience Services

See also:
QR Code (Wikipedia)