I adore Sharp Phones for their cameras and screens and their classic look since the times I bought a GX-30 via Vodafone (who was then in a fight with Nokia). Sadly the Sharp brand has almost disappeared from mobile phone shops and that's a pity - even more so, as Sharp phones come with a preinstalled QR Code Reader made by Sharp's inhouse team.
Sharp continues to hold its dominant position in Japan’s handset market through four consecutive quarters, increasing its market share to 22.6% in 1Q07 from 21.2% in 4Q06, reports IDC. Strong sales of Raku-Raku series phones are worth mentioning among other 1Q07 highlights as they helped Fujitsu get in the top five handset vendors.
It's official now. SBB starts with QR Codes. You can now access the train timetable via QR code and on your mobile phone either use the online wap version or you can download a java application which is more userfriendly.
And I imagine already all the asian tourists going to Zermatt or Lucerne or anywhere else in Switzerland seeing the QR Codes and instantly feeling at home.
And in the near future, it will be the universal language for our mobile phones worldwide... (sorry for getting a bit sentimental here;)
If you understand now, what RSS Feeds are, think how cool it would be to read RSS feeds on your mobile.
So instead of a computer, you only need now a mobile phone with internet access. You can type http://feed2mobile.kaywa.com or you can scan the QR Code right here to get there:
Once on Feed2Mobile you'll see the latest ten feeds that have been mobilized. If you scroll down you'll find these options:
[1] Recently mobilized aka the home page
[2] Search (existing) mobilized Feeds, like for example boingboing
[3] My Bookmarks (needs a Kaywa ID)
[4] Create a new mobile feed.
The cool thing about [4] is that you can sit in a bus and read a magazine where they talk about a cool blog. Instead of heading home to check out this blog or spend large sums of money when directly accessing it (some blogs sites are very heavy in KB's), you simply click [4], enter the webaddress, add the captcha, click and then you can read the mobilized version immediately. Pictures are scaled down for mobile devices. Podcasts are also shown.
Please help spread this story. Today at the AIB (Association of International Broadcasters) awards ceremony a small African radio station, SW Radio Africa, won the award for the most creative marketing concept. But while they are doing wonderful work, this is something that needs immediate and urgent support.
Briefly, Zimbabwe is a poor African country where the economy has collapsed (latest inflation just during the month of October was 15,000 percent) and the government is very corrupt. And the government censors the media.
SW Radio Africa is the independent Zimbabwe news source broadcasting on shortwave radio out of neighboring South Africa. Except that now Zimbabwe of course also blocks their radio broadcasts.
So the Forox Mobile Applications bit? SW Radio Africa decided, if you censor my broadcasts, then I go SMS.. Pretty clever by the small radio station where TV is not a viable option and internet/PC penetration is nearly zero. But there are plenty of cheap old second hand mobile phones..
So SMS. Zimbabweans can't afford even to pay for the SMS. So SW Radio Africa sends the news free to anyone in Zimbabwe who signs up to the service. Over 6,000 have signed up and they are adding 100 new subscribers every day.
So they don't do advertising but someone has to pay for the SMS. SW Radio Africa asks for sponsors to cover the cost of the SMS transmissions.
So here is my request. If you think this is a worthy cause, that a free radio station broadcasting news into Zimbabwe is on a good task, and that since they are now blocked by the Zimbabwe government, SMS text messaging is a reasonable alternative to get past the censorship, then please do spread the story. Lets try to find some supporters and further sponsors for SW Radio Africa. Lets get some news and information to the poor devastated people in Zimbabwe.
