circle.ch weblog by Urs Gehrig

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2013-06-17T21:58:57
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04. July 2007

Swisscom Mobile Unlimited on Kubuntu (Linux)
Linux (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 23:30:27

The Swisscom Mobile Unlimited PCMCIA card, object of desire, is a GlobeTrotter Fusion+ model. The discussion here is about getting it working on a Thinkpad X60 running Kubuntu Feisty, currently using a 2.6.20-16-generic Linux kernel.

You might want to start with the installation of the Nozomi GPL Cardbus driver for an NB or NF card type (HSDPA 1.8, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS and WiFi 802.11g), if NB or NF are the first two letters of the Serial Number [1]:

$ sudo apt-get install nozomi-source
$ ls -t /dev/ | grep noz
noz0
noz2
noz3
noz1

There were no /dev/ttyUSB* devices on this machine. Neither the card could be found with lsusb. Nevertheless I continued and installed gcom ("Gcom is a scripting language interpreter useful for establishing communications on serial lines and through PCMCIA modems as well as GPRS and 3G datacards. Works with Option GlobeTrotter GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSDPA and Vodafone 3G/GPRS datacards."):

$ sudo apt-get install gcom wvdial
$ gcom -d /dev/noz0

Enter PIN number: ****
Waiting for Registration..(120 sec max)....
Registered on Home network: "Swisscom",0
Signal Quality: 24,99

There is also wvdial to install, a PPP dialer with built-in intelligence [2]. Configure wvdial via /etc/wvdial.conf and follow the instructions given here [3]. I slightly modified the file to fit with Swisscom services:

# cat /etc/wvdial.conf
# Created P.Hardwick for GlobeTrotter EDGE and GlobeTrotter Combo EDGE
# Step 1
# sudo wvdial Setup
# Step 2
# sudo wvdial Status
# repeat Step 2 every few seconds until you get an operator name reported
# Step 3
# sudo wvdial Swisscom &
#

[Dialer Defaults]
baud = 57600
Modem = /dev/noz0
Dial Command = ATD
Carrier Check = no

[Dialer Swisscom]
Init = AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","gprs.swisscom.ch"
Phone = *99***1#
Username = gprs
Password = gprs

[Dialer Setup]
init = AT+CFUN=1

[Dialer Status]
init1 = AT+COPS?;+CSQ

Finally a "sudo wvdial Swisscom" should do the job:

$ sudo wvdial Swisscom &

There are various good resources [4] on the web that might help you out, starting with Hannes' comments on such a card, especially regarding the ppp settings [5]:

$ egrep -v '#|^ *$' /etc/ppp/options
460800
local
persist
lock
usepeerdns
ipcp-accept-local
ipcp-accept-remote
defaultroute
debug
nodeflate
nobsdcomp
nopcomp
noaccomp
novj
novjccomp
+chap
nomagic
lcp-echo-failure 0
lcp-echo-interval 0

Recently there has been a GUI made available, which can be found on https://forge.vodafonebetavine.net [6]. Newer models of the Thinkpad X60 have an integrated multimode card, but these configurations have only been tested with an external PCMCIA card.

[1] http://www.pharscape.org/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
[2] http://packages.ubuntu.com/feisty/source/wvdial
[3] http://www.pharscape.org/content/view/40/53/
[4] http://forum.ubuntuusers.de/viewtopic.php?p=796533
[5] http://hannes.kaywa.com/p303.html
[6] https://forge.vodafonebetavine.net/projects/vodafonemobilec/

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02. March 2007

Sony Ericsson Z520i sync with Google Calendar
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Office (wiki) | Howto (wiki) - urs @ 21:05:39

Recently I started to take the andvantage of Google Calendar - it is nearly available everywhere you get internet access through a browser. But, as compared to Gmail, there is IMHO no mobile version around yet. Third party Gcalsync [1] did not really work satisfyingly or at least not the way I wanted to have it to work.

So, with the help of two tools that situation changed completely. Firstly there is to name MyPhoneExplorer (MPE) written by the Austrian Franz Josef Wechselberger [2]. MPE runs on Windows. It is originally intented to work with Sony Ericsson mobile phones, since recently it also deals with some Nokia file formats. It handles remote and - since version 1.5.9 also - local .ics files. This file format is used to handle calendar information.

MPE also deals with various remote calendars. So it should now directly work with Google Calendar. But I did it another way round. Since Thunderbird/Lightning was/is my standard email and calendar tool locally there was yet more interest to sync this tool with Google Calendar. But Thunderbird/Lightning currently only fully snycs with Google Calendar via another application called GCalDaemon [3], a daemon tool running locally.

All three calendar sources - via mobile phone, Google Calendar online or Thunderbird/Lightning locally - are being synced via a local file that I called google.ics. The combination runs perfectly since the release of version 1.5.9 of MPE in February.

[1] http://www.gcalsync.com
[2] http://www.fjsoft.at
[3] http://gcaldaemon.sourceforge.net

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23. November 2005

p2p - tiny code on mobiles to share anywhere
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | DRM (wiki) | P2P (wiki) - urs @ 00:16:10

I recently read about the Nokia N91 [1]. The mobile phone has a 4 GB hard disk, which takes - if you like music - up to 3'000 songs. The disc has nearly the capacity of a single sided, single layer DVD-5 (4.7 GB). Lucky us it is not that big, otherwise we could eventually do the unforeseen and copy a DRM protected movie on the phone.

But the N91 is also a computer based on Symbian OS [2] and capable of running Python. You can e.g. run a webserver written in Python on the phone. But there are also p2p applications implemented in Python. One of them is written by Pascal Felber of the Université de Neuchâtel and takes not more than 6 lines of code [3]. Some more usability offers Symella [4], written by two students of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

Let us consider some extrapolation. Everyone with such a mobile phone of such a configuration will basically be able to share files. According to Wikipedia in 2003 over 500 Mio. mobile phones have been sold. If just 10% of these new phones use p2p and share each day 5 files of 1 MB each, about 90'000 terabytes would be shared a year. Only over mobile phones. If file sharing becomes a custom, a habit, how do we handle the copyright issues? With Digital Restriction Management the way we know it? I have my doubts. I will come back to that issue in another post.

[1] http://www.forum.nokia.com/N91
[2] http://www.symbian.com/phones/nokia_n91.html
[3] http://www.crossflux.org/uP2P/
[4] http://symella.aut.bme.hu

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26. October 2005

QR code decoder for mobile phones
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 16:16:52

Glass [1] is an application that decodes QR codes. Glass is designed for Series 60 camera phones with texting (SMS) and web (WAP, HTTP) connectivity. Found that information via a flickr page of adamgreenfield [2].

[1] http://www.activeprint.org/download.html
[2] http://www.flickr.com/photos/studies_and_observations/55661038/

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08. October 2005

QR code - decoder to proof the concept
Weblog (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 13:26:59

I finally came along a QR code decoders tool, that are written in Java [1,2]. So the implementation here in this blog is actually working [3].

My next edition of business cards will probably have not only the human readable information but also a QR code printed on it. Thus, mobile phones with QR code decoders will be able to do the job of business card scanners. A convenient implementation would be a QR code to vCard converter [4], to make the address organization in the mobile phone as easy as possible.

[1] http://www.intelcom.ru/2d/english/demo.php
[2] http://sourceforge.jp/projects/qrcode/
[3] http://blog.li/trash/2005/10/08/2248.html
[4] http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/archives/2004-01/0014.html

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30. September 2005

Google Maps on a mobile phone
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Geodata (wiki) - urs @ 18:08:42

From the gmaps site [1]:
Mobile GMaps is a free piece of software that displays Google Maps and MSN Virtual Earth maps and satellite imagery on Java J2ME-enabled mobile phones or other devices.

Mobile GMaps is distributed under the Attribution/NonCommercial/NoDerivs Creative Commons license. You may download, use and distribute the application free of charge for non-commercial purposes. You may NOT use it for any commercial purpose.
Have a look at the documentation to see what phones are supported.

[1] http://www.mgmaps.com

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20. September 2005

SXG75 - ein Handy mit integriertem GPS
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Deutsch (wiki) | Geodata (wiki) - urs @ 10:30:06

Siemens bringt mit dem SXG75 [1] nun auch ein Mobilephone auf den Markt, das gleichzeitig als Navigationsinstrument dient. Im Vergleich zum Nokia GPS-Shell ist das GPS beim SXG75 direkt integriert. Erhältlich soll es ab Oktober 2005 sein.

[1] http://communications.siemens.com/SXG75

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29. August 2005

Nokia GPS shell
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Geodata (wiki) - urs @ 00:39:53

For a Nokia 5140i you can get an Xpress-on GPS shell [1]. I have seen it working a week ago. Unfortunately the Nokia 5140i is no Python phone - as far as I know. So to add the GPS data to an MMS is still not solved I guess and a quick Python hack out of sight. Has anyone successfully sent an MMS and the appropriate geodata with a Nokia 5140i phone?

[1] http://www.nokia.ch/german/phones/enhancements/xpresson_gps_shell/

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31. May 2005

Locative Technology on Nokia Series 60 phones
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Geodata (wiki) - urs @ 00:54:36

Christopher Schmidt [1] seems to have implemented, what we recently discussed [2] at a bloggermeeting. As Chris writes:
One of the benefits of having the ability to work with the phone is that there is an interface to the cell tower you are connected to. With this information, it's easy to make a "Where I've Been" type of interface. This is one of the first projects I did when I got the phone: The output of my wandering can be seen, although it's very incomplete due to limitations of the program.
I wrote down an idea of refinig the "cell tower position" via a look-up table [3,4], where the position of each tower will be determined with a GPS. But Chris script is a good start giving a reasonable resolution already.

[1] http://crschmidt.net/symbian/locative/
[2] http://blog.bitflux.ch/archive/2005/05/30/swiss-blogger-meeting.html
[3] http://circle.ch/wiki/GeoBlog
[4] http://circle.ch/blog/p1462.html

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07. February 2005

KABLOG - enhanced mobile blogging
Weblog (wiki) | XML (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Java (wiki) - urs @ 14:53:49

Amazing... KABLOG [1] is offering variuos front-ends for mobile phones which make mobile blogging easier:
KABLOG is a tool for mobile phones and PDAs that allows you to post photos and blog entries to blog servers and services such as TypePad, Movable Type, Blogger, B2, Blog-City, UserLand (Radio), Roller, SnipSnap, and other blog servers that support either the simple blogger xmlrpc interface or the extended metaWeblog interface. In addition, KABLOG provides extended support for posting entries to TypePad/Movable Type.
As far as I can see, it also works with images.

[1] http://www.kablog.org

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27. January 2005

ffmpeg - The upcoming tool for video conversion
PHP (wiki) | Weblog (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 11:16:19

ffmpeg [1] is the tool I have used locally for some time now [1]. It allows conversions of various video formats and video to image conversions. Over the last few months I started a collection of links to some helpful articles and discussions [2]. Recently, there has been started the development of a PHP extension [3]. I could imagine, that ffmpeg would be quite an interesting PHP5 standard extension ;) I haven't checked the license for compatibility though.

Grabbing a frame out of a video is as simple as follows. It took me quite some time to figure out the appropriate options, since the web and the documentation did not yet satisfy my needs:
$ ffmpeg -i test.3gp -f singlejpeg -img jpeg -y test.jpg
Input #0, mov, from 'test.3gp':
Duration: 00:00:04.8, bitrate: 80 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Video: h263, 128x96, 10.00 fps
Stream #0.1: Audio: 0x726d6173, 8000 Hz, mono
Output #0, singlejpeg, to 'test.jpg':
Stream #0.0: Video: mjpeg, 128x96, 10.00 fps, q=2-31, 200 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
frame= 48 q=4.0 size= 117kB time=4.8 bitrate= 200.0kbits/s
I am sure this will boost video blogging enormously [4]. I first was heading for mplayer, but mplayer is IMHO kind of related to X and we do not really want X to be installed on a production server, do we?

Finally, I would like to talk about animated GIF files and provide an example. As with a combination of Imagemagick and ffmpeg, it is a matter of two command lines evtl. one (I am not a pipe specialist ;). As shown below, ffmpeg generates a set of 10 images and Imagemagick converts them to an animated GIF:
$ ffmpeg -i test.3gp -f image -img gif -t 1.0 test%03d.gif
Input #0, mov, from 'test.3gp':
Duration: 00:00:04.8, bitrate: 80 kb/s
Stream #0.0: Video: h263, 128x96, 10.00 fps
Stream #0.1: Audio: 0x726d6173, 8000 Hz, mono
Output #0, image, to 'test%03d.gif':
Stream #0.0: Video: rawvideo, pal8, 128x96, 10.00 fps, q=2-31, 200 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
frame= 10 q=0.0 size= 0kB time=1.0 bitrate= 0.0kbits/s

$ convert -delay 20 -loop 0 test*.gif animated.gif
Feeback always welcome ;)

[1] http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net
[2] http://www.circle.ch/wiki/MpegToJpeg
[3] http://ffmpeg-php.sourceforge.net
[4] http://www.circle.ch/wiki/3gpVideo

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21. January 2005

RFID course - Technologies and Applications
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Technology Transfer (wiki) - urs @ 20:37:11

Thierry Roz, Product & Business Development Manager of the Business Unit RFID of EM-Microelectronic Marin sent me the outline of a that course on "Identification Sans Contact: Techniques et Applications «low-cost»" [1]. Together with Dr. Ngoc Chau Bui, my tutor at the Technical University of Biel, he is talking about RFID markets, technologies, products and what the future might bring. I can really recommend the course. No, I have no provision ;)

Mr. Bui is Director of MicroCID SA, which offers products such as COMPACT FLASH or PCMCIA RFID Readers [2].

[1] http://circle.ch/blog/media/FSRM_RFID.pdf
[2] http://www.microcid.com/Site_uk/Entr00.html

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19. October 2004

Google towards moblogging?
Weblog (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 08:08:16

Picasa, Inc. about Picasa:
We built Picasa because we were frustrated with how difficult it was to find, organize and do things with our digital pictures.
Picasa is now part of Google [1]. A quick look into the Googles businessplan(s) would probably clarify a lot ;-)

[1] http://www.picasa.com/content/download.php
[2] via http://www.moblogging.org/2004/07/google_moving_i.html

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26. July 2004

PHP on Symbian?
PHP (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 23:13:33

The question has been asked already [1] but what I can see has been left un-answered. Has there anyone some news on that topic?

[1] http://groups.google.ch/groups?selm=b4g8vt%24jbq%241%40FreeBSD.csie.NCTU.edu.tw

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float's mobile agent and a T610
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Software (wiki) - urs @ 22:38:33

fma is a software for windows to access and handle data on a mobile phone [1]. I was aware of that tool for over a year I think, but the problem usualy was the bluetooth connection to the phone, that did not work. The acer BT500 USB stick turned out to be a misdirected investment. I changed the widcomm bluetooth software several times but the hardware has never been detected properly. Today I decided to look out for another USB bluetooth adaptor; this one works totally easy and gives me access to the phone. Now fma allows me to backup sms, addresses, images etc. fma also incorporates a scripting-engine. If there is some spare time in a while, I will play around and see what can be automated to syncronize adddresses and backup images and so on. One thing is left to mention; in the options menu I had to choose "Connect to phone via Serial Port: COM 5" instead of directly using the bluetooth option.

[1] http://fma.sourceforge.net

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18. July 2004

Blogging with the SonyEricsson K700i
Weblog (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 20:08:05

For as much as 16 months I was moblogging with an upgraded T68m using a pluggable CommuniCam MCA-25 with VGA quality. Then, some weeks ago, I got a T610 for a few Swiss Franks, knowing to step behind regarding the quality of the built-in CIF camera [1] compared to the MCA-25.

Just recently I had the chance to play around with the new SonyEricsson K700i for about two weeks [2]. The K700i looks like the successor of the T610 or T630 to me. The phone is only a little bit bigger than the T610. SonyEricsson added a lot more memory and a new VGA camera with flash light. The phone records also video sequences of relatively unlimited length in the new 3gp [3] format. The navigation with the joystick is a pleasure an the software has some comfortable addons compared to the T610. The phone is pretty cool for mobile bloggers.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Intermediate_Format
[2] http://www.sonyericsson.com/K700
[3] http://www.3gpp.org

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29. June 2004

Simple MMS configuration
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 23:30:16

Swisscom offers a comfortable MMS configuration service; just send an SMS to with the name of your mobile phone e.g. "T610 d" to 667 and you will get the configuration setting in return a few seconds later [1]. "d" stands for german.

Update: Weitere MMS Konfigurationsseiten der Schweizer Telekommunikationsunternehmungen:

- http://mobile.sunrise.ch/config.htm
- http://www.orange.ch/vrtmobilephones/configure

[1] http://www.gomobile.ch/mms

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Easypay by Swisscom for micro content
Economy (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Content Management (wiki) - urs @ 22:04:09

Swisscom has a cool product called Easypay [1]. You buy a prepayed card with denominations of CHF 25.00, 50.00 and 75.00 at local stores, Kiosks, Post Offices etc. If you like to buy a product via an online store or like to use an online service you simply enter the Easypay number in the window on the provider’s website and press "buy". The Easypay service is also available in combination with mobile phones.

This is very very practical for providers of microcontent such as blogging services with MMS or mp3 music shops. I have no idea how simple it is to implement that service on the provider's side; but it is worth a try.

[1] http://www.swisscom-fixnet.ch/fx/content/products/easypay/index_EN.html

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17. June 2004

GeoBlog - Standortbestimmung für Moblogger
Weblog (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Intellectual Property (wiki) | Deutsch (wiki) - urs @ 00:00:39

Die Idee geistert schon länger bei mir umher und weil mir momentan zur Realisierung etwas die Zeit fehlt, will ich sie hier kundtun. Die Idee - ich nenne es schlicht GeoBlog - ist die, den vom Mobiltelefon aus auf den Blog gesendeten Bildern eine lokalisierende Komponente beizufügen. Das wäre wohl einfacher, wenn die Mobiltelefone GPS mitgeliefert bekämen; was nicht ist, kann noch werden.

Bei GeoBlog handelt es sich um einen Workaround: In einer Tabelle [1] sollen Längen- und Breitengrad von Mobilfunkantennen eingetragen werden. Die beim Mobiltelefon erscheinende Zelleninformation "Bern-West" sollte nun mehr oder weniger genau zu einer bestimmten Lokalisierung führen, die folglich mit dem Bild, sofern es sofort verschickt wird, in Verbindung gebracht werden kann.

Nebst der Tabelle, die nur in aufgrund von Freiwilligenarbeit entstehen kann und auch entsprechend unter einer Creative Commons Lizenz steht, bedarf es einer Software, die auf den gängigsten Telefonen installiert werden kann und mindestens die Zelleninfo ausliest und dem MMS oder E-Mail des Blog-Post automatisch mitliefert.

What do you think of it?

[1] http://www.circle.ch/wiki/GeoBlog

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07. June 2004

Flatrate GPRS with Swisscom
Economy (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 18:18:48

[via mosi, 1] It seems like Swisscom decided to move a step forward and introduced «Portal Pack» [2]. From the beginning of July 2004 the GPRS prices for data transmission in Switzerland will be only CHF 00.10 per 10 KB (previously 00.19). If you are a moblogger [3] you can enter the «Portal Pack» at a monthly all-in price of CHF 5.-- which allows unlimited data transfer via GPRS. I am sure this will boost a lot of mobile applications that way.

[1] http://blog.li/mosi
[2] http://www.swisscom-mobile.ch/prv_asp/prv_home.asp?nid=1662
[3] http://www.circle.ch/wiki/?page=Moblog

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26. May 2004

RSS Reader for MIDlet capabale handhelds
XML (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 08:30:25

The RSS Reader MIDlet [1] is an RSS feed reader for handhelds - such as SonyEricsson T610, Nokia 7210 et. al. - that can run Java MIDlets (J2ME). It uses RMS (persistent storage) for offline reading. It is MIDP 1.0 CLDC 1.0 compliant, and requires about 256 kb of memory to work well.

[1] http://www.brothas.net/rssr/

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26. April 2004

Nokia Lifeblog on CNET
Weblog (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 10:20:19

I already talked about an early version of Lifeblog here [1]; Next generation blogging from mobile phones. Yesterday I found a video that demonstrates some of the main features of the new Nokia 7610 [2].

[1] http://www.circle.ch/blog/p1332.html
[2] http://news.com.com/1606-2-741256.html

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23. April 2004

GIS Maps and mobile blogging
Weblog (wiki) | Technology (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 10:24:54

Mika Tuupola [1] exemplifies the ease of implementation of GIS data using the PEAR library written by Sebastian Bergmann. That reminds me of an earlier blog post about the GPS bluetooth module SOCKET SOC-GP0804-405 [2] (comparable is the PRETEC OB-GPLXX-A, both about CHF 400);

Before we cat get mobile phones with integrated GPS capability, I guess that these module would do a good job delivering GPS data which can be submitted together with the blog content. If I would blog from a certain location, it would be quite nice to display the coordinates and leave a trace between consecutive posts. It simply adds more value to the content.

I am aware, that others will track the trace and tease you up "hey, what did you do in Champéry; shouldn't you have been in London at that time?"... but that is up to you, to decide what you reveal of yourself. Isn't it?

[1] http://www.appelsiini.net/~tuupola/archives/155/
[2] http://shop.comdirect.ch/default.asp?prono=1538

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06. April 2004

Personal WAP Gateway on Windows
XML (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 18:53:54

Sveasoft has a WAP Gateway which runs as service on a Windows machine [1]. You can download a trial version which only adds a 'Sveasoft' link to each page.

[1] http://www.sveasoft.com/modules.php?name=Products

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17. March 2004

Megapixel camera phones
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Social Network (wiki) - urs @ 16:19:54

Nokia now has a 1 megapixel camera phone too; Nokia 7610 [1]. Sharp announced one earlier: Sharp GX 30 [2], which is Vodafone live! compatible.

Both phones still do not seem to support the Push-To-Talk (PTT) technology; textually.org has a whole lot of information about it [3]:
Instead of dialling a number, users will be able to highlight a name on their cell phone screen and press a button to talk to them instantly. No ringing, no waiting.

Similar to Instant Messaging, «Push To Talk» technology will allow users to create a liste of friends (who must first give their OK), enabling them to see who has their mobile turned on.
[1] http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,54665,00.html
[2] http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/040220.html
[3] http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/cat_ptt_pushtotalk.htm

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12. February 2004

Nokia 6600 to blog via Atom API
Weblog (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 00:45:25

[via Joi, 1] Nokia has a proof-of-concept for mobile blogging via the Atom API. The application runs on a Nokia 6600. Quite an interesting approach. There will be a Hackathon on the upcoming LOTS Event [3] where Michael Wechner is hopefully dealing with the Atom API on behalf of conventional Content Management Systems. That note by Joi could be an additional motivator ;-)

[1] http://joi.ito.com/archives/2004/02/12/moblogging_from_the_nokia_6600_with_atom_api.html
[2] http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,33210,00.html
[3] http://www.oscom.org/events/sprints/4--bern-february-2004/

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04. February 2004

BlueFOAF - Find Nearby FOAFs With Bluetooth
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Social Network (wiki) - urs @ 00:06:09

[via mobilewhack, 1] Well, BlueFOAF finds nearby friends with via bluetooth; Edd [2] has written BlueFOAF with Python [3] for Linux. It is just a guess, but if the bluetooth in a Nokia 60 Series is accessible for Python, why should BlueFOAF not work on mobile phones?

So, if you do not know the person in a restaurant next to you, having his or her mobile phone with enabled bluetooth on the table, you might probably know one of his or her friends and get in contact that way. Imagine how that will stare at you, if you ask:
"Are you a friend of X?"
[1] http://www.mobilewhack.com/networking/bluetooth/bluefoaf.html
[2] http://usefulinc.com/edd/blog/contents/2004/02/01-bluefoaf/read
[3] http://svn.usefulinc.com/svn/repos/trunk/foaf-face/

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03. February 2004

Nokia Series 60 Device As HTTP Server?
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 12:01:10

It is said that Nokia is going to enable Python on their Series 60 Devices [1]. Well if so, the idea of using the mobile phone as a portable HTTP server is not that far out of reach, since python offers SimpleHTTPServer and BaseHTTPServer modules [2]. But I am not a Python programmer, so let me know, if I miss the point ;-)

[1] http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/64/35040.html
[2] http://www.python.org/dev/doc/maint21/lib/module-CGIHTTPServer.html

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29. January 2004

Creative Commons license draft version 2.0
Weblog (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Intellectual Property (wiki) | Wiki (wiki) - urs @ 11:23:22

Joi [1] just pointed out the draft of the Creative Commons by-nc-sa license version 2.0 [2]. There will be some changes regarding the warranties, a link-back to the attribution clause and among other points, compatibility questions regarding e.g. the GNU Free Documentation License are to be discussed.

On behalf of the compatibility issue Eric S. Raymond [3] worked out some guidelines related to open source in his Licensing-HOWTO. The compatibility between different licenses is from my point of view quite important e.g. for work that has been published prior the CC era. We should eventually start a compatibility list as it has been done for licenses regarding open source software. The idea is porbably not new though ;-)

[1] http://joi.ito.com/archives/2004/01/29/version_20_of_creative_commons_licenses.html
[2] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/draft2.0
[3] http://www.catb.org/~esr/Licensing-HOWTO.html#compatibility

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23. December 2003

Moblogging charges
Moblog (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 20:51:49

440kB is charged CHF 8.36 at my telecom provider, which is 0.019 CHF/kB. An image at about 11kB e.g. costs therefore 20.9 cents; So 1MB is about CHF 19. Moblogging takes a stake of about 12% of the full bill. This was quite a low-traffic month ;-)

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18. December 2003

20min MMS Fotoalbum
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Deutsch (wiki) - urs @ 14:51:35

Das 20min MMS Fotoalbum [1], welches heute online gegangen ist, basiert auf den Services von Kaywa [2].

[1] http://www.20min.ch/community/visitenkarte/
[2] http://www.kaywa.com

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16. November 2003

Vodafone live! as a carrier-change motivator
Economy (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 11:42:05

Swisscom started supporting Vodafone live! phones [1] (Vodafone owns a 25% stake of Swisscom Mobile AG). I played around with the three available phones the other day, as there is the Sharp GX20, the SonyEricsson Z600 and the Motorola V525. Vodafone live! can be seen as a common menu or navigation for mobile phones making it easy to call up photos, games, sounds, pictures and messages and share them with others.

Vodafone UK offers setups for a range of other phones than only the ones mentioned above [2]. One reason to provide phones with a common menu may ground in the delivering of phone-independent services at a later stage. The fun aspect is good argument to introduce such a common desktop but further more also a possibility to motivate customers to change their carrier, as they usually do not change them before their next upgrade of their handsets [3].

As most, if not all of the new phones come with java support I am wondering if the Java Desktop could not be rewritten to run on those phones [4]. This would enable access to a wide variety of applications. Just a thought.

[1] http://www.swisscom-mobile.ch/live
[2] http://mmsota.vizzavi.co.uk
[3] http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/26/1064083179063.html
[4] http://wwws.sun.com/software/javadesktopsystem

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23. October 2003

SMS package for PEAR
PHP (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 10:40:49

Tobias Schlitt [1] proposed a new packe for PEAR. It allows to handle SMS (short message service) with a PHP CLI interface through a connected mobile phone.

As seen at the ITU Swisscom offers now a new Outlook plugin called "Desktop SMS" [2]. Since they shut down the free SMS service on gomobile.ch one needs to pay for each message now.

[1] news.php.net
[2] http://www.swisscom-mobile.ch/sp/UEOAAAAA-de.html

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19. October 2003

BlackBerry Phone staying connected
Weblog (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 01:22:56

Swisscom [0] had a product demo at ITU showing new services for the BlackBerry phone [1]. Got reminded to it, while viewing Dave Mathews [2] tech talk on the SideKick [3] phone in quicktime version.

The idea of BlackBerry is for now to make business data available as one is on the move. Mails get pushed to the phone the moment they arrive at the mail server. So BlackBerry is kind of constantly connected. It has a small wheel to comfortably navigate the menu. What from my point of view is missing, is the camera. I would need one to be able to moblog; an alternative could be SideKick with the plugin camera like JoiIto uses it.

[0] http://www.swisscom-mobile.ch/sp/EDKAAAAA-de.html
[1] http://blackberry.net/products/handhelds/index.shtml
[2] http://techtalkback.typepad.com/ttb/2003/10/always_online.html
[3] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000A0AZC

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23. September 2003

WiFi at the University of Bern
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) | Academic (wiki) - urs @ 15:40:11

Good news from the inside-out; my new Airport card on that elderly iBook works perfectly and is bringing me to the outside of the Camp.

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SD (Secure Digital) WiFi for more connectivity
Technology (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 11:07:28

Sandisk [1,2] has one of the smallest WiFi Cards probably available. The card will allow SDIO enabled devices to connect to HotSpots (802.11b Access Points) for fast wireless Internet connectivity. There is an alternative product by Socket Communications [3].

[1] http://www.brighthand.com/article/SanDisk_SD_WiFi_Card_Reviewed
[2] http://www.sandisk.com/consumer/sdwifi.asp
[3] http://www.socketcom.com/product/WL6200-480.asp

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17. September 2003

KEITAI-L - mailing list on the changing role of mobile phones
Weblog (wiki) | Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 21:44:36

[via Mika Tuupola] KEITAI-L [1] is a mailinglist ment for the discussion of current and future web and JAVA(tm) enabled mobile phones with a bias towards the Japanese market. Discussions on technical and marketing issues are welcome.

While having understood the the goal of that list I was still wondering on the meaning of "keitai", since not knowing much about Japanese. So what Google revealed at second place in the result set behind KEITAI-L, was the Keitai Log [2]
an occasional Web diary by a group of Tokyo college students who are researching the changing role of cell phones - keitai - in Japanese society.
Left to mention that one of the writers of the Japanese Media Review is Joi Itos younger sister Mizuko Ito [3]. Small world ;-)

[1] http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/
[2] http://www.ojr.org/japan/wireless/1043770157.php
[3] http://www.ojr.org/japan/writers/archive.php?personID=333

Update (03.08.2004)
[4] http://joi.ito.com/archives/2004/08/03/mimi_on_keitai_culture.html

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07. March 2003

SonyEricsson - new T610 with cam
Wireless and Mobile (wiki) - urs @ 18:02:42

SonyEricsson brought out its new T610 with an integrated camera [1]. It looks pretty handy.

[1] http://www.sonyericsson.com/ch/spg.jsp?page=T610_Explore

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