One of my favorite blogs, Yugatech, is giving away lotsa gadgets this holiday season.  And one of those gadgets is the Modu phone, the lightest phone in the world.

This is the perfect “second” phone for those who have a spare sim to use.  Me, though I have a love-hate relationship with Globe, I still want  to use my old Globe number because it’s Christmastime and I have so many Globe friends I wanna text.  Besides, Mike is still very much loyal to his Globe number so I think it’ll be easier and cheaper for us to communicate using the same cellphone network.

Aside from that, I think Modu is one of the cutest phones I’ve seen once you put it in its case.

Ang cute, cute right? CLICK HERE TO READ YUGA’S MODU REVIEW

Just for this week, Yugatech is giving away 62 gadgets, such as Modu phones, Globe Tattoo, and Globe prepaid phone cards.  Everyone can join either via Twitter, blog, or answering a question posted on his blog. Check out the mechanics below on how to join.

MECHANICS FOR YUGATECH’S GREAT GADGET GIVEAWAY

Round 1: Our theme for this week will be Twitter. Here’s the mechanics:

1) Follow @abeolandres and @talk2globe on Twitter.

2) Post a tweet “Just entered to win a Modu Phone. Quick! Go follow @abeolandres and @talk2globe and retweet:http://bit.ly/6e2q7O #thanks2yugatech”

We’re giving away a Modu phone, 10 Globe Tattoo and 20 Php500 prepaid call cards randomly. That’s 31 winners in all for the Twitter giveaway.

If you don’t have a Twitter account but own a blog, here’s another way for you to join in this week’s giveaways:

1) Blog about the “YugaTech Great Gadget Giveaway”. Include the photo I posted here and link to this contest page.

2) Don’t forget to include in your post the mechanics for the Twitter contest above.

3) Leave a comment here with the URL of your entry.

For this one, we’ll give away another Modu phone, 10 Globe Tattoo and 10 prepaid load cards worth Php500 each. That’s 21 additional winners for a total of 52 winners this week.

Lastly, for our YugaTech readers who don’t Twitter or blog, here’s one for you:

1) Leave a comment on this contest page with the answer to this question — “If you’re stuck in an island with a phone and only have one call left, who would you call and why?“

Ten most witty or creative answers will each win Php500 worth of prepaid load cards from Globe.

You can join in any of the 3 separate giveaways above but you can only win once for this round. If you win twice or on all 3, you get the bigger prize.

That’s a total of 62 lucky winners this week alone. This is just to warm you up for that grand prize. Go and start spreading the word!

Our giveaways won’t be this huge if not for our sponsors. Go thank Globe in your own little way.

Note: Anyone can join in the contests as many times since we’ll have more rounds in the coming weeks and months. Items will be shipped anywhere in the Philippines for free.

O modu (em minúsculas, como manda a moda), celular mais leve do mundo segundo o Guinness World Records, além de ser um dos menores, chegou ao Brasil. Confira algumas fotos do bichinho:

Realmente bem pequeno, não? O aparelhinho pesa apenas 40g, aproximadamente a metade daqueles celulares considerados levinhos, como o Motorola F3. Como você deve ter notado, ele não possui teclado numérico, ou seja, para discar você deve buscar o número desejado no direcional.

Mas o conceito de celular que o modu traz é completamente diferente. Existem diversas Skins feitas exclusivamente para ele. Estas Skins, porém, não servem apenas para alterar o visual do aparelho. Elas podem acrescentar outros recursos, como um teclado numérico (!), colunas de som Stereo ou mesmo mais capacidade (ele já vem com 2GB de memória).

Não entendeu? Confira algumas fotos desta funcionalidade esquisita:

E ele já pisa em terras brasileiras! O modu chegará por aqui até o fim do ano por meio da Claro. Será vendido a partir de R$299 (sem nenhuma Skin, claro), variando de acordo com o plano.

O curioso Modu, celular que permite que usuários customizem o produto quase por completo, chegará ao Brasil pelas mãos da Claro.

A empresa Isreelense fechou contrato de fornecimento com a operadora, que por sua vez promete a venda do celular por no máximo R$ 699,00, para aquisições sem fidelização.

Segundo o Telecom Online:

O grande apelo do modu phone, o centro do sistema Modu, é a sua modularidade que, dependendo do acessório escolhido, poderá ter funções diversas como relógio, tocador de música digital, pedômetro, porta retrato digital, e outras. Essas funções podem ser obtidas por meio do que a empresa chama de modu jackets, que também serão comercializados pela Claro. Além disso, o cliente pode escolher o design do aparelho de acordo com os kits que adquirir.

O celular é bastante interessante, apesar do modesto destaque na imprensa internacional, se comparado aos smartphones top de vendas. Atualmente o sistema operacional é o Brew, da Qualcomm, mas novas versões estão sob promessa de vir com o Android embarcado.

Globe Telecom President and CEO Ernest L. Cu (right) and modu founder and CEO Dov Moran show off the world’s lightest phone, exclusively available from Globe.

modu’s recent soft launch took off without a hitch and we’re now in full swing on international shores. We’re excited to announce that Globe Telecom, the second largest telecommunications company in the Philippines will be selling the modu device through Lynk Communications.

Media folks and bloggers were on scene and in fashion at Paul Smith in Greenbelt 5, to witness the launch and give their initial thoughts on the modu / fashion mix. We’re really glad you made it!

Here’s what Lauren from ukaymanila.com had to say about modu. “What I like about the modu is that the bare unit is pared down to the most basic mobile phone features – you can call text, listen to music, and use its 2GB internal memory as a storage device.”

Another great post comes from Liz over on projectvanity.i.ph who said. “I think someone was thinking of me in making the modu.”

New to the whole modu concept? modu is touted as the world’s lightest fully-functional phone by the Guinness Book of World Records; however device is more than just merely record-breaking. Unlike the average mobile phone, which comes with a standard feature set, the modu’s looks and features can be completely customized according to your needs, preferences, and lifestyle.

Once you’ve unboxed modu, you can connect it straight to your pc and load it up with your own media, so that you can show it off to your friends with all the interesting pics and music already on it.

Starting September 18, the modu phone will be made available exclusively from Globe for as low as P7,999 with a Globe Tattoo prepaid kit. Each prepaid kit comes with one free modu express jacket and a year’s supply of immortaltxt. You can also avail of the modu phone through Globe’s post-paid plans. If you get the P500 plan the modu will cost you P7,999, but the modu comes for free if you get a Plan 1200 or higher.

Ele é menor que um cartão de crédito, mais fino que uma caixa de fósforos e pesa apenas 40 gramas. O modu, menor e mais leve telefone do mundo, de acordo com a edição 2009 do “Guiness Book”, foi lançado em Israel no fim de julho com quantidade limitada de aparelhos. O número não foi divulgado pela modu (a empresa), mas o primeiro lote foi esgotado em menos de uma semana.

De acordo com a companhia israelense, o modu deve chegar a países da América Latina (incluindo o Brasil), Europa e Ásia por volta de outubro.

O presidente da companhia, Dov Moran, disse que há negociações com empresas brasileiras, como Claro e Telefônica, que não confirmam a informação. O lançamento comercial vinha sendo aguardado desde fevereiro de 2008, quando o aparelho foi apresentado em Barcelona, durante o Mobile World Congress.

Com apenas sete teclas e tela de 1,3 polegada, o modu, sozinho, não é exatamente confortável. Para discar números de telefone ou digitar mensagens de texto, o usuário precisa navegar por um teclado virtual, percorrendo-o com as teclas para escolher números e letras. Mas a empresa pretende introduzir um novo conceito de uso de telefonia celular modular, adequado a diferentes ocasiões ao longo do dia.

Em entrevista à Folha, Moran, que criou o pendrive e o vendeu à SanDisk por US$ 1,6 bilhão no final de 2006, disse que decidiu desenvolver o aparelho modular ao notar a dificuldade de carregar telefones maiores em ocasiões informais, como jantares e corridas.

Diversas versões

A modu, aberta por Moran há dois anos e meio, criou o aparelho, que se encaixa em capas e assume funções de acordo com cada situação -com aparência específica.

Há versões que apresentam um teclado maior, como em um aparelho convencional. Outras têm finalidades específicas: tocador de música, GPS, informações para quem pratica esportes, câmera de até 8.2 Mpixels e até um porta-retratos que mostra imagens registradas no aparelho e permite ao usuário atender chamadas.

Na sede da empresa em Kfar Saba, cidade próxima de Tel Aviv, o gerente de projetos de integração, Moshe Johary, diz que, inicialmente, serão comercializadas apenas as capas com teclado convencional, em três diferentes cores. O valor do pacote, em Israel, é de cerca de US$ 125, bem menor que o cobrado pela maioria dos aparelhos no mercado local.

As capas do modu serão vendidas separadamente, e preço médio de cada uma será de US$ 20. “Em geral usuários trocam o aparelho celular periodicamente, e o valor pela troca é bem mais alto do que o que vai ser cobrado pelas capas”, diz Moran.

Piloto

O lançamento do modu ocorreu em parceria com a Cellcom, a maior operadora celular de Israel, com 3 milhões de usuários, quase metade da população do país.

Moran explica que a escolha foi feita por conta do tamanho reduzido do mercado e para testar o produto.

A Cellcom, que vendeu o modu pela internet, ofereceu descontos nas ligações para usuários que concordaram em dar à empresa opiniões sobre o uso do aparelho.

Fonte: Folha Online
GABRIEL TOUEG
colaboração para a Folha de S.Paulo, em Tel Aviv

IBM's Meta Pad concept

Back in 2007 I had what I thought at the time was a unique brainstorm in the area of computing and communications.  Noting the quickening convergence between PCs and cell phones, I suggested that the obvious next step would be to bridge the two in a way that had not yet been done: shrink the PC down to a credit-card sized contraption about 5 mm or so thick and encapsulate it in a format that allowed it to be plugged in, PC card style, into an array of device “skins”.  In essence, a core engine that could drive your cell phone, GPS device, netbook or even desktop PC.  The skin, or shell, would contain or connect to all of the audiovisual interfaces and the main power supply… although the engine would of course have to possess its own energy storage for transport between uses.

Little did I know when I first made that whimsical post that IBM had already started down that path with the Meta Pad project.  Unfortunately their intent seemed to be more proof-of-concept than anything they intended to develop further much less market (a different story, however, with IBM’s Cell technology, designed for a different purpose).

Modu, the modular phone

 More recently, Information Week announced the development of a similar concept, Modu.  This device is more limited in scope in that it will certainly not power anything greater than perhaps a Mobile Internet Device (MID).  However, it definitely gets us closer to my plug-and-power-anything dream.  At the very least, the Modu engine could drive a variety of mobile devices and perhaps even find its way into uses the originators have not yet imagined.

The main hinderance to realization of my own modular fantasy is CPU power… but even that hurdle is rapidly eroding.  Intel’s Atom processor hints at even greater things to come size-vs-power-wise as Moore’s Law continues to hold fairly steady (notwithstanding the occasional breather).

So as the advances continue, the question in my mind remains: will we see the necessary convergence in technology and business activity that will manifest in truly modular computing devices?  Can we even dare to imagine that the “credit card computer” will eventually become a reality?

We haven’t even begun to really tap the power of nanotechnology in mainstream electronics, so who knows what the future may hold for mobile computing.  Maybe some years from now, perhaps even in my lifetime, the current complaints against the bulk of niche devices like Nokia’s internet tablets will fade as we quantum leap toward this new paradigm.  I’ll touch more on this in another article… stay tuned!

Thanks to Stephen Gadsby for pointing me toward the Meta Pad.

Dupa ce s-a lasat asteptat aproape doi ani de la anuntarea sa ca si concept, telefonul mobil modu a fost lansat pe piata.

Compania israeliana Modu isi va lansa pentru inceput telefonul cu acelasi nume doar pe pietele din Orientul Mijlociu, urmand apoi Asia de Sud-Est, America Latina si Europa, mai tarziu in cursul acestui an.Ideea acestui prous este aceea de a costumiza aspectul si functiile telefonului mobil in functie de nevoile de moment ale utilizatorului. Acest lucru se realizeaza prin cuplarea unui modul de baza cu o serie de carcase si accesorii dedicate. Acestea formeaza laolalta gama modu ecosistem.

Pretul de lansare este de 125$, in pachet fiind oferite o carcasa xpress jacket intr-o culoare la alegere si o husa. Alte carcase disponibile mai sunt: night jacket, street-art jacket, classic jacket si au preturi cuprinse inre 20 si 60 de dolari.Pe langa forme si culori unice destinate sa atraga publicul tanar, acestea nu aduc deocamdata vreun pachet de functii deosebite modulului de baza, in afara de o tastatura alfanumerica normala.

Modulul de baza cu dimensiuni de 72.1 mm X 37.6 mm X 7.8 mm. si 40.1g este inregistrat in Guiness Book ca cel mai usor telefon mobil din lume. Are functiile de baza ale unui telefon mobil, plus player audio si memorie interna de 2GB.

Are doar sapte butoane, necesare pentru functiile de baza, ecran 1.3″ OLED de 1.3” si 65,000 colors, difuzor incorporat (speaker), baterie de 530mAh battery si mufa mini USB.JBL a construit o carcasa modu, pentru cei care vor dori sa foloseasca telefonul ca pe un mini boombox. Carcasa are doua boxe JBL Odissey de dimensiuni mici, mufa pentru casti de 3.5mm si o camera foto de 3MP, cu flash.JBL a construit o carcasa modu, pentru cei care vor dori sa foloseasca telefonul ca pe un mini boombox. Carcasa are doua boxe JBL Odissey de dimensiuni mici, mufa pentru casti de 3.5mm si o camera foto de 3MP, cu flash.

De asemenea, folosind accesoriile din gama modu ecosystem micul telefon poate fi cuplat cu un GPS pentru masina, un monitor de mici dimensiuni pentru vizionarea de filme sau cu un suport care-l face foarte usor de purtat pe brat, pentru cei care vor sa asculte muzica atunci cand fac jogging sau merg la sala.

Months of hard work finally lead up to our soft launch yesterday and we couldn’t be more proud. With countless interviews and meetings out of the way, it was high time to celebrate. And what better way to celebrate than an evening of friends, food and music 

The whole modu team cleared up their calendars and headed to Shuni Park, the location of a two thousand year old fortress and the perfect setting for a night of incredible wining and dining.

Here are a few scenes from the event

Photos: Oren Izrael 

Needless to say, it was a much needed evening to unwind and prepare for everything that’s coming up in the next few days and weeks. We also wanted to remind you that we’ll be posting a special URL very soon, where you’ll be able to get more details on how and where to purchase modu this Wednesday.

Ако щете вярвайте , но след толкова време Modu най-накрая (най-накрая!) ще пуснат своя дългоочакван , собствен  телефон в следващите няколко дни.

Думите от Израел са , че телефона – заедно с едно “яке” (jacket) – ще се продава още тази сряда (22 Юли) за 500 шекела , или около $130.

Означава ли това , че до следващия Modu тъч-скрийн телефон остават само няколко дни/седмици/месеци , или какво ?

Ако не си спомнят какво точно е Modu телефона , цъкнете ТУК.

via: Engadget

Modu , модулната система “яке” за мобилни телефони , която ни беше любимец през 2008-ма и за чиято дата на пускане на пазара се чу нещо малко през февруари месец , както изглежда е готова за производство.

Думите дойдоха днес от tipster , от Израел , през Google Translate , така че продължете с достатъчно доза скептицизъм. След като споменахме това , имаме статия (Gizmodo) в която CEO-то (chief executive officer) на Modu казва , че модуларния телефон е планиран за пускане на пазара в Югоизточна Азия през втората половина на годината (както Gizmodo са писали февруари). Статията добавя още че не само 200-те работници в Modu е трябвало да сглобяват новите телефони , а и да си сменят Nokia телефоните с Modu такива.

Като опреснение: идеята зад Modu е доста проста: вземете едно мъничко , мъничко телефонче и го “облечете” с n-брой “якета” (jackets) , които правят различни неща. Едно от тях може бъде “mp3 яке” примерно , докато друго може да бъде просто различна палитра цветове за вечерта в някое кафе. Ако все още сте объркани , сетете се за Wiimote (геймпада/джойстика за Nintendo Wii) и многобройните негови безполезни бяло-пластмасови допълнителни части , само че в този случай добавките всъщност вършат нещо , примерно GPS.

Още обяснения във видео от по-рано тази година:

За съжаление , ако това ви се струва яко и живеете в Америка , сте останали без късмет (поне за сега). В материала , Moran споменава само Югоизточна Азия , Русия , и други територии извън “Америките”. Лично аз , докато седя тук днес с моя мултитаскинг iPhone 3G до себе си , ми е трудно да “слезна” на точно тази “спирка”. (това си е пича написал статията от Gizmodo – Jack Loftus)

Лично на мен идеята ми харесва , но все пак трябва да видим как ще бъде осъществена , това е доста готин начин за достигане до крайния потребител , защото както знаем , не всички искат всякакви екстри , добавки , 10mpx-лови камери и т.н. За съжаление може да си остане само идея , която да не бъде реализирана ИЗОБЩО , както многото такива прототипи на мобилни устройства минали пред очите ми.

via: Gizmodo

SatarCraft 2′den sonra Diablo 3′den de şok haber: Blizzard beklenen oyunları kırpmaya devam ediyor.

Birkaç gün önce Blizzard, Starcraft fanlarının rahatsız edecek bir duyuru yaptı ve gerçek zamanları strateji umudunun ağ modu olmadan sunulacağını açıkladı. Şimdiyse oyun geliştiricisi aynı durumun Diablo 3 için de geçerli olacağını bildirdiler.Aynı Starcraft 2′de olduğu gibi Diablo 3′te de sadece internet üzerinden Blizzard sunucusu Battle.net’e bağlanıp çoklu oyuncu savaşları yapılabilecek. Sebep olarak her şeyden önce korsan kopyacılara karşı duyulan korku gösteriliyor.

Diablo’da geleneksel olarak çoklu oyuncu savaşları yerel ağdan ziyade internet üzerinden gerçekleştirildiği için Blizzard’ın bu duyurusunun büyük çapta tepkiye neden olmayacağı düşünülüyor. Fakat Starcraft 2′de durum tamamen farklı: Selef sürüm şu ana kadar her LAN partisinde ve eSport turnuvasında yer aldığı için Blizzard, oyun fanatiklerinin bulunduğu forumlarda sertçe eleştirildi. Uygun bir  LAN seçeneği dilekçesi şu ana kadar yaklaşık 40.000 kez imzalanmış.

]]> http://pablobrenner.wordpress.com/2009/03/08/novedades-en-celulares-modu-pico-proyectores-y-el-nokia-2360/ Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:43:43 +0000 pablobrenner http://pablobrenner.wordpress.com/2009/03/08/novedades-en-celulares-modu-pico-proyectores-y-el-nokia-2360/

(Basado en que la estadistica muestra que las visitas al sitio se multiplican cuando hablamos de celulares, voy a poner un post sobre el tema a ver si mejoro mi ranking comparado con Sergio )

Hablando en serio, mirando algunas fotos que tengo en mi cel sacadas en la GSMA de Barcelona, me acorde de un par de cosas interesantes:

1. Modu, ya habia escuchado de Modu, pero por primera vez vi los telefonos (foto abajo), en resumen, la idea de Modu es desarrollar un core de celular, chiquito con todas las fucnionalidades, y que cualquiera desarrolle jackets (o en simple espanol carcazas). La idea es interesante, habra que ver que exito tiene.

2. Pico-Proyector en Celular:  Esto es realmente impresionante, un celular con proyectos incorporado, no tiene una potencia como para dar una presentacion en un auditorio, pero la calidad es mas que razonable para presentarle algo a 2 – 3 personas……

3. Por ultimo, no de la GSM, sino de mi casa, mi hija menor se compro un Nokia 2360. Y se lo estoy por expropiar!!
     Esta espectacular! Es super finito, no pesa nada, tiene internet, maquina de fotos, y radio FM, en resumen el celular perfecto . 

Ya estoy pensando en cambiarle el celular los fines de semana, le doy mi blackberry y el IPOD y yo salgo a correr con el Nokia 2360

Another busy day at the modu hospitality suite and booth.

Highlights from the last 2 days

An interesting announcement:

modu and JBL team up to give high-fidelity music to mobile phone consumers with the first modu music  jacket

Dov spoke on Tuesday at one of the MWC sessions: “The new device Marketplace”  where the title of his PPT was: Device for all seasons – a modular approach to creating the ideal device:

Benny spoke at the GSMA 2009 Mobile Innovation Global Competition were we competed against 6 other finalists.  A company called, Cootekwon the championship title.  They developed a product called TouchPal which is a soft keyboard that provides better user experience in touchscreen mobile devices.

חברת Modu הישראלית מתחילה בשעה טובה לשוק את מוצריה ויוצאת עם 4 “ג’אקטים” חדשים. מי שאיננו מכיר Modu היא חברה ישראלית שהקים דב מורן (ממציא ה Disk On Key) , החברה יצרה מכשיר מיוחד שהוא מעין מוח סלולרי היכול להתחבר למגוון רב של מכשירים חכמים (ג’אקטים) היודעים לעשות שימוש באותו “מוח סלולרי”.

Modu מדברת על כך שכבר ברבעון השני ישווקו 4 ג’אקטים חדשים אותם ניתן לראות בתמונה שהוציאה החברה. רק לא מזמן הוכרז כי ה”מוח הסלולרי” של מודו הוא המכשיר הסלולרי הקטן ביותר בעולם ויש הצופים רבות וגדולות למוצר המעניין הזה.

המכשיר הראשון מעוצב בסגנון עתידי ועם ממשק משתמש יחודי, המכשיר השני הינו מעוצב בסגנון גרפיטי עם רמקולים סטריאופוניים ועם מקשי מוסיקה יחודיים, עוד ניתן למצוא ג’אקט קלאסי שיכיל את כל הפיצ’רים של מכשיר סלולרי רגיל אך יגיע מעוצב במיוחד ולבסוף ישנו ג’אקט ה Express שמציע יכולות ייחודיות רק לו.

פרט מעניין נוסף הוא שהזיכרון הפנימי של Modu גדל ל 2GB, דגש נוסף הוא המחיר – המכשיר הבסיסי בתוספת של שנ ג’אקטים יעלה כ 200$, כאשר כל ג’אקט יעלה בין 20$ ל 60$ בלבד. בעתיד יש צפי לכמות גדולה של ג’אקטים מעניינים אותם ניתן לראות כבר עתה באתר החברה.

Our earth hosts 7 billion people and 3.8 billion active mobile phones.  Most of us upgrade our device every couple of years.  Each of us engages in a different personal relationship with our handheld. 

My parents regard it as a phone they carry in their pocket, plain and simple.  My co-workers write messages on their mobile device, and use it to manage their calendars. I use it to read the news. Generation Y and cultures in the Far East use it heavily for rich media, music, games, digital payments, infotainment and entertainment.  We can only begin to imagine how Generation Z will integrate the telecom gadgets of the future into their lives. 

Together with you, every month or two I will use this blog as a platform to explore global, local and glocal trends in the mobile space. 

We will take a look at various aspects of cell phone usage, including:

·         Countries and People: Cell phones in much of the West have penetrated over 100% of potential users.  Less developed locales often rely on mobile networks more than land lines, adding millions of new cellular subscribers monthly.  The average age of people using mobile devices decreases daily.  Who and where are the end users?  How are they changing?

·         Cell Phones and Mobile Media: Is the mobile phone on its way to becoming our personal television set?  Will advertisers soon recognize the mobile phone as the next Internet?

·         Cell Phones and Entertainment:  Music, movies, books, news items, games, social interaction, hospitality and sports.    How can the mobile phone further enhance the way we inform and entertain ourselves, and enjoy leisurely activities? 

·         Cell Phones and Transportation:  Can your cell phone drive your car?  Manage your use of public transportation?  Encourage you to walk? Tell you where to go?

 ·         Cell Phones and Electronic Payments:  Will I be able to leave my wallet at home, empty, and migrate my plastic cards to my phone?  Will I use it to pay merchants and peers, withdraw money from an ATM, conduct my personal business?  Will I receive shopping incentives on this electronic wallet?

·         Cell Phones and Personalized Software:  Some mobile platforms already allow users to choose from thousands of software applications.  How far will that go?  

·         Cell Phones and Personalized Hardware:  Will the trend towards personalized software extend to the shape, look, feel and hardware specs of each person’s device?  Like genomics, which seek to customize medicines to each patient’s genetic code, will mobile phone manufacturers do the same to suit their end users’ preferences?

·         Cell Phones and Human Behavior:  Will the features in your phone change the way you go about your life?  And how will your daily habits impact the design of cell phones of the future?

·        Cell Phones and Humanity:  Can mobile phones fight world poverty?  Some people think so.  And how can we minimize their harm to our environment?

 ·         Cell Phones and Ice Cream:  Can our mobile phone feed us ice cream?  Or replace our schools?  Or decide how to furnish our houses?  What outrageous concepts, currently unfathomable, could become the cell phone feature of the day a few short years from now?

·         Cell Phones and Medicine:  Will you carry your medical records in your phone?

·         Making Money: On each of these topics, can mobile network operators and device manufacturers deliver enough value to end users to create sustainable, profitable business models? 

Discover new directions in the mobile world.  Share your thoughts.  Perhaps we can start a new mobile trend or two of our own. 

Oded Salomy

Director of Corporate Development, modu^TM

To receive email updates about my future blog posts, write me below with your email address.  We will not publish your email address.

In the world of personalization of applications and content, modu is presenting a different paradigm where each and every user can select one’s own device according to the preferences, the activity or the life style.

modu platform enables partners from other arenas to enter the mobile world; using the core modu phone inside a consumer electronic device enabling mobile services, personal content and connectivity.

One thing that never ceases to interest me is people. You can almost never have enough of watching people, and you literally spend a lifetime understanding them. People are the main asset of every organization (commercial or not), and not in vain modu had made it to be its top value: “People first”. In my essays I will try to give you a glimpse into the everyday life within our corridors; to share with you my point of view in the experience of being part of the group that forms modu.

Being a part of the hi-tech industry can be quite demanding and time consuming, especially in case of a start-up. Nonetheless, every now and then you may encounter someone who nurtures an alter ego: a side vocation that helps one keep his soul vivid. Sometimes I can’t help wondering which ego is alternative, and which is really the primal one. Let me get you acquainted with such a person: a QA group manager who’s also the leader of a rock band.

195dB is the name, and good hard rock music in Hebrew is its game (in case you wonder about the nature of this name, try to find out how to measure such a valueJ). Along with their hopefully soon to publish debut album, the band’s two guitarists, bass player and drummer, would soon celebrate their fifth year of playing together. Two weeks ago, on the second evening of Hanukah, was a night of a very special show. This was the band’s first concert to be played in the format of the upcoming album. Many friends have gathered in Tmoona Theater in Tel Aviv, to show support and to experience a less familiar side of someone they know daily, as a colleague.

As the lights went off, the guys took their places on the stage, and the fun began. The show went very good, and great music sprung out of the amplifiers, enthusing the audience. The dim space became full with flickering lights and colorful sounds. I can’t write so you’d feel as if you were there, but the photos attached (taken by yours truly) are sure to give you a taste of that night’s excitement. The next day, our rock star came back to be the same ol’ Tal, the guy from the QA, who keeps a Gibson in the closet. Take a look around. It might be fun to meet the alter ego of someone you know for ages, from across the hall.

One last thing: as a people, we’re going through rough times, these days, and I wish us all to come through them, to live a saner future.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading what I had to tell you.

See you all next time,

Shalom.

2 articles in the Israeli news paper Yedioth Aharonoth and an interview on the Israeli channel 10 morning show.
See the video of the morning show interview

http://boker.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=604774&pid=48&typeid=1

Martin Cooper

Interestingly enough, Dr. Martin Cooper, Executive Chairman and Founder of ArrayComm, is considered the inventor of the mobile device. What’s even more interesting, is his recent keynote address at the Embedded Systems Conference in Boston, where he presented his view about the current wireless industry, and its’ main apparent failures.  I would like to focus on 2 of them.

First, mobile phones are still used 70% of the time today to talk and listen. Then for text messages (SMS) and way behind reside the e-mail and other applications which serve relatively tiny world segments. Still, we – as consumers – are constantly surrounded with marketing promotions urging us to purchase expensive high speed data services, which most of us hardly use.

Second, Cooper claims that convergence simply doesn’t make sense. Several highly-optimized devices, focused on specific functions / needs, are far better than cramming all of them into one single do-it-all device.  He himself, by the way, uses a Jitterbug phone – one of the simplest mobile phones today, which is targeted for seniors, offerings big keys, no menus and only incoming & outgoing calls.

Sounds familiar?… J

It seems that the concept of “divide and conquer”, or in other words – identifying different users’ needs, goals and contexts of use, and tailoring the optimal solution & experience to fit them, is starting to sink in.

Nokia N79

In fact, even Nokia, the undisputed ‘all-in-one’ industry leader, seems to start feeling the wind of change.  Their new N79 (AKA- clever chameleon) offers a nice visual feature – Changing the battery cover, automatically changes the display theme accordingly, to match the overall look & feel.  

This chameleon feature is still very far from modu’s vision (as also indicated in the article itself), but it does show first signs of challenging current perceptions.

And just to summarize, I would like to cite Dr. Cooper’s final comment at the conference: “the best technology is invisible”. I couldn’t agree more. Especially when it comes hand-in-hand with putting the spotlight on the users. us.

Hi All.
I was just added to the list of contributors to the modu blog.
In the comings posts, I will try to add more visibility into the technical aspects of the modu echo system.
I will try to post as much information as I can in order to prepare you for the arrival of the modu phone.
I hope to keep the conversation open as much as I can but I do need to keep some cards close to my chest.

My title at modu is Software Expert at the CTO office. I am in-charge of identifying new technologies that would be great to have in the modu phone, jackets and mates.

I will not discuss business issues like dates of deployment, operators or markets but I will entertain you with some insights to the user interface, applications and features.

Feel free to comment or email me directly at ran.margalit@modumobile.com