Mobile Choice Blog

ZeeMote: the Wii-like games controller for your mobile

One of the problems with mobile gaming is the less-than-ideal controls: playing a game with a mobile keypad can be a frustrating experience. A new Bluetooth controller called the ZeeMote could help. It looks a bit like the Nunchuck controller that comes with Nintendo's Wii, and provides a proper joystick and buttons. Watch the video below for a demonstration, and click here for more information.

NTT DoCoMo's phone that sends electric signals through your body

Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo has been showing off a prototype handset that transmits data through your body via electric signals, which allow you to make electronic payments or transfer data "at the touch of a finger".

"We don't know yet if we can commercialise this technology," says the company's Takushi Koinumaru. "We need to conduct more research, then we need to see if there actually is a market for this."

We reckon there's more likely to be a market for phones that deliver a short, sharp electric shock to anyone using an annoying ringtone or speaking too loud on the bus. But then we're a bit curmudgeonly like that.

(via MocoNews)

Texas Instruments shows off projector phone

Got a big white wall in your living room, but can't afford a swanky projector to show movies on it? Don't worry: Texas Instruments is working on a solution. It's been showing off a prototype mobile phone with a miniature projector built in.

The idea is you can watch your mobile videos by projecting them onto a white surface - although you can imagine the technology being used for gaming too. On the one hand, it gets around the problem of small mobile screens, but on the other, we'd probably still rather have a TV-out port, as seen on some Nokia handsets. We also wonder what projecting video does to your handset's battery life.

Still, TI is working on the technology with the aim of including it in phones in the near(ish) future. Rest assured, we'll keep you updated.

(via Engadget)

At last! Standardised charging for mobile handsets!

If, like us, you've gone through a few mobile phones in your time, you'll probably have noticed that no manufacturer uses the same charging standard. You can't use your Nokia chargers on a Sony Ericsson phone, or top up your Samsung handset with an LG charger. It's just a tad annoying.

Thankfully, the frustration could soon be history. Industry body the Open Mobile Terminal Platform is banging the manufacturers' heads together to get them to agree to use Mini-USB as the standard charging interface for their handsets.

It sounds too good to be true, so probably won't happen until 2017. But it's good to see the industry tackling an issue that might not be high-profile, but is still an irritating bugbear for many mobile users.

(via Pocket Picks)

New York subway to get mobile reception

Bad news for anyone who enjoys the blessed relief of travelling underground without hearing people blather away on their mobiles. New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced that all 277 of the city's subway stations are going to be kitted out with mobile masts.

However, it's not as bad as it seems: the actual tunnels will still have no reception, meaning that commuters will be able to make and take calls while waiting for trains, but will have to keep quiet when actually on board.

If anyone's reading from London Underground, we have one message for you: RESIST! The Central Line is bad enough in rush hour without having to listen to foghorn-voiced city blokes shouting about their latest bonus.

(via Textually)

Will femtocells be the next big thing for mobile telephony?

Femtocells? What are they? They're like local broadcast towers located within your home, to give you better mobile coverage - the one pictured is called the Oyster, incidentally. Just the thing if you're thinking of ditching your landline, but are fed up with only getting one bar of reception on the sofa.

You can't get one yet, however. But that could change next year, as Vodafone chief Arun Sarin has claimed that femtocells will be commercially available by the middle of 2008. However, they could be pricey - MocoNews estimates the cost of one to be between $150 and $200 (£74-£99) - and there's some debate over whether operators will be prepared to subsidise this cost.

Could femtocells be the final nail in the coffin for traditional landlines? We're not so sure, unless they're teamed up with cheaper prices to call mobile phones. One of the main factors stopping people from ditching their landline for their mobile is how much it'll cost other people to call them. The operators will also need to persuade people that having a femtocell is safe from a brain-frying radiation point of view (even if you think the idea is silly, it's people's perception that counts).

(via MocoNews)