By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Some cell phones combine GPS with the phone … so you can tell where you are. In Japan, new specialized phones allow you to point the phone at a landmark, and get a readout of just what you’re looking at. And yes, once again I’m wondering why the U.S. is always so far behind in cellular tech.

What would you use this for? Looking for a specific business, restaurant or landmark, you could use your cell phone to direct you to the location,

The phones combine satellite-based navigation, precise to within no more than 9 meters, or 30 feet, with an electronic compass to provide a new dimension of orientation. Connect the device to the Internet and it is possible to overlay the point-and-click simplicity of a computer screen on top of the real world.

The technology is being seen first in Japan because emergency regulations there require cellphones by next year to have receivers using the satellite- based Global Positioning System to establish their location. Source: The New York Times via IHT

We Say: U.S. carriers don’t necessarily use GPS to determine location. Only two carriers use it, according to the article. Others determine location based on cell phone towers, and that’s only good to within 100 meters. Thus, the Japanese have a huge headstart.

The technology is supplied by a small U.S. company, GeoVector, working with the carrier KDDI, NEC Magnus Communications, and Mapion, a company that distributes map information over the Internet. Frankly, this looks like a really cool use of technology. No more carrying around MapQuest maps!

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Well, I had to come up with a catchy title, but of course it’s not funny how many people are injured by accidental shootings every year. Password-protecting the ammo would not only keep the gun from firing, but keep stolen ammo from working in other guns.

The way to make firearms really safe, says Hebert Meyerle of Germany, is to password-protect the ammunition itself.

Meyerle is patenting a design for a modified cartridge that would be fired by a burst of high-frequency radio energy. But the energy would only ignite the charge if a solid-state switch within the cartridge had been activated. This would only happen if a password entered into the gun using a tiny keypad matched one stored in the cartridge. Source: New Scientist

Patent here.

We Say: OK, this sounds like a good idea. Interesting how the gun could be set to lock the ammo after a certain idle time … kind of like similar things on PDAs. I know people who simply can’t remember things. For example, set a BIOS password, and have to get it reset. I wonder if they will end up having to take the ammo back and ask the retailer for a password reset … and if it would be doable?

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

How about releasing a CD without really releasing a CD? I mean, we all rip and burn them later anyway? A gimmicky (or just plain wacky) release, the band The Residents have released a CD that consists totally of 2 blank CDs … for you to burn onto.

It contains two blank CDs so that the five episodes, which will be released sequentially during a 10-week period, can be burned after the last one becomes available. A unique code for each package allows users to unlock the subscription at riverofcrime.com.

The package is exclusively available at Virgin Megastore locations in the brick-and-mortar world and at idealcopy.com in cyberspace. A prerecorded version of the project is planned for wider release next year. Source: Reuters

We Say: At least we know they won’t object to you burning their music on a CD. What can I say; it’s really a funny and clever gimmick.

By Yan Fortin
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

If you are a blogger, the notion of running a local instance of your blog has probably entered your mind a couple of times, but unfortunately, setting everything up to make this work is often easier said then done. Since a good proportion of the blogging community uses Wordpress to publish their rants and ravings, the guys at [Geeks Are Sexy] took it upon themselves to write a small guide that will help you get Wordpress up and running under 10 minutes on your Windows XP box.

But why would someone want to do something like this? The reason is simple: running a local version of your blog can be very useful because it lets you fool around with themes and plugins to your heart’s desire without having to risk breaking your live one. Voilà!

Read the complete tutorial over here.

By Jimmy Daniels
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Looks like they are releasing digg v3, adding categories for Science, Gaming, Entertainment, World & Business and Videos. World & Business is the only one that’s still empty. The View All of the top stories link is pretty much the same as the front page, which is to be expected until everyone starts using the new sections more. Check it out.

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

There have been many studies about the effects of cellular phone use on humans. Unfortunately, for as many that say there is no effect on humans, you could, if you tried, find an equal number that say there is an effect. Today Italian researchers added another study to the long list of research, with a study published in the Annals of Neurology.

Dr. Paolo Rossini of Fatebenefratelli hospital in Milan and colleagues used Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or TMS to check brain function while people used these phones.

They had 15 young male volunteers use a GSM 900 cell phone for 45 minutes. In 12 of the 15, the cells in the motor cortex adjacent to the cell phone showed excitability during phone use but returned to normal within an hour. Source: Reuters

We Say: The researchers were clear that “excitement” does not necessarily mean harm. On the other hand, it doesn’t mean “no harm” either. I wish one of these studies (maybe there’s one I haven’t seen) would test the effects of a Bluetooth headset on your brain, since that’s what I use, all the time, with my Pocket PC phone.

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Earlier this year Alice wrote about Cingular patenting the emoticon. But that patent only applied to the concept of using emoticon on mobile phones, not to the emoticon or smiley face itself, which was trademarked by SmileyWorld, the French company that first registered rights to the symbol decades ago. However, Wal-Mart has said that face has long been the symbol of its business and price-reduction policy. In the United States, being the first to register a trademark carries less weight than being the first to commercially exploit a symbol, so Wal-Mart hopes to win a decision in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this summer.

The most widely credited claim for inventing the smiley face goes to Harvey Ball for the smiley yellow button he made for Massachusetts-based State Mutual Life Insurance in 1963. A graphic artist, Ball was paid $45 for creating a button intended to cheer employees during a rocky merger with an out-of-town firm, according to his 2001 obituary in The Worcester Telegram & Gazette in Massachusetts. Although irked by reports that (Franklin) Loufrani (who says he initially registered the design with the French trademark authorities in October 1971) claimed to invent the smiley, Ball never attempted to trademark or commercially exploit the symbol.

Loufrani, however, built a business from royalties collected on a symbol he claimed to have trademarked in 98 countries for use over a wide range of product categories. Source: International Herald Tribune

We Say: I found Nicolas Loufrani’s (Franklin’s son, now in charge of the business) statement about what he would do if SmileyWorld won particularly humorous. He indicated he would not license use of the symbol to Wal-Mart. “We want to aim our brand more upmarket.”

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

First axed as part of Windows Vista in 2004, then resurrected in August 2005 as an add-on … WinFS has been axed again as Beta 2 has been cancelled.

The idea of WinFS, or Windows File Store, was to create a “sea of data” that abolishes the need for the standard file and folder hierarchy. For example, no longer would documents need to be stored in My Documents or images in My Pictures; instead, Windows would simply display the files associated with a particular request on demand. In addition, WinFS could store structured data such as contacts, calendars and more. Source: BetaNews

We Say: WinFS was the subject of five sessions at TechEd 2006 in Boston last week. Can you say, “What a waste of PowerPoint slides?”

At any rate, according to Microsoft, much of the technology will be integrated into the next SQL Server, code-named Katmai. Also, code from the WinFS API will also find its way into the next release of Visual Studio.