Underground SIG-Labs

From drain to gain

Mobile phone today is not solely a communication medium, but rather become smarter in handling multi-tasking activities than just talk to your friends. Not only time scheduler, notes and push mail but now people getting more advance in making their computer applications go to mobile. As the need to connected always has been greatly become important (to link to facebook, myspace…), WIFI is among the best options they have to fulfilled such need.

However, the biggest problem is on cell phone battery life. Even a simple changes to the software running on Wi-Fi access points could significantly extend or even double cell phone battery life. That’s the finding of a study that investigated why using Wi-Fi on a cell phone, and on some other portable devices, sucks up power so quickly. It found that a protocol designed to reduce Wi-Fi power drain often doesn’t work effectively.

Recently, Nokia says it’s developing technology that could draw enough power from ambient radio waves to keep a cell-phone handset topped up

Ambient electromagnetic radiation–emitted from Wi-Fi transmitters, cell-phone antennas, TV masts, and other sources–could be converted into enough electrical current to keep a battery topped up, says Markku Rouvala, a researcher from the Nokia Research Centre, in Cambridge, U.K. Rouvala says that his group is working towards a prototype that could harvest up to 50 milliwatts of power–enough to slowly recharge a phone that is switched off. He says current prototypes can harvest 3 to 5 milliwatts.

The Nokia device will work on the same principles as a crystal radio set or radio frequency identification (RFID) tag: by converting electromagnetic waves into an electrical signal. This requires two passive circuits. “Even if you are only getting microwatts, you can still harvest energy, provided your circuit is not using more power than it’s receiving,” Rouvala says.

To increase the amount of power that can be harvested and the range at which it works, Nokia is focusing on harvesting many different frequencies. “It needs a wideband receiver,” says Rouvala, to capture signals from between 500 megahertz and 10 gigahertz–a range that encompasses many different radio communication signals. Historically, energy-harvesting technologies have only been found in niche markets, powering wireless sensors and RFID tags in particular. If Nokia’s claims stand up, then it could push energy harvesting into mainstream consumer devices.

Wow….this would be a great achievement if the ‘power through wireless’ can be done. But what happen when the guy is using his VOIP service while charging his mobile ‘on air’. Will it drain his brain? will the electromagnetic conversion endanger human brain?

.

Tags: Nokia, power through wireless, RFID, VoIP

Iphone 4 to start Mobile video convergence

Everybody is very exciting when Apple has recently launched their latest machine, Iphone 4 at WorldWide Developer Conference 2010 (WWDC). The latest Iphone model is being loaded with owesome features like multitasking (capable to open more than one application at one time) and mostly capability to handle video call or video chat. Not only with video call capability ,  the latest model is powered by Retina Display, the 960 X 640 backlit LCD display boasts a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch, making it the highest-resolution phone screen ever. To achieve this, Apple engineers developed pixels so small — a mere 78 micrometers across — that the human eye can’t distinguish individual pixels. That makes text remarkably sharp and graphics incredibly vivid. IPS technology also provides excellent color and contrast from almost any viewing angle.

The most significant outcome is that Apple is focusing attention on the iPhone 4’s video calling capabilities, apparently making “the dream of video calling a reality”. In typical Cupertino fashion, this conveniently overlooks the fact that video calling has been a reality for a long time. The front end camera with 5 Mega-pixel resolution is capable of shooting 720p30 HD video. Video Call can be made from Iphone to Iphone through WIFI, yet still not capable to deal with skype.

Another important improvements is the A4 processor the iPhone 4 now shares with the iPad. While Apple was happy to declare the 1GHz clock speed of the iPad, it has been less forthcoming with the iPhone 4, and it’s very possible the chip has been downclocked somewhat to conserve battery life. Either way, the chip itself is a tighter package that uses less power while running faster than the processor in the 3GS, and that’s always a good thing.

Wait the sec. Just heard that Nokia says about their new N920. The new N920 / RX-57 will have OMAP 4440 processor, which means they have capability to support 1080p30 with HDMI 1.3, yet will eat up battery life (hope they can increase battery also). The processor  versions are dual core SMP enabled ARM Cortex A9 processors on a 45-nm die. Both OMAP processors have dedicated graphics cores to off load the encode/decode of various video codecs and APIs like OpenGL, which (IMHO) makes the OMAP processor the best choice for the computing devices in this category. Are they really real? Are all High Definition (HD) for Iphone 4 and/or N920 just for real? Will you experience the same as what you with get with 32″ HD TV? just with small screen and try to make video call, not only local processing is required, but also compression method to transfer video from one the another. Yet pretty much depending on the Link (WIFI or 3G) reliability.

Tags: Apple, iphone 4, iphone 4G, Iphone HD, N920, Nokia

Nokia N920 with Meego OS will boost mobility roadmap

Rumor of the successor of the Nokia N900 has already been speculated. It is believed that the new tagline will be N9 or N920 which will run under Linux Meego OS. Meego is a new Linux operating system designed from combination of Maemo and Moblin to serve netbook and smartphone. The idea come out from mutual partnership between Intel and Nokia to boost mobile technology by not just for combining two different Linux platforms under one roof, but for its cross-platform support of both Intel and ARM chips, the latter currently popular in mobile devices like Apple’s iPhone.

not just for combining two different Linux platforms under one roof, but for its cross-platform support of both Intel and ARM chips, the latter currently popular in mobile devices like Apple’s iPhone.

I am having N900 in my hand and just after few months, Nokia decide to come out with a new Meego OS. What happen? Is the Maemo 5 OS really a scrap? what will happen to Maemo 6?

They said that the MeeGo will bring many changes. Base system will be updated , packaging will be changed to RPM (not so good but acceptable), Qt instead of GTK+, less Nokia developers. Using Qt, you can write web-enabled applications once and deploy them across desktop, mobile and embedded operating systems without rewriting the source code.

It is said that Nokia N920 will come with a big 4.13” capacitive touchscreen display, thin body, and will not have a physical keyboard. That’s about all that is known about the new device for now.

But don’t expect it anytime soon. The best case scenario for Nokia N920  launch would be around Mobile World Congress 2010 in February, though I doubt that. More likely, we will see it sometime in spring/summer of 2010.

Well for me, Just use whatever Distro you want as long as we are using Linux Kernel , an open source application, which is free for us to explore and explode the potential on mobility technology.

Nique

Tags: intel, maemo 5, meego, moblin, N900, N920, Nokia, Nokia N9

Nokia and Symbian will never get devorce

Nokia will stick with Symbian while looking another wife like Maemo or Android to become another partner.

Kallasvuo directly addressed recent blog reports that Nokia is replacing Symbian with the Linux-based Maemo OS on its high-end handsets, leading to speculation about what that means for Symbian’s future.

Using Symbian makes good business sense for Nokia, and allows the company to develop cheap smartphones that will democratise the form factor, said Kallasvuo.

Today, the biggest drawback with Symbian is its user interface, which hasn’t kept up with touch-based user interfaces on devices like the iPhone and phones based on Google’s Android OS.

In the middle of next year, a new version of Symbian will make a first step toward a better user interface, and this time next year the user experience on Symbian will be a non-issue, according to Kallasvuo.

Upcoming versions of Symbian will reduce clutter, decrease the number of clicks to get to features like music and email and offer a much faster user interface, promised Kai Öistämö, executive vice president of devices at Nokia.

Kallasvuo directly addressed recent blog reports that Nokia is replacing Symbian with the Linux-based Maemo OS on its high-end handsets, leading to speculation about what that means for Symbian’s future.

Using Symbian makes good business sense for Nokia, and allows the company to develop cheap smartphones that will democratise the form factor, said Kallasvuo.

Today, the biggest drawback with Symbian is its user interface, which hasn’t kept up with touch-based user interfaces on devices like the iPhone and phones based on Google’s Android OS.

In the middle of next year, a new version of Symbian will make a first step toward a better user interface, and this time next year the user experience on Symbian will be a non-issue, according to Kallasvuo.

Upcoming versions of Symbian will reduce clutter, decrease the number of clicks to get to features like music and email and offer a much faster user interface, promised Kai Öistämö, executive vice president of devices at Nokia.

As per said, Symbian is the great OS especially when we talk about 9300 communicator. People always love it and will have no replacement for them (memoryland).

Tags: android, Maemo, Nokia, symbian

Nokia X6 think his touch screen is greater

Nokia X6 claims that the capacitive touchscreen is far more responsive to human touch than the resistive screens found on its N97, or the 5800 XpressMusic especially. This was made abundantly clear when using the on-screen keyboard although some of our swiping gestures were inexplicably ignored in other elements of the interface. But given the choice of the screen being awesome or super-awesome (remember, we’re comparing it to Nokia’s resistive touchscreen legacy), we’ll have to settle on the former for now. Of course, underneath you’ve still got S60 5th, for better or worse, pumping away inside a chubby little candybar — no screen tech can change that. See the action in the video after the break then jump into the gallery to see it sized up with a few of its S60 cousins five times removed.

Nokia’s just confirmed on its official blog that the X6 will hit shelves in Finland and the UK starting next week, with other countries to follow soon after

Tags: 5530, 5800, 5th, capacitive, featuers, hands-on, ifa, ifa 2009, Ifa2009, n97, Nokia, resistive, s60, s60 5th, S605th, touchscreen, x6, xpressmusic

Gartner report : Nokia still leads the market

Gartner has just released the results of a study of third quarter mobile phone shipments. Compared to the IDC report last month, Gartner had a little rosier outlook for the quarter. The 308.9 million units shipped resulted in a 0.1% increase over 3Q08. In contrast, the IDC report had found that shipments for the third quarter were down 6% from a year earlier. Regardless of how each looked at the quarter, both seem to agree that the holiday season will drive a strong fourth quarter. Gartner even believes that the fourth quarter will help keep 2009 sales flat over 2008.

Gartner’s report had Nokia well out in front with a 36.7% market share which was down just 1.5% from a year ago. Motorola and Sony Ericsson saw their market share cut in half while LG and Samsung showed some respectable gains.

The category showing double-digit gains for the quarter was smartphones whose shipments were up 13% compared to 2008. Nokia remained on top for smartphone sales with a 39.3% market share followed by Research In Motion (RIM) and Apple. Apple is just 3.7% away from overtaken the BlackBerry maker in the runner-up slot.

It’s going to be a battle to the finish for Research in Motion and Apple as we move into the holiday season. Unfortunately, Apple remains limited due to their exclusivity agreements globally. When exclusivity agreements begin to end, some next year, I predict we will see RIM move into the #3 slot for market share while Apple takes the #2 slot and continues to nip at Nokia’s lead. The second half of next year will indeed be interesting to watch should Verizon Wireless offer an iPhone as it has been rumored.

Read more at the Gartner press release.

Tags: 3Q09, Apple, Ericsson, Gartner, mobile phone shipments, motorola, Nokia, research in motion, Sony

Nokia N900 gives more than what you need

Nokia’s first Maemo powered handset, the N900, already hit others badly. The handset has many great features like Adobe Flash 9.4 support for the browser, a 3.5 WVGA touchscreen, a 5MP camera and Wi-Fi. The video below starts off with some talk about apps, a game called Bounce Evolution and then we see the browser in action. The screen is smooth and responsive and the browser zooms in/out by using your finger to make a circular motion on the screen, as if you were turning a dial. Clockwise zooms in, counterclockwise zooms out. A YouTube video is played in the browser and while the picture was clear, the movement was a little herky-jerky. Then we briefly get a look at a YouTube video playing from a thumbail in the UI. All in all, enough action to make you sit up and take notice, all the while hoping that a U.S. carrier will grab up this device. T-Mobile has been mentioned by one of our tipsters as a possible January destination.

Tags: linux maemo 5, Nokia, nokia N900

Nokia goes to laptop

Nokia has shocked the world by announcing their new product, Booklet 3G, a 10.1″ laptop. Not sure whther the device falls under laptop or netbook since the monitor is bigger than normal netbook but using processor similar to netbooks, Atom processor. It looks to be running Windows 7, which isn’t particularly netbooky, and also has integrated A-GPS with a copy of Ovi Maps, HDMI output, a rated 12 hour battery life, and the usual Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, all in a 2cm (.78 inch), 2.7lb aluminum body that’s understated, sophisticated, and should make most Nokia fans very happy — Nokia fans who are looking for a tiny laptop, anyway.

Seems the rest of mobile manufactures like to follow nokia`s step, really? asked blackberry though…….

Tags: booklet 3G, Nokia, nokia laptop, windows 7

Nokia N97 to boost internet user

When I was having fun with my Nokia E90 for about 4 months, I have to admit that is a great warrior, for its simplicity, stylish, elegance and powerful. Nonetheless, I found a little bit difficulties in browsing internet when no ” mouse” for me to scroll down/up the the screen.

Maybe Nokia N97 will give some answer for my problem. Most people might agree that N97 is more for the social networker than the businessman as the interface is not quite as tuned to instant email access as on E-series phones like the new E75.

Like the N96, there’s a 5-megapixel camera with a dual-flash Carl Zeiss lens for some super detailed pictures that can be easily geo-tagged through the A-GPS and uploaded through OVI-share.

Size-wise, the candy bar-shaped N97 isn’t burdened too much by the array of mighty specs. It’s longer, but no thicker than the N96 despite the addition of a keyboard and the huge 32GB (48GB with a microSD card) on-board memory.

Tags: Nokia, Nokia N97

Nokia E75 : the most funniest phone

The first time I saw its photo, just wondering, why Nokia put hard themselve to design dual keypad, QWERTY and alphanumeric. Do they really love redundancy ? maybe in case of any keypad out, the secondary will take place. Still no news on its advance feature or even capabilities have been reveiled. However I guess there is nothing special about this phone, in fact look very similar to Nokia E71, except its new QWERTY bundle.  

Look at the screen, I think I should go for Nokia N97 rather than confusing myself to use which keyboard, QWERTY or Alphanumeric.

Tags: Nokia, Nokia E71, Nokia E75