Mobile Eagle Eye Tower Systems See Threats From Above

Are You Being Watched? Raytheon's unmanned blimp at this year's INDY 500. The blimp flying above your head may be watching your every move [ctrl-click for slideshow]. Image Credit: Raytheon Company

Mobile Eagle Eye Tower Systems See Threats From Above

Of all of the vehicles one encounters at this year's largest motorsports event, one doesn't expect that the one hanging around, attached to a guide wire, quietly floating along inconspicuously, is there to watch you and the 400,000 or so enthusiasts gathered to watch the spectacle on the ground.

At this year's INDY 500, held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a new surveillance tool was deployed, tested, and passed its first major hurdle as an important part of a security and surveillance grid to be used at major crowd gatherings such as sporting events and street fairs. Street cameras, cop cars, helicopters and foot patrols are generally what this terrestrial platform helps to stitch together and develop a clearer understanding of the security challenges that exist today in an age of potential terrorism and terrorist acts.

The blimp airship developed and deployed by Raytheon features cameras and infrared sensors developed through military contracts for applications associated with battlefield surveillance is being adapted to aid in civilian applications of security and event research if a hostile act were to occur.

The fastest vehicle at the INDY 500, in terms of identifying and neutralizing a threat that would disrupt the action on the ground, may actually be hanging above the crowd, observing and sensing the action as it happens.

Raytheon developed the Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment (RAID) Mobile Eagle Eye tower systems (in 2007) to protect U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. The adapted civilian application of this technology is now being tested and deployed [ctrl-click for b-roll video from Newsweek]. Image Credit: Raytheon Company

This excerpted and edited from Newsweek Magazine -

Eye in the Sky: Raytheon's unmanned blimp at this year's Indy 500
By Kurt Soller | Newsweek Web Exclusive - Jun 11, 2009

At first glance, there was nothing special about the blimp floating high above the cars and crowd at this year's Indy 500 on Memorial Day weekend. Like most airships, it acted as an advertising vehicle; this time for the Fisher House, a charity focused on helping injured veterans and their families. But the real promo should have been for the blimp's creator, Raytheon, the security company best known for its weapons systems. Hidden inside the 55-foot-long white balloon was a powerful surveillance camera adapted from the technology Raytheon provides the U.S. military. Essentially an unmanned drone, the blimp transmitted detailed images to the race's security officers and to Indiana police. "The airship is great because it doesn't have that Big Brother feel, or create feelings of invasiveness," says Lee Silvestre, vice president of mission innovation in Raytheon's Integrated Defense division. "But it's still a really powerful security tool."

Until recently, Raytheon's eye-in-the-sky technology was used in Afghanistan and Iraq to guard American military bases, working as airborne guards against any oncoming desert threat. Using infrared sensors and a map overlay not unlike Google Earth, the technology scans a large area, setting important landmarks (say, the perimeter of a military base), and constantly relays video clips back to a command center. If a gun fires or a bomb is detonated, the airships can detect the noise and focus the camera—all from a mighty-high 500 feet.

After the success of the Indy 500 trial, the company is targeting police departments and sporting facilities that want to keep an eye on crowds that might easily morph into an unruly mob. "Large municipalities could find many uses for this [technology] once we figure out how to get it in their hands," says Nathan Kennedy, the blimp's project manager.

For now, cost might be the only thing preventing a blimp from appearing over your head. Raytheon won't disclose how much the system may eventually cost, but chances are it won't be cheap. For municipalities without a Pentagon-size police budget, the blimps' potential to display ads may assist with financing. Raytheon says local authorities could install a built-in LED screen to attract sponsors, generate revenue and defer operating costs.
Reference Here>>

So, when it feels like someone is watching you ... look up and smile, you are being watched by that blimp advertising the money you could have saved by switching to ... Geico!

Bud-A-Bing - Befriend Microsoft's New Search Platform

Bing Type Logo - Bing, A better way to search ... A Decision Engine! [D7 Video Link] Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2009)

Bud-A-Bing - Befriend Microsoft's New Search Platform

This week, Microsoft unvield its new -- beefed up and bundled with other stand-alone internet function programs -- search engine approach that they hope will command attention and grab a share of almost everyone's favorite activity on the computer, finding information!

While Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz continue to court each other in ongoing discussions about a search and advertising partnership, Microsoft has been improving their search program approach, once known as Windows Live Search and, prior to that as MSN Search, marketed under the name Microsoft Live Search.

In an executive conference dubbed WEB 3.0 (because the conference promoters think something major is happening at the intersection of tech and media, and think it deserves its own new hyped-up name: Web 3.0), the seventh edition of D: All Things Digital - D7, Microsoft unveiled its long-awaited search engine (formerly known as Kumo) - Bing.

Microsoft believes that breaking down search into easier to understand categories, they will be able to move one from a "Search Engine" to a "Decision Engine" because as they say in their promotional video - "The world doesn't need just another search engine, it needs a decision engine."

Microsoft is hoping, now that they have re-made Live Search and combined it with other strong Microsoft web interface programs, that the world will decide make Bing it's search buddy ... so Bud-A-Bing!

D7 Video: Microsoft's Ballmer and Walt Mossberg - Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talks with Walt Mossberg about the company's new search engine, "Bing", and other topics at the D7 conference.

This excerpted and edited from The Channel Wire -

5 Ways Microsoft's Bing Can Be A Contender
By Chad Berndtson, The Channel Wire - May 29, 2009

Bing's the thing -- and it's finally here.

Microsoft Thursday unveiled its long-awaited search engine at the D: All Things Digital Conference in Carlsbad, Calif., with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer touting Bing as a platform for smarter, deeper search beyond what its biggest rivals, including Google, have to offer.
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In addition [to the re-branding of Live Search], a number of its platforms, such as its Virtual Earth mapping, will be rebranded as Bing functions, in that case Big Maps for Enterprise. Microsoft is going to need a lot more than a rebranding effort, however, to gain back some of Google's massive search market share -- 64.2 percent in the U.S. Vs. Microsoft's paltry 8.2 percent, according to April numbers released by ComScore.

Here are five elements of the forthcoming Bing that will give it the oomph it needs to compete:

1. Visual Presentation

Microsoft's July 2008 acquisition of Powerset, a developer of semantic search technology, gives it tools for a richer, more visually agreeable search presentation than the usual digest of blue links from Google or Yahoo.

2. Keywords Help

As search words are being typed into Bing, the Bing search function offers keywords to help users narrow their searches. If Microsoft can improve these keywords so they go beyond what Google offers with its Google Suggest, it can start to sound more realistic when it claims its a "smarter search."

3. Shop-'Til-You-Droppers and Hypochondriacs

The Bing platform breaks down into four broad categories: shopping, local, travel and health. If a user enters a search query under those categories, Bing brings back results relevant to them. For example, searching in the "shopping" category would bring back search results that include pricing and availability, and a search in the health category would find symptoms or medical research. For those who spend all their time clicking "Buy it" or freaking out about a tickle in their throat on WebMD, Microsoft might get them to where they want to go faster than Google.

4. Best Match, Instant Answers and Quick Preview

Microsoft is including a few sleek features that lend more immediacy to search, including Best Match, in which Bing collects relevant results and puts what it deems to be the most relevant search link right at the top. Similar to Google's "I Feel Lucky" search function, but if you didn't know what "I Feel Lucky" does before, you're not clicking it with the intent to use it properly. Instant Answers also takes up the "I Feel Lucky" mantle with a bit more clarity, offering single-click access to information listed in search results. Finally, Quick Preview allows a user to hover over a search result and see a text excerpt from the page of that result -- a look at the search result without actually having to click through it.

5. It's Microsoft

"Microsoft's secret sauce is its marketing savvy and its persistence," wrote Everything Channel Editor/News Steve Burke in a Wednesday blog post on ChannelWeb. "Remember, there were a few people who believed Netscape was invincible until Microsoft focused all its guns on blowing the onetime browser pioneer out of the water."
Reference Here>>

Bing will be available to the general public in less than one week, starting June 3.

Pocket Mobility - A Hot Spot That Travels

Novatel's MiFi, a 3G Wi-Fi router. A personal cellular Hot Spot that one can share ... that is NOT a USB stick and does not require a change in the network software settings of ones laptop [CLICK image for video]. Image Credit: Novatel

Pocket Mobility - A Hot Spot That Travels

That's right, a hot spot that becomes you. It's the Novatel MiFi 2200 that will be available from Verizon starting in mid-May that allows the person carrying the battery-powered, rechargeable, cellular, Wi-Fi hot spot to easily share the internet access.

The "MiFi" device has its Wi-Fi access password printed on the bottom, so if one wishes share (or sell time on) the uplink, one can can invite someone to join networking simply by showing the password to them (it's printed on each card).

This all sounds pretty cool until one realizes that this device is little more than a form factor change from a standard USB plug-in portal with its associated data upload/download limitations and costs (not to mention - RANGE - it is only about 30 feet).

So, why not get a "MiFi", a sandwich-board, and a busy, independent coffee shop and go into business? Sell access in areas where overcharging is rampant, like posh hotels, and airports. All one would have to do is go to critical time crunch convention centers where access may be limited, or purposely restricted, and open up shop for .... say 10 minutes, then move on?

It's a business model for a new age in these trying economic times ... or not!

This excerpted and edited from the New York Times -

Wi-Fi to Go, No Cafe Needed
By DAVID POGUE - Published: May 6, 2009

Someday, we’ll tell our grandchildren how we had to drive around town looking for a coffee shop when we needed to get online, and they’ll laugh their heads off. Every building in America has running water, electricity and ventilation; what’s the holdup on universal wireless Internet?

Getting online isn’t impossible, but today’s options are deeply flawed. Most of them involve sitting rooted in one spot — in the coffee shop or library, for example. (Sadly, the days when cities were blanketed by free Wi-Fi signals leaking from people’s apartments are over; they all require passwords these days.)

If you want to get online while you’re on the move, in fact, you’ve had only one option: buy one of those $60-a-month cellular modems from Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile or AT&T. The speed isn’t exactly cable-modem speed, but it’s close enough. You can get a card-slot version, which has a nasty little antenna protuberance, or a U.S.B.-stick version, which cries out to be snapped off by a passing flight attendant’s beverage cart.

A few laptops have this cellular modem built in, which is less awkward but still drains the battery with gusto.

But imagine if you could get online anywhere you liked — in a taxi, on the beach, in a hotel with disgustingly overpriced Wi-Fi — without messing around with cellular modems. What if you had a personal Wi-Fi bubble, a private hot spot, that followed you everywhere you go?

Incredibly, there is such a thing. It’s the Novatel MiFi 2200.
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In essence, the MiFi converts that cellular Internet signal into an umbrella of Wi-Fi coverage that up to five people can share. (The speed suffers if all five are doing heavy downloads at once, but that’s a rarity.)
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How is this amazing? Let us count the ways.

First, you’re spared the plug-and-unplug ritual of cellular modems. You can leave the MiFi in your pocket, purse or laptop bag; whenever you fire up your laptop, netbook, Wi-Fi camera or game gadget, or wake up your iPhone or iPod Touch, you’re online.

Last week, I was stuck on a runway for two hours. As I merrily worked away online, complete with YouTube videos and file downloads, I became aware that my seatmate was sneaking glances. As I snuck counter-glances at him, I realized that he had no interest in what I was doing, but rather in the signal-strength icon on my laptop — on an airplane where there wasn’t otherwise any Wi-Fi signal. “I’m sorry,” he finally said, completely baffled, “but how are you getting a wireless signal?” He was floored when I pulled the MiFi from my pocket, its power light glowing evilly.

If he’d had a laptop, I would have happily shared my Wi-Fi cloud with him. The network password is printed right there on the bottom of the MiFi itself.
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The second huge advantage of the MiFi is that, as with any wireless router, you can share its signal with other people; up to five road warriors can enjoy the same connection. Your youngsters with their iPod Touches in the back of the van could hop online, for example, or you and your colleagues could connect and collaborate on a corporate retreat.
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Some footnotes: First, the MiFi goes into sleep mode after 30 minutes of inactivity, to prolong its battery life.

Yes, it means that a single charge can get you through a full day of on-and-off Internet noodling, even though the battery is supposed to run for only four hours a charge (it’s rated at 40 hours of standby). But once the MiFi is asleep, your Wi-Fi bubble is gone until you tap the power button.
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A final note: If your laptop has a traditional cellular modem, you can turn on a Mac OS X or Windows feature called Internet Sharing, which rebroadcasts the signal via Wi-Fi, just like the MiFi.

But the MiFi is infinitely easier to use and start up, doesn’t lock you into carrying around your laptop all the time, has better range and works even when your laptop battery is dead. (The MiFi recharges from a wall outlet; it still works as a hot spot while it’s plugged in.)

It’s always exciting when someone invents a new product category, and this one is a jaw-dropper. All your gadgets can be online at once, wherever you go, without having to plug anything in — no coffee shop required. Heck, it might even be worth showing the grandchildren.
Reference Here>>

Symbols And AI Yield Answers To 4K Old Mystery

In 1877, British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham hypothesized that the Indus script was a forerunner of modern-day Brahmic scripts, used from Central to Southeast Asia. Other researchers disagreed. Fueled by scores of competing and ultimately unsuccessful attempts to decipher the script, that contentious state of affairs has persisted to the present. Image Credit: WIRED

Symbols And AI Yield Answers To 4K Old Mystery

Archaeologists, and other scientific minds since the beginning of the discovery and study of ancient societies, and the methods of their evidence of communication, have struggled with the structure, meaning, and definition of script symbols.

One script found in the ruins of the Indus Valley (eastern Pakistan/northwest India) is believed to be the graphic root and link of other languages that include Chinese Lolo, Sumerian, Egyptian, Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, and Old Slavic. Indus script , however has never been deciphered and defined, that is until now.

What is being hailed as a breakthrough in the beginning of an understanding of the structure of the symbols uncovered from this 4,000 year old society, a program that draws from many sources and aided by computerized artifical intelligence discovered that the structure of the Indus Script followed the rules of a spoken language.

Examples of the Indus script. Three elongated seals that have no iconography, as well as three miniature tablets (one twisted). The tablets measure about 1.25 inches long by 0.5 inches wide. Image Credit: University of Washington

This excerpted and edited from WIRED -

Artificial Intelligence Cracks 4,000-Year-Old Mystery
By Brandon Keim WIRED - April 23, 2009

An ancient script that’s defied generations of archaeologists has yielded some of its secrets to artificially intelligent computers.

Computational analysis of symbols used 4,000 years ago by a long-lost Indus Valley civilization suggests they represent a spoken language. Some frustrated linguists thought the symbols were merely pretty pictures.

"The underlying grammatical structure seems similar to what’s found in many languages," said University of Washington computer scientist Rajesh Rao.

Comparison of symbols found in Indus Valley and, of all places, Easter Island. Image Credit: SodaHead/SweetLoveGifts (posted with comment)

The Indus script, used between 2,600 and 1,900 B.C. belonged to a civilization as sophisticated as its Mesopotamian and Egyptian contemporaries. However, it left fewer linguistic remains. Archaeologists have uncovered about 1,500 unique inscriptions from fragments of pottery, tablets and seals. The longest inscription is just 27 signs long.

In 1877, British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham hypothesized that the Indus script was a forerunner of modern-day Brahmic scripts, used from Central to Southeast Asia.
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In 2004, linguist Steve Farmer published a paper asserting that the Indus script was nothing more than political and religious symbols. It was a controversial notion, but not an unpopular one.

Rao, a machine learning specialist who read about the Indus script in high school and decided to apply his expertise to the script while on sabbatical in Inda, may have solved the language-versus-symbol question, if not the script itself.
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Rao’s team used pattern-analyzing software running what’s known as a Markov model, a computational tool used to map system dynamics.

They fed the program sequences of four spoken languages: ancient Sumerian, Sanskrit and Old Tamil, as well as modern English. Then they gave it samples of four non-spoken communication systems: human DNA, Fortran, bacterial protein sequences and an artificial language.

The program calculated the level of order present in each language. Non-spoken languages were either highly ordered, with symbols and structures following each other in unvarying ways, or utterly chaotic. Spoken languages fell in the middle.

When they seeded the program with fragments of Indus script, it returned with grammatical rules based on patterns of symbol arrangement. These proved to be moderately ordered, just like spoken languages.

As for the meaning of the script, the program remained silent.
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Parpola said the primary obstacle confronting decipherers of fragmentary Indus scripts — the difficulty of testing their hypotheses — remains unchanged.

But according to Rao, this early analysis provides a foundation for a more comprehensive understanding of Indus script grammar, and ultimately its meaning.

"The next step is to create a grammar from the data that we have," he said. "Then we can ask, is this grammar similar to those of the Sanskrit or Indo-European or Dravidian languages? This will give us a language to compare it to."
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"One of the main questions in machine learning is how to generalize rules from a limited amount of data," said Rao. "Even though we can’t read it, we can look at the patterns and get the underlying grammatical structure."
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"It’s only recently that archaeologists have started to apply computational approaches in a rigid manner," said Rao. "The time is ripe."
Reference Here>>

It strikes us here at Symblogogy, that if we humans can create something as complicated as a 3D camera readable automatic identification code (a 2D QR code with color), we should be able to reverse engineer 4,000 year old languages like Indus Script.

This artificial intelligence approach gets us one step closer to understanding and decode the meaning of what was communicated.

IndyCar Series Sponsorship Nets Big Gains For Verizon

The Verizon Wireless sponsored Dallara leading the race at the 35th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2009)

IndyCar Series Sponsorship Nets Big Gains For Verizon

Winning cars, and winning markets!

Believe it or not, soon after Verizon Wireless placed its logo on an IndyCar, the car goes on to win the pole and place second in the race at the 35th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Now news has come in that Verizon Wireless surpasses AT&T for the lead in subscribership in its marketplace, is there any cause and effect relationship? Well, AT&T doesn't sponsor any cars that race in the IndyCar Series so who can say ... it can not help.

Will Power, a driver for the famed Penske Racing Team of the Indy Racing League, stepped into the brand new, never driven black Dallara, sponsored with the Verizon logo ... that (description from the Verizon corporate website) graphically portray's speed, while also echoing the genesis of the company name: veritas, the Latin word connoting certainty and reliability ... and horizon, signifying forward-looking and visionary.

Does this sponsorship and logo have any effect on the fortunes of the Australian driver who merged into the IRL when the ChampCar World Series agreed to have open wheel racing in North America be managed by one supervising body?

The Verizon Wireless sponsored Dallara leaves the pits looking to rejoin and win the race. Image Credit: Andy Sallee (2009)

This excerpted and edited from ComputerWorld -

Verizon leapfrogs AT&T for wireless subscriber lead

By Brad Reed - April 27, 2009 (Network World)

Verizon now has more wireless subscribers than any carrier in the U.S., as its merger with Alltel has helped the company jump ahead of rival AT&T Inc..

Verizon said in its earnings report today that its total number of wireless customers surged to 86.5 million in the first quarter of 2009, when the carrier added a net 14.5 million wireless customers. Roughly 13.2 million of those customers came over to Verizon as a result of its Alltel acquisition.

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The big increase in wireless customers now gives Verizon an edge of about 8.3 million wireless subscribers over AT&T, which reported last week that it has 78.2 million wireless customers.

In addition to its large customer gains, Verizon reported a solid net income of $3.2 billion in the first quarter, a 5.3% increase over the $3 billion net income it reported in the first quarter of 2008.

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Its total number of broadband connections grew by 7.8% to 8.9 million, while the total number of subscribers to its FiOS Internet (2.8 million) and television (2.2 million) grew at impressive rates of 55.5% and 83.8%, respectively.

Reference Here >>

The symbolic power of the logo can not be denied, sponsorship generally brings good rewards and recognition to the sponsor ... but, maybe this kind of success is a little more than Verizon Wireless hoped for ... then, again.

Over Half Of The World Has Mobile Phones

Order sale items, online at Neiman Marcus, from your G3 cellphone ... without a bank account. Cellphone wallets and automated card transactions make purchases simple, fast, and initiated from almost anywhere. Image Credit: © 2009, Neiman Marcus

Over Half Of The World Has Mobile Phones

A United Nations report shows that there are over 4.1 billion mobile subscriptions around the world - that's about 60% of the world's population.

The increase in use has been particularly large in areas where traditionally communications networks infrastructures have been poor, with the continent of Africa having the fastest growth.

For many, it's hard to remember clearly what life was like before the mobile phone.

Much of the increase is said to have been fueled by the ability of mobile technology to bring automated money transfer without having the necessity of an established bank account.

We now live in a world where the question - 'Why climb Everest?', has been replaced with - 'Why call Neiman Marcus from the top of Everest?' … the answer being 'because we can'.
(ht: NowPublic)

Tapping Into A New Vein On Biometrics

The vein patterns of each finger are unique, so each individual can register multiple fingers as "back-up" for authentication purposes. Registration is possible even for sweaty, oily or dirty fingers. Image Credit: HANDS in the NEWS

Tapping Into A New Vein On Biometrics

The growth in world of biometric authentication for access and security has been a slow and sometimes uncomfortable process. Most people do not feel happy about standing in front of a camera-like device, adjusting their position so that the device can take an image of the iris pattern of their eye for example … the process is invasive and cumbersome at best.

Fingerprint senseing technology has come a long way with its swipe and go approach … but, again, this process has the problem of a CSI routine in that fingerprints and their databases are used in the legal/criminal as a main marker for identification – the process just doesn’t feel right and it too is somewhat invasive.

Great strides have been made in the arena of using near-infrared light lights and filters to discern blood vessel vein patterns under the skin … a marker all humans share and (the patterns as to how they are located in the body) are about as different and unique as a fingerprint.

The first systems to use this approach were pioneered in Korea (BK Systems) and looked at the backside of a whole hand. This process was very good and fast – less than a half a second for authentication. The equipment, however, was large and expensive.

As with all things technological, efficiencies make processes smaller and more effective. Hitachi is the leader in downsizing the vein identification process to a simple single finger scan for authentication and it has been widely accepted as a standard for use with banking applications in Japan.

As near infrared light generated by Bank of LEDs (light emitting diodes) penetrates the body tissue, it is reflected in the hemoglobin in the blood. A CCD (charge coupled device) camera (which uses a small, rectangular piece of silicon to receive incoming light) captures the image of the vein pattern through this reflected light. Image processing constructs a finger vein pattern from the camera image. This pattern is compressed and digitized so that it can be registered as a template or digitized image that it compares to the stored template of the user, and determines whether there is a match, using patter-matching techniques. The actual algorithms used in the process differ from vendor to vendor. Image Credit: HANDS in the NEWS

This excerpted and edited from Times Online -

Why veins could replace fingerprints and retinas as most secure form of ID
Mike Harvey, Technology Correspondent – Times Online, Nov. 11, 2008

Forget fingerprinting. Companies in Europe have begun to roll out an advanced biometric system from Japan that identifies people from the unique patterns of veins inside their fingers.

Finger vein authentication, introduced widely by Japanese banks in the last two years, is claimed to be the fastest and most secure biometric method. Developed by Hitachi, it verifies a person's identity based on the lattice work of minute blood vessels under the skin.
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In Japan, thousands of cash machines are operated by finger vein technology.

Hitachi's VeinID Biometric Authentication technology is one of the most advanced biometric identification technologies. Hitachi's Finger Vein attesting technology identifies finger vein patterns that exist inside the human body, eliminating tampering while increasing reliability and security and, as everyone's finger vein pattern is individual, it provides an ideal identification method without being intrusive. Image Credit: HANDS in the NEWS
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The pattern of blood vessels is captured by transmitting near-infrared light at different angles through the finger, usually the middle finger. This can be done in a small instrument attached to a wall or as part of an ATM machine. The light is partially absorbed by hemoglobin in the veins and the pattern is captured by a camera as a unique 3D finger vein profile. This is turned into a simple digital code which is then matched with a pre-registered profile to verify an individual's identity. Even twins are said to have different finger vein patterns.

Hitachi claims that because the veins are inside the body, invisible to the eye, it is extremely difficult to forge and impossible to manipulate. While fingerprints can be "lifted" and retinas scanned without an individual realizing it, it is extremely unlikely that people's finger vein profiles can be taken without them being aware of it, the company says.

The gruesome possibility that criminals may hack off a finger has already been discounted by Hitachi's scientists. Asked if authentication could be "forged" with a severed finger, the company says: "As blood would flow out of a disconnected finger, authentication would no longer be possible."
Reference Here>>

Laptops Morph To Netbooks at CES ‘09

Intel’s Classmate PC Tablet PC, uh, I mean Netbook, is a better Netbook than most because it shows some design considerations that make sense for the small form factor. Image Credit Intel

Laptops Morph To Netbooks at CES ‘09

The world’s largest tradeshow attendance maybe down from about 140,000 to 130,000, but at CES, the byline is that smaller is better.

Take the laptop computer for example, the one technology trend that is getting the most attention is a downsized, on-board programs reduced, lightweight notebook optimized to take advantage of the strength of what is available over the internet. Dubbed the “Netbook”, this tool may just become what a notebook, laptop computer was supposed to be when they were introduced as the main computerized aid to a person on the go.

Skype, Go To My PC, and other software function capabilities remove the need to have a full computer system on the road when communications (written and video), internet access, and information retrieval are the functions that become more important than the ability to process digital assets on a large scale.

Netbooks are the star of the show. At CES 2009, a little smaller may just become better in a big way.

Sony VAIO P is Slim WVGA Netbook - Measuring less than an inch, sporting 8-inch 1600x768 screen and 3G support, the netbook will sell for $900. Image Credit: Pocketnow

This excerpted from eWEEK -

Desktops & Notebooks Slideshow:
Notebooks and Netbooks Take Center Stage at the 2009 CES

At the 2009 International CES in Las Vegas, mobility remained one of the hottest topics, and vendors littered the showroom floor with the latest in notebooks, netbooks, mini-notebooks and ultraportable laptops.

eWEEK took a look at some of the latest offerings from Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Asus, Acer and Sony.

While CES usually focuses on consumer electronics, there were several enterprise and SMB offerings on the showroom floor, including the HP Mini 2140 and the Toshiba Portege R600.
Reference Here>>

Build A Digital Antenna/Converter Box For $8.00

Consumers with analog televisions who tune in using antennas will need a digital converter box, left, once television stations stop broadcasting in analog Feb. 17. Image Credit: Bebeto Matthews -- Associated Press

Build A Digital Antenna/Converter Box For $8.00

The federal government's TV converter box program runs out of funding!

Is anyone surprised? Give the government something to manage and they will manage to mess it up. Hey, why don't we have the government fix our economy that had been sent into a tailspin through the promotion of JUNK MORTGAGES backed by organizations create by .... the government? - oops!

Maybe the government can free up some of the 750 billion dollars that was supposed to be used to buy back JUNK MORTGAGES so that people in our society don't miss the new gameshow program, Million Dollar Password.

This excerpted and edited from the Washington Post –

TV Converter Program Runs Out of Funding
By Kim Hart, Washington Post Staff Writer - Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The government's billion-dollar program to help people prepare for the transition to digital television has run out of money, potentially leaving millions of viewers without coupons to buy converter boxes they need to keep their analog TV sets working after the switch.

As of this past Sunday, consumers who request a $40 coupon to help offset the cost of a converter box are being placed on a waiting list. They may not receive the coupons before Feb. 17, when full-power television stations will shut off traditional analog broadcasts and transmit only digital signals.

Members of Congress are now scrambling to find ways to allocate more money to the program.
Reference Here>>

Check out the video ... the one that teaches someone on how to build an analog to digital antenna for about $8.00, build an antenna, then watch Million Dollar Password!

Twitter - The Beak Speaks And Delivers

Twitter Logo - Image Credit: Twitter

Twitter - The Beak Speaks And Delivers

The beautiful thing about New Media is that it defies control yet exemplifies what can be done in an atmosphere of freedom and creativity.

Take Twitter for example; a free communications service that has just a couple of simple rules framed in a social connection portal designed with very little complexity other than member connection and “hash tag”.

Working the tools provided inside of this atmosphere becomes a little like gold mining with a pan in hand based upon what the desire of the “network initiator” is when one enters into this world of micro-messaging (limit: 140 characters known as "tweets") through answering the truly dynamic question - What are you doing?

Image Credit: Venture Beat

This excerpted and edited from Venture Beat -

Twitter has made Dell $1 million in revenue
MG Siegler, Venture Beat | December 15th, 2008

Everyone loves talking about Twitter’s business model — because there isn’t one yet, and they’ll keep talking about it until there is one. But it’s becoming more clear that while a business model is of course important, Twitter is perhaps the perfect example of a company that can afford to take its time in finding the one that is perfect for it. That’s because other businesses are building so much on top of the micro-messaging service and using it for their own services. If worst came to worst, and Twitter had to sell, there would probably be a bidding war of a magnitude that would make it seem like this country wasn’t in the midst of a recession.

InternetNews has a good rundown of the Twitter/business phenomenon. Buried in it is this gem:

Less altruistically, some businesses have discovered that Twitter is an effective way of communicating with consumers. Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) says Twitter has produced $1 million in revenue over the past year and a half through sale alerts. People who sign up to follow Dell on Twitter receive messages when discounted products are available the company’s Home Outlet Store. They can click over to purchase the product or forward the information to others.

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While a million dollars may not be much to a company like Dell, for some smaller companies that are also using Twitter as a sales/promotional tool, it is no doubt invaluable.
Reference Here>>

Understanding a service like Twitter is probably more of a matter of, again, understanding the nature of that question - What are you doing?

Image Credit: Twitter_Tips

This excerpted and edited from InternetNews -

What Keeps Twitter Chirping Along
By David Miller - December 10, 2008

It's practically impossible to find a story that doesn't darkly point out that the microblogging service Twitter has no revenue model, yet despite that concern, all the complaints about unreliable service, the rants about the exceptionally high noise-to-signal ratio, the outright attacks that accuse the company of "top-to-bottom incompetence," Twitter keeps on tweeting and seems likely to continue doing so into the foreseeable future.
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"We're using Twitter to get info out to the public and the media," said Claire Sale, an interactive media specialist with the Red Cross. "Twitter offers a single stream of information, and it's been most successful in disaster response, like the recent wildfires in California.
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You might check a blog or an RSS feed once a day, but people tend to follow Twitter constantly." The Red Cross has 3,000+ "followers," people who have signed on to view their tweets.
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Dell started experimenting with Twitter in March of 2007 after the South by Southwest conference, an annual tech/music festival in Austin, Texas. Conference attendees could keep tabs on each other via a stream of Twitter messages on 60-inch plasma screens set up in the conference hallways. There are now 65 Twitter groups on Dell.com, with 2,475 followers for the Dell Home Outlet Store.
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Good for customer service: Discount airline Jet Blue also uses Twitter to offer real-time discounts, sometimes even offering tickets or adding flights when large numbers of people are Twittering sadly about the lack of transport options to a conference or festival. JetBlue also monitors Twitter for comments about the company, responding quickly to compliments and complaints, and following its customers.

"Asking when Twitter will end is like saying, ‘When will the cell phone fad end'?" said David Spark, founder of Spark Media Solutions, a storytelling production company. "The value of cell phones can't end, it only can be replaced by something that provides the same value and more. Once we have a capability, we never want it taken away from us."
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Of course not everyone is a fan. Google "I Hate Twitter" and you'll see plenty of gripes, mostly about the banality of tweets and peoples' increasing belief that everyone in the world is their very own '50s sitcom mother, endlessly fascinated by every single one of their thoughts and actions.

"I find Twitter incredibly annoying, both as a user and bystander," said Trisha Creekmore, interactive executive producer for Discovery.com. ''There's nothing more annoying than trying to enjoy an event with a bunch of Twitter geeks and having to stop every five seconds for them to tweet into their mobile device. If you're at an event, BE at the event. Or leave."
Reference Here>>

When communication is more important than control, Twitter’s micro-communications platform delivers a multitude of functional enterprise options upon which any effort might be aided by understanding and using that basic question, “What are you doing?” … operative word - DOING!

The Mouse Passes One Billion Sold

Mice, mice, mice - Logitech celebrates the production of it's billionth mouse. Image Credit: Logitech

The Mouse Passes One Billion Sold

This is a campaign that is beginning to rival fast food giant, McDonald’s.

Announced during the same week the invention of the computer mouse turned forty, Logitech passes a milestone with shipment of its billionth mouse.

The billionth mouse production line. Image Credit: Logitech

According to a report by Gartner Consulting, more than a billion people are currently using computers worldwide, with another billion expected to by 2014.

Since the development of the computer mouse in the late 1960s, Logitech has been the leading innovator in mouse technology beginning in the early 1980's.

The one billonth mouse. Image Credit: Logitech

In celebration of its billionth mouse, Logitech is launching a worldwide contest that invites people to follow the travels of this notable mouse, to be chronicled on Logitech's blog,

BLogitech at blog.logitech.com.

The original mouse - Invented by a team of researchers led by Doug Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute in California in 1968, computer’s most dynamic input device, the “mouse”, has entered into its 40's on Monday, December 1, 2008. Image Credit: SRI

So, it all comes down to this … from humble beginnings as a block of wood, a button and movement tracking wheels hooked to a computer, to a blog entry at a mouse manufacturer’s website.

Happy birthday and happy billionth to you … Mouse!

This Week, The Mouse Turns Forty

Invented by a team of researchers led by Doug Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute in California in 1968, computer’s most dynamic input device, the “mouse”, has entered into its 40's on Monday, December 1, 2008. Image Credit: SRI

This Week, The Mouse Turns Forty

Just when you feel you have this age thing figured out, along comes an event that sets you right back on you heels and makes you feel OLD again!

On Monday, the invention of the computer mouse happened forty years ago. The first mouse was crafted out of wood, had a click-button built into the top and had a dual-wheel tracking movement mechanism on the bottom surface.

The mouse combined with Graphical User Interface (GUI) software ARE the computer to most users of the computer.

Today, the Mouse may incorporate a 2D imaging camera to read printed symbologies for automation, motion sensing gesture control for gaming (as found in the Wii and iPhone), and user identification security.

ELECOM won Good Design Award 2008 in 4 series of products! - Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization announced the award winners for this year’s Good Design Award on October 10, 2008. ELECOM CO., LTD. (Head office: Chuo-ku, Osaka; President: Junji Hada)　won the award in 4 series of products (including the EGG MOUSE). /// EGG MOUSE is a simple but expressive shape of mouse with comfort grip. It focuses on only basic functions which are required by most users. It features the natural shape of an egg which is familiar with everyone: sleek and rounded surface. Once you see an EGG MOUSE, your sensory experience appeals to you intuitively and you feel like touching it. Image Credit: ELECOM CO., LTD.

This excerpted and edited from News:Lite -

Computer mouse is 40 years old today
By: news:lite - December 1, 2008 3:57 PM

The chances are your hand is on one right now, if so look down and wish your mouse a Happy Birthday.

While the odd device above looks like it would be more at home in a tool shop, this is actually the world's first mouse which was unveiled to the world 40 years ago today.
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The cable which hung from the back [of the wood block] gained it the name 'mouse' from researchers.

Designer, Douglas Engelbart came up with the idea in the early 1960s while exploring the interactions between humans and computers at California’s Stanford Research Institute.

In 1964 his team came up with the first prototype but it was four years later when the mouse was revealed to the world in a 90-minute public multimedia demonstration at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco.
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The first commercial mouse was released in 1981 with the launch of the Xerox Star computer, but it was only in 1984 after Apple acquired the technology, it became popular with the launch of The Apple Macintosh.
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2D Barcode Boarding Symbology Tested By The TSA

Ones next set of secure ID documents … discarded! Image Credit: upgradetravelbetter.com

2D Barcode Boarding Symbology Tested By The TSA

An automatic identification barcode symbology that has been in use for well over a decade and adopted for use in advertising messages for cellphones is now being tested as a way to speed up and verify boarding procedures.

Photographic image driver’s license numbers, passport and fingerprint image information is captured and digitally encrypted as squares within a square on boarding passes that can be decoded and verified in milliseconds at stations throughout an airport to confirm identity. What has worked for packages being sent and tracked through our nation’s major shipping service companies appears to be a benefit to humans shipping themselves to their desired destination with security and safety within the Transportation Security Administration managed environments.

The TSA is non-committal when it comes to a possible implementation timeframe, however, so be prepared for long lines and repetitive strip searched for now and the foreseeable future.

Datastrip is a leading provider of 2D bar code software, hardware and biometric verification devices. Datastrip’s products include the 2D Superscript Software Developers Kit (SDK), Datastrip 2D (public domain) SDK and the DSVerify 2D card/passport reader with associated DSVerify Win CE SDK. Both 2D Superscript and Datastrip 2D symbologies are ideal for bar code storage of photographs (both color and grayscale), multiple biometrics and text. Image Credit: Datastrip Group Inc.

This excerpted and edited from Security Director News -

TSA tests boarding pass technology
By Leischen Stelter, SECURITY DIRECTOR NEWS - 11.25.2008 - MINNEAPOLIS

An independent testing body for the Transportation Security Administration in late October completed a 45-day test of Laser Data Command's PassPro system, an automated airline passenger boarding system, which encrypts passenger information on boarding passes.
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The system was tested at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport using law enforcement officers as the test group. Officers were issued letters with PassPro barcodes giving them permission to carry weapons aboard commercial airlines. Officers presented the letters to airline security officers who scanned the encrypted barcode and confirmed the officers' identities.
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"We put the system into an operational environment at the Minnesota airport," said Gary Murray, manager of access control and biometrics testing for National Safe Skies Alliance. "We go in and set up the system exactly as it would potentially be set up in airports, and we try out the system to measure how useful it could be in the future."

Miometric Security - Eyes and fingers airport security. "Lufthansa and Siemens has successfully tested a biometric process for check-in and boarding at the Airport [2005]. The system identifies passengers from their fingerprints. After a passenger’s finger is rolled over an optical reader unit, the system converts the fingerprints’ characteristics into a 2D code which the reader prints on the boarding pass. Just before boarding, the fingerprints are again scanned by a reader and compared with the barcode. The data is erased after the passenger checks in. " Caption & Image Credit: wemakemoneynotart.com

The outcome of the testing is confidential, said Murray.

However, John Barclay, president and CEO of Laser Data Command, told Security Director News that he expects to receive a positive report from the TSA when an official report is released at the beginning of next year. "We've been told by the testing principles that all went flawlessly."

Barclay said PassPro is intended not only to increase aviation security and eliminate the possibility of fake boarding passes, but also to speed up passenger travel times. "We see it as a convenience to passengers, but also as a way for security to know about passengers and have done a threat assessment on them," said Barclay.
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"It's entirely up to the TSA now that they've proven its use," he [Barclay] said. "It's quite scalable and has a variety of uses. The outcome of the trial will enable it be QPL (Qualified Product Listing) with the TSA and then it is applicable for anything they want to use it for."
Reference Here>>

RFID System At UCSD Medical Center Is Its Major Asset

The Awarepoint Real-time Awareness Solution utilizes a patented asset and location tracking technology developed exclusively for healthcare. The RFID “plug and track” network signal sensor pick-ups that plug into any standard wall outlet (bottom right in photo above) are very easy to install and place into the system. Image Credit: Awarepoint Corporation

RFID System At UCSD Medical Center Is Its Major Asset

Knowledge and awareness is everything when one seeks to have an enterprise run effectively. One of the most overlooked areas a business can make great gains in its effectiveness of purpose comes in the area of Asset Management. The ability to know exactly what tools a business has invested in, where the tools are, which tools are being used and how – further, what tools are available now to apply to the task at hand can determine success or failure … profit or loss.

Asset Management to any business enterprise is as critical as Inventory Management to a retail enterprise … if the asset or inventory is not deployed where the need exists; it is as if it never existed in the first place. This leads to lost opportunity and lost profits. In the case of a health care environment … this lack of knowledge of where an asset is and where it is deployed could lead to a loss of life, our most precious gift.

RFID system diagram. Image Credit: Awarepoint Corporation

This excerpted and edited from a Press Release, Awarepoint Corporation -

UCSD Medical Center Adds Hillcrest Campus to its Awarepoint Real-time Location System Deployment
Expansion allows UCSD complete hospital asset tracking oversight throughout its enterprise
SAN DIEGO, October 17, 2008

San Diego-based Awarepoint Corporation today announced that UCSD Medical Center is significantly expanding its Awarepoint Real-time Location System (RTLS) deployment. Following successful implementation and a fully vetted return on investment at the system’s Thornton facility, the Awarepoint relationship has now been expanded to include its Hillcrest campus, which is the primary hospital for the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.
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The expansion to UCSD Medical Center - Hillcrest more than doubles the coverage area and triples the number of equipment assets the Medical Center is wirelessly tracking with Awarepoint‘s Active RFID Real-time Location Solution.

“RFID asset tracking success at UCSD Medical Center ’s Thornton facility prompted expansion to the larger Hillcrest facility, located nearly 14 miles away. The expansion to Hillcrest also provides UCSD Medical Center the ability to see real-time status and have complete oversight of shared assets between both campuses, which are significant challenges for the Medical Center today,” said Kenny Woods, Senior Vice President of Sales for Awarepoint.
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Tom Hamelin, Director of Perioperative Services is responsible for sourcing UCSD Medical Center’s Zigbee-based real-time location solution with a goal to address several persistent problems relating to asset tracking management, including:

• Lowering equipment rental costs
• Reducing staff time spent searching for equipment
• Minimizing equipment theft and loss
• Reducing equipment inventory requirements
• Improving equipment maintenance process
• Improving responsiveness to JCAHO and FDA requirements

“The significant challenge common to all of these is timely, reliable locating of important equipment and assets,” said Tom. Tom chose to install the smaller UCSD Medical Center Thornton campus first to quickly provide a quantifiable return on investment. “With the combination of capital equipment expenditure savings and increased demand for asset visibility among staff after the Thornton installation, it was not difficult to get approval to expand into Hillcrest,” continued Tom.

The Awarepoint Real-time Location System was selected because it offers UCSD Medical Center room level location accuracy on an enterprise-wide basis while providing a 100% wireless, non-disruptive installation. Awarepoint’s business model provided the hospital a low cost to start because there were no construction costs and a fully managed service model that allows easy scalability on a per asset per month basis.
Reference Here>>

Sensor signal pick-ups located throught a facility act as electronic tracking gates for better asset management. Image Credit: Awarepoint Corporation

The most unique aspect of the Awarepoint system are the RFID “plug and track” network signal sensor pick-ups that plug into any standard wall outlet. This innovative signal sensor pick-up antennae allows for a rapid-impact implementation – it needs no hardwiring, fixed infrastructure or additional cables, offers a non-disruptive, dust-free installation – can be deployed even in occupied patient rooms or sterile areas.

Awarepoint Tags can be installed on any type of equipment. Small battery-powered Tags (less than 1.5” squared) are securely attached to equipment. Patient and staff Tags can be attached via belt clip, lanyard, badge or ID bracelet.

Tags broadcast low data rate messages to Awarepoint patented Sensors. Bridge nodes within Awarenet transmit Sensor data to the Awarepoint fully managed Appliance via your wired LAN. With Awarepoint, there’s no need to modify or expand your facility’s existing WiFi infrastructure. Low power radio messages from Tags are detected by the Sensors and routed through the Awarepoint Bridge to the Awarepoint Appliance. This patented architecture results in a rapid-impact implementation, longer battery life and lower cost. The simple Searchpoint™ web interface allows one-click search access to all staff from any networked PC.

All pretty cool stuff to keep track of deployed assets and be able to place them where needed in a timely manner – RFID and its ease in implementation can become any enterprise’s most major asset.

Imagine A World Without Wires – From Milliwatts To Kilowatts

eCoupled Technology is powering at least nine items depicted in this graphic - can you name them (hint - one of the applications is mounted in the celing)? Image Credit: Fulton Innovation

Imagine A World Without Wires – From Milliwatts To Kilowatts

An innovation that has been in development for years is now ready for the general use consumer market – wireless, plugless power for everyone.

Power up anything that requires electricity to run from cellphones, radios, television sets, and even food blenders by just placing a compatible device over an inducer coil and voila … wireless electricity!

The process is called eCoupled technology™ and it is being introduced by Fulton Innovation, LLC. It uses a specially developed and smart inducing coil embedded in a surface as in a kitchen counter or workshop table and transfers electrical power via dynamic resonance.

This excerpted and edited from Fulton Innovation –

What Is eCoupled Technology?

eCoupled technology™ is intelligent wireless power. It changes the way that people and devices interact with power and data.

eCoupled technology enables low-cost, efficient wireless power. It dynamically seeks resonance and optimizes power transfer under multiple, varying load conditions and spatial configurations. It can be utilized essentially anywhere traditional power needs exist. It is a revolutionary advancement in the utility of inductive coupling for consumer and commercial applications, unleashing a new world of creative options - power and data can be efficiently transmitted to virtually any electrical device without traditional constraints.

eCoupled technology includes an inductively coupled power circuit that dynamically seeks resonance, allowing the primary supply circuit to adapt its operation to match the needs of the devices it supplies. It does so by communicating with each device individually in real time, which allows the technology to determine not only power needs, but also factors such as the age of a battery or device and its charging lifecycles, in order to supply the optimal amount of power to keep a device at peak efficiency.

eCoupled technology overcomes the limitations of spatial rigidity, static loads and unacceptable power losses. It intelligently adapts to multiple loads - from milliwatts to kilowatts - and spatial configurations while maximizing energy transfer efficiencies by as much as 98%, making eCoupled technology comparable to hardwired connections in terms of energy costs.

eCoupled technology's smart approach provides one of the safest operating systems in the marketplace. Through its identification protocol, eCoupled technology has the ability to authenticate any eCoupled-enabled device within range. If a device or object is not recognized immediately, the primary coil will NOT turn on and supply power to it, maintaining a safe operating environment.
Reference Here>>

Image Credit: Fulton Innovation

This may have positive implications in the enterprise mobility applications such as route accounting systems or field communications applications. Printers, computers, cameras, and portable datacollectors can be powered and/or charged directly from the vehicle platform from where the mobile function is carried out.

Image Credit: Work Truck Online

And this excerpted and edited from Work Truck Online -

Leggett & Platt Wins New Product Innovation Award at The Work Truck Show 2008
Work Truck Online - National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) Convention

Image Credit: Work Truck Online

Leggett & Platt Commercial Vehicle Products has won The Work Truck Show 2008 New Product Innovation Award for its mobile workspace shelving, storage areas, rugged docking stations, and vehicle mounts featuring eCoupled technology. Leggett’s use of eCoupled technology transforms ordinary vehicle work and storage surfaces into wireless charging centers, eliminating the need for portable charging devices and electrical outlets.
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As part of an exclusive partnership with Fulton Innovation, the creators of eCoupled technology, Leggett will integrate the technology into its vehicle interior shelving systems, rugged docking stations, and vehicle mounts. The company’s eCoupled-equipped products debuted at the Work Truck Show 2008 and will hit the market in 2009.

Wireless power uses inductive coupling to transfer energy from Leggett’s commercial charging surfaces to any eCoupled-compatible device. Coils strategically placed in the surface areas adapt eCoupled technology’s operation to match the needs of the devices it powers.
Reference Here>>

So go ahead, its OK to clean-up the enterprise mobility workspace, kitchen, or office of electrical cords and power supplies with a shot of inductive transfer technology from Fulton Innovation.

Enterprise Mobility Born Twenty-Five Years Ago

In the 1980s, McKinsey & Co forecast a world maket of 900,000 phones by the year 2000. Today, 900,000 handsets are sold every three days. Image Credit: The Next Web

Enterprise Mobility Born Twenty-Five Years Ago

It's hard to imagine but yesterday, Oct. 13, 2008 marked the 25th anniversary of the first commercial cellphone. Today, more than three billion people worldwide use cellphones, making them the most popular personal electronic device ever.

The Brick Cell Phone. The first cell phone that most of us remember. Image Credit: Motorola

The first cell phone that most of us remember is the one that’s now called “the block” or “the brick”. The name comes from the fact that it was about the shape and size of a traditional brick. It wasn’t quite as heavy as a brick, of course, although it might feel like it today to those of us that are used to using the thinnest and lightest cell phones available on the market.

These were the phones that were available to people in the 1980’s, the phones that were based on the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X design.

Martin Cooper and the First Cell Phone. You might not recognize Martin Cooper’s name but you’ve probably seen his picture because he was photographed excessively when he made the first call on the world’s first cell phone back in 1973. The phone call was placed to a rival working at Bell who was also attempting to make a mobile phone. It happened on the streets of New York City and people were apparently struck dumb by the site. It’s funny to think about today since you’d be hard pressed to find someone walking New York City’s streets today without a cell phone in their hand or pocket. This phone may be clunky and impossible to use today but it’s the one that set the stage for all that came after it. Image Credit: dialaphone.co.uk

This excerpted and edited from the Technology Expert –

The Cell Phone Celebrates 25 Years
Technology Expert - Tuesday, October 14, 2008

When I watched an old 1988 thriller, "Miracle Mile," one of the things that struck me was the huge cellular phone used by Denise Crosby. And even that handset was five years newer than the phone used in the first commercial cellular phone call.

That call was made on October 13th, 1983, 25 years ago. Bob Barnett, president of Ameritech Mobile communications, called Alexander Graham Bell's nephew [Martin Cooper] from Chicago's Soldier Field using a Motorola DynaTAC 8000X handset.

That baby was known as the "Brick," based on its heft (2.5 pounds) and shape. 8 hours of standby time and 30 minutes of talk time (woo hoo!). Service plans were a bit pricey, at costing $50 a month for the service, plus 40 cents a minute at peak hours and 24 cents a minute at off-peak times.

Nope, there were no unlimited plans.
Reference Here>>