Talk-powered cell phones?

One of the most common and regular warnings that we get on our cellphone is “Low battery!”. If unfortunately, the charger is not with us then we tend to borrow it from somebody or search for a charging point. If we are even more unfortunate then we have to stay paralytic till we get it going as the phone dies.

Think of a way by which you could charge your cellphone by using energy from something you primarily use your cellphone for. You talk!!! Look at this: Talk-powered cell phones? Nanoscale piezoelectrics could make it real http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/35879

100 Ideas for Envisioning Experiences in Knowledge Work

A great resource at Flashbulb Interactive for Envisioning Powerful, Engaging, and Productive User Experiences in Knowledge Work

The Idea Categories discussed are:

A. Exploring work mediation and determining scope (9)
B. Defining interaction objects (10)
C. Establishing an application framework (10)
D. Considering workers’ attentions (7)
E. Providing opportunities to offload effort (6)
F. Enhancing information representation (11)
G. Clarifying central interactions (7)
H. Supporting outcome exploration and cognitive tracing (4)
I. Working with volumes of information (7)
J. Facilitating communication (7)
K. Promoting integration into work practice (13)
L. Pursuing aesthetic refinement (5)
M. Planning connection with use (4)

You would also get two pdf files for download.

Download Printable Book

&

Download “Idea Cards”
Great resource indeed

Blackberry – Voice Powered Interface

Vlingo has recently launched a new beta giving BlackBerry smart phone users control over mobile information and tasks with the power of their voice. Currently available on the BlackBerry Pearl, Curve, & 88xx series. Over the next few quarters they are planning to add support for Symbian, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and Palm devices over time, on separate schedules.

Vlingo works on client server technology. Find the Vlingo white paper for more details.

Here is what Vlingo can do:

• Send and reply to emails and text messages
• Search the Web
• Dial the phone
• Look up contacts
• Send a “note to self”
• Voice updates to Facebook & Twitter status updates
• Tell A Friend
• Read-back of the full text or email message that was spoken
• The ability to launch built in programs:
  • Address Book
  • Alarm
  • BrickBreaker
  • Calculator
  • Calendar
  • Camera
  • Maps
  • Media
  • MemoPad
  • Messages
  • Options
  • Tasks
• The ability to launch third party programs:
  • Facebook
  • Google Maps
  • Opera
  • Viigo

Have a look at the demos:

http://www.vlingomobile.com/demo.jsp

http://www.vlingomobile.com/demo2.jsp

Vlingo seems to be sister company for Yahoo Mobile Onesearch.

The Nokia Morph Concept

Featured in The Museum of Modern Art “Design and The Elastic Mind” exhibition, the Morph concept device is a bridge between highly advanced technologies and their potential benefits to end-users. This device concept showcases some revolutionary leaps being explored by Nokia Research Center (NRC) in collaboration with the Cambridge Nanoscience Centre (United Kingdom) – nanoscale technologies that will potentially create a world of radically different devices that open up an entirely new spectrum of possibilities.

Morph concept technologies might create fantastic opportunities for mobile devices:

• Newly-enabled flexible and transparent materials blend more seamlessly with the way we live
• Devices become self-cleaning and self-preserving
• Transparent electronics offering an entirely new aesthetic dimension
• Built-in solar absorption might charge a device, whilst batteries become smaller, longer lasting and faster to charge
• Integrated sensors might allow us to learn more about the environment around us, empowering us to make better choices

Read More here