Wireless

Pong releases 'anti radiation' BlackBerry case

As the debate rages over precisely how cell phone radiation emission affects the human body, BlackBerry Curve owners who prefer to play it safe may want to look into the BlackBerry Curve Case by Pong Research.

Unveiled at CES in Las Vegas on Wednesday, the protective cell phone case--which looks much like any other cell phone or MP3 player case but at $49.95 costs considerably more--has been verified by FCC-certified labs to reduce users' exposure to radiation by more than 60 percent. It fits models 8300, 8310, 8320, and 8330.

Back in September, Wired covered the development of the case … Read more

Nokia's Ovi Store comes to AT&T

Updated 1/6/10 12:55 p.m. PT: More up to date information on where the Nokia Ovi store is offered has been added to this story.

LAS VEGAS--Nokia on Wednesday said its Ovi application and mobile-content store is now available in the United States for AT&T wireless customers.

Consumers using Nokia devices such as the E71x, the Surge, the Mural, the 6650, the 6555, and the 6350 are now able to download free and paid content from the Ovi Store. Paid content will be billed directly to their AT&T bill. Nokia said more devices … Read more

Real-time tracking of those who wander

It's said we exit this life the same way we enter--drooling and in need of diapers. It is, then, cruelly fitting that Medical Mobile Monitoring has recently developed a medical-alert tracking system that resembles a baby monitor.

The company's MobileHelp medical-alert system, launched in November, tracks users no matter how far they wander, as long as they are within range of an AT&T cellular network. It costs about $35 a month. The system also uses GPS satellite tracking, so you can literally watch the person you are monitoring online in real time:

When subscribers need help, they simply press their help button and are connected via two-way voice to a central monitoring station that is live 24/7/365. The technology from Medical Mobile Monitoring also allows family members to see an online map and location of their loved ones over the Internet and be notified via mobile phone and email when an emergency arises.

Aside from such a service being both inherently creepy and inherently useful, it is also a sign of the times. In October, we covered the release of a similar tracking system, called EmSeeQ, whose faceless black watch has the unfortunate effect of looking like something Batman or a secret agent would wear, thereby calling unnecessary attention to itself.

MobileHelp's waterproof pendant may be better, but still doesn't hit the mark.… Read more

DEWD, U think DUI is bad, try DWT

It's no surprise that driving while texting (DWT) falls under the category of driving while stupid (DWS).

It's even been compared with driving under the influence (DUI). Still, anywhere from one-third to 60 percent of teens admit to texting behind the wheel.

Yet another study--this one out of the University of Utah--reinforces the fact that driving while texting is incredibly dangerous (PDF).

Drivers who text are about six times more likely to crash than those paying full attention to the road, this study says, and their reaction times are on average three times slower than the … Read more

Let Gramps crank up the volume with TV Ears

There might be a solution to one of the most obnoxious linear relationships: as Grandpa gets older, the TV gets louder. TV Ears is a wireless headset that allows Grandpa (or anyone) to listen to television audio in isolation. And though its design screams "geek!" the wearer can sacrifice fashion for a peaceful household.

A small transmitter plugs into the audio-out ports located on the back of the television set, satellite box, or cable box and wirelessly transmits the television's audio to the headset. The user can adjust the volume and tone dials on the headset, while … Read more

Does MIT's Copenhagen Wheel go the distance?

It's no secret that Portland, Ore., is one of the world's top biking towns. (Full disclosure: I live and bike here, and love both.) Thanks in part to a bike culture that has led to the development of hundreds of miles of bike lanes, ample signage, and rows of bright blue parking racks, Portland gets accolades for healthy people and air.

But it is Copenhagen, Denmark, home to the 2009 climate summit, that tops pretty much every list you'll find as the world's best biking city, with a whopping 36 percent of commuters going by bike. … Read more

Cell phone activity helps predict spread of malaria

Researchers at the University of Florida are predicting the spread of malaria based on their analysis of more than 21 million cell phone calls that track where and how often Zanzibar residents travel.

Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region and tourist hot spot comprising two islands off the coast of East Africa's Tanzania, has commissioned this study as part of its consideration to launch a "total elimination" campaign. In recent years, Zanzibar has been able to drastically reduce new malaria infections through the use of bed nets and insecticide. But to make further progress, authorities wanted to get a … Read more

Wireless and broadcast industries begin spectrum debate

WASHINGTON--The wireless and TV broadcasting industries faced off for the first time at a congressional subcommittee meeting on the Hill on Tuesday, setting in motion what could be a long drawn out battle over whether wireless spectrum should be reallocated and where the government will get this new spectrum.

Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA, the wireless industry group, and Gordon Smith of the National Association of Broadcasters, were among the witnesses gathered before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet to discuss what the CTIA and the Federal Communications Commission have … Read more

Radiologists rally behind imaging app OsiriX

Just over a year ago, the open-source Mac image viewer OsiriX released its widely hailed medical imaging software for the iPhone. The software was created by a group of radiologists who also proved to be sophisticated programmers, and was hailed by a wider net of radiologists as an app with serious promise.

More recently, scientists from Johns Hopkins University rallied formally behind the app when they presented the results of a study conducted at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville of patients suspected of having acute appendicitis. Reviewing nothing more than computed tomography (CT) scans over an encrypted wireless network using an iPhone 3G with the OsiriX app, researchers were able to diagnose acute appendicitis correctly in 99 percent of the scans of 25 patients, with one false negative.

"This new technology can expedite diagnosis and, therefore, treatment," says Asim Choudhri, a neuroradiologist at JHU who led the study. "We knew that recent advances in handheld device technology allowed viewing of medical imaging, but it [was] unproven whether viewing on a small screen allows a reader to reliably and reproducibly obtain information."

The findings of this study, which Choudhri tells me was funded internally at the UVA Department of Radiology (and yes, his allegiance is clear--he owns an iPhone and in fact supplied it for the study) are encouraging not only for possible appendicitis cases, but a wide range of illnesses such as aneurism and stroke that require fast diagnosis.… Read more