Tag: mobile

Shared Phone Practices

The research team identified 6 shared use practices, an informal service called Sente that essentially enables a mobile phone owner to function as an ATM machine; mediated communication that neatly side-steps issues of technological and textual literacy; the ever popular practice of making missed calls; the pooling of resources to buy the lowest denominations of prepaid airtime and extend the access days for the phone that is topped up; the use of community address books to reduce errors and (supposedly) encourage phone kiosk customer loyalty; and finally Step Messaging – the delivery of text and spoken messages on foot.

jan always has the best pictures, and is leaving the best job in the world.

FBI mobile eavesdropping

The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone’s microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations. The technique is called a “roving bug,” and was approved by top US Department of Justice officials for use against members of a New York organized crime family who were wary of conventional surveillance techniques such as tailing a suspect or wiretapping him.

hello, transparent society.

Learning Gestures

Spent the last couple of weeks observing an elderly relative first purchase then use a digital camera for the first time. What stood out? The touch screen on the Sony T50. Why? Human motor skills depreciate over time and the soft keys are larger and less fiddly than anything than can be squeezed on the physical form factor. But the bonus? The speed at which a (relative) novice learnt and understood gesture based interaction – sliding her finger left and right, to navigate photos.

i hate (most) gadgets. now there seems to be one built around usability. interesting