Snippets from our wireless world I

I have been recently coming across numerous interesting bits of developments in our wireless world that I would like to share with you. As such, for this week I shall enumerate a few of them.

In a recent newsletter, I read that Germany’s Deutsche Telecom’s SMS Text to Voice service which was launched last year has finally caught fire. This service allows a mobile phone user to send a text message to a landline number and a software application would then convert the text messages – strange spellings and all – to voice. So let’s say you want to tell your wife that you will be coming home late for dinner and you’re too chicken to make that voice call, all you have to do is type a text like, "RUNNING L8 & B HOM @ 9 INSTEAD :-)" and send it to your home landline number. Your home phone rings and your wife will hear the software say, "YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FROM GLENN." Then the same software application’s canned voice repeats your text message, including the emoticon you left with a giggle sound! Now isn’t that cool?! Whether it will take-off here in the Philippines is a good question.

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An investor’s update by NTT Communications, owner of the very popular DoCoMo, said that its company is working on the world’s first lip-reading telephone that could alleviate the annoyance of loud cell phone conversations. Instead of a mobile user shouting his lungs off when talking in noisy environments, all he will have to do now is to mouth the words silently and the cell phone will convert them into text or speech. Though still a few years away from its actual release, the current version of the software application can now recognize vowels and consonants. These lip-reading cell phones will truly come in handy when making those very discreet calls.

I just read in a British daily that cell phone snatching was on the rise in London. So what’s new? It’s the same as over here in Manila. Apparently, cell phone burglaries have reached a point where an East London resident was awaken by an unusual noise early in the morning. To his amazement, he saw a black chimpanzee coming through his window and grab his Samsung A300 cell phone which was sitting on his bedside table. Upon investigation, Scotland Yard also discovered that two other flats in the same building were burglarized by the hairy thief that same morning. Wow, what will desperate people think of next!

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The author is managing director of Bidshot Wireless Services. For comments or suggestions, text your message to 233011(Globe) and 243011(Smart) or e-mail [email protected].