In 2010, Obama will have a miserable year, NATO may lose in Afghanistan, the UK gets a regime change, China needs to chill, India's factories will overtake its farms, Europe risks becoming an irrelevant museum, the stimulus will need an exit strategy, the G20 will see a challenge from the "G2", African football will unite Korea, conflict over natural resources will grow, Sarkozy will be unloved and unrivalled, the kids will come together to solve the world's problems (because their elders are unable), technology will grow ever more ubiquitous, we'll all charge our phones via USB, MBAs will be uncool, the Space Shuttle will be put to rest, and Somalia will be the worst country in the world. And so the Tens begin.

The Economist: The World in 2010. [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Nov 14, 2009 - 60 comments

No Signal - A montage of cellphones in horror movies. [more inside]
posted by flatluigi on Sep 24, 2009 - 24 comments

Jan Chipchase is employeed by Nokia in the "corporate anthropology" field, but he considers it "design research," as he's not an anthropologist by training. His work covers researching how people modify their phones in China, India, Ghana, and elsewhere, adding features or extending battery life. He also tracks how cellphones are associated with personal identity and how they are playing roles far from urban and suburban centers. In some locations, cell phone numbers are written above doorways for identification, when there is no official map or organization for streets. He also blogs about his experiences, and his most recent post, he covers the rise of "Super Fakes." [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Sep 3, 2009 - 16 comments

Are cellphones ruining concerts? If they're not going off in the middle of a performance, they're constantly strobe-lighting the musicians. Of course, there are plenty of other ways you can ruin a concert.
posted by The Card Cheat on Jun 10, 2008 - 150 comments

Nerve-tapping neckband used in 'telepathic' chat A neckband that translates thought into speech by picking up nerve signals has been used to demonstrate a "voiceless" phone call for the first time. Video. The technology has previously been demonstrated for guiding a wheelchair with thoughts. Company website.
posted by MythMaker on Mar 15, 2008 - 33 comments

'Thanks to FlexiSpy, I finally figured out my wife was cheating on me with my brother,' he claims. 'My life is so much better.'
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Sep 3, 2006 - 27 comments

So What?
posted by persona non grata on Jul 26, 2006 - 32 comments

Retrobrick sells those old giant clunky cell phones we still called "car phones." To anyone old enough to remember them, it's a little scary to think they are desirable antiques now. Too bad they aren't as sweet as these photoshop fantasies. For a little history, Martin Cooper's account of making the first cell phone call, 33 years ago, on the streets of NYC (to his rival at Bell Labs.)
posted by CunningLinguist on Jun 22, 2006 - 18 comments

Myspace goes into the cell phone business. For $85/month you can take as many photos as you want with your Myspace-branded camera phone and upload them to your Myspace home page. (Take that, LiveJournal!)
posted by Steven C. Den Beste on May 2, 2006 - 30 comments

Cellfilms. Ithica College in New York is hosting the Cellflix Film Festival, and has asked students between 13 and 20 to submit 30-second movies shot entirely with their cell phones. They have narrowed down the nearly 200 entries they received to 10 finalists that can be found here. (My votes to the shadow puppets and the progression of life.)
posted by onlyconnect on Jan 27, 2006 - 11 comments

Ringtones are a growing concern and not just when people don't shut them off. Jamster is a weekly ringtone subscription that advertises to kids on channels like Nick and MTV. Kids are attracted to crazy frogs like a magnet and are using the service without parental permission. Now Britain is launching a new inquiry into Jamster's business practices. And lawyers in California filed a class action lawsuit against the company. But Jamster isn't just some fly-by-night operation trying to milk as much money from kids as they can before regulators crack down. Jamster is owned by VeriSign.

It's also a fair question whether it's worth paying 3 bucks for a few seconds of a song that sounds like a player piano, when it costs less than a buck to get the whole thing on the web (especially now that that crazy frog is a single). Why can't you just pay the 99 cents or whatever to get the song on your phone?
posted by kenneth on Jun 29, 2005 - 77 comments

AskGod.com Forget Jeeves. For $25 a month, you can soon call a googling "angel" from your mobile phone with questions. According to the press release (pdf): "Soon, with the coming of Ask God, the prayers of all the data-starved will be answered and the prophecy of information on-demand will be fulfilled." In a country caught in the grips of religious mania, is this smart marketing or tone deaf? And with the web increasingly on our phones already, who's going to pay for this?
posted by CunningLinguist on May 27, 2005 - 87 comments

Cell phone art is here. Not to be confused with art by or about cellphones, Wooster Collective is offering art for your cellphone. The project is designed to raise money for young artists, "in much the same way that a songwriter can earn money from radio play."
posted by grapefruitmoon on Mar 28, 2005 - 1 comment

Will mobile phone porn be banned before reaching the mainstream? Startup Companies as well as established veterans alike have been itching to make a buck from the mobile market. Will they ever get the chance? Not in Israel.
posted by analogue on Mar 3, 2005 - 30 comments

Keitai Vyuun! - but is it really the best invention ever? I say "no".
posted by 13twelve on Feb 22, 2005 - 8 comments

The Portable Cellphone Booth (imbedded .mov)
posted by johnj on Jan 3, 2005 - 8 comments

Mobile-phone radiation damages lab DNA . Sure to be controversial and certainly not the last word, but it raises some interesting points of conversation. Government surveillance becomes much easier with wireless communications and there is a huge corporate financial investment in the infrastructure. Could we really trust the government(s) to tell us if this particular technology was harmful? And at what point would you give serious consideration to giving up a technology that had proved to be such an intrinsic part of your life? Are you addicted beyond the point of no return?
Other media carrying the story via Google News.
posted by spock on Dec 21, 2004 - 28 comments

Cell Phone users beware Dec 15th 2004 is the deadline According to the National Do Not Call List, you have until Dec. 15th 2004 to get on the national "Do not call list" for cell phones. They said that you need to call 1-888-382-1222 from the cell phone that you wish to have put on the "do not call list" to be put on the list. They also said you can do it online. Registering only takes a minute, is in effect for 5 years and will possibly save you money (definitely frustration)! Make sure you register now!
posted by Gooney on Dec 7, 2004 - 38 comments

The Anti-Booty Call Cell Phone
Because good judgment, heavy intoxication and raging libidos rarely go hand in hand, a new phone from Virgin will allow you to selectively "turn off" phone numbers you might be likely to dial while in a drunken and horny stupor. Thus saving you the embarrassment of calling your ex and instead sending you over to her place because you think her phone's busted.

On second thought, maybe this phone isn't such a great idea.
posted by fenriq on Nov 30, 2004 - 22 comments

What do you get when you cross Big Urban Games (see also here) with semacodes? I'm not sure, but it seems to look like this. (via gizmodo)
posted by gwint on Oct 29, 2004 - 3 comments

The Army are tagging honey bees to find UXBs. Now technology lets you silently locate mobile phones in the UK. Now you don't need to be 007 or Austin Powers to track someone. Is tagging offenders the soft option? How could someone already be watching you?
posted by DrDoberman on Sep 30, 2004 - 3 comments

FraudFrond: There are over 32,000 cell phone towers in the U.S. disguised as fake trees, how many can you find? [via]
posted by falconred on Sep 25, 2004 - 17 comments

Hold the phone. You probably already know that many Americans are ditching their land lines in favor of cell phones:

It is part of a generational shift to wireless, says Leap's chief executive, Harvey White. "Our demographic is younger, and when people start a household today they simply never bother to get a land line."

But were you aware that pollsters don't call cell phones? Media saturation, changes in communications technology, and missed demographics (americans abroad, for example) seem to make polls increasingly irrelevant. (first link via e-v.com)
posted by whatnot on Sep 17, 2004 - 21 comments

Stuck on a horrible date? Cingular Wireless to the rescue!
posted by braun_richard on Aug 4, 2004 - 33 comments

Who's the teenage supersleuth with the superpowered cell phone who catches all the crooks? Ketai Deka.
posted by ursus_comiter on Jul 30, 2004 - 7 comments

Sure it looks just like just another promotional site for a movie, but then you realize that you can send phone messages from Hillary Duff. And sure, that seems lame at first but these are personalized messages that involve names and characteristics like "braces" or "big head." It really CAN be very amusing.
posted by adrober on Jul 15, 2004 - 20 comments

Dial-A-Cheater "proved what I couldn't. After he answered the call I scheduled, I asked him who it was. He lied. I totally busted him out. He was cheating with my best friend!" Kill the illusion of joy with a cell phone (and $1.95 USD).
posted by LinusMines on Apr 14, 2004 - 18 comments

Sky Ear will be a one-night event in which a glowing "cloud" of mobile phones and helium balloons is released into the air so that people can dial into the cloud and listen to the sounds of the sky. The cloud will be made of one thousand large helium balloons each responding to the electromagnetic environment (created by distant storms, mobile phones, police and ambulance radios, television broadcasts, etc.) with coloured blue, red and yellow lights.
posted by schoolgirl report on Apr 9, 2004 - 22 comments

Sidetalkin provides humorous photos that force us to ask the question: Has Nokia's NGage redefined phone ergonomics or simply provided a humorous diversion for a slow Friday afternoon?
posted by donovan on Dec 5, 2003 - 14 comments

Where Are You? Are You Sure? Are cell phones robbing us of our sense of place? (More inside.)
posted by MiguelCardoso on Nov 17, 2003 - 48 comments

Coming to a phone near you. The creative entries you'll see here fit not only the small screen size, but the on-the-go nature of mobile use. Entries typically run up to 3 minutes. All are sized and purposed to work in small handheld formats. Flash, live action, 3D animation, its all here at the World's Smallest Film Festival.
posted by Grod on Oct 27, 2003 - 3 comments

Neoroscience and wireless communication An apparently non-hysterical warning from scientist Leif Salford, who cautions that by using hand-held cellular devices we're conducting "the largest human biological experiment ever."

According to the Independent (UK) article, it's been proven that microwave radiation opens 'the blood-brain barrier, allowing a protein called albumin to pass into the brain.' Lund's latest work 'goes a step further, showing the process is linked to serious brain damage.'

That in turn causes ... uh, what was I writing about? I forget.

Sorry. Seriously, is there anyone in the room competent to comment on the validity of this warning? (Via Gizmodo)
posted by mojohand on Sep 14, 2003 - 15 comments

Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships You can register either in Freestyle or Original (the traditional over the shoulder -style). Alternatively, you can register as a team (max. three persons / team). There's also have a Junior category for competitors of under 12 years. Grading in Freestyle is based on style and aesthetics, whereas in Original the grading is purely based on length and style. In both categories theree prizes will be awarded. The current Ukranian record is 57 metres.
posted by riffola on Jul 14, 2003 - 10 comments

A higher power at work in church steeples In a move which I can't help think is twistedly brilliant, churches around the nation are beginning to reap benefits from the great wireless expansion. By turning their steeples. Into cellular towers.
posted by jeremias on May 1, 2003 - 13 comments

Come to the Quiet Party. No loud music, no yelling, no cell phones and one designated area where there is no talking AT ALL!!
posted by hammurderer on Apr 24, 2003 - 17 comments

Inattention blindness has been documented in a study of drivers using cell phones. Back when the driving-while-yakking phenomenon first started growing, I told friends I could always tell if the driver of the car ahead of me was on a cell phone: They had a certain style of stupid driving that I couldn't quite describe but I always knew it when I saw it. Now a team of researchers has pinpointed it; they also effectively debunk "you're just as distracted talking to someone in the car"-type analogies. The question remains, now that we know what's wrong with this practice, what do we do about it?
posted by soyjoy on Jan 28, 2003 - 82 comments

Among the most confusing dilemmas facing today's consumer is the question of which cell phone carrier is right for you. Even though Consumer Reports just published an article rating different carriers, the results are far from conclusive. I've been searching for web resources to cut through all the crap, and I thought I'd share a couple with the MeFi community, since typing "compare cell phone plans" into Google brings up a load of pop-up laden vendors thinly disguised as dispensers of advice.

• PhoneScoop.com offers the most comprehensive lists of cell phone features I've seen, a handy comparison tool, and a good number of intelligent user reviews.
• LetsTalk.com suffers from a bit of that thinly-disguised-vendor syndrome, but it is useful for comparing different services and getting clearly presented, itemized lists of each service's features. Be wary of the service comparison tool, because it's rather incomplete, but it's a good starting point to compare plans.

posted by grrarrgh00 on Jan 23, 2003 - 16 comments

Vibrating cellphones of love! "Within a year you could be able to "touch" someone over your mobile phone", says the BBC. Some people have been waiting for this for quite a while - and dreaming up VERY specific applications.
posted by theplayethic on Jan 21, 2003 - 8 comments

Ruby-encrusted cellphone lost by professional drag-racer at nightclub. Put this item in the pantheon with the gold-plated toilet, glow-in-the-dark volleyball net, and other stuff nobody needs. Maybe it's the Grinch in me...is it cool, foolish, or immoral to spend $20,000 on a platinum-plated gadget? (via obscurestore)
posted by serafinapekkala on Dec 16, 2002 - 47 comments

Christians become aquainted with the Almighty. "When the Wheat Ridge man got laid off from his computer-programming job in June, his friends and family asked what they could do to help. He asked them to pray for him and offered a daily reminder: an automated text message on cellphones and pagers. Now, Wostenberg, a devout Catholic, is offering that same technology to anyone who wants a psalm sent to him each day at 3 p.m. He's selling the service online at PsalmWeaver.com He charges $19.95 a year, plus a $4 setup fee."
posted by crasspastor on Dec 16, 2002 - 16 comments

Cyberpunk is here today. Finnish telecom company Sonera's security unit is being investigated for using telephone records to find out who had given reporters confidential information. Two employees have been arrested.
posted by lazy-ville on Nov 4, 2002 - 2 comments

Colleges losing money to students using cell phones. I suppose this only makes sense considering the popularity of wireless phones but I just never associated long distance charges as a money making proposition for colleges.
posted by cmdnc0 on Oct 14, 2002 - 20 comments

Danger Hiptop Finally Hits The Streets T-Mobile released the first Danger hiptop today and as the first person in Austin, Texas to own one, lemme tell you: they rock.
posted by benbrown on Oct 1, 2002 - 51 comments

We've seen some cool mobile phones before, but looking at the current North American cell phone offerings, I'm sorely disappointed. AT&T seems to have the latest/greatest phones, but their service is by far the worst. T-mobile has the Sony Ericsson t68. But none of these phones can compare to some of those picture snapping Japanese Jskies and i-modes, and cool European Nokias. How hard is it to bring these technologies to the North American GSM network?
posted by mad on Aug 13, 2002 - 38 comments

An astonishingly obvious advance in interface design Your mobile phone's keyboard has been rendered obsolete by this inspired rethinking of buttons and the spaces between them. The manifacturer's home page is here
posted by hmgovt on May 20, 2002 - 40 comments

Is the hiptop (flash w/ sound) by Danger Inc. the technogeek holy grail? It might just be. If it indeed costs $200, has unlimited internet for $25 a month, the separate GSM based cell phone plan has coverage in my area, and it ships in two months, color me sold. (more inside)
posted by machaus on Apr 5, 2002 - 25 comments

Hackers target Cell Phones With the connectivity of cell phones to the internet, hackers have begun to target cell phones, programming prank calls, placing calls to wherever and erasing the software in the phone.
posted by Lanternjmk on Mar 11, 2002 - 7 comments

Hate mobile phones? Man... this site both makes me laugh, and makes me furious in anger.. because it's so damn hilarious, but I imagine if this happened to me I'd be horribly upset and angry... I hate the misuse of mobile phones, but I do USE one...
posted by twiggy on Feb 6, 2002 - 33 comments

Nokia's new subsidiary - Vertu - lays out its plans to combat street crime by developing undesirable mobile phones.
posted by mook on Jan 14, 2002 - 13 comments

Nokia 7650 - A cellphone, a digital camera, a photo album, a PDA with a color display and joystick -- all within 114 x 56 x 26 mm dimensions, shaped like this, looking like this. Must... put... on... Christmas... wishlist.
posted by frednorman on Nov 19, 2001 - 26 comments