Blog | News & Information on Wireless Services & Telecommunications
Posted: 07/23/10 by Jonathan Spalter
Lost your home to flooding, a tornado or other disaster? If you have a smartphone and a wireless connection, help just got a lot easier.
This week, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) unveiled an addition to its mobile site allowing disaster victims to apply for assistance directly from their smartphone. FEMA's rationale is clear: In a life-threatening emergency, seconds count. Residents are more likely to have a mobile phone on their person, or may have just enough time to grab one before heading to safety.
"More and more, I think we are reorienting our focus... to really developing tools that are useful to you in a mobile environment," FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate told Politico's Morning Tech.
(You can watch him run a demo of the new mobile site on multiple PDAs here.)
Fugate added that FEMA is exploring additional ways to deliver services via mobile and GPS technology. The agency already processes an average of about 40 percent of disaster applications online; this seems like a common-sense way to further streamline FEMA's operations.
Furthermore, FEMA's announcement is a timely reminder of the lifesaving capabilities of mobile communications. Five years ago next month, Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana. The government's disjointed response in assisting the maintenance and repair of mobile communication links contributed significantly to the extended chaos.
Three years later, look at the improvement: During Hurricane Gustav, wireless technology provided real-time communication links vital to the rescue efforts. Among the examples, Tulane University kept more than 10,000 students aware of storm developments through Twitter. Mobile users accessed Gustav-related pages on social network sites such as Ning for real-time news alerts, on-site posts, and videos.
Looking to the future, mobile platforms are already linking voice, video, IM, and other data for first responders at federal, state and local levels. Just think how first responders could use mobile phones and GPS to organize a large-scale rescue operation with a location-based networking application (example: BrightKite), which would allow authorities to divide a region into smaller areas, directing volunteers in each one as necessary.
This would be particularly helpful in the aftermath of a serious earthquake. As reported last week in The Orange County Register, a new early-alert system in the O.C. could give residents up to 70 seconds warning of a major San Andreas earthquake. Through the use of mobile apps, that would be enough time to slow high-speed trains, shut down power plant generators and take other precautionary steps.
The augmented incorporation of mobile technologies into government-led relief efforts is already saving lives and resources. In the five years since the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, wireless has grown up as an industry, with the government recognizing the powerful organizational capabilities immediate access to mobile technology affords Americans stuck in disaster areas. FEMA's recent addition to its mobile site is one of many demonstrations that the government takes seriously the positive ramifications of amplifying its use of mobile devices, which are now inextricably linked with the day-to-day lives of Americans.
This article was orginally published on Huffington Post.
Posted: 05/19/10 by Mobile Future Team
With the school year winding down and temperatures heating up, it’s clear that summer is upon us. And for many Americans, the coming months are among the most popular for travel. Whether you’re “stay-cationing” close to home or planning an international adventure, mobile applications in conjunction with popular travel guides are making it easier than ever to plan the perfect getaway.
As discussed in an article by the Associated Press , publishers are moving more and more content online and working to develop a greater number of applications to provide travelers with a more tailored on-the-go experience.
For example, Eyewitness Travel Guides publisher Dorling Kindersley recently launched a user-centric site that allows visitors to create their own guidebooks and download them free of charge. Popular location-based applications—like maps, suggested points of interest, and restaurant recommendations and reviews—continue to orient travelers frequenting new locations.
Unsurprisingly, such services have gained the most traction among domestic travelers, as many Americans are reluctant to abandon their guidebooks overseas only to be hit with increased roaming charges. Nevertheless, if your flight to Norway is rerouted thanks to that pesky volcano and you end up in St. Tropez, your smartphone can ensure you still have the vacation of your dreams (starting by directing you to the nearest retail center so you’re not stuck sporting a cold-weather wardrobe…).
Posted: 05/18/10 by Jonathan Spalter
"High speed Internet empowers people with disabilities to become more independent. [It] can remove barriers that keep people with disabilities from participating in everyday activities such as employment, education, civic responsibilities and social connection."
From a joint statement by: The American Association of People with Disabilities and The Communications Workers of America
For America's 54 million people with disabilities, two important events happen this summer. First, there's Memorial Day, when disabled veterans will proudly lead ceremonies and officials will emphasize the need to help those injured in conflict.
Second, July 26th is the 20th anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA was a long time in coming and is probably the single most empowering law during the past generation. But while the ADA has been instrumental in providing legal help for Americans with disabilities, something else is doing an important job in improving basic living standards.
It's your mobile phone.
That's the conclusion of a new research paper that Mobile Future issued today. For all the talk about texting, streaming video, gaming and other apps, one of the most heartening mobile developments involve affordable, life-changing improvements for those with disabilities. The FCC also recognizes this development and hosted a workshop to explore ways in which new technologies can offer opportunities to meet the communications access needs of people with disabilities.
Take the hearing impaired. In 2006, according to the CDC, 37 million adults in the United States had trouble hearing (ranging from a little trouble to being deaf). That's an increase of more than five million since 2000.
As described in Mobile Future's paper, a new wireless system developed at the Georgia Tech Research Institute offers those with hearing difficulties the ability to caption events in real-time. The device translates spoken words into text and displays it on a screen.
Meanwhile, according to Scientific American, researchers at the University of Washington (Seattle) are developing software that lets mobile phone users communicate through sign language and real-time video instead of being limited to text messaging.
But what about those who can't see? Some of the same technology that lets you save money while shopping is also turning the phone into an electronic seeing-eye companion.
As we discovered, mobile apps can use smartphone cameras to scan labels and announce the contents of grocery items, their nutrition labels, and even pill bottles. When merged with GPS technology, these apps can assist the visually impaired by giving them step-by-step directions through their smartphone.
Know someone with a speaking disability? An estimated 6 to 8 million Americans have this challenge. Many, if not most, can now take advantage of low- or no-cost communications apps on their cell phone. There's voice output software that conveys typed messages; downloadable text-to-speech software can be an effective, less-costly alternative to speech devices covered by private insurance and Medicare.
Also, some experts say that children with speech impairments often prefer using "mainstream" technology which is less stigmatizing.
Mobile Future's research paper is meant to be both an assessment and a celebration of the key innovations that are helping those with disabilities. It is also a "look-ahead" at the next phase wireless technologies in the pipeline which promise even more transformational impacts for the one in five Americans who live with disabilities.
This column was originally posted on Huffington Post on May 13, 2010.
Posted: 01/20/10 by Mobile Future Team
Out of the devastation in Haiti have come extraordinary stories of survival. One amazing first-person account is of Dan Woolley, a Denver-native, who found himself trapped beneath the rubble of his hotel in Port-au-Prince. The tool that saved his life? His iPhone. Through his wireless connection he was able assess his injuries and diagnosis a broken leg.
Woolley used the light from his iPhone to show him his injuries and diagnosed it properly as a broken foot. Then, he used the instructions from the app to treat the excessive bleeding from cuts on his legs and the back of his head.
Furthermore, he was able to figure out his location within the building using GPS and find an elevator shaft—which lead him to safety. A true testament of personal ingenuity in the face of catastrophe.
Posted: 01/05/10
Ever see a pothole or a tree that's fallen in the road and think, "Someone ought to fix that"?
Well, if you're in Washington, DC, you're in luck. All you need to do is snap a photo with your PDA and using the city's DC 311 mobile app, pair it with a GPS location. You then upload it into a local government database. This also works for graffiti, broken parking meters and any other public nuisance.
Other cities from New York to San Francisco have also moved to harness the power of mobile consumers. The practical result, as CNN reports is that:
[T]ech geeks transform banal local government spreadsheets about train schedules, complaint systems, potholes, street lamp repairs and city garbage into useful applications for mobile phones and the Web. The aim is to let citizens report problems to their governments more easily and accurately; and to put public information, which otherwise may be buried in file cabinets and Excel files, at the fingertips of taxpayers.
San Francisco and other cities are trying to develop a national standard for municipal government data. That way, a mobile app that tracks, say, bus service in San Francisco could also be used in any other city. That could enable cities that cannot afford to develop their own mobile apps to benefit.
Posted: 11/05/09 by Mobile Future Team
Ever wondered what the place where you are standing looked like 200 years ago? Ever wonder what a far away object looks like up-close?
In just a couple of years our smartphones may be able to answer these questions for us. Technologists are developing "augmented reality" applications that can take visual information from the web and infer what our surroundings looked like in the past or give us more detailed views of distant objects.
Experts say smartphones of the near future may physically resemble the smartphones of today, but their capabilities will better resemble our computers. Designers and technologists predict that many phones will have foldable screens similar to e-readers of today. Researchers are even experimenting with virtual keyboards, which will allow users to type over an imaginary keyboard while sensors pick up the keystrokes.
A recent article in the New York Times details the exciting developments in smartphone technology.
Today's smartphones can do almost anything a PC could do in 2007, but in a couple of years smartphones may have enough computing power to enable much more sophisticated applications that truly take advantage of the device's portability.
This is good news for smartphone users. If you love your phone, but prefer your laptop keyboard and all its capabilities, it may not be too long before you've got the best of both worlds in one portable device.
Posted: 10/16/09 by Mobile Future Team
"Augmented reality" apps that meld the virtual and actual world are popping up for everything from dining choices to sightseeing narratives. These applications marry a phone's GPS and compass features with access to high-speed wireless networks to provide users with local Web content.
The first phones with Google's Android operating system, which enables augmented reality, have come out in the past year. The iPhone debuted a compass app in June, and Apple recently joined Google in making it possible for software developers to overlay images on the phone's camera view. And other companies are following suit.
Amsterdam-based Layar recently released an augmented reality browser for Android phones. Layar lets you search for things on Google, but delivers the results based on your location as determined by the GPS readout. Users also can sign up to have certain types of information automatically appear on phone screens. The company is working on a 3-D function that it hopes to release in November.
Another "augmented reality" leader is Yelp, a Web site with business reviews written by customers. After the iPhone got a compass, Yelp created Monocle, an app allowing information to overlay onto a real-time view of the world. Built by a Yelp intern, Monocle combines the iPhone's camera view with tiny tags indicating the names, distances and user ratings of proximate businesses.
And then there is Robotvision, a 99-cent program built by Portland, Ore.-based developer Tim Sears. Hold your phone parallel to the ground and Robotvision displays a map of your surroundings. Hold the phone up, and Robotvision hits augmented-reality, highlighting places like coffee shops and bars.
Sure, there are some issues hindering augmented reality apps. There are technological limitations - cell phones need to be more powerful, cameras and graphics improved, and GPS more precise. But, as cell phones get even smarter and GPS and wireless networks improve, consumers may be spending more time in a virtually enhanced world.
Posted: 11/06/08 by Molly Kocour
This is probably a better story for Valentine's Day, but Alana Semuels at The Los Angeles has a gr8 article about txting 4 D8s. Whether you want a BFF or a <3throb, mobile services are there to help:
"Tech-savvy singles are now relying on cellphone-based services to find new dates and friends. The programs help users find strangers to exchange text messages with and even find, on a handset's digital map, nearby people looking to connect."
For those concerned that this reads like the opening scene of a Freddy Krueger remake, the reality is that dating services can keep strangers from seeing your phone number or location, though they'll have a sense of your proximity.
ADBB Poof!
Posted: 08/01/08 by Allison Remsen
As I approach the end of my second week as the new executive director for Mobile Future, I just want to take a minute to introduce myself. I've followed the communications industry for many years working for the House Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill and the telecom and cable associations.
With so much of how we communicate changing, this is a pretty amazing time to work in this sector. From my previous gigs though, it always looked like the wireless folks were having way too much fun. Their devices could take pictures, play music, show movies -- and they could do it anywhere.
When I told people I was coming to Mobile Future, I was amazed at how quickly my friends would whip out their wireless devices to not just tell me, but show me how much they loved them. I recently spent one afternoon with a friend who waited nine hours in line to get his new iPhone and he couldn't stop talking about how great it was.
Another friend loves his wireless phone so much he insisted I use it as a GPS for a drive we had made plenty of times.
Surprisingly, my past jobs never got quite the same reaction...
Posted: 07/21/08 by Molly Kocour
If you're like me, and your sense of direction doesn't always lead you in the right direction, you'll be interested to hear about the innovative ways that GPS is entering the cellular world.
Nokia has just announced its acquisition of Navteq, a leading digital map provider in the United States. Navteq, which provides maps, can already be found in most in-car and portable GPS systems and, with this deal, they will find their way into the hands of about a billion cell phone users.
Instead of relying on government maps, Navteq hires its own teams to drive around recording and collecting data - making their maps very accurate and reliable. But, imagine how much more accurate and reliable they will become when a billion cell phone users are contributing to the process!
Navteq CEO, Green, said, "a cell phone could also be a live probe, noting that real-time data about how quickly a handset is moving could provide clues as to the speed of traffic in an area."
The future of GPS and location-based content is really taking off. The research firm, Gartner, predicts that global subscribers to this kind of service will reach, "43.2 million in 2008 and hit almost 300 million in 2011." Soon, you could be walking around in a foreign city and your phone, which knows where you are, will deliver restaurant recommendations and points of interest.
By downloading a cell phone application called, Bones in Motion, athletes are already using such GPS technology to aid in their training. For example, runners can use this application to not only track distance run, speed, and calories burned, but also such information as weather conditions and difficulty. All this can then be uploaded and stored as a running log.
If this isn't enough, GPS and location-based technology has even made it to the canine world. A few companies are in the early stages of developing a tracking system which monitors the location of your dog, sending you a warning text message if your dog leaves a designated zone.
Then there's my favorite one. A program called, Superhero, by Yougetitback.com, tracks lost or misplaced cell phones. You can even program your phone to ring, "I've been stolen," or "Take me home," if it goes missing!
Maybe your sense of direction is better than mine, but there are clearly multiple benefits to having a GPS-enabled cell phone.
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Tags: Broadband, GPS, Mobile Future, Mobile Future Board, Jonathan Spalter, Mobile Phone, Public Safety, Smartphone, Text message, Wireless Devices, Wireless Innovation