Blog | News & Information on Wireless Services & Telecommunications
Posted: 06/05/08 by Diane Smith
Building on Jonathan Spalter's blog from a few weeks ago, I would also like to discuss the application of cell phones to the dilemmas faced in rural medicine. When my family moved from Washington, D.C. to Montana, I realized that there was a lot more than just real estate to consider when moving from a busy metropolis to quieter community. When you live in large city, your healthcare options are numerous from different hospitals to alternative medicine and cutting edge technology. In many rural areas, it's not that easy.
However, advancements in cellular and medical technology and the expansion of network coverage have resulted in healthcare breakthroughs in rural areas that are applicable in the U.S. and abroad. Recent achievements include:
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Cell phones attached to EKG (electrocardiogram) devices that can continuously collect and monitor data on heart rhythms. If a patient's heart rhythm becomes dangerous, the cell phone calls the emergency room. Doctors are alerted by the phone call and can then begin to diagnose and prepare to treat the patient upon arrival at the hospital. This is critical for long ambulance rides to the hospital in which every minute counts and can literally be the difference between life, disability or death.
- The scanner mentioned in Jonathan Spalter's blog can spot simulated breast tumors and is field testing spotting internal bleeding, a frequent cause of post-childbirth deaths in developing countries.
- A speech therapy program, nicknamed Baldi, is a computer program that features an animated language tutor and has helped autistic and hearing-impaired children learn to talk. This program is currently being adapted for the cell phone screen and is hoping to aid Malaysian stroke victims. Forty-thousand Malaysians suffer strokes each year and a third of survivors have speech impairments. Cell phones reach about twice as much of Malaysia as Internet access so if the Baldi program is successful at virtual therapy via cell phone, the government of Malaysia has agreed to "help provide cell phones," according to the leader of the research team, Sri Kurniawan.
To learn more about these research efforts, you can read about them in this article from the San Jose Mercury news.
Additional medical applications of cellular technology are utilizing the text message feature on cell phones. With over 250 million wireless subscribers in the United States, many of whom take one or more prescription drugs, some companies have created applications that allow you to look up your prescription drug information and sends text reminders for when you are supposed to take your pills. These applications are particularly useful for avoiding negative drug interactions. For those of us who are extremely busy and/or forgetful, it's great for keeping track of dosages and following the prescribed schedule set by your doctor.
With all the advancements in medical and cellular technology, there are sure to be many more healthcare breakthroughs in the future, and this can only mean good things for rural healthcare in the U.S. and abroad.
Posted: 06/03/08 by Chris Parandian
Howard Rheingold covered the text messaging phenomenon that was occurring abroad in "Smart Mobs" six years ago. It is a fantastic book that takes a close look at many technologies. As I reflect on it, Mr. Rheingold really hit the mark on wireless. Smart Mobs laid the foundation for what is happening now and the explosion of social-mobile technologies.
On that note, in a recent report by eMarketer, they forecast that "mobile social networking will grow from 82 million users in 2007 to over 800 million subs worldwide by 2012." As they noted, this creates significant challenges and opportunities for carriers.
Opportunity
As we know, carriers are counting on data to drive ARPU's higher as voice revenue continues to decline. Data growth will be fueled by users constantly interacting in their social networks. This will have other downstream benefits beyond just accessing the social network.
For instance, let's say I want to let my "followers" on Twitter know I am shooting mobile video. I can enable my qik channel to send a "tweet" to my social network once I began shooting video. Accordingly, any follower on twitter can click a link and watch my live mobile broadcast while I'm streaming over the cellular network (or Wi-Fi hotspot).
Challenge
I see a technical challenge for carriers on the horizon. In order for these applications to thrive, carriers must have the adequate capacity to deliver these bandwidth intensive applications. Accordingly, the FCC and policymakers must make sure that spectrum is available and the regulatory environment is favorable for deploying next generation networks.
Facebook, MySpace and Qik did not exist when Mr. Rheingold wrote his book. However, he was one of the few who studied how "generation txt" was participating and foresaw what the next wireless revolution would look like.
Posted: 06/02/08 by Chris Parandian
We’ve talked a great dealabout utilizing social technologies on your wireless device here atMobile Future. In fact, it is really hard to keep up with all theapplications that can be used today and the ones being developed fortomorrow.
As many of you know, I recently returned from the National Conference for Media Reform. The conference had around 3000 people in Minneapolis over the weekend and lots of panels (on a wide array of topics).
Withregard to media reform, I do not follow the policy discussionsregarding this issue. However, it was interesting to hear some of theattendees talk about it over the weekend. Aside from the specifics andthe debate about it, wireless provides a way for folks to make mobilemedia. One can now conduct an “on the scene” interview or record anevent in realtime and truly be a “roving reporter.” For instance, Ihave used Utterz (one of our members) to do interviews and “mini-mobile podcasts” to enhance my media.
Citizenjournalism is important and your wireless device allows you tosuper-size your usual blog entries. In some instances, it may allow youto “scoop” traditional media too – especially at the local level. Anexample would be documenting an accident before all the traditionalmedia outlets can cover it.
The tools to make your own media are in ur hands. Start participating!
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Related Citizen Journalist note –
An article in TechCrunch last week revealed that Qik will be supporting Windows Mobile devices.
Qikis an application that allows you to live mobile broadcast and providesa place to archive those mobile videos. I use it to do my mobilebroadcasting… More info on the Qik/Windows Mobile news at TechCrunch.
Posted: 05/30/08 by Hiram 'Art' Contreras
As a former U.S. Marshal, I still have a keen interest in what is evolving within the law enforcement community. An excellent source of information is the FBI's public information website. Through periodic updates, the bureau alerts its subscribers about current criminal cases that may impact or be of interest to the public. Last week, I received an article regarding the recent break-up of an international crime ring that used tactics called "phishing" and "smishing." Since these criminal perpetrators can target anyone of us, I share the information with you.
Phishing is a scam where you receive an email that looks like it's from your bank or other trusted financial institutions asking for personal information (PIN numbers, social security numbers, credit card information and passwords, etc). If one responds, the information can then be used to defraud him or her of thousands of dollars, as well as identity theft.
By now, most people have learned about the dangers of "phishing." However, smishing is a new variation on the scam and operates via text message rather than email. Smishing involves SMS text messaging. Cellphone users will receive a text message with a URL address. A past example of smishing is a text message that indicated that the cellphone user had signed up for a dating service and would be charged $2 a day unless they visited a Web site to cancel the subscription. If the user follows the link, he or she will download malicious software programs.
The break-up of the crime ring included indictments of 38 people who had links to global organized ring, and was made possible through partnerships between the FBI, the U.S. Postal Service, the IRS, and local law enforcement agencies. Hopefully, the indictment of these criminals will serve as a deterrent to others looking to swindle people via email and text messages. Unfortunately, as technology advances so do the scamming techniques, but there are some steps that you can take to protect yourself.
- Don't reply to unsolicited emails and text messages, even if they appear to be from a company that you do business with, since scammers sometimes impersonate legitimate companies.
- Instead, you can visit the legitimate company's Web site directly or call them.
- Also, remember that most legitimate companies will not ask you for sensitive information by email.
While law enforcement agencies are doing their best to track down and break-up these scams, the best defense is to be aware of these scams and to protect yourself and your personal information.
Posted: 05/21/08 by Diane Smith
As an entrepreneur, a business owner and a mother, I fully admit that my cell phone is my lifeline to the outside world. Whether I need to get in contact with my daughter when she is on the ski slopes in Montana, or I am attending a wireless convention and need to update my employees on a business matter, my cell phone keeps me connected. Because my cell phone is constantly by my side, I admit that I frequently use my cell phone as my main phone line in place of my landline.
It seems as if I am not the only one. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released the results of its "National Health Interview Survey" and it found that 3 in 10 households get all or most of their calls on their cell phones. The CDC-conducted survey involved in-person interviews with people in 13,083 households from July through December of last year. While this result may seem obvious, the rationale behind it is equally apparent. Most Americans have cell phones on them and by their side every moment of the day. Cell phones can hold hundreds of people's contact information, and increasing numbers of handsets can connect to the Internet to look up anything that is not already stored in the phone's database. This connective ability decreases the need to refer to your phonebook or personal address book when you want to call Aunt Sally or book a dentist appointment. One no longer needs to wait at home for friends or family to call. Instead, you can be running errands, picking up groceries, working out at the gym - generally living your life rather than literally waiting by the phone. Theoretically and practically, the cell phone has made getting in touch easier.
Other findings from the report include:
- Households with both cell and landline phones who rarely or never get calls on their landlines tend to be better educated and have higher incomes.
- Low-income people are likelier than the more affluent to have only cell phones.
-About a third of those under the age of 30 only have cell phones.
While the CDC's report verifies Americans' reliance on cell phones has certainly increased throughout the years, the lasting implications of this transition remain to be seen. I, however, will probably continue to view my cell phone as my lifeline to the world.
Posted: 05/20/08 by Jo-Anne Basile
As I was listening to NPR this morning, I was reminded how cell phones have changed the way we react to extraordinary events. On Monday, the Sichuan province of China was hit by a devastating earthquake. The 7.9-magnitude earthquake is estimated to have killed at least 15,000 individuals, but the death toll is expected to rise throughout the week. However, even in the remote areas ravaged by the disaster, cell phones enabled those affected by the earthquake to get in touch with their loved ones. In fact, according to the NPR story, “Phones Faltering, Quake Survivors Rely on Texting,” the first notification of the disaster came via cell phone.
More than 600 million people in China have cell phones. However, in the wake of the earthquake, instead of making the traditional phone call, most were choosing text messages as their primary method of contact. In China, text messages cost about half the amount of a phone call, and while most people do have cell phones, very few have voicemail. Additionally, in times of disaster when getting enough signal strength or connecting to cellular networks can be tricky, text messages can go through more easily and require less battery strength than phone calls. Even without the disaster, text messages are the preferred method of communication for most Chinese. In the NPR story, Alvin Wang Graylin, CEO of mInfo, a mobile search and advertising firm based in Shanghai, says China sends more text messages per user than any other nation.While this is a tragic time for those affected by the earthquake, at least there are some who can be comforted by knowing that their loved ones are okay, even if it is only in the form of a text.
Posted: 05/16/08 by Chris Parandian
In a few weeks, I will be making a trip to Minneapolis to speak at the Free Press Annual Conference.I’ve been asked to speak about how I utilize wireless to enhance myefforts as a citizen journalist. This is a topic that is very importantto me and I’m grateful to have the opportunity.
With that inmind, I thought I would give futurists a little preview of my commentsfor the conference. The theme is Social-Mobile Convergence, a topicthat we have addressed on a few previous posts.
Onthat note, Social-Mobile convergence can be defined by the continuedinnovation and adoption of social technologies combined with theevolution of next generation wireless networks. These forces aregrowing and are peaking at the right time. More unique applicationscome to life everyday and carriers are working hard to upgrade theirnetworks so that these apps can thrive. Not to mention a generation(millennial) that outnumbers the boomers who are mobile centric andvery social. They are leading this revolution and all citizenjournalists stand to reap the benefits.
As a citizenjournalist, your wireless device can augment your storytelling likenever before. The iPhone, Blackberry Curve, Nokia N95 (Ihave two out of the three) and many other 3G devices are great tools toutilize. If you are still in analog, your basic phone can even providethe functionality for mobile blogging.
One tool that Ifrequently use to enhance my reporting is mobile video. Personal mobilebroadcasting from my wireless device has enabled me to bring readersinto a story and have them share the moment with me. For instance, onmy recent trip to New Orleans, words alone wouldn’t have delivered theemotion (I was feeling) of the Katrina devastation or the joy of beingable to give back to the communityat St. Bernard’s. In each of those instances, I wanted you to be therewith me. I wanted you to see what I was seeing. Mobile video can makethis happen.
This mobile revolution on the horizon is excitingand I look forward to learning a few things from you. Please feel freeto contact me by email – .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) – if I can ever be of assistance.
Posted: 05/14/08 by Jonathan Spalter
Mobile phones and the future of public health are converging in ways never imagined.
I read recently about one mobile application being advanced by a visionary group of engineers at the University of California at Berkeley which may well revolutionize - and democratize -- the world of medical diagnostics.
Their idea is to harness the technology and ubiquity of the mobile phone as a platform for medical imaging, and make it accessible potentially to literally billions of people around the world.
"According to the World Health Organization, some three-quarters of the world's population has no access to ultrasounds, X-rays, magnetic resonance images, and other medical imaging technology used for a wide range of applications, from detecting tumors to confirming tuberculosis infections to monitoring developing fetuses.", according to
Science Daily. And this is where Boris Rubinksy, a UC professor of bioengineering and his team come in.
The team has developed a new technique which would allow a mobile phone to be used as a medical imaging viewer, so medical personnel in the field can retrieve a variety of medical images at points of care where more expensive hardware is not available. This would mean that any healthcare provider can view a variety of medical diagnostic tools - from X-rays to ultrasounds to magnetic resonance imaging -- anywhere at anytime.
"Medical imaging is something we take for granted in industrialized countries," said Rubinsky, UC Berkeley professor of bioengineering and mechanical engineering and head of the team that developed this new application for cell phones. "Imaging is considered one of the most important achievements in modern medicine. Diagnosis and treatment of an estimated 20 percent of diseases would benefit from medical imaging, yet this advancement has been out of reach for millions of people in the world because the equipment is too costly to maintain. Our system would make imaging technology inexpensive and accessible for these underserved populations."
As a demonstration of the application of cell phones for medical imaging, Rubinsky and his colleagues, Antoni Ivorra, and Yair Granot, have focused their first field test on electrical impedance tomography (EIT), which creates images of electrical currents in diseased tissue. Using commercially available parts to acquire electrical current data from patients, the team was able to upload the data to a cell phone via a USB, and the reconstruct the data for viewing on the cell phone.
The results of their test, which were supported by the National Institutes of Health, The Israeli Science Foundation, and Florida Hospital in Orlando, were reported in the open access journal,
Public Library of Science ONE (PLoS ONE), and suggested by the authors that simulated tumors were visible in the cell phone image.
If and when this new approach to using cell phones as a way to facilitate medical diagnoses develops on a broader scale, medically underserved areas around the world could have a viable and accessible means to bring advanced medical diagnostics to patient care where it has not previously been available, or affordable.
Much work remains for Rubinsky and his team, as well as for other innovative mobile phone initiatives, to successfully harness the attributes of cellular technology and deploy them for improving public health. But this new effort is indicative of the exciting efforts underway in the broader world of mobile phone technology, and the remarkable convergence underway between mobile technology and meeting important human needs.
Posted: 05/09/08 by Chris Parandian
This morning I had the privilege of talking with a senior journalism studentat the University of Maryland who is conducting a report on thewireless industry. As a part of that report, she was looking into the efforts of the industry to provide services that can deliver in a timeof need.
With that in mind, I wanted to highlight the story of Elizabeth Shoaf who was held captive in an underground bunker in South Carolina. Ms. Shoaf was able to convince her kidnapper to allow her to play gameswith his cellphone and also took the opportunity to text message her mother when he fell asleep. This led authorities to her location using triangulation and she was rescued.
An Amber Alert was not issued in the Shoaf case but they are another valuable tool in raising awareness of a missing child. The wireless industry worked withthe Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to make this happen. Any wireless subscriber can opt in to receive alerts (you will not be charged for the message alert) and you can sign up here.
Safety is your most important call and amber alerts are another way to participate in your community. Signing up takes little effort and you could make a huge difference in saving a life.
Posted: 05/05/08 by Chris Parandian
Spring brings not only a change of season but also some very exciting news in the telecommunications industry. Brian Fontes, a wireless industry veteran, will be leaving at&t to take the reigns at NENA (National Emergency Number Association). Brian will serve as Chief Executive Officer of the organization.
Brian's passion for wireless and consumers is second to none. Accordingly, it was not a surprise to see him take a position where he can contribute to public safety and the 911 community. Brian's deep experience in telecommunications policy will be incredibly valuable to NENA as it navigates the legislative and regulatory landscapes of a digital age.
We wish Brian all the best and look forward to working with him in his new capacity at NENA.
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