by Patrick Altoft on November 13, 2008
Apparently the Nintendo Wii Fit could be the most popular toy this Christmas after topping the search volume charts for October.
The popularity of Nintendo’s Wii Fit, which accounted for one in six searches for a video game during October, has helped online searches for video games overtake those for consoles in the run-up to Christmas. Judging by the search data, it looks as if the current generation of consoles – the Wii, Playstation 3 and X-Box 360 – have started to mature.
The chart below illustrates the volume of searches for three portfolios of search terms over the last three years. The first portfolio contains search terms related specifically to the consoles themselves, while the other two contain terms relating to actual video games and games console accessories. As you can see, last Christmas was the big year for actual console searches, but this year we haven’t seen a similar pre-Christmas uptick. However, searches for video games themselves have continued to increase, implying that this Christmas there will be more searches for console games than the actual consoles themselves.
Via
by Patrick Altoft on October 4, 2008
by Patrick Altoft on June 26, 2007
Those of you who went to the Orange sponsored Glastonbury at the
weekend might have seen some cool new mobile phone chargers.
The wind powered devices were developed in just 4 weeks by
href="http://www.gotwind.org/Orange_Wind_Generator.htm"
class=boldcopy>Gotwind after Orange approached them to design and
make a working prototype for a portable tent mounted mobile phone wind
charger.
Apparently they are proving to be a huge success and the
manufacturers are thinking of going into production with the chargers.
Ben Jandrell from Gotwind told
href="http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/06/21/wind-powered_phone_charger_update/"
class=boldcopy>The Register:
“We are assessing the demand for a wind charger before we commit to production”
by Patrick Altoft on May 16, 2007
For those of you (everyone?) who really loves your phone the mobile phone bed will keep it safe at night.
Tuck your handset up under the covers and use the tiny screen cleaner slippers to polish it the next morning.
You put your phone to bed practically
every night to have it recharge, right?
Let it rest in style in this adorable lil’
plush phone bed by San-X. Your iPod
can even snuggle up, too! Includes 2
cute slippers that are screen cleaners.
Imported from Japan.
Fred Flare via
by Patrick Altoft on May 15, 2007
Villagers in the South Devon village of East Prawle are being
forced to build a 2ft high phone pedestal after an elderly resident
complained about mobile phone users standing on the village bench to
get reception.
For months the only place to get reception in this remote village
has been standing on the bench facing West. Villagers take it in turns
to stand on the bench to make phone calls. After the complaint,
stating that the bench was always full of muddy footprints, the parish
council has voted to move the bench and install a £100 podium in its
place.
David Hampden Smith, chairman of Chivelstone Parish Council,
explained: “We have never been able to get a signal in the village.
Now one has been found, we have decided to put a podium there because
the bench is getting ruined with everyone clambering on to it.
£100 is a lot of money for a small community council but it seems that
everyone wanted it.
alt="East Prawle">
Richard Cordy, 65, a retired shop owner in the village, said: “It
is a bit embarrassing for people to have to climb on to a park bench
but it’s the only way.
The residents here have been waiting ten years for a phone signal and
visitors are always grumbling about it.
There was even a small queue of people wanting to use their phone at
the weekend. It is all a bit mad really.
class=boldcopy>Picture via This Is London
by Patrick Altoft on May 14, 2007
New research in the US shows how one in four adults aged 18 to 24 only uses a mobile phone.
Young people are ditching the landline in favour of mobiles both to save money and because mobiles are much easier to use than most landline handsets.
The mobile revolution hasn’t yet hit the over 65’s with only 2 percent having ditched their landline phones for mobiles.
Overall, the portion of adults with only cell phones grew by more than 2 percentage points in the latter half of last year to nearly 12 percent, an expansion rate that began in the first part of 2006 and was double earlier rates of growth.
by Patrick Altoft on May 14, 2007
The world’s smallest mobile phone will be available in the UK shortly. Measuring just 9.1 x 3.5 x 1.8 cm and measuring 64 grams the Haier Elegance really is a tiny phone.
Despite being so small the Elegance has room for an FM radio and an MP3 player as well as 1.1 inch Organic LED screen, 3 hours talk time and Bluetooth.
Prices will be around £165 unlocked.
Via Register
by Patrick Altoft on May 11, 2007
According to a recent InfoGin survey students in the UK have given up trying to use the mobile web due to poor user experience.
Two thirds of the 1000 students in the study have stopped using the mobile web and even 3G owners were not much happier with only 18 percent reporting that they were happy using the mobile web.
“Today mobile users are faced with a very poor experience when they surf the internet on their mobiles. We commissioned this trial to demonstrate how crucial it is for operators to provide capabilities for end users to surf the real internet on their mobiles,” InfoGin CEO Eran Wyler said.
“Students are typically early adopters of services such as mobile internet, and the trial clearly demonstrates that operators should address such issues as downtime, web page layout and rich web functionality on mobiles.”
by Patrick Altoft on May 2, 2007
With mobile phones becoming more like Walkmans and iPods every day its not surprising that some manufacturers are integrating high tech speaker systems into some unique handsets.
The latest device to sport huge speakers is this 7.1 surround sound smart phone with 9 speakers as well as 3.5-inch QVGA touchscreen, Bluetooth, two megapixel camera and microSD slot. Measuring 119×64x16.5 mm and weighing 118 grams the only downside seems to be the flimsy looking transparent flap on the front.
Via Just AMP
by Patrick Altoft on May 2, 2007
Most people are satisfied with using the camera light on their phones in the unlikely event they are stuck somewhere dark. Japanese company Willcom has taken this idea one step further by integrating a mobile phone into a flashlight.
The Plamo-Phone runs on normal torch batteries and will probably be marketed towards people who want a torch with emergency features rather than people who just need a phone with a light.
Via Mobile mentalism
