Nokia just launched this new site announcing the very limited availability of their newest multi-media computer, the amazing N96.  We’ve been hearing about this phone since 3GSM…the specifications are basically mind-blowing.  It’s the N95 on steroids, growth hormone, speed and Jolt Cola.  It is THE DEVICE for the UBER-GEEK and the toy I currently want most to add to my collection.

Apparently a select number of people will be able to get these devices via this site - ahead of the device being available in most countries.

Their launch site is pretty cool, too.

The folks at Joiku, the company that has developed the revolutionary Joikuspot software that lets you turn your Symbian Series 60 device into a mobile wi-fi hotspot have done it again. This time they’ve built on their Joikuspot platform by adding location information to the mix. The new offering is called Mapspot and it extends location aware services, like pinpointing your location on Google maps and allowing you to get directions, locate businesses, or even help someone else locate you.

This is a major innovation in that it not only is a very useful service in its own right but it also extends the utility of GPS services right through to any device connected to your Joikuspot enabled phone. This is one of the first really innovative ideas I’ve seen in the whole location-based arena; an area that has been rife with promise but short on delivery. You can only get so many coupons for Starbucks just because you happen to be near one, if you know what I mean.

People need real, actionable information on demand. Not stuff pushed at you because your phone is broadcasting your location to people trying to sell you something. Joiku’s Mapspot is just such a service and I applaud their innovative and creative developments. My only question is how do they plan to monetize this new cool application? Anyone? Anyone?

Recently, several people have inquired about the extent of my “toy” collection. Mostly it consists of Nokia phones (although there’s also a Treo, an iPhone, a Helio Drift, and a Samsung SCH-i830, and a few others hardly worth mentioning), various commercial and custom handheld lasers and a couple of collectible and wearable watches (I used to have more exotic timepieces but the cost and the frustration of having one stolen put me off that hobby).

Of course the photo below does not include the large number of computers that I have but I don’t like any of them enough to consider them toys (with the soul possible exception being my MacBook Pro and then only when it is behaving - which it hasn’t been lately).

TwitterFone, a new service that allows you to post to Twitter via voice by calling a number on your mobile phone has just been lit up. The application is currently in an invite-only beta so if you want to use it any time soon I suggest you hustle on over and get yourself on the list.

I’m finding the proliferation of voice to text applications interesting. While some are more useful than others what is becoming clear is that we’ve finally reached a point where reliable translation of the human voice into intelligible text messages has reached the point where we can make it work reliably - even over a mobile phone and even without the ability to see what the results of our utterances are coming out like on the other end.

This might result in some embarrassing and surprising things happening because I’ve yet to see any program that was even 85% at doing these translations and that’s sitting right in front of the computer and watching in real time as the system decoded my own voice speaking clearly and slowly which is hardly what I’d expect from someone posting a quick message to Twitter while using a cell phone in traffic. I guess if we start seeing less than sensible posts to Twitter we’ll realize that there are still some bugs to be ironed out of the whole speech to text thing. On the other hand, if we don’t see any difference it either means people aren’t using the interface that much or all the kinks have been worked out and it’s time to start brushing up on our dictation skills.

I just received an invitation from my friend Alec Saunders , CEO of Iotum to join in on a free conference call to discuss AT$T and AMEX’s deployment of auto-dialing technology that, according to Alec, has the potential to desensitize consumers to the very tactics that criminals are deploying to gain bank and credit card information from the unsuspecting.

From what Alec says, the recent use of auto-dialers by AT$T and American Express closely duplicates the method that is currently in vogue where criminals use auto dialers to leave messages on a victim’s voice mail with instructions for them to contact their bank to deal with a security issue. When the consumer calls the number provided they are instructed to provide identifying information including social security numbers, bank information, PIN codes, etc.. Of course once a consumer falls for this it’s open season on their funds, their identity and their security.

The call, which is scheduled for this coming Monday is free to join and open to all. More information is available here. Learn more about what crooks are doing and how to defeat them - if the corporations don’t care to look out for us, we’ll have to do a better job of it ourselves.

An email just hit my inbox that snapped my eyes wide open. Informa’s newest report: “Mobile Social Networking: Communities and Content on the Move” is suggesting that MoSoNets could generate some $52 Billion (yes with a “B”) in revenues by 2012. Heck, that’s only four years away. McCain could still be in office then if we’re unlucky. (not that any of the other choices are much luckier IMO, but I digress).

In any case, the Informa report is a bit too steeply priced for my current budget but it certainly does bode well for a number of companies that I’ve written about recently including bluepulse and mig33 - both companies that I endorse because I use their respective products and think that they’re both going to be out of the ballpark success stories.

I was handed my head for my statement that bluepulse was going to be huge on one of my first posts back when I started MobileCrunch in January of 2006. I believe it was called, BluePulse, the first Mobile2.0 Giant or something. Anyway, if you want to read it you’ll have to use the Internet Archive as the content has been deleted from the blog now but the point is that I called it like I saw it and unlike a more recent prediction about a certain fruity phone, this call was dead on the money, thank you very much.

Nokia has a great deal of news this morning including announcing several new phones, improved maps - Nokia Maps 2.0, as well as the first new service based upon their purchase of TWANGO last year: Share on OVI.

First,
Nokia’s newest promo video.

In just a couple days I’ll be heading off to Barcelona for another 3 GSM World Congress.

This is the mack-daddy, King Kong, monster-truck, fire-breathing, dragster-tractor, king-of-the-cage, free-for-all that all other mobile events can only pretend to be.

In other words this show is absolutely huge. So big you can roam from open ’til close the entire event, and even being antisocial you still won’t see the whole thing.

This is also the event where the major international vendors bring out the “A” games and all their shiny new stuff. It’s intense, it’s overwhelming…it’s far away…

Which brings me to my point. Since I’m now predominantly blogging here, at OWStarr.com and the nature of this blog is currently - well - relatively less commercial than some others, it occurred to me that there might be a blog or two out there that would love to get some coverage contributed from the aforementioned very significant event, but for whatever reason be it cost or logistics or lack of manpower, that wasn’t looking likely to happen.

Well, perhaps I can help? In case I’m not making myself clear what I’m getting at is that I’m going to the event already and I’m going to be covering what I think are the important issues of the show - whether that’s new hardware, new software, new trends or the abject failure of any of the above to become apparent I’ll be there pounding out posts. If your publication might like some original work, get in touch with me. Perhaps we can help each other out…

I can be reached at 415-704-4544 or at oliver@remove-this-first-owstarr.com

Just checking out a new tool for managing your messaging: Ribbit . There are a whole raft of features but the easiest way to describe it (from what I’ve read since the beta hasn’t dropped yet) is that it’s GrandCentral mashed up with SpinVox, Visual Voicemail, Skype, and Forum Nokia for developers.

I can’t wait to try this. There are so many things here that I’m already using in one form or another it would be great to consolidate them all into a single application controlled by a single UI accessible from any web browser or web enabled mobile phone (let’s hope that they get that one right straight out of the box and start a trend in so doing).

Here’s a quick look at the way their API is laid out. There is quite a bit more developer oriented information on Ribbit’s site…

AT$T the company we love to hate is at it again and giving us another reason to pray that Google buys that spectrum. This time the words come straight from CEO Randall Stephenson’s mouth. Apparently, AT$T has decided that it needs to police our use of their network even more than they have during their illegal aid to the Feds.

This time it’s peer-to-peer networks that have Mr. Stephenson so hot under the collar. His problem - the -gasp- illegal sharing of files like movies and music. Says he “it’s like watching somone steal a DVD from a store…do you do something about it?”

Umm…No, Randy, it’s not. It’s more like standing on a stool in a stall next to someone trying on outfits and happening to see them keep a swimsuit on under their street clothes.

How so? Well, in both cases the crime of theft was the second crime committed that day. The first was when you climbed up on the stool to spy on the individual in the adjacent dressing room.

I believe you’d have a tough time explaining to the judge that you weren’t acting like a peeping Tom and that instead you were rather acting as a good Samaritan, volunteering your skills to provide security for the shop.

Only the shop doesn’t need any peeping Tom security force and neither do we.