Nokia gets into the Asian music scene

Homegrown music talents in the Asia-Pacific region now have a new platform to showcase their latest song creations. The Independent Artists Club (IAC) Web site launched recently by Nokia aims to promote local artists in the region by allowing them to upload their songs on the Web for music fans around the world to enjoy.

The IAC program will launched in Singapore and Thailand first, before being rolled out over the next six months to selected Asia-Pacific countries including Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.

With each IAC country launch, selected local artists will initially be invited to upload their tracks. After which the Web site will be open to all artists for song uploading. The Singapore IAC site is expected to open up for the public to upload their songs in Mid-December.
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What the iPhone keypad should have been

Touchscreen handheld devices without keyboards, whether numeric or QWERTY, always seem to be perceived as less convenient than those with. In Windows Mobile devices, you either use a stylus to peck at a tiny onscreen keyboard or some form of handwriting recognition to enter text. Some manufacturers add in special versions using T9 (a predictive text input method found in most mobile phones) to make their handhelds easier to use. Let's face it, none of these input methods come close to the usefulness of a real keyboard, until now. I've just found out about TouchPal, an alternative soft keyboard from Cootek that blows everything else out of the water.
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Answer the phone with a universal remote

We've long had a love-hate relationship with universal remotes (mostly hate), so we're conflicted over how to view this model being developed in Australia. On one hand, we hold the general view that most universal remotes are evil, as they rarely work as promised; on the other, a version like the "Telemax III" would come in mighty handy because it has a built-in handsfree phone--which, in fact, might be the only way we'd ever answer a call while watching TV.

The Telemax is still only in prototype stage, though designer Tiller + Tiller hopes to have it in production worldwide by 2009 or so. The only thing that seems a little weird is its form, which Gizmag describes as "shaped like a small tray". Then again, it could be a good way to hold a bowl of chips.

Via Crave CNET

Official E-Ten M800 specs--a few downers

The QWERTY-enabled E-Ten M800 slider now has an official image and specifications. Everything said about it previously was true. This includes a VGA display, HSDPA connectivity, a SiRFstar III GPS chip and a 500MHz Samsung processor.

What wasn't confirmed then was the amount of RAM. We do know now that it's 64MB, just like the X800. Given its otherwise performance-focused features, it would have been great if there was more RAM for running applications. Another interesting point we can see from the image is that it has touch-sensitive buttons under the display. Though this may be aesthetically pleasant, we've always been suspicious of the usefulness of such buttons. Without tactile feedback, pressing them is sometimes like stroking a cat--you can touch it all you want, but it doesn't give you any love back.

Those are not death sentences, of course, and we'll wait to see how well it works after we handle one in the flesh. Go to the M800's product page to see its full list of specifications.

"Excuse me, did you just grope me?"

It's a double whammy if you are a woman living in Japan because you are not only a likely target of sexual harassment, you are also often too embarrassed to report the offender. In 2005, 1,853 people were arrested for groping train commuters in Tokyo, according to figures by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. That's not inclusive of those who got away scot-free.

Fortunately, there's a more discreet way to ward off further assaults by these scumbags. The Anti-Groping Appli developed by Takahashi is a mobile phone software that flashes messages in bold print on the victim's handset screen, which the latter can show it to the offender (honestly we think it's more effective to shove it up their rear end).

The messages get increasingly threatening from "Excuse me, did you just grope me?" to "Groping is a crime" to "Shall we head to the police?". Each of these is accompanied by a warning chime when the victim hits the "Anger" icon on the application. Although why bother with text messages which likely won't deter the offender, when a kick in the unmentionables ought to do the trick.

Still, this being Japan, it just won't do to be impolite, even to your groper.

Via Ubergizmo (Source: Yahoo News)
Picture credit: Ubergizmo

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