Taxi Magic: Hail A Cab From Your iPhone At The Push Of A Button

Taxi applications on the App Store are a dime a dozen, but for the most part they’re just glorified phone directories that don’t really make it any easier to call a cab. Taxi Magic, a new app that recently went live on the App Store, is doing what the others can’t: on-demand cab service from your iPhone at the push of a button. The application connects directly into Taxi routing systems, allowing users to book cabs without ever needing to speak to an operator. The service is available in over 25 cities across the US, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington DC (oddly enough New York seems to be excluded for now). Ordering a cab is fairly simple: after launching Taxi Magic, your iPhone will use GPS or triangulation to determine your general location, and will present a list of nearby cab services (some listings are only phone numbers, while others fully support Taxi Magic’s ordering system).
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/16/taxi-magic-hail-a-cab-from-your-iphone-at-the-push-of-a-button/

Wikipedia Officially Launches Mobile Version

Popular user-edited online encyclopedia Wikipedia has finally released a mobile-friendly version of the web site at mobile.wikipedia.org. The site offers a trimmed down version of Wikipedia proper, supports 14 languages, and even has a mysterious Spoken Wikipedia setting that—though currently not enabled, may presumably one day read Wikipedia articles to you.
http://lifehacker.com/5110289/wikipedia-officially-launches-mobile-version

http://mobile.wikipedia.org/

Dallas Mavericks Launch Tune-in Text Message Promotion

Watching the myriad skills of Dirk Nowitski aside, fans now have an incentive to follow the Dallas Mavericks on Fox Sports Southwest. The regional sports network and Mark Cuban’s NBA franchise are teaming with mobile marketing proponent Vibes on a fan loyalty program rewarding viewers for checking out the games on the small screen. Called "Mavericks Fox Watch," the text-to-win program is based on a points system that allows fans watching games on FS Southwest to accumulate credits that can be redeemed for such nightly and monthly prizes as player autographed memorabilia, an invitation to a private meet-and-greet reception with a Mavericks player and an opportunity to win courtside tickets and watch a game in a luxury suite with a friend. Mavs’ mavens can sign up for the program online at 4Mavs.com powered by Vibes. Upon registration, they can start accumulating points by watching Mavericks games on the RSN, where a different keyword will be revealed during each telecast that fans can text to 46287 (4MAVS) or can enter at 4Mavs.com to receive Mavericks Fox Watch points. Mavericks fans attending home games at the American Airlines Center also will be given that night’s keyword on the Jumbotron and will be allowed to participate.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6621912.html

Kongzhong.com Launches New Mobile NBA Game

Kongzhong.com, a long-established value-added telecom service provider in China, lately launched the Dreaming NBA, a mobile phone-oriented Web game, with big fanfare. The company hoped the new hit would help it chart a new path to sales in the mobile phone game market. At the moment, Web games and mobile phone games have been gaining popularity in China. Unlike traditional games, Dreaming NBA is dependent on instant sport games. Players can get initial operation capital after they register as team managers. And the game is tied up with the real NBA games. Kongzhong.com will grand prizes to winners after each round of games. On top of that, players can establish their own teams and join competition among players. Experts and game players are bullish on the new game for its innovative playing mode and they believe that the new game will make a hit.
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-kongzhongcom-launches-new-handset-game-/2008/12/09/3843045.htm

Gmail Enables SMS Messaging

Gmail has introduced a new feature allowing users to send free SMS messages through its integrated Chat. To activate the feature, visit the Gmail Labs page and scroll down until you see the appropriate listing. To send a message, just type a phone number into the search box at the top of the chat window on the left side of the Gmail interface, and hit ‘Send SMS’. Numbers can be associated with contact names so you don’t have to keep manually entering them. Recipients of these messages can respond by simply hitting ‘reply’ on their cell phones to send their own SMS message (Gmail ties a unique phone number with each of your contacts).
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/10/gmail-enables-sms-messaging-from-chat/

Apple to Sell a $99 4GB iPhone at Walmart?

We just got a tip that in addition to the iPhone 3G actually making its way to Walmart, as we exclusively told you, there will be a 4GB model priced at $99 with a 2-year agreement. We’re not putting our stamp of approval behind this one just yet as the tipster isn’t listed in our BGR’s Guide to respected Ninjas handbook, but it does make you think, doesn’t it? Now, we all know Apple dropped the 4GB iPhone from its initial line-up, but that was at a $399 price-point. 4GB is certainly enough for some songs and short music videos, but let’s not kid ourselves. Anyone looking to spend $99 on an iPhone probably doesn’t care that much about storage anyway and they’ll be more than happy to drop that amount for one of the best-selling smartphones in the country. Just don’t hate us if this doesn’t happen, we warned you.
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/12/04/apple-to-sell-a-99-4gb-iphone-at-walmart/

Text Message Surgery Saves Teenager's Life

A British surgeon amputated the arm of a wounded teenager in Congo, Africa with help from instructions sent to him by text message.David Nott texted his surgical colleague Meirion Thomas, who is one of only a handful of UK surgeons familiar with the difficult procedure of removing the collar bone and shoulder blade. David Nott realized that teenager J, whose arms had been ripped off and was now gangrenous, had only a few days left to live.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/12/04/text.message.operation/index.html

ChaCha Mobile Answering Service Partnering with AT&T Wireless

ChaCha, a free search service that lets you call or text in a question and get an answer in minutes via a return text message, got a confidence boost yesterday. AT&T announced a “strategic relationship” with the company that, to start, gives callers a cobranded greeting from both AT&T and ChaCha. To use the service, call or text a query to 1-800 2ChaCha (1-800-2-242242). AT&T says “The two companies also will work together to further enhance ChaCha’s free mobile-answers service and explore opportunities in both text and voice ad-based services.” This may be a first step towards an acquisition.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/04/chacha-gets-some-love-and-cobranding-from-att/

http://www.chacha.com/

MySpace Takes Video To Mobile

My Videos on MySpace Mobile website


MySpace has partnered with RipCode to give mobile users access to MySpace videos. The content will be available at MySpace’s mobile site, m.myspace.com, which currently generates around 3 billion monthly page views from 10 million users. Video will work on the iPhone, T-Mobile G1, BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Storm devices, among others. All user uploaded videos (meaning videos that a user has uploaded, as opposed to all videos uploaded by all users) and most premium content will be available.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/02/myspace-takes-video-to-mobile/

Blockbuster, Microsoft Team Up on Mobile Movies

Blockbuster Inc. caught up to the competition last week by introducing a set-top box that brings rentals from the Internet to the television. Now, the Dallas-based company hopes to pass the pack by teaming with Microsoft Corp. on new mobile services that will let customers watch even more movies on more devices. "Eventually, we'll give customers instant access to any movie on any device with an Internet connection and a screen," said Keith Morrow, Blockbuster's chief information officer. "More immediately, we could use this technology to reach into airports. Travelers could quickly download movies from Blockbuster kiosks to their portable media players." Blockbuster will try to build some of these services on top of the new software platform from Microsoft. Dubbed "Live Mesh," it uses Internet connections to share data among different devices. Folks with multiple PCs can already use Live Mesh to do some basic things, such as synchronizing their home and work calendars. Soon, Live Mesh will work with Macs and Windows Mobile smart phones.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-blockbuster_01bus.ART0.State.Edition1.4a219e8.html

NFL Looking Into Legal Options Against Skyfire for Mobile Streaming of Free NFL Games

There is a new cellphone web browser that can be downloaded called Skyfire that enables Windows-based and certain Nokia model cellphones to pick up streaming video, including NFL Network games on Thursday nights and NBC games on Sunday nights. The NFL had recently announced a deal to allow Sprint to offer to its wireless customers the NFL Network telecasts via what was called an "exclusive NFL Mobile Live" application. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league's legal department is "aware" of Skyfire. "We are exploring our legal options in regards to several different platforms," McCarthy said. Tracy Demiroz, vice president of the Mountain View, Calif.-based Skyfire, said users who can get the free Skyfire download on their cellphones are able to pick up anything broadcast or streamed live on PCs. Demiroz said that she was unaware of any legal concerns the NFL might have. "In terms of blocking what is freely available on PCs, I'm not sure under what grounds the NFL would have that is feasible," Demiroz said.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-media21-2008nov21,0,97511.story

Program Your TiVo from your Cell Phone

TiVo is introducing a mobile site at m.tivo.com (warning: link may not be live yet) that will let subscribers with Internet-connected DVRs schedule their TiVo’s remotely from their phones, just like they can today via their laptops. (The mobile site was created by Mobui). Using a cell phone,TiVo junkies will be able to search for shows, record episodes, get season passes, and browse daily picks and the most popular shows. So now I have one more annoying, anti-social thing to do on my mobile phone when I’m out in public. But when I get home, I’ll have plenty to watch.
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2008/11/24/program-your-tivo-from-your-cell-phone/

Cable Operator Cox to Launch Cellphone Service

Cox Communications (CCI) plans to rock the wireless phone business Monday by unveiling plans to launch cellphone service in the second half of 2009 that ultimately will make the No. 3 cable operator a rival of AT&T, (T) Sprint Nextel (S) and Verizon. (VZ) "We've spent $500 million buying wireless capacity in our markets," President Pat Esser says. "Now, we're going to turn it on." It's the most ambitious effort yet by a cable operator to bundle wireless phones with TV, Internet and land-line phone services. Operators have long seen cellphones as an important weapon to compete with AT&T and Verizon, which are rolling out TV services that compete with cable's core video business. Cable operators' efforts to forge alliances with Sprint stumbled over disagreements about marketing and service plans. Cox is betting that it can lure consumers with one-stop shopping and a lot of hand-holding for a cellphone service that neatly meshes with its other products.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2008-10-26-cox-communications-wireless-cellphone_N.htm?csp=34

Google Earth Comes To The iPhone, And It’s Awesome

Google has released a custom Google Earth application for the iPhone / iPod Touch, and it’s stunning. The Google Earth geographical software has been altered to make maximum use of the iPhone’s screen and functionality. You’re able to tilt the device to adjust your view when browsing mountainous terrain, use the ‘My Location’ feature to jump right to where you are in the blink of an eye, and use Google’s local search engine to look for information on cities, places and businesses. Google has also added additional layers to the application, namely Panoramio and Wikipedia, for geo-located high-quality photos and informative articles respectively.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/27/google-earth-comes-to-the-iphone-and-its-awesome/

Nokia Announces the Musical Bench

Nokia may rule a large portion of the worldwide cellphone market, but you know, with the economy and everything, it never hurts to diversify. Nokia is setting up musical benches throughout the UK to promote their Comes With Music audio service, each featuring three integrated handsets with headphones to sample music.The track lists are said to mirror the region where each individual bench was deployed, with the Beatles dominating Liverpool but Black Sabbath representing Birmingham. But while you's expect the benches to be stolen/destroyed/soiled immediately, each will feature the close supervision of a security guard, along with the presence of one "performer" (which kind of defeats the purpose of the headphones, no?).
http://gizmodo.com/5069214/nokia-announces-the-musical-bench

New Football Apps to be Part of Beta Release of Google-Based T-Mobile Phone

Plusmo, a California-based producer of mobile content applications, will have two of their products, Pro Football Live and College Football Live, as part of the beta version of the application store launching tomorrow for the new Google Android-based G1 mobile phone from T-Mobile. The free applications combine live stats, news, schedules and a variety of social media functions, and iPhone versions of Pro Football Live and College Football Live are among the most popular sports-related downloads on the iPhone. The company, which counts former 49ers and HRJ Capital co-founders Ronnie Lott and Harris Barton among its investors, has found growing strength in an advertiser-supported business model, despite the shaky economy and still-nascent industry-wide acceptance for mobile advertising. “If you have an audience and focus on it well, you’ll still get advertising [in this economy],” said Plusmo CEO Krishna Vedati. “If you’re all over the place and are unfocused on what you are, it’s going to be much harder.”

By Eric Fisher, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

iPhones To Become Live Cameras

Qik is close to launching an iPhone app that will allow you to stream live video from your phone with a touch of the button.
http://www.lostremote.com/2008/10/20/iphones-about-to-become-live-cameras/

Easily Transforms Blogs Into iPhone Applications

Startup AppLoop has added to its suite of self-service tools for iPhone developers by launching App Generator, which automatically turns any blog with an RSS feed into a native iPhone app modeled after that of the The New York Times. To create an app, all you have to do is answer a series of questions for the App Generator’s setup wizard. These include your blog’s address, name, icon and logo, as well as how much you’d like to charge for your application (if anything) and what color scheme you’d like to use. Once you finish the form (and verify that you are indeed the owner of the domain in question), AppLoop will submit your application to Apple for approval and, once approved, you can start promoting it to your readers.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/20/apploop-transforms-blogs-into-native-iphone-applications/

http://www.apploop.com/

ESPN Brings Popular Bar Game to the iPhone

Frequenters of any good sports bar will know the game Cameraman. Basically, you see two versions of the same picture side-by-side and you point out the differences on a touchscreen monitor that is usually placed up at a bar. You know what else has a touchscreen? Your iPhone. The sports cable network ESPN has teamed up with game developer EpicTilt to launch ESPN Cameraman. Using photos from the Olympics, the National Football League, Major League Baseball, college football, soccer and a bunch of other sports, the game is basically the exact same as it would be at a bar. If you see a difference in the pictures, you point to it. If you’re right, it will highlight the area and give you points. If you’re wrong the picture will shake and you will lose some of the time allocated for you to finish that puzzle. You get bonus points for solving each puzzle fast and you lose lives when you run out of time without solving a puzzle. You also get three hints to use that give you one area of difference that you have not yet found. There is a top score area which will sync up with other top scores around the world. The game also features ESPN music.
http://venturebeat.com/2008/10/15/espn-comes-to-the-iphone-with-an-addicting-bar-game/

New Software Blocks Drivers from Talking on the Phone

Aegis Mobility, a Canadian software company, announced Monday that it has developed software called DriveAssistT that will detect whether a cell phone is moving at car speeds. When that happens, the software will alert the cellular network, telling it to hold calls and text messages until the drive is over. The software doesn't completely block incoming calls. Callers will hear a message saying the person they're calling appears to be driving. They can hit a button to leave an emergency voice mail, which is put through immediately. Several states, including New York and California, have introduced laws against talking on a cell phone while driving, but they still allow the use of hands-free devices like Bluetooth headsets. However, studies have shown that hands-free devices may not help. It appears that it is the distraction of dialing or talking that is dangerous, rather than the act of taking a hand off the wheel.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/10/14/cellphones.driving.ap/index.html