Optoelectronic Sensing Cellphones, Part Deux
Published by Matt October 29th, 2006 in Science and Tech
mouse calling, originally uploaded by Casperonline
I’ve been fretting a lot lately about using the trackpad on my laptop. It’s a complete productivity drain, but I haven’t yet buckled down and purchased a decent mini-mouse on Amazon. So it struck me in the middle of a board meeting this past Thursday, influenced by the presenting CEO’s setup, that a cellphone should double as a mouse. His blackberry was sitting right beside the laptop, nestled exactly where a mouse might be, and in my peripheral vision it appeared he went for the phone to move the cursor. An ah-ha! moment followed.
The technology is there: Bluetooth, a lens and CCD for cursor mapping, and buttons (admittedly, not necessarily in the most ergonomically friendly locations). It turns out that an enterprising fellow with the moniker Pyrofer has already implemented such a solution on a Nokia 6230i (further reporting on Engadget), and ”Mobile Mouse” software is available for sale on my-symbian.com. Technical difficulties are hampering adoption for now, but I expect we’ll see smoothly working implementations soon. Anything to cut down on the hardware clogging our luggage arteries.
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It’s interesting that you mention this, I stumbled upon this myself. Occasionally, my cell is sitting next to my mouse and I’ll grab it without taking my eyes off the screen. After doing that a few times over a span of several weeks it occurred to me that it would be great to include ‘mouse’ functionality in bluetooth enabled phones. Like you, I thought the best market would be traveling business types.
Another area I’m hoping to see innovation around phones is in remote ringers. Many sub-35 year olds these days are choosing to not subscribe to traditional landline phone services. I’m one of them. When I’m out that’s fine, but when I’m home, it creates an interesting problem. If my cellphone is in the kitchen and I’m upstairs in my office, I will not hear it ring. It’s also not convenient to carry my phone around while in my pajamas.
I haven’t researched this in months, and I know there are several products already on the market, but in my opinion, none of them fully solve the problem. I am looking for a system where I can dock my phone (dual as charger) as I walk in the house, and it connects wirelessly with 2-4 remote stations throughout the house in a manner very similar to cordless phones. (i.e. with many available remote handsets) This would provide the best of both worlds. Is it feasible? Technically, yes (there may already be products on the market). Is it a good business opportunity. Not long term.
This sort of system could quickly become obsolete with the emergence of VoIP cell phones. Rather than cell towers providing me a connection into the telephone networks, I would much rather be getting a highspeed internet connection. That would provide me the flexibility to make worldwide voice calls via Skype, GoogleTalk, etc. It would also open hundreds of streaming media possibilities, making satellite radio near obsolete. I guess what I’m really looking forward to is consolidation. When I’m home my computers could ring (all 5 of them) and when I’m out, my handset (ipod/gps/browser/mouse/phone/voice recorder/camera) could ring.
I also can’t wait for the day when text-messaging consolidates fully with instant messaging. It’s only a matter of time.
Ben:
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I’d add that anything “long term” in the telco/handset market is a difficult bet. My sense in the near/medium term is that we’ll see inexpensive speaker sets that effectively cover one’s abode (such as Sonos) and integrate (via IP) with one’s computer and handset. Can’t wait!
Best,
Matt
Ben,
I think recent and near-term advances in short-term wireless functionality will allow you to set up a wireless home network by mid 2008 that will connect all of your devices to a home “backbone” regardless of the wireless technology each device uses. That will enable the stations that you mentioned. The thing I’m more excited about is the situation where you will have one cell phone sized computer that carries all your data. You put it down on your desk and it will wirelessly connect to your monitor, mouse, keyboard, and will sync with your wireless hard drive. Mobile technology is about to advance beyond the toddler stage.