GreenGoose turns everyday tasks into a game
More and more aspects of our lives are being turned into games with the use of technology, look at Foursquare and SCVNGR, simple location-based mobile apps which reward you for checking-in or completing tasks.
However, it now seems as if mobile gaming could be taken to a whole new level by GreenGoose, which aims to turn every aspect of your life into a game!
Toilet Plunger: For Your Phone
Instead of spending real money for an iPhone stand, get yourself one of these practical phone plungers for $15 bucks.
You can conveniently watch your videos, secure in the knowledge that probably no one else on this continent owns one. Or wants one.
At Gadget 4 All.
Smartphone Germ Killer
Ever since I read about the Stanford University study which declared cell phones “dirtier than toilets”, I’ve been totally paranoid about how unclean my phones are. The study declared that touchscreens, in particular, are breeding grounds for e.coli, influenza, staph, strep, and salmonella. I’m a little bit of a germaphobe in the best of times, and now I’ve got a little infant who touches almost everything I do, and has been known to try to eat my iPhone.
What to do? Antibacterial wipes are fine for most plastic cases, but will leave a slightly blurry film on your touchscreen glass. Wipes and sprays meant for cleaning phones and electronics are sometimes alcohol-based, which should help eliminate some germs, but the protection is short-lived. and you can’t reach into tiny spaces like in between keys. A better solution may be the UV Smartphone Sanitizer. The sanitizer, made by Vio Light, the company that makes the toothbrush sanitizers, uses UV light to kill 99.9% of germs on your smartphone, including the ones hiding in tight spaces and wipe-inaccessible corners. You just put your phone in the case and give it a 5-minute UV light shower.
Your phone will emerge germ-free, but of course, germs lurk everywhere so it’s best to treat your phone almost like something you eat from- like a cup- if it’s touched your hands or your face, give it a wipe-down, and then a thorough cleaning later on. Wash your hands constantly, and try to be careful about where you put your phone down. You wouldn’t rub a dirty plate on your face, but a phone laying on a germy table often goes right up to your ear, and certainly all over your hands.
One more thing to worry about, yay. But seriously, keep your phone clean. The UV Smartphone Sanitizer is available for $49.95 from Hammacher.
Windows Phone 7
Today, Microsoft announced its newest mobile phone operating system, Windows Phone 7 (or wp7, informally). Along with partner AT&T, they also unveiled several phones that will complete the launch on November 8th in the U.S.
Touted by Microsoft as “less stop and stare, more glance and go,” wp7 is an elegant os that provides powerful integration of your work, family, and social life. Using a “hub” concept, wp7 creates dedicated destinations for like content, intended to speed up social networking and your life. Create a hub for your BFF and an icon shows up on your home screen – touch the icon and everything related to that person becomes available in one place – contact info, pictures, their latest Facebook updates, and so on. A hub can also organize things, like pictures – photos taken with the phone’s camera, online albums, Facebook photos, etc.
Microsoft has integrated Xbox LIVE and Zune into wp7, bringing in favorite gaming and media experiences. Although the Xbox LIVE is a “lite” version of what you have at home, it’s all very familiar territory. Sign in once to your LIVE account and you instantly see your avatar and can start playing games with your friends around the globe, earning points along the way (note that head-to-head play and voice features are still in development). Zune lets you access music and movies on the go.
Other notable features include a top-notch virtual keyboard / error correction experience, U-verse (AT&T specific), fast camera access, MS Office apps (I especially love the “I’ll be late” button in the Outlook calendar that lets you e-mail those you are meeting with to let them know your are a few minutes behind with just one tap), and automatic software updates.
AT&T will initially have 3 phones available, all priced at $199.99 with contract: the Samsung Focus will be available on November 8th, with the LG Quantum and the HTC Surround to follow shortly thereafter. T-Mobile will launch its wp7 lineup later in November, and Sprint will follow in 1Q of 2011. More to follow on the specific phones.
There is no doubt that I am phone obsessed. I mean does anyone else (that is not a drug dealer) have seven active cell phones? This phone-obsessed geek, who has been a staunch iPhone fan since day one and thinks Android is a clunky wannabe, gives wp7 a huge thumbs-up and will be impatiently waiting for November 8th. In the mean time, I’ll be prepping my address book for the initial sync.
Light Pool: Japan gets a new designer cell phone
Japan’s second biggest cell phone carrier KDDI (over 30 million subscribers) rolls out quite unique handsets from time to time, mostly under their iida sub-brand. The company today in Japan introduced [JP] another “lifestyle” cell phone, the so-called Light Pool. Technically, the device isn’t anything special – but it’s rather pretty.
Read the rest on MobileCrunch.
Posted: July 13th, 2010
at 7:20am by Serkan Toto
Topics: Headline, KDDI, MobileCrunch, cell phones, cgjapan, designer, iida, light pool
