Swiss Post Uses BeeTaggs For Stamps

Mobile Barcodes From BeeTagg Used As Stamps For Swiss Post

Swiss Post is issuing the world's first stamp with an integrated BeeTagg, combining a conventional stamp with ultra-modern technology. Swiss Post's partner in this first tagging venture is Schweiz Tourismus, which is using the stamp and integrated BeeTagg as part of its winter advertising campaign. The mobile tagging solutions have been developed by Swiss Post subsidiary yellowworld AG.
The BeeTagg is a two-dimensional code that looks like a honeycomb and functions in a similar way to a bar code. The user simply installs the free BeeTagg reader, then scans the tag incorporated into the Swiss Post stamp with the camera on their mobile phone. The reader recognizes the tag and connects the phone to a predefined web pag

No More Renewable Energy By 2010?

The cheapest and most available source of new energy is the energy we waste.

ZDNet has a story on renewable energy Demand Exceeds Supply Of Renewable Energy By 2010

There’s a new report out of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) that suggests demand for renewable energy will outpace supply by the year 2010.

The paper, which was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership, postulates that the combination of state- and federal-level programs requiring a shift to some level of renewable energy usage as well as other incentives encouraging both consumers and companies to add renewable energy to their electricity mix are creating a boom in demand.

Altogether 25 states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation mandating that renewable energy account for between 2 percent and 30 percent of their power supply over the next five to 15 years.

Lots of disruption taking place in CleanTech.

Investment Areas To Watch In CleanTech

Producing renewable energy has shifted from analog to digital and that is creating some exciting investment opportunities. Stay tuned.

Investment Areas To Watch In CleanTech

Trends I'm Watching has a nice summary of General Electric's (GE) Cleaner Technology R&D Investment press release.

Their investment is expected to reach $1 billion by year end they have outlined the areas of interest.

GE researchers are working on a broad array of technology initiatives that cut across GE’s business portfolio. These projects include:

* Renewable energy -- exploration of advanced concepts in wind, solar and biomass to improve the economics and availability of these clean, renewable energy sources

* Advanced gasification technologies -- for GE’s Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) System to increase plant efficiency, lower emissions and make these systems carbon capture ready

* Fuel efficiency -- research in composite materials, advanced aerodynamics, turbine alloys and advanced coatings and combustion systems to improve the fuel efficiency and overall performance of present and future generations of aircraft engines and electric power generation systems

* Hybrid systems -- research to support the development of the next generation hybrid locomotive

* Lighting -- several energy efficiency initiatives such as Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) to reduce our energy consumption

* Water -- programs to provide more affordable, less energy-intensive solutions to water purification and re-use that enable an increase in the quantity and quality of clean water around the globe.

In addition, Harry Newton from the Technology Investor has provided a couple of his CleanTech observations.

5. There is a huge business in Europe building green buildings with devices and techniques that save energy -- from skylights to windmills, from photo voltaic arrays on rooftops to airtight building construction. But the business is driven by new laws passed by European governments which give extra-special treatment to oil replacement. For example, in France you pay approx. 7 Euro cents to buy electricity from the grid. If you pump electricity back into the grid (via windmills, photo voltaic cells, etc.) they pay you 45 Euro cents. That's a huge incentive to install this new technology (much of which is -- ironically -- coming from the States.

I5. There is a huge business in Europe retrofitting buildings to make them "green," i.e. energy efficient. One thing they do in Europe is pump new buildings full of smoke and plug the holes where the air escapes). I suspect this business will develop here as energy costs rise further, making more and more techniques economical. European findings: Green buildings get 3%-6% higher rent and a 2%-3% improvement in occupancy.

CO2 Emissions Alarming, 200 Times Faster Broadband, Verizon Drops 700 MHz Rules Challenge

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Rising At Alarming Rate

Carbon dioxide — the greenhouse gas considered most responsible for global warming — has been emitted into the Earth's atmosphere at a dramatically accelerating pace since 2000

technology to Make Broadband Internet Up To 200 Times Faster

Harnessing the potential power of telephone lines and DSL broadband, the technology will deliver internet speeds up to 250 megabits per second, compared with current typical speeds of between one and 20 megabits per second.

Verizon Drops Challenges To 700 MHz Rules

Verizon had sought to have the FCC drop open-access requirements it has set up for roughly one-third of the spectrum rights eligible to be sold via auction this January.

Sprint Sponsors ScanLife's Mobile Barcode With Billboard Magazine Campaign

Kudos to ScanBuy for being the first U.S. Physical World Connection company to land a carrier and major brand for a mobile barcode campaign. The combination of Sprint and the right demographic group should open doors for ScanLife and EZCodes.

Scanbuy's ScanLife 2D bar code scanning technology, which Sprint is now testing on selected mobile phones in the United States, already has been adopted by consumers around the globe. (coming soon to AT&T and Alltel).

In the Philippines, Mobitms has partnered with Scanbuy to provide a suite of services that allow consumers to access the Web, surf for content or buy products via their mobile phones with the click of their cameras.


In France, Regie Autonome Transports Parisiens, a major public transportation company in Paris, is working with Scanbuy to give commuters easy access to transportation and tourism information



To get ScanLife on your mobile phone, text SCAN to 70734 or go to www.getscanlife.com to download the free trial application. After you have ScanLife on your phone, start scanning EZCodes and make your own. It's EZ.

See all the useful things advertisers and you can do with EZCodes.

Google And Nielsen Team Up For TV, But There's A Better Solution

Today's Google announcement with Nielsen allows us to focus on a much better solution of targeted advertising and what could be the Next Google.

Google TV Ads To Get Nielsen Data

Google is partnering with Nielsen so that companies that buy its Google TV Ads can find out how many people actually watch the ads.

Nielsen's metering devices are installed in a large number of households across the U.S., enabling the company to keep track of which TV programs are the most popular.

Now, Google will have access to Nielsen's demographic data from aggregated set-top boxes so advertisers can see what ads are effective and get additional aggregate information about the viewers, such as age and gender, according to Nielsen.

However, if you dig a little deeper, you will find a much more comprehensive solution that includes data for all operators of any type (satellite, cable, mobile, IPTV). What valuation would that carry?

Because this solution tracks Internet activity for ALL devices connected to the pipe coming into your home, it might be called the Next Google.

Gartner Unveils Tp 10 Strategic Technologies For 2008

Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2008

The top 10 strategic technologies for 2008 include:

1. Green IT
2. Unified Communications
3. Business Process Modeling
4. Metadata Management
5. Virtualization 2.0
6. Mashup & Composite Apps
7. Web Platform & WOA (Saas) Software As A Service
8. Computing Fabric
9. Real World Web
10. Social Software

Verizon Offers FiOS With Groundbreaking 20 Mbps Download and Upload Speeds

A very disruptive bandwidth event.

Comcast's recent admission to "slowing down" file sharing Internet traffic from BitTorrent and Gnutella users, might be the best and timeliest marketing tool for Verizon's new FiOS service.

How could this affect the cable providers?

If Verizon doesn't "throttle" this 20 Mbps, this could be a very disruptive bandwidth event for the U.S.

Verizon Offers 20 Mbps Download And Upload Speeds

Verizon has changed the definition of "fast" with the introduction of a new, symmetrical Verizon FiOS Internet service for consumers, featuring an upload and download speed of up to 20 megabits per second (Mbps).

"Verizon's new 20/20 FiOS service blows cable away. Their upload speeds don't even come close," said Susan Retta, vice president, Broadband Solutions for Verizon.

The equally fast upload and download speed of the new symmetrical FiOS service also enhances interactive services like video conferencing, online multi-player gaming, telemedicine, electronic home monitoring, online work collaboration, data backups and more.

Most people don't know what speeds they are getting, you will be surprised.

Want to see what speeds you're really getting from your internet provider, not the advertised ones?

Take a quick bandwidth test

Does your speed come close to what your provider advertised?

Hurricane Buster, Cellulite Patches, 100 Xs Faster WiFi

Scientists Steer Hurricanes

Aircraft would drop soot into the near-freezing cloud at the top of a hurricane, causing it to warm up and so reduce wind speeds.

Computer simulations of the forces at work in the most violent storms have shown that even small changes can affect their paths – enabling them to be diverted from major cities.

Cellulite Patches

Cellulite can be reduced by injecting infected areas with collagenase, an enzyme that digests collagen. The treatment can be given either by injection or by applying patches every 4 to 6 weeks.

100 Times Faster Than WiFi

IBM Research and MediaTek are teaming up to develop a wireless transmission protocol that will deliver files more than 100 times faster than WiFi.

End Of Online Porn, Comcast Blocks Net Traffic, Aroma Ads

End Of Online Porn?

A proposal would require every adult who wants to upload a naughty picture to a social network would have to submit a photo ID and state their full name, date of birth and other personal information. The network would have to maintain that record for as long as the picture exist.

Update: Age Record Deemed Unconsyitutional

Comcast Blocks Some Internet Traffic

If widely applied by other ISPs, the technology Comcast is using would be a crippling blow to the BitTorrent, eDonkey and Gnutella file-sharing networks.

What other forms of file delivery applications will be used?

Aroma Scented Ads

The aromas are generated by a computer-controlled device that receives its instructions over the Internet and results from the test could help kick-start a new form of advertising that assaults our sense of smell to push products

Google, Microsoft Health Records,AT&T Buy EchoStar?,Microsoft Pushes RFID, Analog TVs , Mobile Skype

Google Offers Online Personal Health Records
Google announces this after Microsoft's Health Records Initiative
How will they transfer those high data medical images?

AT&T To Buy EchoStar?
AT&T struggling with its TV service called U-verse and EchoStar facing competition from companies with deeper pockets such as DIRECTV.

Will Microsoft's BizTalk Speed Up RFID Adoption?

A standard operating system for RFID infrastructure.

Best Buy Ends Analog TV Sales
Plasma TVs will soon be outlawed too.

Skype Goes Mobile

Skype's new cell phone will deliver mobile access to its service.

U.S. Patent Office Agrees To Re-Examine NeoMedia's Mobile Barcode Patent

In my opinion, this event could be the tipping point for mobile bar code adoption in the U.S.

NeoMedia Technologies, labeled a patent troll, has garnished quite a reputation in the Physical World Connection space.

In April 07, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) took aim at a bogus patent threatening innovative technologies that enhance consumer awareness, requesting a reexamination by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

Due to clerical errors, the EFF had to refile the patent exam Request Of NeoMedia's "Bogus Patent".

On Oct 16, 2007 the U.S.Patent and Trade Mark Office ordered a re-examination of NeoMedia's patent.

To see the filing:
1) Go to http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair
2) Select "Control No." as the input
3) Enter 90/008779

I couldn't find this announcement on NeoMedia's website, but their latest financial filing outlines the risks to the company if this re-examination were to occur.

On October 15, the day before the Patent Office ordered the re-examination, the Chairman and member of NeoMedia's Board resignation became effective .

Spherical Solar Cell, Plants As Solar Cells, Baby Boomers Start To Retire

Koreans Develop A Spherical Solar Cell

The advantages of the Sphelar is its unique ability to capture the sun in all directions and utilize indirect and diffuse light. The other feature is in production. It utilizes a method wherein there is little waste of silicon.
How could this disrupt the leading solar plays?

In addition, more disruption in that space:

Bioplastic materials from renewable plant sources that will reduce the cost of solar cells


Doppler Radar Detects Speeding Heart

The Army has turned to a Honolulu company for Doppler radar and advanced algorithm technology to be able to detect and monitor multiple subjects based on their heart rate, even through walls.


First Baby Boomer Files For Social Security Benefits

A major transformation is set to occur and today officially marks the start. Giving shifts to taking as Baby Boomers start to tap Social Security.
Lots of industries and applications will be affected with this transformation.

Microsoft Unveils Mobile Speech Recognititon Search Engine

Microsoft Releases New Searches For Mobile

Live Search 411.

Jointly developed with Tellme Networks Inc., acquired by Microsoft earlier this year, a new toll-free number will be available for anyone using any kind of phone to access the power of Live Search.

Users can simply dial (800) CALL-411 (800-225-5411) and say the city and state, then ask for the business or business category to hear a list of options.

Users say, “Connect me,” to instantly connect to the business. Cell phone users can ask for a text message with a link to a map of the business.*

Lots of revenue streams and advertising options with this application.

Next up for Microsoft, a speech recognition browser

Global Standard Set For Mobile Barcode

From Wireless Week IATA Creates Mobile Barcode Standard

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade body that represents 240 airlines and 94% of scheduled international travel, has reached an agreement on a global standard for mobile barcodes, which it says "paves the way" for air travelers to use mobile phones for check-in at airports.

Regional formatting differences has slowed down the deployment of mobile applications, though several airlines have adopted mobile barcodes for check- bin, there has not been a unified solution.

The IATA solution uses existing codes: Aztec and Datamatrix, which are used extensively in Europe and North America; and QR which is widely used in Japan. All three are proven technologies and can be read by a single scanner type that is available globally.

The association said it hopes to use the standard to begin working with members to develop standardized processes and guidelines to "facilitate global implementation."

The industry has set end of 2010 as the deadline to implement 100% barcoded boarding passes. The association estimates that once boarding passes are 100% barcoded, the industry could save more than $500 million annually

Nokia's Point & Find the Perfect Physical World Connection Solution?

Could Nokia be developing the ideal solution for mobile barcode recognition?
Will this finally solve the question Pick A 2d Code, Any Code

MoVa Media, a mobile barcode recognition company, suggests that Nokia's acquisition of Pixto could offer the ideal solution for Physical World Connection.

Nokia's Point & Find lets people point a camera phone at an object or picture and find out more about it or buy it just by clicking once when its name comes up on the screen.

It works by linking a set of image properties with a URL for information about what's in the image. When a user points the phone's camera at something, the system compares what the viewfinder sees with sets of image properties in a database. Also taking into consideration the user's location, it then delivers useful information about what the user is looking at.

For example, pointing the phone at a movie poster and pressing a key could make a page pop up that offers an ad for the movie and a way to buy a ticket at the theater nearest the user.

Pointing the phone at the street might bring up a contact page for a local cab company. The system could give retailers, transit agencies, manufacturers, and others the chance to reach consumers while making it easier and more intuitive for consumers to find things, Nokia said

MoVa Media says this:
Here’s what I think. This technology would definitely be more useful and intuitive than barcode recognition, simply because it wouldn’t rely solely on barcodes for data recognition. Also, consumers could immediately start using this, instead of waiting for retailers, and manufacturers to develop mainstream barcoding techniques.

RFID Fertilization, 100Gbps Net, Green Wireless Sensors, Plasma TVs Banned

RFID Can Track Sperm And Egg

Another closed loop application for RFID. Alien Technology realized the margins are in closed loop RFID applications.

Internet2 Hits 100 Gbps

Could scale 10xs that. What applications and companies thrive when speed and size of content are no longer an obstacle. This allows Web 3.0, when all physical objects are/can be connected to the Internet.

Wireless Sensors Go Green

Energy, such as vibration or solar rays, is converted into the tiny drip of electrical power needed to run the sensors themselves and the tiny radios that link them in an intelligent mesh. One energy harvesting technique, called piezo electricity, subjects certain materials, such as crystals, to mechanical stress in order to create an electrical current.

Plasma TVs To Be Banned

Most plasma television sets are in danger of being banned from sale in Australia if a proposed energy-efficiency rating system is adopted. Under a proposed six-star rating system, most current plasma TVs do not meet the requirements and could be removed from sale.
It would mean all current plasma TVs and many LCDs could be removed from sale by 2011.

Look for more energy efficient standards for appliances.

RFID And Mobile Phones

Tech Digest lists 5 ways RFID and mobile phones are being used at Korean operator SK Telecom's demo centre.

Physical world connection was listed as #2.

CD Scanning.

We used to be boggled by the idea of Japanese mobile users taking cameraphone snaps of QR codes to get information on CDs, books or print ads. Now SK Telecom is doing a similar thing with RFID. Hold your phone up against a product, and you'll receive information or a link - in the case of CDs, to listen to samples of the music. It also works with food, allowing you to scan a carton of milk to find out its history.

AT&T Buys Spectrum, Bittorrent Goes Legit, WalMart Offers Broadband, FAA Says No To Mobile Phones

AT&T Buys 700 MHz Spectrum From ALOHA

The transaction enhances AT&T's spectrum position by adding 12 MHz of spectrum covering 196 million people in 281 markets. The spectrum covers many major metropolitan areas, including 72 of the top 100 and all of the top 10 markets in the United States.

Bittorrent Goes Legit With Streaming Video

the developer of a software program widely used to share pirated music and video over the Web, plans to start helping media companies stream videos over the Internet.

WalMart Introduces Broadband Service

Wal-Mart Stores plans to announce Oct. 9 that it will resell high-speed Internet access from Hughes Communications , the world's largest provider of broadband services via satellite. Will satellite service fly with these consumers?

FAA Says No To Mobile Phones On Planes

TV Clips About Barcodes And Camera Phones

Telephone Mobile has a compilation of TV stories about a camera phone and mobile barcode.

The Times Introduces Mobile Barcodes For Advertising

The Times in Johannesburg have private labled their own mobile barcode, the TimesCode.


Today the Sunday Times and The Times launch a test version of TimesCode.

TimesCode is a new and exciting way of receiving information on your cellphone. Every TimesCode links to online content. Scan a TimesCode with your camera phone to be connected.

Just snap the TimesCode on the left with your camera phone and we’ll take you to a whole new world of information that’s available 24 hours a day.

To celebrate the launch of TimesCode, Nashua Mobile are offering 10 state-of-the-art Moto 78 cellphones to lucky Sunday Times readers.

Further information can be found at www.thetimes.co.za

Green Collar Jobs, Sony OLED, IPv6 Ramifications,WalMart RFID, Revolutionary Plastic, Akamai's Final Call

Green Collar Jobs

First came CEO Chief Emissions Officer, and now job section for Green Tech. Silicon Valley meets Mid-West for employment opportunities.

Sony Introduces OLED TVs

LCD and DLP TVs already outdated? 85% of high def TV owners happy with their TVs, too little too late?

What The Next Generation Internet Protocol IPv6 Could Mean For Illegal Downloaders

Soon identity no longer anonymous on the Web. Say goodbye to SPAM and phishing. What advertisers will be affected?

WalMart RFID Mandate Losing Steam

What other forms of RFID are gaining traction? More opportunities for the closed-loop "blue collar" RFID tag than tag on consumer goods? Could medical applications play a role too?

New Plastic Is As Strong As Steel

By mimicking a brick-and-mortar molecular structure found in seashells, University of Michigan researchers created a composite plastic that's as strong as steel but lighter and transparent.

The Final Call For Akamai?

Because Akamai doesn't own the backbones of their network, they have to buy bandwidth from companies like Level 3 to offer CDN services to their own customers. What other applications could disrupt content delivery?

Daily Disruptions

LA Asks For Power Conservation
What other energy saving technologies could be used instead?

Bandwidth Monitoring Service? Unlimited Internet access no more.
Will bandwidth become a utility and be charged as such?

Fingerprinting For Kids? Will kids be the first to adopt a cash-less society?

Alien Technology Changes RFID Strategy Closed-loop applications offer greater margins. What companies and industries will be affected? What companies now represent take-over candidates?

Physical World Connection Coming To Schools?

The fingerprint is a physical world hyperlink, and when a fingerprint is scanned and connected to the Internet, that is Physical World Connection.

Time has a story about schools starting to fingerprint kids and the benefits of this.

Lots of controversy surrounds the idea of fingerprinting kids in school, but I think the benefits clearly outweigh the privacy issues.

Linda Stoll, head of food programs at the Boulder Valley, Colo., school district discovered that many students, especially kindergarteners, can't remember their six-digit ID number, which they're required to type into keypads at the end of lunch lines.

She then found out that there was technology that would allow a scanner to identify a kid qualified for lunch with the swipe of a finger, moving him or her quickly along. It would help kids who regularly forget their lunch money, and it would potentially remove some of the stigma faced by children who receive special tickets for free or reduced lunch. She proposed the idea, believing it would be the perfect solution.



Would you let your kids get fingerprinted?