The UK’s first large scale pilot of NFC (Near Field Communications) technology on mobile phones was announced today on November 28th. The trial of the O2 Wallet paves the way for the mass market use of mobile phones to pay for purchases, access events or even be used as Oyster cards for travel around London, simply by touching the phone to a reader.
Each trialist will be given a Nokia 6131 NFC handset installed with the O2 Wallet. Just like a normal wallet, this will hold various everyday cards, including Oyster and Barclaycard, but in virtual form and with NFC functionality. Trialists will be able to test a wide range of different services in London, such as making purchases in retail outlets and travelling on London’s public transport system.
The trial, which will involve over 500 people invited from the O2 customer base, takes place across selected sites throughout London and begins on 28th November 2007 running for six months until the end of May 2008.
Read more from the press release issued on November 28, 2007 -> http://www.nokia.com/A4126603
Fans of the Sports Tracker mobile application will now be able to share and compare their workouts with friends at the new Sports Tracker Beta web service at http://sportstracker.nokia.com. Once registered, you can upload and review your latest workouts, photos from the routes, and see summaries of the total distance, duration, and average speed of your workouts.
For the competetive type, you can also share and compare workouts with friends or the Sports Tracker community. You can also browse others’ workouts by location, for example to find a more exciting training route or one could imagine even a training partner.
Both the mobile application and web service are in beta phase to collect feedback from the user community.The Sports Tracker application was launched in Nokia Beta Labs in April.
20 images from the Phonescoping Exhibition which is Finland’s contribution to the European Union Cultural Weeks will be on display in New Delhi from 23-29 November. The exhibition is a part of the fortnight-long EU cultural weeks starting on November 21. Supported by Nokia India, this is the first cultural event ever organised inside the Delhi Metro premises.
Phonescoping, a technique developed by the Finnish photographer Tommi Laurinsalo, has given a new dimension to bird photography. Tommi realised the possibilities of using a mobile phone to capture birds in their natural environment using a variety of Nokia’s multimedia devices.
Phonescoping involves attaching a telescope to an advanced mobile handset with an integrated camera. The unique technique allows one to click professional, high resolution images anytime, anywhere using a mobile camera. The quality of pictures is good for usage in internet or other electronic media, and the sharing of pictures is easy if the phone is MMS enabled.
Recently, Forum Nokia launched a way for the clever guys and girls from all over the world to swap ideas about developing for mobile. This is Nokia’s link to the global brain. A renewed communities site called ‘Developer Community’ http://community.forum.nokia.com/ hosts Wiki based ‘how-to’ guides, Discussion forums and Blogs.
Anyone can visit the site and comment on Blog posts or search for help. Forum Nokia members can use single sign-on to get access to these services and contribute to Wikis, and participate in discussions. This interactive service complements other online resources provided by Forum Nokia.
‘The Lobby’ is the main page integrating all Developer Community resources including the latest news, RSS feeds from other valuable information sources, videos, podcasts, and more.
With more than 10 000 messages and posts per month, from all corners of the globe, this is the most active mobile development community site there is.