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Chris Danielsen fidgets with the cell phone, holding it over a $20 bill.

"Detecting orientation, processing U.S. currency image," the phone says in a flat monotone before Danielsen snaps a photo. A few seconds later, the phone says, "Twenty dollars."

Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind, is holding the next generation of computerized aids for the blind and visually impaired.

The Nokia cell phone is loaded with software that turns text on photographed documents into speech. In addition to telling whether a bill is worth $1, $5, $10 or $20, it also allows users to read anything that is photographed, whether it's a restaurant menu, a phone book or a fax.

While the technology is not new, the NFB and the software's developer say the cell phone is the first to incorporate the text-to-speech ability.

"We've had reading devices before," Danielsen said, noting similar software is already available in a larger handheld reader housed in a personal digital assistant. Companies such as Code Factory SL, Dolphin Computer Access Ltd. and Nuance Communications Inc. also provide software that allows the blind to use cell phones and PDAs.

Inexpensive hand-held scanners such as WizCom Technologies Ltd.'s SuperPen can scan limited amounts of text, read it aloud and even translate from other languages.

However, the $2,100 NFB device combines all of those functions in one smart phone, said James Gashel, vice president of business development for K-NFB Reading Technology Inc., which is marketing the phone as a joint venture between the federation and software developer Ray Kurzweil.

"It is the next step, but this is a huge leap," Gashel, who is blind, said in a telephone interview. "I'm talking to you on the device I also use to read things. I can put it in my pocket and at the touch of a button, in 20 seconds, be reading something I need to read in print."

Ray Kurzweil, who developed the first device that could convert text into audio in the 1970s and the current NFB device, said portability is only the first step. Future versions of the device will recognize faces, identify rooms and translate text from other languages for the blind and the sighted.

The inventor plans to begin marketing the cell phone in February through K-NFB Reading Technology. The software will cost $1,595 and the cell phone is expected to cost about $500, Kurzweil said.

Dave Doermann, president of College Park-based Applied Media Analysis said his company is working on similar software for smart phones that could be used by the military for translation and by the visually impaired.

"We don't anticipate ours being that expensive, but unfortunately we're not quite to the release yet," said Doermann, who is also co-director of the University of Maryland's Laboratory for Language and Media Processing.

Doermann said the company, which has received funding from the Department of Defense and the National Eye Institute, hopes to have its software ready in the next 12 to 18 months.

Kurzweil's device uses speech software provided by Nuance, said Chris Strammiello, the director of product management at Nuance, who said the company has also developed a prototype reader that uses the Internet to access more powerful server-side computers.

"As you can harness the power of remote environments and do that so quickly with the Web technologies, it gives a lot more capability, flexibility and options to the way you solve these type of problems," Strammiello said.

There are about 10 million blind and visually impaired people in the U.S., a number that is expected to double in the next 30 years as baby boomers age.

Kurzweil said those with vision problems are not the only ones expected to benefit from the technology. Dyslexics, for example, are expected to be among the users of the current device because of its ability to highlight each word as it's read aloud, helping them cope with their disability, which affects the ability to read. The highlighting function can also help them improve their reading skills, he said.

"What's new here is both blind people and kids can do this with a device that fits in their shirt pocket," Kurzweil said.

Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind, said the device and its PDA predecessor are a "form of hand-held vision" that will make the visual environment "much more readily available to the blind."
source:http://www.keprtv.com/news/tech/14484547.html

Sony Ericsson announced the launch of a new Radio mobile phone, the Sony Ericsson R306 Radio, designed to deliver a credible radio-listening experience to a global audience, and ideally suited to emerging markets such as India. "The Sony Ericsson R306 Radio allows you to tune-in to your favourite music shows or sports reports, across both AM and FM broadcasts,” said Howard Lewis, Vice President and Head of Entry Level Products at Sony Ericsson. “The new cell phone certainly looks and sounds the part, offering a radio-inspired design."

Sony Ericsson Radio through the loudspeaker

The Sony Ericsson R306 Radio is designed to have a clear radio look-and-feel. Sit the phone on its side and let the radio blast out through the dedicated loudspeaker... in stereo. Preset buttons on the front of the Sony Ericsson R306 Radio lets you switch easily between your favourite stations. It takes just one click to boost the volume when you want to share music on the radio or the live action from the sports ground.

Sony Ericsson R306 Radio - Features

• True radio design - Dedicated radio speakers and preset channel buttons

• Loud sound - 3D sound enhancement & volume boost for noisy environments

• AM/FM Frequencies - Tune-in to your favourite station

Sony Ericsson R306i Radio - Record a clip

The new Sony Ericsson mobile phone really lets you get the most from the radio. Set it as your alarm clock or record the final moments of your team's winning match and play back the commentary again and again. You can even record a clip of a song and use it as your ringtone.

Sony Ericsson R306 Radio phone - TrackID

TrackID is now a familiar feature on many of Sony Ericsson's high tier phones. It now comes as standard on the Sony Ericsson R306 Radio cell phone, turning listeners into instant music experts! Record a clip of a song from an external source, such as a sound system in a coffee shop or bar, and find out within seconds who sang it, the name of the track and which album it is from. All in just one click.

Sony Ericsson Radio R306i - Stereo speakers

The Sony Ericsson R306 Radio opens up into a clamshell with two integrated stereo speakers that face the listener. Again featuring the Audio Enhancer key, you can activate volume boost when listening to the radio through the speakers or 3D sound enhancement when you have the stereo headset plugged in, ensuring a first-class radio listening experience even when it is noisy around you. See which station you are tuned-in to on the phone's external display. The Sony Ericsson R306 Radio phone features Bluetooth technology, allowing you to handle your phone calls handsfree with optional accessories such as the Sony Ericsson Bluetooth Headset HBH-PV703.

Sony Ericsson R306 Radio - 1.3 Megapixel digital camera

The Sony Ericsson R306 Radio boasts a step-up to a 1.3 megapixel camera on-board. So whether you are listening to the radio or not, this new Sony Ericsson phone is set to hit the right note. The R306 Radio will launch in two colours: Coffee Black and Champagne White. It is a GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 phone that will be available in selected markets from Q3 2008. The Sony Ericsson R306a Radio is a GSM/GPRS 850/1800/1900 phone, available in the same timeframe.

source:http://www.letsgomobile.org/en/2855/sony-ericsson-r306-radio/

The tiny village of Jucu in northwestern Romania, which will host a new factory making Nokia mobile phones, currently earns its livelihood from farming vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes and eggplants.

It doesn't have a full-time doctor, a school-house or indoor toilets. Some 60 houses don't have running water. But it does -- still -- have relatively cheap labor.

A decision by the Finnish mobile handset giant to move a major production line to Romania this year sparked rage in Germany over job losses, but in the nearby city of Cluj in Romania it calmed fears foreign investment was drying up.

Over the past year, alarm bells have been sounding all around eastern Europe about a rising shortage of labor that may stunt the growth and long-term development prospects in some of the poorer regions.

"In our area we are only missing workers in the construction sector," Nicolae Beuran from the Cluj chamber of commerce told Reuters. "Many builders went to Germany, some went to Spain or wherever else they got paid more."

The fears are that ballooning wages and migration to western labor markets have eroded the competitiveness of manufacturing in eastern Europe and could stop an influx of foreign cash.

Industry observers say Romania is missing hundreds of thousands of workers in some sectors since migration depleted the workforce. Roughly one in 10 Romanians lives abroad.
Hidden Labor Force

But Nokia appears to have found a pocket of labor supply around Cluj, a Transylvanian university town dating back to the Roman era, where residents hope that thousands of graduates will attract foreign cash and well-paid jobs.

"We can offer what we have," said Beuran. "We are a big university centre and have a hundred thousand qualified students."

Even though unemployment is as low as three percent in Cluj, local officials say foreign investors are managing to attract labor by paying more than local employers.

Average pre-tax salaries are 450 euros a month in Cluj -- one seventh of levels in Germany's state of North Rhine-Westphalia which includes Bochum, the economically depressed region that Nokia is to quit for Romania.

The pay is still low despite Romania's double-digit real wage growth in recent years as it speeds up towards western European living standards and taps cash from the European Union, which it joined a year ago.

Some foreign manufacturers complain about skill shortages, while the state Employment Agency in Cluj says there is a "crisis" in the labor market.

But city authorities say there is more foreign investment in the pipeline. According to city council head Marius Nicoara, Cluj is talks with several companies, including a large U.S. firm in the auto industry which wants to invest $200 million.

"We are in advanced discussions with other investors but can't offer them as much land and electricity as they want. So we are in a great position to choose," he said.
Modernization?

For Cluj and the impoverished countryside surrounding it, Nokia's 60 million euro ($88 million) investment spells a promise of much-needed government cash, modernization and basic facilities.

"We need many things here and I hope they will be resolved faster thanks to Nokia," said Jucu mayor Dorel Pojar. "Since its arrival, there is a prosperous future ahead of us."

He hopes the Bucharest government will funnel more cash -- and faster -- for development projects and infrastructure to spruce up the area, a long valley surrounded by farmland and barren, greyish-brown hills.

Local authorities in Cluj say they are investing dozens of millions of euros on infrastructure projects in the region, building up roads, water networks and industrial parks to bring in foreign manufacturing.

A multi-billion-dollar highway project connecting central Romania with western Europe through Hungary is planned to run just km away from Jucu.

"I will work if I can find work," said Ana Gherman, 66, a pensioner from Jucu who used to bake biscuits and make juice for the village bar. "I could be a babysitter for a family which moves here to work for Nokia.

"But if it doesn't happen for me, the Nokia plant is still a future for the children here."

Nokia, which plans to start production in Jucu in the first quarter, reported a 57 percent rise in its October-December earnings per share on Thursday, with booming demand in emerging markets boosting its global market share to 40 percent.

The company declined immediate further comment on its choice of Romania, but has said the move aimed to lock into lower wage costs to defend its profit margins: at just under 24 percent on cellphones, these are already much stronger than its rivals.
Accustomed to Cycles

Local authorities hope the boost to the region's economy should ensure sustainable growth even if Nokia moves factory again after some years.

Like Germany's Bochum, which has lost its historic mining and steelmaking industries and now is about to see 2,300 Nokia jobs disappear -- Cluj lost much of its heavy industry following the 1989 fall of communism.

source:http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141862-c,cellphones/article.html

Nokia has introduced a couple of new software additions in the past few months for various Nokia mobile phones. Remember for example the Nokia Ovi Internet browser and the new NGage games. Besides these new software additions, the N82 has also been equipped with an integrated GPS receiver, navigation software and a five Megapixel digital camera with Xenon flash. The N82's digital camera is able to exceed any other camera phone with ease thanks to its superior image quality, speed and user-friendliness. Nokia awaken some high expectations here and the question is; can Nokia live up to these expectations?• Read our full Nokia N82 review.

Nokia N82 digital camera