Senate extends telephone privacy rules to VoIP
On March 30, 2006, the Sentate Commerce Committee required the FCC to develop consumer privacy rules for VoIP, essentially applying Sec. 222 of the Telecom Act. Where is similar action on Sec. 255, the accessibility provisions of the Act?
The Jeff Pulver Blog: Senate Extends Telephone Privacy Rules to VoIP Providers
OCR phone
Report on plans to include not only scanning, but also OCR technology in mobile phones. Imagine the advantages for people with visual or learning disabilities of being able to go anywhere and instantly convert print into electronic format. And if the phone also had speech output and/or magnification technology such as Nuance ZOOMS…oooh la la.
Ear light
The functionality of a miner’s helmet; the weight and look of a Bluetooth earpiece. The I-Sight (available with a white or green light beam) is adjustable, runs up to 36 hours on one battery, and will probably be useful to anyone who needs a hands-free flashlight.
Oboy, Obopay
Obopay is a new strategy for paying by phone. Instead of having a smart card in their phone, users download an application to a mobile phone (the app is supposedly compatible with most models), load up their account from a website, and then send money to anyone else with Obopay capacity for $.10 per transaction. Ironically, its first day of availability is April 15, when no one in the U.S. has any money to work with.
Obopay: Your Phone Is So Money, Baby
Smart parking
BART, the SF Bay area transit system, is testing a parking system that lets drivers know how many spaces there are at which parking lots. This should simplify parking; future enhancements may include making a reservation for a space while you’re on your way. How about an indication of whether “handicapped” spaces are available?
MercuryNews.com | 03/09/2006 | Langberg: Using smarts to find parking
Show me the bunny! Wireless peripheral for fun
Nabaztag is a wireless device shaped like a bunny. It can deliver messages in synthetic speech, show weather forecasts in colors, announce the time, and move its ears when another user moves another one’s ears. A relatively open programming interface is promised, allowing third-parties to develop even more services. Not available in the US yet.
Das ist gut
The Das keyboard is primarily design to turn hunt-and-peckists into touch typers by featuring blank keys. But note the other potential access features: a “lighter” touch, which is ever-so-popular among people with repetitive strain injuries, and “phantom key lockout, which means that gamers [or people with fine motor control disabilities] can hit three keys simultaneously and not worry about the board jamming up.”