Cellphone suppliers are constantly on the lookout for ways to differentiate their wares. Nokia may be at the head of the pack when it comes to wearable devices. The company has been working on technology that notifies individuals when a call comes in by creating a tingling sensation… on their tattoos.
OK good point about tattoos themselves not being so niche anymore. I probably know more people who have one than people who don't, now that I think about it. But vibrating tattoos? I can't get on board with thinking this makes any sense.
@Paul I agree. I see many people sporting tattoos, and some of them even have multiple ones on their arms, neck, legs, and who knows where under the clothes. Is it still considered "niche" when 24% of the population falls into that category. According to this 2006 survey 24% of people 18-50 (not just the really young) have tattoos. I'd imagine the number must have gone up rather than down in the past 6 years.
Whether or not, tattoos are a niche or widely accepted form of self-expression would seem to depend on what age groups, one is examining. Estimates are that as many as half of those under 30 have a tattoo. So their use is widely accepted in some age groups -- not some much in mine. In fact, Barbie now comes in a few versions where she sports one. Since the cell phone vendors are largely targeting the younger crowd, I can see why Nokia would examine this area.
The potential health risks would be one issue that has to be addressed before such products become widely used. My sense is tattoos are regulated at the state rather than the federal level, but I am not sure where these types of products would fall.
Paul, thanks -- you're catching all of the weird technology for us lately!
Honestly, I don't see this as a great way that Nokia is going to stand out. Tattoos themselves are a niche thing; and certainly those who would want to attach their phones to their body art would fit into an even smaller segment. Beyond that, I have to imagine there are health risks here, ones that will emerge eventually. No?
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Big-data has become a big point of emphasis for many businesses. While the technology is available to deploy these applications, the needed personnel often is not. As a result, analytic engineers' salaries have blown past the six-figure mark, and hiring these experts has become a challenge for IT managers.
Increasingly, companies are using videoconferencing technology to help employees collaborate with co-workers, partners, and customers. As a result, demand for technicians is rising, and companies are finding it difficult to retain their quality workers.
Software-defined networks, which deliver virtualization functions to enterprise networks, have the potential to dramatically change network design and significantly reduce costs and maintenance.
A recent survey by Endace found that 23% of companies experience some type of network problem daily and another 25% have a serious problem each month. Enterprise networks are still very unreliable and probably will continue to be in the near term.
ITRC found that more than 600 security breaches took place in 2012. Flaws were found in some of the nation's most respected companies: Apple, Citibank, and Wells Fargo. So, it seems the bad guys are doing better than the men in the white hats.
A survey by JD Powers found that customer interest in product features is lessening as phones evolve. Rather than features, price is driving purchases, and that change could have a dramatic impact on how IT departments secure these devices.
After a long run of significant growth, cellphone sales dipped by more than 1 percent this quarter, according to market research firm International Data Corp. The change will have a significant impact on vendors, such as Nokia and RIM, who have struggled recently.
Why are we hearing so much about WiFi roaming when what most users say they want is simply automatic registration and re-registration when they move into a hotspot? It may be because carriers want tablets to be made cellular-ready, to make it easier for someone to move from WiFi-only to 3G/4G.
The drive to stream TV directly to HD sets, to tablets, or to PCs in the home may create a broader demand for streaming, and this could create a major new source of traffic pressure on mobile networks, mobile pricing, and mobile service policies.
A Citigroup researcher says Amazon is developing its own cellular phone. Amazon, take heed: It's a tougher business to crack than selling the Kindle Fire.
I've got the solution to Microsoft's smartphone problem: Forget Phone 7, forget Nokia, forget smartphones! Instead, focus on making Windows 8 a killer in the tablet space.
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M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
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