Communications Media

Whether touring museums in Madrid, island hopping in Greece or skiing in Finland, the WH@M project promises to make travellers’ lives considerably easier through an innovative multi-source information service accessible over mobile devices.

The 24-month IST project ended in January having integrated and tested a suite of software modules capable of gathering information from a wide range of public and private sources and disseminating it over the Internet, mobile phones and PDAs. The i

Most tuning for radios, mobile telephones, GPS sets and other communication devices uses dedicated radio frequency (RF) circuitry. Recent research suggests that a single tuneable RF circuitry could be developed that would suit different applications.

Making RF modules tuneable to different applications

Tuneable capacitors will be familiar to any engineer over a certain age who remembers constructing simple kit radios or radio control devices. Tuning these circuits was often

Nature’s secrets are just about to become a little less secret. Armed with a modern mobile phone, outdoor-lovers will soon be able to roam Europe’s national parks and find their favourite animals and plants with ease. Getting lost there could also be a thing of the past.

The technology behind these services – including mobile telephony and personal digital assistants (PDAs) – is not new. What is innovative is the way they are combined to offer personalised location-based services.

Video applications should play an important role in the coming growth of third generation (3G) mobile telephony services. But where are the applications? Researchers in one IST project, INMOVE, believe that they, at least, can produce a winner.

Early trials scheduled

Scheduled for completion in August 2004, INMOVE is pioneering a new software toolkit for building intelligent mobile video applications and services. Project coordinator Matti Penttilä is already optimistic abo

The music industry is poised for a revolution if a self-employed design consultant from London can get his innovative touch-screen technology off the ground. NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) – the organisation that nurtures UK creativity and innovation – has invested £100,000 in the idea to help turn it into a commercial reality.

Experts predict that some day, all music machines will be controlled by touchscreen. Andrew is hoping to bring that day nearer wi

Online shopping is easy with a credit card. But e-commerce remains off bounds for people without these cards and scares those concerned about online transaction security. A handy solution is micro-payments over a mobile phone.

Micro-payments are ideal for purchasing low-cost items on the Web. They can also be used to pay anonymously for digital content and services, through mobile-phone users’ prepaid accounts. “In Europe, around a third of mobile-phone users choose such accounts,” says It