Archive for March, 2009

Google offers free books on mobile

More than 1,5 million books (free of copyrights) have been made available for free on the iPhone and other mobile devices working with Android.  The stunt is part of the Google Book Search project. Google has reached an agreement with American publishers to offer public libraries free access to books that are no longer available [ READ MORE ]

Mobile in Belgium is expensive

Calling with the mobile phone is expensive in Belgium.  According to a study by the European Commission, the prices in our country are a lot higher than the European average.  Although prices have slightly dropped last year, the average GSM user in Belgium pays 26,26 euro per month.  In Europe that average is only at 19,49 [ READ MORE ]

Belgacom introduces mobile payment service Ping.Ping

Last week, Belgacom announced they’re taking a 40% share in Tunz, a Belgian company specialized in micropayments. This week, the telecom giant said they are starting up a mobile payment service called Ping.Ping, which should allow to pay with your mobile phone for small amounts, such as a can in a vending machine or a [ READ MORE ]

iPhone OS 3.0 presents new features

During last Tuesday’s keynote, Apple presented the new OS 3.0 beta for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  This interface promises more than  100 new functionalities for iPhone applications. Some of the new features: - Apple Push Notification service, which offers developers a channel to alert users of new information - In App Purchase, which enables [ READ MORE ]

Next year mobile payment for train tickets?

The Belgian railways (NMBS/SNCB) has been talking about SMS ticketing for a while already.  Recently, Minister of Public Companies Steven Vanackere stated that there’s currently no project regarding mobile payments.  But now Philippe Tomberg , publicist for NMBS, carefully said that the company is studying different channels to digitize the train ticket.  The possibility to [ READ MORE ]

Euro parliament wants 50 cent limit on data roaming

The European Commission and the European Parliament both agree that there should be a limit on tariffs for data roaming.  While the Commission had proposed a limit of 1 euro per megabyte, the Parliament wants to go further and put the limit at 50 eurocent.  To avoid the so called ‘bill shocks’, the unexpectedly high [ READ MORE ]

Facebook Connect available for iPhone

Facebook has announced that their Facebook Connect service is now available for the Apple iPhone.  This means that developers of iPhone applications can now integrate a social component.  In times when social networking has become more popular than e-mail, this is a smart move. Facebook Developers program manager Gareth Davis: “With just a few lines [ READ MORE ]

Drive a car with your iPhone

Over the past months we’ve seen many funny, interesting and even bizarre iPhone applications emerge.    This one however is very particular.  Rinspeed, a Swiss company specialised  in car design, has presented a car that can be driven with an iPhone.  Just put the smartphone in the build-in dock station in the dashboard and start the [ READ MORE ]

KLM introduces mobile boarding pass

Dutch airline company KLM is introducing a boarding pass by SMS or MMS.  For the past 6 months, tests were done on flights between Amsterdam and Paris.  Starting March 10th, it will be possible on nearly every European flight to use a PDA or smartphone at the check-in. Passengers have to check in on the [ READ MORE ]

Italian bishop bans SMS during fasting

Last year, Pope Benedict XVI surprised us when he sent spiritual SMS messages to the young participants of the World Youth Day in Sydney. But just when we thought the Catholic church was embracing modern technology, an Italian bishop has called upon people to ban SMS during the Lent, the 40 day period of fasting [ READ MORE ]

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