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Posts Tagged ‘mobile phone’

Little green men in space test Google’s new phone

25 Dec

Some of us firmly believe in extra terrestrial life whilst others remain skeptical, but it is now official, little green men have been confirmed in the Earth’s outer atmosphere. Well, little green men of the plastic variety that is.

Google launched the tiny green aliens each with their own Google Nexus S phone and they were carried aloft into the Earth’s atmosphere by weather balloons.

Google said the purpose of the experiment was to enable them to collect data about the sensors in the Nexus S phone and to test how the GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer worked under such conditions.

The weather balloons went over 100,000 feet up into the air and the phone’s GPS kept track of it all the way up to 60,000 ft above the Earth.

So, for anyone thinking of applying to be one of the first space tourists, rest assured that this phone has been tested and will work for most of your flight into space.

This story could be linked into a lesson about communication, GPS, sensors or mobile phones

Read the full story here

 
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Posted in Communication, GPS, Mobile phones, Sensors

 

Lack of iPhone programmers

26 Oct

With the explosion of ‘apps’ for the iPhone, Cirencester College has recognised that there is a huge demand for iPhone programmers in this country.

iphone

To that end they are putting together BTEC, IT and A level modules to show students how to build apps and games.

This is an example of how education organisations need to keep a constant eye on the IT industry to ensure that young people learn the most relevant skills at the time.

Full story here

 
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Posted in Education, Mobile phones, New technology, Software

 

Mobiles connect across the waves

04 Feb

ship
We are all used to being able to make calls from our mobile phones from anywhere at any time.  However, for some people, this just isn’t possible.  There are very few mobile base stations in the Sahara desert, in the Antarctic, in the jungle or in the middle of the oceans.

So, what do you do if you are in the middle of nowhere and you need to contact someone?  Well up until now, the only way has been by using a satellite phone.  But these have many disadvantages, first of all, how many of us own satellite phones?  Probably very few, which means they are generally pretty expensive to purchase.  Secondly, they are much larger and heavier than conventional mobiles.

For people who are separated from their families for months on end such as crews serving on military ships, the development of a new system by Blue Ocean Wireless will enable them to send and receive calls from their mobiles will be very welcome.

Small base stations, developed by ip.access, called a ‘picocell’ will be installed around the ship to provide coverage from the main accommodation areas.  The base station will convert the call into a signal which can then be transmitted over the satellite network.

Read the full news story here

Suggestions for use in class and questions for students (subscription only)

 
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Posted in Mobile phones, Satellite phones