Infrared -- Engadget Mobile

infrared posts

Samsung's SCH-W760 with infrared video conferencing is ready for your parole hearing

by Thomas Ricker posted Jul 2nd 2009 @ 3:18AM

We get it. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes when you're staring into the sad abyss of an empty Tennessee fifth, the idea of initiating an impromptu video conference in total darkness seems mighty compelling. That's where Samsung's SCH-W760 with 7.2Mbps HSDPA and front-facing infrared camera can help. It's available now in Korea and could be the difference between making a solo bed-spin performance or 3- to 6-months served at county for violating your restraining order. The choice is yours for KRW580,000 or about 445 of the green stuff.

KDDI touts speedy upgrade to IR transfer technology

by Donald Melanson posted Jan 29th 2008 @ 11:39AM

We're going to hazard a guess that it's been a while since most of you used good 'ol IrDA to transfer any data to your cellphone, but it looks like the folks at KDDI have got themselves on an old school kick, and they're now looking to bring the technology back to some of its former glory. To that end, the company recently revealed its progress on a new form of the technology that upgrades transfer speeds to a full 1Gbps, or about 250 times faster than the previous limit. That's apparently possible by replacing the standard LED with a new speedy new semiconductor laser, which gets paired with some nonvolatile memory to ensure that burst of data doesn't get lost along the way. Of course, all this is still in the early stages, and KDDI doesn't even seem to be offering so much as a hint as to when we might actually see it put to use.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

HTC: Music - yay! Infrared - nay. Symbian - maybe.

by Ryan Block posted Sep 4th 2006 @ 7:45PM

In a not-so shocking development, handset trendsetter HTC is, according to president / CEO Peter Chou, considering making their devices more music friendly by increasing internal flash memory at the same time as cutting some fat, namely IR. (And really, how often do you use IR on a phone with USB and Bluetooth?) Most interesting, however, was Chou's statement that if an operator or reseller were to make it worth their while, HTC wouldn't have a problem getting in the Symbian device business: "We're not limited. We're not Microsoft, we can do anything." Unfortunately that hasn't yet come to pass, but it's not like an ODM like HTC shouldn't have a price when it comes to developing hardware for other platforms. We'd absolutely welcome some variety to the hardware running world's most prolific phone OS, and who knows, maybe sometime soon we'll see an HTC e61 killer.

[Via the::unwired]

Control your IR devices via SMS

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 26th 2006 @ 6:38PM

As the site clearly indicates, "The purpose of this circuit is to make the human life better and easier," and we couldn't agree more. If you've got an ancient Ericsson lying around that would otherwise be ready for the recycle bin, this circuit gives your faithful friend a new lease on life as an SMS-actuated IR sender capable of controlling up to eight devices, depending on how you opt to build it. A simple 8-digit text message to the phone is all it takes to send the appropriate ON or OFF signals, and as an added bonus, the author shows you how to wire the phone directly into the circuit so a battery's no longer required. A better and easier human life, indeed.

[Via Make]

"3rd-i" cam for spyin' on the go

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 31st 2006 @ 9:51PM

There are undoubtedly less proprietary ways to go about doing this, but if you're looking for a quick, painless way to get a PC-free camera feed to your phone, a British operation by the name of 3rd-i reckons they have the answer. The concept is simple enough: take your garden-variety video cam, strap on a GPRS modem, and call it good for £199 ($370). Besides accessing live video and up to 30 days of archived footage via pretty much any Java MIDP 1.0- or 2.0-enabled phone, the unit can be set up to immediately text you upon detecting motion. Not bad -- in fact, we'd strongly consider using 3rd-i's cams to secure the Engadgetmobile, but the dual band 900 / 1800 support just doesn't cut it in these parts.

[Via Crowdedbrain]