All posts in mobility

10 useful tools and tips to help you (better) work remotely!

a happy teleworkerBeing able to work from (almost) anywhere is not a fiction any more. Technically speaking, we have the ability today to work from absolutely anywhere in the world and stay connected: should that be in the middle of a desert, somewhere over the ocean (or under its surface), or a hundred miles above, in a capsule orbiting around the earth. And as long as you can afford paying for your satellite communications, working from any of those places is not an issue. But in the real business life it would definitely be!

In my world, advertisers, software developers and programmers, PR consultants, lawyers, journalists, salesmen, photographers, analysts, and all those people who can work from anywhere just as much as their office, will use one day (if this has not be done yet) at least one of those technologies or their upgraded versions, to do their job. Once you’ll have managed to convince your boss that working from home is good for you, your productivity and his shareholders, then take a moment to review those 10 useful tips that will make your home working experience, unforgettable!

10 useful tools to help you work remotely Continue Reading →

Picture of the week: Airlines – Who not to fly with?

Gizmodo Explains: How To Fix the Airlines’ Stupid Portable Gadget Rules (a must read!)

[singlepic id=102 w=480 h=360 float=center]By Wilson Rothman for Gizmodo

“If you’ve flown lately, you have probably noticed that the “portable electronics” rules are increasingly muddled. It’s time for the FAA and airlines to lift the electronics ban completely, or rewrite it to reflect modern gadgets.

The first problem is, nearly all electronics are lumped together, despite differences in their innards and the services they perform. The second problem is this constant generic request to turn them “off.” Until airlines can speak coherently about ebooks, smartphones, tablets and other traveler-friendly gadgets—and address the various states of rest between “on” and “off”—the system remains in a sphere of stupidity. Whether this is mildly annoying or potentially deadly remains to be seen.”

Read the full article on Gizmodo

The 60th anniversary of the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China gives wings to telecommuting

[singlepic id=104 w=320 h=240 float=left]On October 1st 2009, Beijing will celebrate in grand style the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Among the expected festivities to take place that day, a grand military parade as the capital has not seen for ten years and ultrastrictes security measures that make life difficult for residents.

Since early September, the city is literally cut into two by the army and police, to make room for rehearsals which take place every weekend. As a matter of facts, most Beijing inhabitants are unable to cross the multiple security controls to get to work. The main high-tech zone of Beijing, Zhongguancun, in the northwest of the town is not spared. Many employees are unable to reach their offices.

“Nobody warned us in advance with precision. And the authorities change their plans every day. It is impossible to get organized in these conditions!” Enrages Yuan Yi, the young boss of a Chinese start-ups specialized in developing games for mobile phones.

Taken aback, the company has decided to rely on telecommuting, but some employees don’t have access to the necessary equipment. This implies for instance designers who do not have their own graphics tablet at home.

For Nick, a Sino-Danish analyst programmer, homecoming has become an ordeal: “My employer exceptionally let me go back home todat at 2PM but I actually got home at 8PM after six hours waiting to watch the tanks pass in the street. As I often work on weekends, I decided to take a hotel room on the right side of the city. It’s easier”.

The municipality of Beijing has canceled the last repetition, apparently in response to fed up people who have already experienced the limitations set by the Olympics last year. But that is not enough for Yi Yuan: “They can still change their minds!”

With these commemorations, the Chinese communist party thus shows once again that it has its very own concept of what a major festivals and popular gatherings should be.

When I look at the pictures, I can clearly imagine how big a mess it has been so far…

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USB Car Adapter Charges Any USB Device On-the-Go

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The iLuv Micro USB Car adapter turns your car’s cigarette outlet into a universal USB charger, so you don’t have to buy specialized car chargers for all of your USB-chargeable gear. Continue Reading →

Portable Map Projector Concept

Maptor is an innovative portable map projector concept by Jin-Sun Park and Seon-Keun Park that promises to eliminate the need for paper maps.

Equipped with GPS and a small projector, Maptor allows the user to display map on almost any surface and view their current location. It somehow reminds me the mobile phone with embedded GPS which displays arrows on the ground in “Microsoft’s vision to the future”.

Creating a concept is nice, turning it into reality is even better.

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Cheap VoIP telephony using Sipdroid

Hello all,

Nicolas was kind enough to invite me to share my experiences with mobile VoIP, specifically with Sipdroid on the Android platform. I’ll start by providing a quick summary of the technology, and how applications are now utilizing it.

bonhomme-androidSimply speaking, VoIP – short for Voice-over-IP – is a general term for technologies which route phone calls over the internet, rather than regular telephony networks. The result is very cheap telephony, or in the case of pure internet-to-internet communications, free telephony. Continue Reading →

Spotify launches its mobile version

[singlepic id=42 w=213 h=160 float=left]For those of you who are not yet familiar with it, Spotify is a nice (free) music streaming application which gives (free) access to 6 million+ tracks. Generally speaking,  Spotify offers a better, easier and more optimized way to enjoy your favorite music online than other services like Lastfm, Deezer and Pandora. Continue Reading →

Augmented Reality Future by Nokia

Here’s a video showcasing some of the future technologies dreamt up by Nokia and introduced at Nokia World. According to Nokia, this new concept featured in the video allows people to experience immersion and effortless navigation through new types of interactions involving near-to-eye displays, gaze direction tracking, 3D audio, 3D video, gesture and touch. Thanks to these new types of social linkages people will be connected in innovative ways between the physical and digital worlds.

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Want more? go and visit Nokia labs

On the road: one year walk/beard grow time lapse

THE absolut trip of a mobile nomad

The Longest Way 1.0 – one year walk/beard grow time lapse from Christoph Rehage on Vimeo.

one year walk/beard grow time lapse by Christoph Rehage
November 9th 2007 – November 13th 2008
one year on foot – 4646km through China
unlimited beard & hair growth

(thank you christoph for this “trip”)